The decision in Almond Alliance of California v. Fish and Game Commission, (2022) 79 Cal.App.5th 337, which held that, for purposes of California’s environmental statutes, the term “fish” includes bumblebees, has sparked ridicule from both outside and within the legal world. The purpose of this blogpost, though, is not to mock – instead I want to identify where the court’s train of reasoning went off the track, and to use the case as a vehicle to discuss how basic logic relates to statutory interpretation.
