Feds Won’t List Fish As Endangered

PITTSBURGH – There is insufficient evidence to list a fish known as the longnose sucker as an endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday.

The Fisheries Technical Committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey had petitioned in 2002 to have the fish, sold commercially as mullet, designated an endangered species. The decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service was published in the Federal Register on Thursday.

Martin Miller, chief of endangered species for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Northeast Region, said the petition “failed to provide substantial scientific information indicating that protection could be warranted,” according to a news release.

The petition cited acid mine drainage as a threat to the longnose suckers found in the Monongahela River drainage in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The petition argued that the geographic isolation of these fish would qualify them for federal protection.

But Miller said the petition “failed to provide substantial evidence of its genetic distinctiveness and significance to the entire species,” according to the release.

Longnose suckers are also found as far north as Canada and in Washington state, Alaska and Russia, federal officials said. The fish feed on the bottom of cool, clear rivers, streams and lakes.

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On the Net:

http://www.fws.gov/endangered.