Alaska is suing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to try to overturn a rule meant to restrict fishing in the Western Aleutian Islands. Designed to defend the western population of Steller sea lions, which are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the regulation is set to go into force on 1 January.
The move to shut down the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in the Western Aleutian Islands was planned to allow the sea lions more available fish to feed on.
This Steller sea lion stock has shrunk by 45 per cent from 2000 to 2008, and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) one of the major factors responsible for this decline may be lack of food.
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