The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the Clear Lake Hitch, a large minnow found nowhere else in the world outside Lake County and the Clear Lake watershed, as a threatened species. The move comes after a 12-year campaign by environmental and tribal interests to win federal protection for the fish. Once so abundant they crowded local creeks during spawning season, the hitch, known as “chi” to local Indigenous communities, have plummeted in abundance over recent decades, threatening their survival and putting an end to long-held tribal traditions centered on the seasonal run and a bountiful harvest.

Related article:

• Center for Biological Diversity news release: Endangered Species Act protection proposed for California’s Clear Lake hitch