March 27, 2025 — The National Marine Fisheries Service did not violate the National Environmental Policy Act when setting seasons and conditions for pollock trawl fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, even though the fishery harms Native American tribes in western Alaska, a federal judge ruled March 11.
The case, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska by two consortiums representing 98 Alaskan tribes, claimed that the climate crisis is causing rapid and unprecedented change in the ocean (Clearing Up No. 2136). Plaintiffs claimed that NMFS failed to take those changes into account when setting conditions for the last two groundfish seasons.
Joined by several environmental groups, the tribes asked the court to require NMFS to prepare a new environmental impact statement (EIS) for the trawl fishery, taking climate change into account.
Although District Judge Sharon Gleason agreed with plaintiffs on several of their points, she ultimately ruled against them.