Environmentalists sue feds to protect endangered California fish

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) —  An environmental advocacy group sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday to force the federal agency to protect a rare California fish through the Endangered Species Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity claims the agency missed a deadline in January to decide protection measures for the Clear Lake hitch. The Clear Lake hitch is found only in Lake County in Northern California, and the center says the freshwater minnow is on “the brink of extinction.”

“The service’s failure to issue a timely final listing rule protecting the Clear Lake hitch as a threatened species under the [Endangered Species Act] leaves the hitch vulnerable to the ongoing loss and degradation of habitat that is critical for its survival and recovery,” the center said in its complaint.

Environmentalists say development and dams are the largest obstacle for hitch recovery, as diversions have “altered tributary habitats and impeded fish passage.” Droughts brought by climate change are also a reason for the hitch’s population decline.

Every spring, the silver-scaled fish swim from Clear Lake into outlying streams and creeks to spawn. Their movement helps the lake’s ecosystem as they are a source of food for many birds, including pelicans, osprey, herons and egrets.

The center called the spawning event “a once-spectacular migration that historically saw millions of fish surge through local waterways.”

Currently, only a few thousand make the run every year.

“We are seeking a court-ordered final listing date as quickly as possible because the Clear Lake hitch is in urgent need of Endangered Species Act protections,” Meg Townsend, senior freshwater attorney for the center, said in an email to Courthouse News. “Each spawning season that passes without the act’s safeguards increases the risk to the hitch, so we’re hoping to get a final listing rule promptly, consistent with the seriousness of the situation.”

Along with its ecological significance, the hitch is important to the Pomo people, an Indigenous group who have lived in the region for thousands of years. The Pomo people call the endangered fish “chi” and are a traditional food for them.

“The chi are vital to our people, our heritage and our future,” Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians tribal chairman Flaman McCloud Jr. said. “We cannot afford to lose them. That is why we strongly support federal endangered species protections and every available tool to safeguard their survival. We must act now to ensure that future generations can continue to have a relationship with this important species.”

In 2012, the center petitioned the service to list the Clear Lake hitch as endangered. While the service initially agreed with the environmental group’s findings in 2015, it reversed course in 2020 after a yearlong review. In 2021, the center sued the service over its refusal to protect the hitch.

Due to the challenge, the agency agreed to vacate the previous determination and to issue a new finding on whether the hitch should be listed as threatened or endangered based on a reassessment by January 2025. The service published a proposed rule to list the fish as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in January 2025. The service typically has a year to make a final listing rule.

“This is unfortunately a familiar pattern,” Townsend said about the delay. “The Endangered Species Act sets clear deadlines for listing decisions, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has repeatedly missed them. In the case of the Clear Lake hitch, the science supporting the need for protection has been clear for years — California listed the hitch under the state endangered species act over a decade ago — yet the federal government has delayed action across multiple administrations.”

Townsend said the delays often stem from a “combination of limited agency resources, competing priorities and political pressure."

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, listing the service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum as defendants.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.