Lawsuit to Protect the North Pacific Ecosystem

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The lawsuit charges NMFS with failing to comply with two important laws, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and demands the agency take action to prevent the extinction of the Steller sea lion and the collapse of the North Pacific marine ecosystem.

The Steller sea lion population, listed as endangered in 1997, is facing further decline as factory trawlers and other industrial fishing vessels destroy its food source. This lawsuit - the first to demand protection of an endangered animal on the basis of food competition - has the potential to set an important precedent in protecting marine life and other animals.

In December of 1998, NMFS declared that the fishery did threaten the survival of Steller seal lions, yet Greenpeace and the other plaintiffs (American Oceans Campaign and the Sierra Club) did not believe the measures that NMFS proposed would in fact protect them. The Court agreed and in December 2002 ruled that the biological opinion governing the fisheries was illegal because it did not adequately consider the effects of groundfish fisheries on endangered Steller sea lions and their habitat. When the revised biological opinion is released in June 2003 Greenpeace will review it carefully to determine whether NMFS has complied with the order.

On April 2, 2003, Seattle federal judge Thomas Zilly issued an order wrapping up the successful six-year-old lawsuit that changed the way oceans off the coast of Alaska are managed. Greenpeace's work, however, is far from finished. The order simply sets deadlines for NMFS to comply with rulings to protect Steller sea lions. Greenpeace will follow NMFS progress to ensure that it manages the fishery to protect the North Pacific ecosystem.