The fisheries blog Deckboss was first up with news that U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess on Thursday ruled substantially in favor of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in a lawsuit filed by the fishing industry and state of Alaska against restrictions intended to protect an endangered western Aleutian population of Steller sea lions.

In an acronym-laden 56-page ruling, Judge Burgess decided that he would not order the restrictions lifted.

He decided that the federal government applied proper standards under the Endangered Species Act and that despite his finding that the evidence for restriction was "equivocal," it was sufficient to support the conclusion that "the fisheries were likely to jeopardize the continued existence" of the sea lions and "adversely modify their critical habitat."

Judge Burgess did rule for the plaintiffs, however, in their contention that the NMFS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to prepare a full environmental impact statement and failing to provide sufficient opportunity for public comment.

"Accordingly," the ruling states:

the Court intends to remand the matter to NMFS to prepare an EIS in compliance with NEPA procedures. This would include requiring NMFS to prepare and circulate a draft EIS for public comment and provide meaningful responses to comments on the draft EIS.

The Court also intends to set a reasonable, but definite, deadline for NMFS to complete this process.

Read the gists and piths from Deckboss, here, and read its repost of a celebratory press release from conservation group Oceana, here. And if you're extra interested, Deckboss has posted a .pdf file of the judge's ruling, here.