Judge Bars Feds From Downgrading Orca Protectio

by Patricia Collier

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to take a second - and more scientifically updated - look at their decision last year to list orcas in Puget Sound as depleted but not endangered.

The number of killer whales in Oregon's Puget Sound at any given time once exceeded 200. Scientists estimate only about 84 remain.

Pollution, human misuse of resources and lack of salmon have been blamed on the dramatic decline, yet the National Marine Fisheries Service said the decrease was not significant and ruled the whales do not need protection under the Endangered Species Act.

According to the agency's report, "the region's inland orcas face a relatively high risk of extinction", but not a "significant population segment."

The report said the orcas along the coast would "fill the gap" if the inland, or Southern Resident Population, "disappeared."

But U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik says the agency's findings were "speculative and unsupported."

According to Lasnik, the government must also decide if orcas are endangered over a substantial part of their range, a factor he said was not considered by the agency last year.

In fact, he added, the federal government failed to consider the "best available science" when embarking upon their study.

"The judge has given the Puget Sound killer whales the best Christmas gift they could have been afforded," said Fred Felleman of Orca Conservancy, one of six environmental groups that sued the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"It was hard to believe that the Bush administration found that the Puget Sound orca whales are not significant. This decision puts the process on the right track," said Patti Goldman of Earthjustice.

Fisheries service spokesman Brian Gorman said his organization would have a year to reconsider its decision and that officials could end up appealing Lasnik's ruling.

According to the Orca Conservancy, plaintiffs in the case included Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earth Island Institute, Ocean Advocates, Orca Conservancy, Friends of the San Juans, People for Puget Sound and former Secretary of State Ralph Munro.

Two Canadian environmental groups, Sierra Legal Defence Fund and Georgia Strait Alliance, also joined the lawsuit as "friends of the court."

The Alliance was represented by the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.