Groups Sue Fisheries Service for Withholding Public Information

Oceana, represented by Earthjustice, has filed two lawsuits against the National Marine Fisheries Service (Fisheries Service) for withholding information about the injury and death of marine life taken in commercial fisheries off California and Alaska. The cases were filed after the Fisheries Service provided inadequate responses to multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests where Oceana sought records related to marine mammals and unwanted fish caught while fishing for other species.

The lawsuits involve four separate FOIA requests between 2021 and 2023 in which Oceana requested records, photographs, and videos related to bycatch in trawl fisheries off California and Alaska. In response, the Fisheries Service either denied the request or heavily redacted most of the records (i.e. blacked out, pixilated, or blurred). In doing so, the agency relied on an irrational and overly broad interpretation of the nation’s fishery law — the Magnuson Stevens Act — claiming the photos and other information were confidential.

“The Fisheries Service is entrusted with protecting our treasured marine life and managing our shared marine resources on the public’s behalf,” said Rumela Roy, an attorney with Earthjustice. “Yet the agency is blocking public access to crucial information about how U.S. fisheries impact marine mammals, fish, and our oceans. We are going to court to uphold the Freedom of Information Act’s basic premise — that the government is accountable to the people and can’t keep us in the dark.”

“Public access to information is essential to hold the government accountable and ensure U.S. fisheries are managed sustainably,” said Tara Brock, Oceana’s Pacific legal director and senior counsel. “The unlawful withholding of information by the Fisheries Service related to the deaths of whales, fish, and other ocean life is unacceptable. People have the right to know how commercial fisheries impact marine wildlife.”

• Access additional FOIA photo examples provided by the Fisheries Service, including an 11-page pdf that was entirely redacted.
• View the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Alaska and the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Central California.

Background

FOIA provides the public with the right to request access to records from any federal agency. In response, agencies must disclose any information requested under FOIA unless it falls under specific exemptions, for example because the information is classified to protect national security, or disclosure is prohibited by another law.

Trawling is one of the most damaging and indiscriminate commercial fishing methods. Trawlers drag large, weighted fishing nets on or near the ocean floor, scooping up almost everything in their path. These huge nets catch orcas, humpback whales, porpoises, seals, and other marine mammals — all of which breathe air and can drown when caught in a trawl net. Unwanted fish caught in these nets also frequently die even if they are tossed back into the ocean.