Threatened status for bearded seals nixed

Judge vacates NMFS listing, remands matter back to agency; state, oil industry representatives argued listing was groundless

Wesley Loy

For Petroleum News

An Alaska federal judge has overturned the 2012 listing of the Beringia population of bearded seals as threatened.

U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline’s July 25 decision cheered state officials and oil industry representatives, who argued the National Marine Fisheries Service had no grounds to make the threatened listing.

The listing was based on the idea that the bearded seals, toward the end of this century, could face a significant threat due to diminishing sea ice related to climate change.

Beistline wasn’t buying it.

“Troubling to this court,” he wrote, was that it didn’t appear from the NMFS listing that any significant threat to the Beringia population was contemplated before 2090.

“Even as to that date, NMFS acknowledges that it lacks any reliable data as to the actual impact on the bearded seal population as a result of the loss of sea ice,” the judge wrote. “Under the facts in this case, forecasting more than 50 years into the future is simply too speculative and remote to support a determination that the bearded seal is in danger of becoming extinct.”

Two distinct populations

NMFS in December 2012 issued a final decision to list two distinct populations of bearded seals as threatened under the Endangered Species Act – the Beringia population, found in Alaska waters, and the Okhotsk population found off the coast of Japan and Russia.

Bearded seals are the largest species of arctic seal, reaching weights of 575 to 800 pounds. They are commonly associated with sea ice, which they use for resting, feeding and rearing young.

After the listings, a range of interests filed suit, including the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the state of Alaska, the North Slope Borough, and a number of other local government and Alaska Native organizations.

The Center for Biological Diversity entered as an intervener on the side of NMFS.

Beistline, in his ruling, addressed only the listing of the Beringia population of bearded seals.

Ruling hailed

He noted “the lack of any articulated discernable, quantified threat of extinction within the reasonably foreseeable future.”

Beistline also noted that “NMFS acknowledged that it lacks sufficient data on the resilience of bearded seals to cope with climatic changes.”

The judge vacated the Beringia listing and remanded the matter to NMFS to “correct … substantive and procedural deficiencies.”

State officials and industry representatives hailed Beistline’s ruling.

“We are pleased the court agreed that the listing of the bearded seal was not warranted,” Alaska Attorney General Michael Geraghty said in a July 25 press release. “The listing was based solely on speculative 100-year projections that lacked any credible scientific evidence. Because it was unnecessary the listing would only place unnecessary and costly regulatory burdens on responsible development opportunities and divert resources from helping species that truly need it.”

Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell added: “We are pleased that the court acted on the admission by NMFS that it lacked any reliable data as to the actual impact on the bearded seal population as a result of the loss of sea ice out to end of the century. We are also pleased with the court’s finding that in this case forecasting more than 50 years into the future is simply too speculative.”

“This decision is a win for science,” said Kara Moriarty, president of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. “AOGA’s opinion is that these listings were not supported by the available scientific data, which show bearded seal populations to be healthy, abundant and thriving. We are gratified that Judge Beistline agreed.”