California Court Rules Bees Are Fish Meme

A fish; California court rules that bees are a type of fish in order to protect them under the state's endangered species act

This humorous single-panel meme displays a stock photograph of a fuzzy bumblebee in mid-flight above bright yellow buttercup flowers against a soft green-yellow blurred background. A bright magenta arrow points directly at the bee, with matching bold magenta text next to the arrow reading 'A fish'. Beneath the image, explanatory text states that a California court ruled bees qualify as a type of fish to enable their protection under the state's endangered species act. The joke relies on the absurdity of the counterintuitive legal classification, which uses a broad technical definition of 'fish' in the state's code to extend protections to terrestrial invertebrates like bees.

This meme was created as a reaction to the real 2022 ruling by the California Third District Court of Appeal that classified four species of bumblebee as 'fish' under the California Fish and Game Code to allow them to receive endangered species protections, as the code's definition of 'fish' broadly includes invertebrates. It was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by the account @meme.jpg, and went viral as a lighthearted take on the seemingly bizarre legal technicality, widely circulated in social media feeds discussing U.S. environmental policy and legal oddities.