Monday, March 5, 2012

Fishing restrictions to stay in place in Aleutians

Federal Judge Timothy Burgess today declined to lift controversial commercial fishing restrictions the federal government imposed to protect endangered Steller sea lions in the Aleutians.

But the judge, in a 13-page ruling, gave the National Marine Fisheries Service a March 2, 2014, deadline to complete an environmental impact statement.

Burgess, as you might recall, in January held that NMFS should have done the EIS before imposing the fishing restrictions.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let the crying begin! Bloody NEPA seems resistant. Kind of amazing, actually.

Anonymous said...

Oh, oh, big bummer for the powers. Dang NEPA anyway, fuzzbutt judge throws the big monkey wrench. Ante up?

Anonymous said...

For the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

Someone somewhere should get a clue, Clueless, at the National, State, and Local...

George knew a few monkey's too...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller%27s_Sea_Eagle

Anonymous said...

Stalling for more studies seems to be the way to go these days.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, the first concern should all ways be for the endangered animal. Not the fisherman. On the brightside, when ever fishing is allowed again it will be fantastic!

Anonymous said...

Screw the sea lion one can only hope whales will finish them off

Anonymous said...

WHAT IS

AN ENDANGERED SPECIES!

Can Stellar Sea Bobbyt?

"...a blind man is not required to see at his peril."
of course that 200 mile limit always confuses em' in Petersburg

http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/AJOC-March-4-2012/Vessel-sold-after-red-flags-raised-about-foreign-control/

Anonymous said...

Mr. Fox, sir,
I won't do it.
I can't say.
I won't chew it.

Very well, sir.
Step this way.
We'll find another game to play.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/30/us-iceland-glitnir-idUSTRE7AT2UX20111130

Anonymous said...

To poster @ 1:58,
Aren't you supposed to be at a gay pride parade somewhere instead of posting here?

Anonymous said...

NMFS can do pretty much whatever it wants in the name of protecting T&E species.

I think the fishing industry needs to have a bigger vision regarding sea lions. Petition NMFS to remove them from both the threatended and endangered lists. The petition would have to be supported with good science and I think it is available. Recent counts show a stable if not increasing population of 50,000+ animals in western AK. That is far more than many other animals that are not on the list (e.g., recently delisted wolves in the L48). It would be easy to argue that the decline in sea lion population was caused by increased killer whale predation but that has stabilized.

Suing about the methods NMFS is using to protect T&E species is a waste of time. Get them off the list. This will be a battle though because many NMFS people get funding for their jobs by keeping these animals on the list.

Anonymous said...

Correct.

Anonymous said...

To poster at 7:20 am,

couldnt make it too the parade, too busy managing Alaskan fisheries, hahaha...

Anonymous said...

To you above,

Sorry, the first concern should always be for the department budget shortfalls, the dept. should always take priority over the employee. But hey, when you get your job back, just think how fantastic regular meals and shelter will be. What an ass.

Anonymous said...

Gee whiz, bobby t doesn't have juice anymore to get rid of NEPA since Ted Stevens is gone, Arne didn't get his job with the feds, and he can't pull a move like he did when Frank was Governor with the Habitat Division, I bet he hates it when that happens.