Steller sea lions: the effects of multi-statute administration on the role of science in environmental management

The Federal District Court of Western Washington recently held that the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) failed to comply with its obligations under the 1973 Endangered Species Act and NEPA concerning two Alaskan groundfish fisheries and their interactions with the Steller sea lion. NMFS has held the numerous, overlapping, and often conflicting administrative responsibilities in both regulating the fisheries and protecting the sea lions. The effects of the diversity of these statutory responsibilities on the use of science in protecting the sea lions are examined. The complicated framework of interconnected and conflicting statutory obligations may have compromised the NMFS's role as a technical expert agency and invested it with non-transparent political responsibility for managing the North Pacific marine ecosystem.