bearded seals Archives - Saving Seafood

Habitat protections for Alaska ringed and bearded seals reinstated by appeals court

March 26, 2026 — A federal appeals court on Wednesday reinstated protections for Arctic Alaska seals across a coastal and marine region stretching from the Central Bering Sea to the Beaufort Sea off the state’s northern coast.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal regulators acted properly in 2022 when they designated nearly 160 million acres as critical habitat for ringed seals and bearded seals. Both species are listed as threatened because of their dependence on Arctic sea ice. Designated critical habitat is required under the Endangered Species Act. It protects listed populations in the places they are most concentrated.

The appeals court ruling reverses a 2024 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason that struck down the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s critical habitat designation as overly broad. And Wednesday’s ruling rejects arguments made by the state of Alaska that the critical habitat designated by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service was too vast to justify the negative impacts to oil development and other activities.

NMFS acted properly and in accordance with the law when it designated critical habitat for the seals, making the decisions after weighing impacts to activities like oil development, the ruling said.

The appeals court ruling said that the nearly 160 million acres of designated critical habitat area is large, but size is relative.

“To put that number into perspective, Alaska and its surrounding waters cover nearly half a billion acres—so even a small subset of the state may seem large in the abstract,” it said.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

NOAA Fisheries Designates Critical Habitat for Ringed and Bearded Seals in U.S. Arctic

April 1, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries is designating critical habitat in U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska for Arctic ringed seals and the Beringia distinct population segment (DPS) of bearded seals. Both species are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The ESA requires that NOAA Fisheries designate critical habitat for listed species in areas within the jurisdiction of the United States.

Critical habitat identifies geographic areas that contain features essential to the conservation of a listed species.

For each species, the critical habitat area includes marine waters of the northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas. The critical habitat boundaries differ between the two species, reflecting differences in where the essential habitat features for each species are found. For each of the designations, the geographic extent of the critical habitat is discussed in detail in the final rule and is depicted on a map.

The final rule to designate critical habitat for Arctic ringed seals excludes an area of the Beaufort Sea used by the Navy for training and testing activities, based on national security impacts.

NOAA Fisheries considered public comments on the proposed designation, and used the best scientific data available, including independent peer review. Before designating critical habitat, we gave careful consideration to potential economic, national security, and other relevant factors.

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries

Public Now Has 30 More Days to Comment on Proposed Ringed and Bearded Seal Critical Habitat

March 9, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is extending the deadline for members of the public to submit comments on the proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the threatened Beringia distinct population segment of the Pacific bearded seal subspecies under the Endangered Species Act. We have also extended the comment period for the revised proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the threatened Arctic subspecies of ringed seal . The end of the public comment period is extended from March 9, 2021, to April 8, 2021.

Both proposed rules were published in the Federal Register on January 8, 2021.

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Critical Habitat for Ringed and Bearded Seals in U.S. Arctic

January 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing to designate critical habitat in U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska for Arctic ringed seals and the Beringia distinct population of bearded seals. Both species are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The ESA requires that NOAA Fisheries designate critical habitat for listed species in areas within the jurisdiction of the United States. Critical habitat identifies geographic areas that contain features essential to the conservation of a listed species.

Designating critical habitat does not create a preserve or refuge, and would not affect subsistence harvest of ringed or bearded seals by Alaska Natives.

Supreme Court says bearded seal still threatened, despite legal battle

January 23, 2018 — While the federal government was shut down on Monday, the federal courts were still making decisions.

The U.S Supreme Court decided to keep the bearded seal as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — rejecting an oil and gas industry challenge to the animal’s protection status.

The marine mammal was listed in 2012, due to melting sea ice. But the Alaska Oil and Gas Association or AOGA and the American Petroleum Institute thought the listing was premature.

Joshua Kindred, an environmental counselor at AOGA, said he was “disappointed” in the supreme court’s decision.

He said the National Marine Fisheries Service didn’t provide enough evidence to warrant a listing.

“They didn’t ever really show from a scientific point of view why the seasonal sea ice was so critical to their long-term health of the species,” he said.

Kindred said there also wasn’t sufficient guidance for a plan moving forward. He said excessive critical habitat designations can slow oil and gas development.

The Center for Biological Diversity has fought to keep the bearded seal’s protection status.

Read the full story at KTOO Public Media