Wild Fish Conservancy v. National Marine Fisheries Service

Two conservation organizations filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Oregon challenging federal defendants’ funding of the release of hatchery fish into the Lower Columbia River Basin in a manner that they allege jeopardizes the continued existence of threatened and endangered species in violation of Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The organizations also challenged two biological opinions prepared under the ESA by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The complaint’s allegations include that the biological opinions failed to “failed to fully and adequately assess the predicted impacts to ESA-listed species from climate change and determine whether the hatchery programs will jeopardize those species under predicted climate change scenarios.” In addition, the plaintiffs allege that NMFS failed to comply with NEPA when it adopted a biological opinion in 2024 for its hatcheries funding under the Mitchell Act (a 1938 law concerning conservation of Columbia River fishery resources). The complaint alleged that there were substantial changes and substantial new circumstances, science, and information (including information on climate change and how it would impact species and their ecosystems) since NMFS issued an environmental impact statement in 2014 for funding of Mitchell Act hatchery programs.