Appeals Court backs NMFS decision rejecting Alaska effort to remove ringed seal protections

Appeals Court backs NMFS decision rejecting Alaska effort to remove ringed seal protections

A ringed seal peers out from a snow cave. Ringed seals depend on sea ice and on the snow that accumulates atop the ice. (Photo by Brendan P. Kelley/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/NOAA Fisheries)A federal appeals court on Friday affirmed the National Marine Fisheries Service’s 2024 decision rejecting attempts to strip Arctic ringed seals of Endangered Species Act protections. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower c…