Federal Court Upholds Endangered Species Protection for Arctic Ringed Seals

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A federal appeals court has upheld the threatened status of Arctic ringed seals under the Endangered Species Act, rejecting a challenge by the state of Alaska and the North Slope Borough seeking to remove the marine mammals from the list.

Court Affirms Protection

On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which had denied a 2022 petition from Alaska and the North Slope Borough to delist the seals. The petition sought to overturn a 2012 decision that classified ringed seals as threatened due to the effects of climate change on their sea ice habitat.

The three-judge panel affirmed a March 2024 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred, who found that the NMFS had acted appropriately when it rejected the state’s arguments. The agency had determined that the petition failed to present new information indicating that delisting might be warranted.

“The NMFS reasonably determined that the petition did not present new information indicating that delisting the Arctic ringed seal may be warranted,” the court’s decision stated.

Environmental Groups Applaud Ruling

The Center for Biological Diversity, which joined the case in support of NMFS, celebrated the decision as a critical step in protecting the species.

“The science is overwhelmingly clear that climate change is threatening the seals’ existence,” said Marlee Goska, the group’s Alaska staff attorney. “The court rightly recognized there’s no scientific or legal reason for Alaska’s cruel attempt to strip away safeguards these seals need to survive our rapidly heating world.”

State Pushback Continues

Despite the ruling, Alaska officials indicated they may continue to challenge the designation. Ronald Opsahl, a senior assistant attorney general for the state, said the state is reviewing the decision and believes the court erred.

“With its opinion, the Ninth Circuit seems to endorse the double standard between requests that an agency consider delisting a species and requests to list a species,” Opsahl said in a statement. He argued that the court failed to account for new population studies and updated climate forecasts.

Ongoing Legal Disputes

This decision marks another chapter in the long-running legal battles over protections for Arctic seals, which rely on sea ice to breed and raise pups.

The ringed seal and its close relative, the bearded seal, were both listed as threatened in 2012 following lawsuits brought by the Center for Biological Diversity. Since then, Alaska, local governments, and industry groups have repeatedly challenged those listings.

In a separate case last year, a federal judge ruled in favor of the state by overturning NMFS' plan to designate 174 million acres as critical habitat for the seals. That decision has since been appealed and is pending before the same appellate court.

The appeals court has previously upheld protections for these seals. In 2016, it affirmed the bearded seal’s listing, and in 2018, it made a similar ruling for the ringed seal.

Friday’s decision reaffirms the federal government’s authority to protect Arctic wildlife threatened by the loss of sea ice in a warming climate.