Comment Period on Goby Extended

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reopened the public comment period on its proposal to withdraw the tidewater goby from the endangered species list.

The tidewater goby, a 2-inch long, semitransparent fish found only in California, was declared an endangered species in 1994 following an extended drought cycle. Once rainfall levels returned to normal, populations of the fish were found in salt marshes, lagoons and wetlands from the Oregon border to Los Angeles County.

In Ventura County, the goby inhabits the mouths of the Ventura and Santa Clara rivers and near a lagoon at Ormond Beach near Oxnard. A population at Mugu Lagoon died out in the 1940s.

In 1999, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing the fish populations that inhabit coastal areas north of Orange County from federal protection after concluding it had overestimated its risk of extinction. But after receiving comments from the public that were critical of the proposal, the agency reopened the period until Feb. 2.

Comments should address the agency’s conclusion that the risk of extinction had originally been exaggerated. Written comments and materials should be sent to: Regional Director, Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NE 11th Ave., Portland, Ore. 97232-4181. Further information on the proposal may be obtained from the agency’s Web site at https://www.fws.gov.

Gobies in areas stretching from Orange to San Diego counties will remain on the endangered species list.