PHOENIX — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed stripping the Gila chub of its Endangered Species Act protections on Monday.
However, the Center for Biological Diversity opposes the removal, emphasizing the fish’s need for the protections.
According to the center, the fish is not only threatened by competition and predation by nonnative fish but also by habitat loss due to water diversion and withdrawal, livestock grazing and climate change.
Advocates for the endangered fish argue that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is wrongly classifying the Gila chub as the same species as the roundtail chub, an unprotected fish, in order to bypass environmental protections.
“There isn’t consensus regarding the taxonomy of these species and delisting would do nothing to address the threats facing all three of these unique fish species,” senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity Krista Kemppinen said in a press release.
The center noted that The American Fisheries Society, a global source of fisheries and management information since 1870, lists the Gila chub and roundtail chub as two separate species.
“These chubs and the streams they live in are indispensable part of Arizona’s incredibly rare aquatic natural heritage. We must not sacrifice them,” Kemppinen added.
What would removing the Gila chub’s protections do?
If the Gila chub were to be delisted, protections would be removed from 160 miles of stream that act as habitat and waterways for the fish.
This would eliminate the requirement for federal consultation or guidance on projects that need federal permits or funding to mitigate risks to the chubs.
“Call the Gila chub whatever you like, but only if you make sure these fish have clean, cool water to swim in,” Kemppinen said. “That means keeping the Gila chub on the endangered list in its own right or as part of future endangered listing for the roundtail chub. A chub by any other name is still at risk of extinction.”
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