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AOGA, API sue over ringed seal listing Trade organizations claim that there is no evidence linking climate change with the survival outlook for the Arctic subspecies Alan Bailey Petroleum News
The Alaska Oil and Gas Association and the American Petroleum Institute have taken the National Marine Fisheries Service to court over the Fisheries Service’s 2012 listing of the Arctic ringed seal as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In a complaint filed in the federal District Court in Alaska on Dec. 23, the two oil industry trade associations asked the court to find that the listing violates both the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The listing of the ringed seal is one of a series of listings by federal agencies based on the theory that, under the impacts of global warming, the predicted long-term decline in Arctic sea ice may threaten any species that depends on the ice for its habitat, regardless of the species’ current abundance.
‘Arbitrary and capricious’ The trade associations argue that the National Marine Fisheries Service was “arbitrary and capricious” in determining that the Arctic ringed seal, an “abundant, wide-ranging, genetically diverse and otherwise healthy” subspecies is under threat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has categorized the ringed seals as of “least concern” in the organization’s ranking of the conservation status of various plant and animal species, the trade associations wrote in their court filing. The conservation organization has said that the ringed seal has a population of millions, with a broad distribution, the trade associations wrote.
“There are no scientific data linking the effects of climate change in the Arctic and the health, reproduction, survival or conservation of Arctic ringed seals,” the trade associations wrote. “Moreover, there are no data to support and, accordingly, NMFS did not establish either an extinction threshold for Arctic ringed seals or the probability of the Arctic ringed seals reaching an extinction threshold within any specified time frame.”
Unjustified timeframe The trade associations also said that the Fisheries Service had arbitrarily used climate projections out to the year 2100, rather than projections to the mid-21st century, as has been the custom in other Arctic species listings, when coming to the conclusion that the ringed seals are under threat.
“NMFS has not provided a rational explanation, based on record evidence, supporting its reliance on 2100 as the foreseeable future, nor has NMFS rationally explained its changed position on this issue,” the trade associations wrote.
In December the Fisheries Service published a proposed designation of critical habitat for the Arctic ringed seal. The proposed critical habitat region includes all areas where sea ice may be found and thus encompasses the entirety of the U.S. Beaufort and Chukchi seas, and the northern part of the Bering Sea. Features of the critical habitat include the sea ice that the seals use for lairs, and for activities such as basking and molting. The features also include the seals’ primary prey. (See map)
Snow caves The Fisheries Service said that the snow caves that the seals use to nurse and protect their pups constitute a particular problem as the climate warms. The late formation of ice in the fall, late winter rain and the early spring breakup of sea ice all threaten the caves, while a decline in snow depths may result in future depths too shallow for cave formation, that agency has said.
The oil industry, as represented by the trade associations, worries about the potential impact of the listing of the seals on offshore activities - under the terms of the Endangered Species Act, any federal action such as the processing of a federal permit application will trigger an agency consultation over potential impacts of a permitted activity on a listed species. A finding of potential harm to the species or its critical habitat will trigger the need for mitigation measures to prevent the harm.
The trade organizations wrote in their court filing that they and their member companies, while pursuing energy development and production, are committed to the protection of the Alaska Arctic and the adjacent Arctic outer continental shelf, and that they want to ensure that the ringed seals are conserved according to the best available science.
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