Featured Image Credit: Daisy Gilardini
By Sarah Sharkey
Earlier this week the U.S. Supreme Court decided to continue to protect the bearded seal under the Endangered Species Act. The decision was brought to the courts by an oil and gas industry challenge on the animal’s protection status.
Back in 2012, the seal was listed as threatened due to rising concerns about habitat loss in relation to melting sea ice. Bearded seals use the sea ice floats for feeding and pupping, without this habitat their population survival rate could plummet. Their threatened status ensures that both the seal and the habitat they need to survive is protected.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) in combination with the American petroleum Institute thought that the listing of these species was unwarranted. Joshua Kindred, a counselor at AOGA, said that he was concerned that excessive critical habitat designations could make oil and gas development a much slower process.
With that belief in mind, they challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service’s decision that the animal deserved this protected status on the claim that the service did not provide enough evidence in support of listing the species. The Supreme Court disagreed with the oil and gas industry and held that the bearded seal will remain under the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
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