The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is scheduled to announce today (Friday, December 28th), it will place the Trispot Darter Fish, which is found in Alabama – on the endangered species list. Being placed on the list makes it illegal for the freshwater fish to be caught or sold.
Development along the Coosa River in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia threatens the fish’s water quality due to storm water runoff. The fish was believed to be extinct in Alabama for more than 50 years until it was discovered in Little Canoe Creek in 2008.
The wildlife service proposed a rule to place the Trispot Darter on the endangered species list in October 2017. The fish was first identified as needing federal protection in 1982, and the center sued the agency in 2015 to get a legally binding date for such protection.
The Trispot Darter’s critical habitat will include – the Big Canoe, Ball Play, Mill and Coahulla creeks – and Conasauga and Coosawattae Rivers in Cherokee, Etowah, St. Clair and Calhoun Counties in Alabama.
The fish is expected to formally go on the endangered species list in approximately a month from now.
(al.com/www.al.com)