Saving Seafood

Internal memo shows Trump administration’s plan to allow accidental killing of endangered species

September 21, 2026 — An internal memo from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik shows the agency’s plan to rewrite the definition of “take” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), effectively allowing unintended harm to or killing of threatened wildlife.

“This stabs at the very heart of the Endangered Species Act by giving federal approval to the killing of some of America’s most beloved wildlife,” Center for Biological Diversity Government Affairs Director Brett Hartl said in a release. “The Trump administration is desperate to annihilate environmental protections, but this incredibly radical measure is both cruel and profoundly unlawful. Killing endangered wildlife is illegal, whether that’s your purpose or not.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Lawsuits challenge deep-sea mining in Marianas, American Samoa

September 14, 2026 — Conservation and community groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Trump administration’s plan to kickstart deep-sea mining off the coasts of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. The first lawsuit was specific to the Trump administration’s attempt to launch deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa.

Meanwhile, CNMI Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds wants territories to get a 50% cut of revenues from any deep-sea mining leases.

Tuesday’s lawsuit is the second filed by Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, on behalf of parties Our Common Wealth 670, PåganWatch, Conservation Council for Hawai’i and Center for Biological Diversity. The first lawsuit was specific to the Trump administration’s attempt to launch deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa.

The mining leases were advanced by the Marine Minerals Administration in July and August, first for the seabed of American Samoa and then for the Marianas Islands. A lease sale is planned for Dec. 16 for the Marianas and for American Samoa in November.

Read the full article at Samoa News

Environmental groups take steps to sue to compel new protections for gray whales

August 28, 2026 — Amid a decade of die-offs and a sharp decline in the population of gray whales that swim along the Pacific coast of North America, three environmental groups are preparing to sue the Trump administration over its failure to bring back Endangered Species Act protections for the animals.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the International Marine Mammal Project and Oasis Earth on Tuesday submitted a notice of intent to sue the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over gray whale protections.

Oasis Earth submitted a petition a year ago to NOAA Fisheries for a threatened or endangered listing to be granted to the Eastern North Pacific gray whale population. But the agency neither issued a 90-day finding on the petition’s validity nor a 12-month finding on the population’s status, as required under the law, the groups’ notice said.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

Conservation group asks New Jersey to take action over biomedical bleeding of horseshoe crabs

August 3, 2026 — More than a dozen conservation groups have petitioned the U.S. state of New Jersey to take action on the bleeding of horseshoe crabs by a biomedical company, claiming the practice injures the shellfish in violation of state law.

“On paper, New Jersey is one of the best state protectors of horseshoe crabs, but look under the hood and you’ll find it’s actually allowing a company to kill and injure horseshoe crabs in huge numbers,” Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) Senior Attorney Danny Waltz said in a release. “New Jersey must act quickly to fulfill the promise of its own laws and protect these highly imperiled animals and the endangered birds that depend on healthy crab populations.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CBD sues NOAA Fisheries over lack of queen conch protections

July 10, 2026 — The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) sued NOAA Fisheries over inadequate queen conch protection, noting the agency has yet to designate critical habitat for the snail despite listing the species as a threatened under the Endangered Species Act

“The Fisheries Service’s failure to protect the coral reefs and other places where the queen conch lives is driving this iconic snail closer to extinction,” CBD attorney Alex Muir said in a release. “Without this crucial protection, we’ll have to watch pollution, dredging, and climate change continue to threaten these charming marine snails. What’s so frustrating is that this is preventable. If federal officials move quickly to shield their habitat, it’d give these conchs a fighting chance as they struggle to survive devastating overharvesting.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Nonprofit sues Trump administration to learn why it’s modifying right whale speed rule

July 9, 2026 — The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has sued the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to find out more about the process behind the government’s decision to roll back a vessel speed limit designed to protect North Atlantic right whales.

“The public has a right to know who’s behind a government process that could condemn these whales to extinction,” CBD Oceans Legal Director Kristen Monsell said in a release. “Right whales are facing threats from all directions, and the speed rule is one of their few protections. Federal officials should be making decisions based on science and forward thinking, not industry cronyism and short-term profits at the expense of the ocean’s future.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Environmental groups sue over reopening of Northeast marine monument

May 7, 2026 — A coalition of environmental groups has filed suit against the Trump administration over its move to reopen the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to commercial fishing, reigniting a long-running battle over access to the protected Atlantic waters.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by the Conservation Law Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity, along with whale-watch naturalist Zack Klyver, challenged President Trump’s February proclamation allowing commercial fishing within the monument boundaries

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Conservation group sues over Alaska pollock trawling claiming practice harms fur seal population

April 10, 2026 — Conservation NGO the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has filed a lawsuit challenging NOAA Fisheries’ regulations for pollock trawling in Alaska, arguing that the government has not done enough to protect northern fur seals.

The lawsuit centers on the seal population around St. Paul Island, Alaska, U.S.A., where many mothers raise their pups. According to CBD, those seals rely on the same pollock that are harvested by the commercial trawling sector, depriving them of a key source of prey and putting that population under unnecessary stress. The seal population on the island has shrunk 70 percent over the last 50 plus years, and CBD claims that the pollock trawl fishery is one of the primary culprits.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Center for Biological Diversity to sue NOAA Fisheries over horseshoe crab decision

March 25, 2026 —  The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has notified NOAA Fisheries of its intent to sue the agency after it denied a petition to list horseshoe crabs under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“Horseshoe crabs watched the dinosaurs come and go, but now they face their greatest threat yet: us,” CBD Senior Attorney Danny Waltz said in a release. “Fortunately, we also have the power to save horseshoe crabs by protecting them under the Endangered Species Act.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Petition urges more protections for whales in Dungeness crab fisheries

December 18, 2025 — Four conservation groups have petitioned the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to strengthen risk reduction measures to prevent whale entanglement during the state’s Dungeness crab fishery.

The petition filed on Dec. 11 in Salem, Oregon, also calls for creating a pathway for authorization of safer pop-up fishing gear and establishing a process for timely public reporting of marine mammal or sea turtle entanglements in Oregon Commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear.

Four humpback whales were confirmed to have been entangled in 2025 in Oregon commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear, including one that beached and had to be euthanized.

Petition signers included the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the American Cetacean Society. 

“If state officials don’t move to adopt whale-safe fishing gear, like pop-up buoys for Dungeness crab pots, endangered whales will continue to suffer and die preventable deaths,” said Ben Grundy, an oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman