Ninth Circuit Court Hears Appeal of Oceana Lawsuit Calling on Fishery Managers to Protect Alaska’s Seafloor Habitats
Press Release Date: August 10, 2026
Location: Anchorage, AK
Contact:
Jamie Karnik | email: jkarnik@oceana.org | tel: 907-635-8722
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments today in the appeal of a lawsuit filed in 2024 by Oceana challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for failing to adequately protect important corals, sponges, and other seafloor habitats in the Gulf of Alaska.
The lawsuit by Oceana, represented by Earthjustice, centers on the impacts on essential fish habitats from trawling, a form of fishing where huge nets are dragged along the seafloor and damage everything in their path to catch groundfish like flounder and cod.
Oceana has argued that NMFS and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council entirely ignored the effects of bottom trawling on known essential fish habitats and underrepresented the impacts everywhere else. After the U.S. District Court in Alaska dismissed that lawsuit in 2025, largely deferring to the federal agency, Oceana filed its appeal with the Ninth Circuit.
“The science is clear and so is the law — fishery managers are required to protect areas designated as essential fish habitat, including deep sea coral and sponge ecosystems,” said Ben Enticknap, Oceana’s fisheries campaign director and senior scientist. “Right now, fragile seafloor habitats in the Gulf of Alaska that are critical for fish and other ocean animals to breed, feed, and grow are being damaged and destroyed by massive trawl fishing nets. These ecosystems can be hundreds of years old, yet a single pass of a trawl net can wipe them out of existence.”
“Trawling has cascading impacts on Alaska’s ocean ecosystems, and the crab, halibut, salmon, whales, and other marine life that are central to communities and livelihoods of countless Alaskans. Fishery managers can protect ocean habitats while still allowing for trawling in designated open areas, as has happened before in the Aleutian Islands and other areas along the Pacific coast. We are hopeful the Court will order NMFS to correct its unlawful analysis and put the agency and fishery council back on the right path toward protecting important seafloor habitat so that Alaskan fish, wildlife, and communities can thrive. ”
“Federal fisheries managers ignored important obligations under the Magnuson-Stevens Act by not even considering whether destructive trawl fishing is damaging large areas of habitat the fisheries managers have themselves determined is essential for fish, and by failing to recognize harm to the habitats they did consider if it was not severe enough to cause a fish population to crash.” said Earthjustice attorney Kate Glover. “Because they shortcut their analysis, the fisheries managers did not adopt any meaningful measures to protect fragile habitat, like corals and sponges.”
The Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires that federal fishery managers designate essential fish habitats—areas that are critical for fish to grow, spawn, and feed. Every five years, fishery managers must evaluate whether fishing is adversely affecting those habitats and, if they find any adverse fishing effects, take action to minimize that harm.
Yet in 2023, despite an array of scientific information, including a proposal from Oceana, about known coral and sponge areas under threat and the impacts of bottom trawling, the fishery council and NMFS chose to not consider any actions to protect seafloor habitats. That decision was based on an analysis that either ignored documented fishing effects in large portions of habitat that fisheries managers determined was essential or failed to consider adverse effects unless they resulted in severe declines in fish populations.
Trawl nets can be hundreds of feet wide and dragged as long as 15 miles along the seafloor, gouging habitats and uprooting and destroying corals, sponges and associated marine life. Throughout Alaska, trawl nets also catch and often waste salmon, halibut, crab and other species central to the lives of many Alaskans.
Expeditions by Oceana (2022) and NOAA (2023) documented unique seafloor ecosystems in the Gulf of Alaska, advancing the understanding of ocean habitats and our ability to protect them. Many documented habitat areas, including fragile coral gardens, are in areas open to trawling.
The western and central Gulf of Alaska is the last region remaining in the North Pacific where bottom trawling continues nearly unchecked, with 91% of the region open to bottom trawling. That area includes important breeding, feeding, and spawning areas with abundant corals and sponges that are essential for healthy ocean ecosystems.
Resources
- Interactive story map about protecting seafloor habitats in the Gulf of Alaska
- Images: Gulf of Alaska Seafloor Habitat
- Report: Net Loss – The Costs of Bottom trawling in the Gulf of Alaska
- Oceana Draft Seafloor Protection Proposal submitted to North Pacific Council
- National Academy of Sciences report on bottom trawling
Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one-quarter of the world’s wild fish catch. With more than 325 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, oil and plastic pollution, and the killing of threatened species like turtles, whales, and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Visit www.oceana.org to learn more.
Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.
