The white sturgeon, a remarkable prehistoric species found in the San Francisco Estuary, is now at risk due to multiple threats, including harmful algal blooms and water diversion orders influenced by politics. With records showing these creatures can live over 100 years and grow large, their population has faced significant decline. Conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to list the fish under the Endangered Species Act, highlighting the urgent need for protective measures to save this iconic species from extinction.
"It's a species that is at real risk, that is a truly remarkable creature and lives for decades," said Eric Buescher, managing attorney for San Francisco Baykeeper, a nonprofit watchdog.
Harmful algal blooms, poaching, and other perils have already dwindled the sturgeon's populations, and in recent weeks a pair of politically driven orders to divert more water from the fish's habitat have made environmental groups especially anxious.
...efforts to get the species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act have stagnated.
Now, four local water and fishing conservation groups - San Francisco Baykeeper, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Restore the Delta, and Friends of the River - have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Secretary of the Department of the Interior for failing to give an initial listing determination to the fish in time.
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