Sturgeon Remains On Endangered Species List

November 18, 2005

Release from: Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM — A federal judge has ruled that the Alabama sturgeon can remain on the endangered species list, but directed a federal agency to designate areas as its critical habitat.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Hopkins, in an opinion Monday, denied a request by the Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition to have the fish removed from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The coalition, a group of businesses, filed suit in 2001 contesting the Alabama sturgeon's listing as an endangered species, citing economic consequences like disruption of river dredging, barge traffic and damming efforts needed for water commerce.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed the sturgeon on the list in May 2000, despite arguments that there was no evidence to show the fish is a distinct species.

Coalition lawyers argued during a September hearing that the agency illegally listed the fish by failing to designate the fish's critical habitat at the same time it listed it as endangered.

The coalition wanted Hopkins to require the Fish and Wildlife Service to begin the listing process again, but she refused.

"The court is not persuaded that the coalition's proposed remedy is appropriate and finds support for a less drastic and less costly remedy," she wrote.

Hopkins gave the agency six months to have a proposal and a year for the final designation.

"We're very pleased with the court's validation of our listing of the Alabama sturgeon," Tom MacKenzie, a Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman, said. "The hard part is still finding the fish. The real key is how can we recover these species."

MacKenzie said there is no sturgeon in captivity to start a breeding program. The last known Alabama sturgeon, kept at a hatchery and nicknamed "Bubba," died in 2002.

Robert Fowler, a lawyer with Balch & Bingham, said the coalition is disappointed with the ruling and will decide whether to appeal.