“By authoring a spending bill rider, Senator Stevens has proven
that he is bent on putting short-term profits for big fishing
interests ahead of the long-term survival of both Steller sea lions
and the very coastal communities he professes to care about,” said
Heather Weiner, Senior Legislative Counsel of Earthjustice Legal
Defense Fund. “Anyone who truly wishes to save Steller sea lions,
protect the North Pacific ecosystem and uphold the Endangered
Species Act must oppose Senator Stevens’ rider.”
In a 500+ page, peer-reviewed biological opinion released
December 1, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) scientists
concluded that federally-managed Alaska groundfish fisheries harm
endangered Steller sea lions and their habitat. To mitigate the
adverse effects described in the biological opinion, NMFS has
prescribed a Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) aimed at
reducing fishing impacts in the sea lions’ critical habitat. The
RPA requires changes to only the federally-managed pollock, Atka
mackerel, and Pacific cod fisheries.
Senator Stevens’ rider as currently written would bar the use of
federal funds to implement the RPA within Alaska’s state waters.
The rider would also delay implementation of the RPA, or any other
new measures to protect Steller sea lions, in federal waters until
yet another scientific review of the biological opinion is
completed and the fishing industry-dominated North Pacific Fishery
Management Council has developed its own plan for managing
groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of
Alaska.
“The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is largely to
blame for the years of delay and denial that has led to the current
situation,” said Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner Niaz Dorry. “To put
them in charge of the scientific review process is like putting
cockroaches in charge of pest control.”
In their letter to the White House, leaders representing 23
major environmental groups state that “any attempt to overturn the
agency’s biological conclusions or attempt to weaken the
accompanying changes in management of the fisheries through stealth
attacks in the FY 2001 budget would be an egregious assault on the
Endangered Species Act and much-needed, scientifically-based
conservation measures that would lead to more responsible
stewardship of our nation’s public resources.”
“Senator Stevens’ is attempting to throw the Endangered Species
Act out the window even in the face of clear evidence that Steller
sea lions are in peril due to intensive industrial fishing in their
critical habitat,” said Ted Morton, Policy Director for American
Oceans Campaign. “It is frightening to think what other endangered
species he may be willing to sacrifice in the future if he
succeeds.”
The population of the endangered Steller sea lion in the Gulf of
Alaska is crashing, having dropped by more than 80 percent in the
past 40 years (from 140,000 in 1960 to 16,000 today). The decline
continues today with an estimated average drop of over 5 percent
each year during the 90s.
Since the 1960s, the population of Steller sea lions has
declined by over 80 percent. The decline continues, with an
estimated average drop of over five-percent each year during the
90s. In April 1998, Greenpeace, American Oceans Campaign, and the
Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and
Trustees for Alaska, filed a lawsuit seeking to force the NMFS to
comply with federal environmental laws. On December 1, 2000, in an
effort to comply with the law, NMFS released its most recent
biological opinion.
