Last week, a California judge ruled that bees are lawful fish, setting the stage for a Jay Leno monologue. The new categorization, which comes as a result of a four-year court battle between environmentalists and agriculture organizations, safeguards bees—and other insects—under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and has important implications for California farmers.
What?
CESA, which was enacted in 1970, exclusively protects plant and animal species, which makes things seem even odder. As a result, three environmental groups concerned about California's diminishing pollinator population devised a workaround in 2018, expanding the legal definition of fish to include four endangered bee species.
Yep,
Fish are defined as "...mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian..." under Section 45 of the CESA. However, because it does not state that invertebrates must be aquatic, the groups successfully contended that bees belong under that category because they are invertebrates. The verdict was challenged by ag organizations representing farmers. The new categorization increases the amount of red tape involved in shipping and working with bees, which are an important element of the state's agriculture business.
What is a fish then?
A Sacramento County Superior Court sided with the agriculture organizations in 2020, overturning the 2018 verdict. However, on May 31, California's 3rd District Court of Appeals overturned that decision, proclaiming bees to be fish once and for all. The court determined that anything with no backbone qualifies as a fish, including jellyfish, insects, and other organisms.
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