[6] Lawsuit Challenges NMFS' New Hatchery/Wild ESA Fish Policy

Several environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle to challenge the new NMFS policy that counts hatchery fish with wild fish in some populations listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The policy was developed after an earlier lawsuit by property-rights groups (Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans) won a ruling in Oregon that said the agency's coastal coho listing was illegal because listed hatchery fish weren't offered the same protections as the wild component of that ESU.

The groups are also going after a recent action by the federal fish agency to downlist upper Columbia steelhead from "endangered" to "threatened" status.

The lawsuit contends that the new NMFS policy was approved even though a panel of independent scientists had unanimously concluded that wild and hatchery salmonids should be treated separately under the ESA. (See NW Fishletter 177)

The plaintiffs say that including hatchery fish in an ESA listing runs counter to the ESA goal of protecting species in their natural environments.

The groups going after the hatchery policy are represented by Earthjustice, and include Trout Unlimited, American Rivers, Pacific Rivers Council, Wild Steelhead Coalition, Native Fish Society, and the Sierra Club. -B. R.

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