U.S. District Court Rejects Challenges to Final Rule Terminating Sea Otter Translocation Program.
Posted in Court Decisions

On September 18, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rejected the assertion by the California Sea Urchin Commission, California Abalone Association, and Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara (Plaintiffs) that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) lacked authority to issue a final rule terminating the California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) translocation program.  The program was developed to establish a translocated population of sea otters remote from the main population, to help ensure that the entire species would not be wiped out by a single catastrophic oil spill.  Because sea otters are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the program also included incidental take exemptions for fisheries that operate in the waters surrounding the newly translocated population.  The Service terminated the program in 2012 after determining that it was unsuccessful.

Plaintiffs challenged the Service’s termination of the program, arguing the Service caused Plaintiffs to refrain from pursuing their livelihoods for fear of prosecution for take of otter.  Despite Plaintiffs’ arguments, the court held that the Service was authorized to terminate the program.  The court reasoned that, because the Service was authorized by statute to establish the program to create the new sea otter population, it must therefore have the discretion to terminate the program, including the exemptions associated therewith, at any time thereafter.

The court also held that Plaintiffs lacked standing because they failed to establish injury in fact, as required by Article III of the Constitution.

Twitter/X Facebook LinkedIn

Nossaman’s Endangered Species Law & Policy blog focuses on news, events, and policies affecting endangered species issues in California and throughout the United States. Topics include listing and critical habitat decisions, conservation and recovery planning, inter-agency consultation, and related developments in law, policy, and science. We also inform readers about regulatory and legislative developments, as well as key court decisions.

Stay Connected

RSS RSS Feed

Categories

Archives

View All Nossaman Blogs
Jump to Page

We use cookies on this website to improve functionality, enhance performance, analyze website traffic and to enable social media features. To learn more, please see our Privacy Policy and our Terms & Conditions for additional detail.