SAN FRANCISCO - The Center for Biological Diversity filed a federal complaint on August 17 in the Northern District of California against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for violation of the Endangered Species Act because it failed to list a minnow known as the Clear Lake hitch on the endangered species list.
According to the complaint, the Clear Lake hitch is an increasingly rare freshwater fish that is both ecologically and culturally significant. Native to Clear Lake, the oldest lake in North America, the hitch’s population has dwindled to a tiny fraction of its historic size, with only a few thousand fish spawning each spring and only two streams regularly supporting hitch spawning in substantial numbers.
Nearly a decade ago, the Center petitioned to protect the Clear Lake hitch as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act because the best available science showed that combined threats were propelling the hitch swiftly towards extinction.
After disregarding the clear scientific evidence showing that the Clear Lake hitch is at risk of extinction or endangerment due to these and other threats, Fish and Wildlife concluded that the status of the hitch did not warrant Endangered Species Act protection, the suit says.
The Center for Biological Diversity alleges that the Service’s decision is unlawful and doesn't rely on the best scientific and commercial data available.
The Center for Biological Diversity is represented by Margaret E. Townsend and Brian Segee.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California case number 3:21-cv-06323