1908, 2019

Administration Sued for Failing to Protect Endangered West Coast Orcas

By Janet Thomas|August 19, 2019|News, Orca Relief, Press Releases, Protection Zone, SRKWs|

Lawsuit Calls for ‘Whale Protection Zone’ As More Southern Residents Die SEATTLE— Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today for ignoring a legal petition to protect critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales in the heart of their Salish Sea habitat. Today’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington by the Center for Biological Diversity and Orca Relief Citizens’ Alliance (ORCA), follows news that three more of these starving orcas

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1907, 2019

Administration Agrees to Revisit Ocean Salmon Fishing Impact on Endangered West Coast Orcas

By srschram|July 19, 2019|Orca, Orca Relief, Press Releases, Puget Sound, SRKWs|

Lawsuit Stayed As Southern Resident Killer Whale Population Drops SEATTLE― A lawsuit challenging West Coast salmon fishing’s impact on critically endangered orcas was put on hold today after the Trump administration agreed to update its analysis. A federal judge approved the settlement and stayed the case until May 1, 2020, or sooner if the National Marine Fisheries Service completes the new biological opinion that will include mitigation measures. The order

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2305, 2019

Fisheries Meeting Aims to Ensure Enough West Coast Salmon for Starving Orcas

By srschram|May 23, 2019|Orca, Press Releases, Protection Zone, Salmon, SRKWs|

Lawsuit Prompts Consultation to Save Southern Resident Killer Whales PORTLAND, Ore.— Federal, state and tribal fishery managers and experts on critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales begin meeting today to discuss how West Coast salmon fishing is limiting availability of the starving orcas’ main food source. The National Marine Fisheries Service recommended the working group after being put on notice in December that its outdated analysis violated the Endangered Species Act as this

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1204, 2019

Lawsuit Forces Federal Protection for Endangered Orcas’ West Coast Habitat

By srschram|April 12, 2019|Orca, Press Releases, Protection Zone, SRKWs|

SEATTLE— The Center for Biological Diversity has won a victory in the legal battle to force the Trump administration to protect the West Coast habitat of the last remaining Southern Resident killer whales.  The National Marine Fisheries Service has committed to proposing a rule acting on the Center’s 2014 petition for orca habitat protection off Washington, Oregon and California. An expanded designation of critical habitat has to be proposed by early October

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0304, 2019

Lawsuit Aims to Protect West Coast Salmon for Starving Orcas

By srschram|April 3, 2019|Orca, Press Releases, Protection Zone, Salmon, SRKWs|

Southern Resident Population Drops to 75 as Trump Administration Ignores Fisheries’ Impact SEATTLE— The Center for Biological Diversity and Wild Fish Conservancy sued the Trump administration today for mismanaging West Coast salmon fisheries and harming critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales, a violation of the Endangered Species Act. That orca population has dropped to just 75 individuals, mostly because declining salmon runs have left them without enough to eat.  Today’s lawsuit was

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