December 20, 2024 — The federal government has failed to give adequate information on deaths of killer whales and other marine mammals that become entangled in commercial trawling gear in Alaska waters, claims a lawsuit filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage.
The lawsuit, filed by the environmental group Oceana, targets the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The whales and other marine mammals killed in fishing gear are subjects of what is known as bycatch, the unintended, incidental catch of species that are not the harvest target.