Court upholds Arctic ringed seal listing

Alan Bailey

for Petroleum News

On July 25 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld a decision by the federal District Court in Alaska supporting the National Marine Fisheries Service's continued listing of the Arctic ringed seal as threatened under the terms of the Endangered Species Act. The listing can place limitations on activities in the offshore waters of Arctic Alaska.

In 2019 the state of Alaska, the North Slope Borough, the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope petitioned NMFS to delist the seals. NMFS declined the delisting. Subsequently in 2022 the state of Alaska and the North Slope Borough challenged the listing in District Court on the grounds that new climate change projections and recent publications on ringed seal biology had indicated that delisting of the seals had become warranted. The seals had originally been listed in 2012.

In March 2024 the District Court upheld the listing of the seals. Subsequently in May 2024 the plaintiffs in the case appealed the District Court decision to the 9th Circuit court.

In its July 25 ruling the 9th Circuit court wrote that NMFS had reasonably determined that the climate change projections remained consistent with the projections that had supported the 2012 listing. Nor did NMFS improperly disregard new information about sea ice loss and other climate related changes, the court wrote. The court also supported the NMFS argument that some findings relating to the Pacific walrus had no bearing on the potential delisting of the ringed seals.

"In sum, NMFS reasonably determined that the petition did not present new information indicating that delisting the Arctic ringed seal may be warranted," the panel of 9th Circuit judges wrote.

--ALAN BAILEY