Ninth Circuit judges weigh Ocean group challenge to Alaska habitat rules

Oceana, represented by Earthjustice attorney Katherine Glover, petitioned a Ninth Circuit three-judge panel to require the National Marine Fisheries Service to revisit its analysis of fishing effects on offshore Alaska essential fish habitat. The NGO claims the service used only the core essential fish habitat test and a minimum stock size threshold, which Glover says are legally insufficient. Judges Patrick Bumatay and Consuela Callahan probed whether Oceana has standing, noting the group has not shown concrete overfishing or direct injury from the specific amendments.

The agency, through Justice Department attorney Amy Collier, argued the challenged amendments are minor updates that do not authorize continued trawling and that the Magnuson-Stevens Act does not prescribe a particular methodology. Industry trade groups, joining as intervenors, contend the service possesses the expertise to decide what mitigation is practicable. The panel, which also includes Judge Carlos Bea, has not set a timetable for a decision.