Unalaska, AK – The state of Alaska has filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service in an effort to overturn a rule that would limit fishing in the western Aleutian Islands. The rule is set to take effect on January 1, and has been put in place in order to protect the endangered western stock of Steller sea lions.

The decision to close the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in the Western Aleutians so that the sea lions would have more fish available to them was announced last week by NMFS, and has come under fire from the fishing industry. These fisheries may employ as many as 900 people according to the state, and their closure could have an economic impact of upwards of $66 million. The state of Alaska is concerned that the research done on the decline of Steller sea lions does not justify these restrictions.

"We filed the lawsuit for basically two reasons," says Doug Vincent-Lang, the state of Alaska's endangered species coordinator. "One is to get a more adequate explanation of the foundational science used to justify the action. Number two: there were some process concerns. We don't feel that the National Marine Fisheries Service adequately used the process and the legal requirements associated with the process to be able to adopt these regulations under interim final rules and implementing them on January 1. And we think that they should be held to using the processes that they're legally bound to use."

But not everyone agrees with this assessment. Jon Warrenchuk is an ocean scientist for the conservation group Oceana, and he says that the best science available shows that commercial fishing does have an impact on the sea lion population in that region.
"They eat Atka mackerel, cod, pollock, salmon to some extent," says Warrenchuk. "In different areas of Alaska, some populations are doing better than others. In the Aleutians, they're doing the absolute poorest and are on a trajectory toward eventual extirpation. In other words, there won't be sea lions in that area anymore if these trends continue."

The state is asking for an expedited review of their lawsuit by the U.S. District Court and trying to get a hold on the rule that would prevent fishery closures from going into effect in two weeks.