California is at the forefront of a global crisis known as the Anthropocene extinction. This rapid eradication of living diversity is not caused by meteor strikes or volcanic eruptions, but by human activity. No animal group is more at risk than fishes. Researchers recently concluded that our state is a world leader in the number of freshwater fishes likely to become extinct by the end of the century. Governor Newsom’s water policies are accelerating this race to oblivion. Many of California’s imperiled native fishes live in San Francisco Bay, including five species that are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Baykeeper recently sued the US Fish and Wildlife Service to add the Bay’s population of longfin smelt to that list. And, late last year, we and our partners petitioned state and federal agencies to protect the Bay’s white sturgeon population as threatened after decades of decline.
-Written by Jon Rosenfield, PhD, SF Baykeeper science director; and Eric Buescher, SF Baykeeper managing attorney.​