The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that Endangered Species Act protection for the lower Kootenai River burbot (Lota lota) is not warranted.
Two conservation groups, American Wildlands and the Idaho Conservation League, had petitioned the Service, requesting that the fish, a cold-water member of the cod family, be listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The petitioners argued that the burbot qualifies for Federal protection because it represents a Distinct Population Segment (DPS). The Endangered Species Act stipulates that to be recognized as a DPS, the population segment must be discrete or physically separate from rest of the species and significant to the rest of the species.
Based on the best scientific and commercial information available, the Service determined that lower Kootenai River burbot is physically separate from other burbot populations, but that this population is not significant to the rest of the species. Since this burbot population does not constitute a DPS, listing it for Federal protection was found not to be warranted.
"Our biologists found that the Kootenai River burbot does not meet the Service
