NOAA Fisheries News Releases
NEWS RELEASE
March 28, 2003
Jonathan Pollard, Attorney
(907) 586-7414 Ext. 224
Michael Payne, Protected Resources Division leader
(907) 586-7639
NOAA Fisheries and Plaintiffs Reach An Agreement: Alaska Groundfish/Steller Sea Lion Lawsuit May End
In the five year old case involving Steller sea lion protections and the Alaska groundfish fishery, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), the plaintiffs and intervenors submitted a request today for the U.S. District Court to issue a final order ending the case.
Attorneys on different sides have agreed to submit a proposed order to Judge Zilly of the U.S. District Court in Seattle. Judge Zilly may issue the proposed final order, which would end the case.
Under the proposed order and from earlier court decisions, NOAA Fisheries is producing two documents central to the long-running case:
- By June 30, 2003, the agency will publish an addendum to its 2001 biological opinion that clarifies the effects of the fisheries on endangered Steller sea lions and their critical habitat.
- By September 1, 2004, the agency will complete a Final Programmatic Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision concerning the Alaskan groundfish fishery.
The proposed order states that, with deadlines for these two documents in place, the parties agree to dismiss without prejudice any remaining unadjudicated claims that are still pending in this case.
"We would be delighted to see this case concluded," said Jim Balsiger, Administrator of the Alaska Region of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. "We look forward to protecting marine mammals and managing the fishery without the draining demands of an ongoing lawsuit."
The involved parties include Greenpeace, American Oceans Campaign, Sierra Club, National Marine Fisheries Service, At-Sea Processors Association, United Catcher Boats, Aleutians East Borough, City of Unalaska, and about 20 fishing businesses.
Disagreements over the adequacy of NOAA Fisheries' plans for protection of Steller sea lions hit the court five years ago, when Greenpeace and others claimed that North Pacific Fishery management plans did not have adequate measures to protect the Steller sea lions.
"Regulation of the fishery....has been far from a simple task, as the extensive litigation history of this case, extending back to the filing of the original complaint on April 15, 1998, and the voluminous administrative record, comprising more than 50,000 pages of documents, amply demonstrate," says a 2002 Court document in the case. "It is clear to the Court that a tremendous amount of time, energy and resources have been expended in attempting to end the decline of the western population of Steller sea lions, while maintaining the fishing industry that is so important to the region on the basis of ever-changing scientific knowledge."
Steller sea lions in 1990 were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In 1997, after a continuing steep decline in the population, Steller sea lions in Alaska's western population were declared endangered.
With the support of Alaska's congressional delegation, about $80 million has been appropriated for researching the cause of Steller sea lions' decline in western Alaskan waters.
Researchers are investigating varied causes for the decline, including changing diet, predators, disease and parasites, pollutants, accidental deaths and hunting. They are also looking at combinations of factors.
For the first time in two decades, NOAA Fisheries scientists last year measured an over-all increase in Steller sea lions for Alaska's western population.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation's living marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement, and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat. To learn more about NOAA Fisheries in Alaska, please visit our website at www.fakr.noaa.gov