U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) has reintroduced the Federally Integrated Species Health (FISH) Act to strengthen the regulation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), with respect to anadromous species like salmon within the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
“The FISH Act will increase the effectiveness of our federal water systems by having a single federal agency manage all species,” Calvert said in a news release regarding House of Representatives (H.R.) Bill 872. “It’s simply common sense to consolidate management over our endangered species and rivers. The FISH Act will provide the government and stakeholders a more uniform approach to managing threatened and endangered species.”
The problem today is that contradictory decisions can come about because ESA authority is split between FWS and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The load of responsibility is divvied up so that FWS mainly looks after terrestrial and freshwater organisms, while NMFS monitors marine wildlife, such as whales and anadromous fish, which like salmon swim up rivers out to sea to spawn.
According to the bill, if the FISH Act is approved, the FWS will take over the NMFS’ ESA role in managing anadromous and catadromous species. The latter like eel also spawn at sea but they follow the opposite course, swimming down rivers to get there.
The FISH Act will amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to focus on species of fish that spawn in fresh or estuarine waters and migrate to ocean waters as well as fish that spawn in ocean waters and migrate to fresh waters.
Original cosponsors of the FISH Act in 2021 included the following, all from California, Jim Costa, Tom McClintock, Michelle Steel, Jay Obernolte and Darrell Issa as well as Mike Simpson from Idaho.
A lifelong Riverside County resident, Calvert, who represents the 41st Congressional District of southern California, has worked as an entrepreneur in the restaurant and real-estate fields for 17 years, according to his biography. Besides serving as a congressman, Calvert has taken on leadership roles with several community volunteer groups, including the Corona Chamber of Commerce, the Corona Rotary and the Corona-Norco Family YMCA.