Why is it the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service? Why are fish explicitly delineated as separate and apart from wildlife in general? Does the FWS' jurisdiction extend to domesticated fish?
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Life, law, and frosted donuts.
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Common government thing. They used screwed-up names to remind everyone that what was two is now one.
"It began as the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries in the United States Department of Commerce and the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy in the United States Department of Agriculture and took its present form in 1939."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Fish_and_Wildlife_Service
Oh, and apparently they do govern some domesticated fish:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Fish_Hatchery_System
Nice work, detective!
When I said domesticated fish I was thinking more in terms of goldfish. Like, could the feds come beating down my door if I over-feed my pet fish?
I believe that would be a state crime. If that could be interpreted as "overloading", then you can look forward to up to a $20,000 fine under California Penal Code Part 1, Title 14, Section 597b, regardless of whether or not it was intentional.
If your pet fish was one of ten special species as deliniated by the California Fish and Game Code Section 5515b, you could be looking at prison time as well.
And you won't even get to bury him yourself.