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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- | |||
| Bees are fish, US court declares (yes, only in California) | |||
| 2022-06-05 | |||
Four species of bumblebees have been reclassified as ‘fish’ in the state of California so that they can be protected under its Endangered Species Act, a court ruled on Tuesday, reversing a 2020 ruling and affirming that the term ‘fish’ shouldn’t be confined to merely ‘aquatic’ invertebrates under the law. “We acknowledge the scope of the definition is ambiguous but also recognize we are not interpreting the definition on a blank slate,” the California Court of Appeal for the Third District declared in its ruling. The four species of bumblebees are now protected by the California Fish and Game Commission as at-risk plants and animals, sheltering the insects from import, export, possession, purchase, or sale. The move is a blow to agricultural groups, in particular the Almond Alliance of California, which has lashed out against the ruling, arguing it would further financially burden growers of the crop who use pesticides known to harm bees. Because insects are not a protected category under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), the agency had to get creative. Candidates for CESA protection are limited to “a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or plant” under California’s fish and game laws. While some species of insect are protected in the state, they fall under the federal Endangered Species Act. The agency opted to split biological hairs in order to save the bees, noting the legal definition of fish – “a wild fish, mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian, or part, spawn, or ovum of any of those animals” – includes invertebrates, which includes bumblebees. While the trial court dismissed their claim, the appellate court countered that bees could in fact qualify as fish, because “although the term fish is colloquially and commonly understood to refer to aquatic species, the term of art employed by the Legislature in the definition of fish… is not so limited.” The decision pointed out that a snail had previously been listed under CESA, noting that because such a terrestrial invertebrate “could have qualified as such only within the definition of fish,” the Commission’s authority was not limited to listing only aquatic invertebrates. “Accordingly, a terrestrial invertebrate, like each of the four bumble bee species, may be listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Act,” the ruling stated. “The legislative history supports the liberal interpretation of the Act (the lens through which we are required to construe the Act) that the Commission may list any invertebrate as an endangered or threatened species.” The newly-protected species include Crotch, Franklin, Suckley, and Western bumble bees.
The California Endangered Species Act protects about 250 species of plant and animal. However, it doesn’t cover insects, theoretically leaving bumblebees in a legal no man’s land. Over the years, the definition of fish has slowly been expanded to include amphibians and later invertebrates in general, opening the door to the inclusion of bees.
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| Posted by:DooDahMan |
| #8 Back in the late 18th century, the Catholic church decided that beavers and a host of other semi aquatic animals were fish. Had to do with the "eat fish on Friday" thing Even before that, monks were trying to get pigs to live in the water so they could be classified as fish and get around the restriction. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2022-06-05 22:37 |
| #7 Bumblebee Tuna was on sale at the grocery store last week. Now I am afraid to open it... |
| Posted by: SteveS 2022-06-05 18:59 |
| #6 But the Murder Hornet Casserole is to die for! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2022-06-05 18:47 |
| #5 Wasn’t ‘Filet of Bumblebee’ in that movie ‘Fantasia?’ |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2022-06-05 15:33 |
| #4 Fillet of bumblebee sounds like it might require a special pallet to truly appreciate. I will probably wait until I see it on a kitchen stadium show. I am a hard pass on robot cloned pig even if the guy who travels the globe sampling roast penis declares that it is succulent. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2022-06-05 15:27 |
| #3 Does this mean we can now eat Bumble Bees on Fridays now? (Chocolate coated bees anyone?) So much for the endangered species protection... |
| Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2022-06-05 13:21 |
| #2 Back in the late 18th century, the Catholic church decided that beavers and a host of other semi aquatic animals were fish. Had to do with the "eat fish on Friday" thing, for people who lived in areas where there weren't edible fish. Totally serious here. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2022-06-05 10:46 |
| #1 At no time did any of these people look at each other and ask if this would make the law look like the ass it is. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-06-05 08:08 |