A federal judge in the Western District of Washington granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), in a suit from plaintiff Fish Northwest seeking to invalidate NMFS’s authorizations for certain fisheries in the Puget Sound. Fish Northwest, a non-profit committed to conservation of Puget Sound salmon to preserve fishing opportunities, alleged that NMFS had violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to ensure that its actions did not jeopardize protected species. The judge rejected this argument, deferring instead to NMFS’s scientific judgment and analysis.
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