WEBVTT

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- A California court ruled last week

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that bees can be classified as fish

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under a state endangered species law.

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Yeah, you heard me right.

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In 2020, a Sacramento
County Superior Court ruled

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that invertebrates, like
bees, couldn't be listed

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under the California
Endangered Species Act.

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In 2022, three conservation
groups sought to challenge

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that decision, and they won.

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Here's how they did it.

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The Xerces Society for
Invertebrate Conservation,

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the Center for Food Safety,

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and Defenders of Wildlife led the charge

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and were represented

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by the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic.

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The groups found a sneaky legal definition

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that could help them build their case.

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Let me explain.

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The California Endangered
Species Act is a part

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of the broader California
Fish and Game Code,

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which defines a fish as "a
wild fish, mollusk, crustacean,

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invertebrate, amphibian, or part, spawn,

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or ovum of any of those animals."

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Remember when I said
bees were invertebrates?

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You see where they're going with this?

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An earlier portion of the
Fish and Game Code says

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that "the definitions
in this chapter govern

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the construction of this code

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and all regulations
adopted under this code."

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Matthew J. Sanders from

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the Stanford Environmental Law
Clinic told me on the phone

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last week that this means
that fish as defined

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in the code were protected
under the Endangered Species Act

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since the act is a regulation adopted

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under the Fish and Game Code.

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This also means bees
are only fish legally,

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not biologically; duh.

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But bees are hugely important pollinators,

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and the Xerces Society says

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that four California native
bumblebees are endangered.

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The FDA says that bees help
pollinate about 90 crops

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that make it to our dinner plates,

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so losing them to extinction
would be bad; really bad.

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Sarina Jepsen, The Xerces Society's

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Director of Endangered Species, said:

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The Court's decision allows California

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to protect some of its most
endangered pollinators,

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a step which will
contribute to the resilience

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of the state's native
ecosystems and farms.

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To read about more what's
going on our planet,

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check out Gizmodo.com/Earther.