The Western bumblebee (Bombus occidentalis) Rich Hatfield Xerces Society

Bees are now legally considered fish in California under the state’s endangered species law, an appeals court in Sacramento ruled Tuesday.

The 1970 act explicitly protected “fish,” which were initially defined as invertebrates. And because the act has protected snails and other invertebrates that live on land since, Tuesday’s ruling said it interpreted the legislation to also include bees.

“Accordingly, a terrestrial invertebrate, like each of the four bumble bee species, may be listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Act,” the 3rd district California Court of Appeals Associate Justice Ronald Robie wrote.

In short, the ruling restored protections to bumblebees, which were initially classified as endangered by California Fish and Game Commission in 2019.

Agricultural groups later appealed this decision, and in 2020, a judge from the Sacramento County Superior Court sided with farmers, citing the law was only intended to protect invertebrates who live in marine habitats such as fish.

This most recent court case pitted California agricultural groups, including almond, citrus and cotton farmers, opposing bees as an endangered species, against the commission and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Farming groups initially petitioned against the term invertebrate as “limited to only aquatic invertebrates,” in order to exclude bumblebees as a threatened species.

Xerces spokeswoman Sarina Jepsen said that reclassifying bumblebees as endangered species is “absolutely essential” to their survival.

“This decision essentially allows the state of California to protect bumblebees and other imperiled species of insects as well as other types of terrestrial invertebrates under the state’s endangered species act,” Jepsen said.

The term “invertebrate” includes all animals without backbones, which make up the vast majority of life on earth. About 80% of the world’s animals are insects, according to a Xerces press release.

Jepsen said that “insects form the backbone of ecosystems,” and humans in particular depend on bees for pollination.

“Maintaining a diversity of species of native pollinators in our ecosystems is very beneficial to agriculture,” she said.

And the four bumblebee species discussed in the case — the Crotch, Franklin, Suckley cuckoo and the Western bumble bee — are “highly endangered.”

Under the act, bumblebees will be protected from “take,” which includes any activities that can cause them to go extinct.

“Essentially, it will protect colonies of these bumblebee species from being killed intentionally,” Jepsen said.

She added there are “immense provisions” to California’s Endangered Species Act that allow farming activities to proceed.