California court declares bumblebee ‘a fish’

Bumblebees are distributed mainly in the Northern Hemisphere – Photo: GETTY

The lawsuit between the California Almond Coalition and the Recreational Fish and Fisheries Regulatory Commission went on this week, with the committee winning.

Several animal conservation associations since 2018 have petitioned the Fish and Recreation Management Commission to add bumblebees to the state’s endangered species list.

However, the California Almond Alliance and about six other agricultural organizations filed a lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court, asserting that the California Endangered Species Act (also known as CESA) does not protect insects. coincide.

In 2020, the Sacramento County Superior Court ruled that the Recreational Fishing and Fishing Commission must not list invertebrates (such as bees) under CESA.

On May 31, the appeals court overturned a 2020 ruling, declaring bumblebees can now be legally defined as fish.

According to the judges, bumblebees are classified as fish according to the liberal interpretation of the word “fish”. “While fish is commonly understood to refer to aquatic species, the legal definition of fish used by the Legislature is not limited to such,” Associate Justice Ronald Robie said during the trial.

The court explained that CESA had granted classification power to the Recreational Fish and Fisheries Administration to determine which species were endangered or not.

And by law, the commission is solely responsible for establishing the “endangered species list and the threatened species list”. The court found the commission’s authority “was not limited to listing only aquatic invertebrates”.

The California court affirmed that the state’s legislative history also supports this liberal interpretation because “the commission may list any invertebrate as endangered or threatened.”

According to Fox News, CESA defines fish as “a mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, or amphibian, including species that live on land and in water. Therefore, bumblebees can be considered as fish and listed as endangered or threatened.

Attorney Matthew Sanders hailed the court’s decision as a “win for the bees” because the insects are “fundamental to California’s healthy agriculture and ecosystem.”

The court ruling ensures CESA is fulfilling its purpose of preserving “all endangered species” by protecting California’s entire biodiversity, including terrestrial invertebrates.

The court’s decision is expected to help California protect some of its most vulnerable pollinators, a move that will contribute to the resilience of the state’s native farms and ecosystems.