Environmental NGO Oceana, represented by nonprofit Earthjustice, has filed multiple lawsuits against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) – also known as NOAA Fisheries – for allegedly withholding information about trawl fisheries in the U.S. states of California and Alaska.
Oceana said it made four separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for information, such as records, photographs, and videos related to bycatch in trawl fisheries in California and Alaska. The NGO said NMFS either denied the requests or heavily redacted the information it gave in what Oceana called an “irrational and overly broad interpretation” of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
“Public access to information is essential to hold the government accountable and ensure U.S. fisheries are managed sustainably,” Tara Brock, Oceana’s Pacific legal director and senior counsel, said in a release. “The unlawful withholding of information by the Fisheries Service related to the deaths of whales, fish, and other ocean life is unacceptable. People have the right to know how commercial fisheries impact marine wildlife.”
Oceana said it was requesting information related to ...
