Fishing industry groups wanted to revive a harmful program that excluded otters from parts of their coastal habitat—but Earthjustice fought back.

Supreme Court denies appeal of decision upholding U.S. Fish & Wildlife decision to end experimental program that set back California sea otter recovery

On the merits, the panel held that the Service acted lawfully in terminating the translocation program in 2012 because it was based on a reasonable interpretation of the statute.

Court of Appeals upholds U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service decision to end failed ‘No Otter Zone’ program meant to exclude sea otters from their historic range along the southern California coast

The Endangered Species Act helped the sea otter make an incredible recovery, now Congress wants to gut the act.

The Endangered Species Act helped sea otters recover from the brink of extinction. Now anti-wildlife interests in Congress want to eviscerate this important law.

Plaintiffs are four trade groups representing fishermen who fish near San Nicolas Island. They ask the Court to hold unlawful and set aside action of the Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) which, among other things, eliminated a regulation immunizing fishermen who accidentally harm California sea otters in this area. Intervenor- Defendants are seven non-profit organizations that share an affinity for marine mustelids. On November 11, 2016, Plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment. On December 16, 2016, the FWS and Intervenor-Defendants filed cross-motions.

Second ruling to uphold U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s decision to end failed program that excluded sea otters from their historic range along the southern California coast

Judge’s ruling upholds Fish and Wildlife Service decision to end unsuccessful program

Ruling upholds Fish & Wildlife Service’s decision to end misguided program

Sea otters regularly draw crowds at aquariums and along shorelines for their famously cute mustaches and furry bodies, but recent research shows that these little starlets should really be applauded for their ability to keep algae from mucking up our oceans. According to researcher Brent Hughes from the University of California, Santa Cruz, sea otters’…

They’re not just adorable. They are also key to the health of California’s kelp forests and the many other marine critters that depend on kelp forest habitat.

Conservation and wildlife groups, represented by Earthjustice, are defending a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to end a failed policy of trying to exclude sea otters from their Southern California habitat—a so-called “No Otter Zone”—by relocating otters to other areas. An industry group, the California Sea Urchin Commission, filed a lawsuit challenging…

Industry lawsuit seeks to eliminate sea otters from habitat