A Bumblebee Needs Fins Like a Fish Needs A…

An appellate court in California has held that bumblebees are fish:

The issue presented here is whether the bumble bee, a terrestrial invertebrate, falls within the definition of fish, as that term is used in the definitions of endangered species in section 2062, threatened species in section 2067, and candidate species (i.e., species being considered for listing as endangered or threatened species) in section 2068 of the Act.

It takes 35 pages of tortured logic in an opinion that reads like a parody, but the court concludes that bumblebees indeed are fish within the meaning of California’s environmental laws. I take it that all other insects, by the court’s logic, are also fish.

I cite this decision as a warning to those who repose faith in our courts to check the excesses of the political branches. See also: Michael Sussman.

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