EPIC's ongoing campaign to protect the green sturgeon moved a giant leap forward on March 3, 2004, when a federal court ruled the Bush Administration must reconsider its January 2003 decision to deny our petition to list this ancient fish under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court ruled this decision was "arbitrary and capricious," noting a precipitous decline in populations of this giant fish that has lived since the age of the dinosaur.

Green sturgeons have remained almost entirely unchanged in their appearance since they emerged more than 200 million years. For the first time in its long history, the green sturgeon is slipping quickly toward the brink of extinction, and in 2001, EPIC submitted a formal scientific research petition to document its dramatic decline and request protection for the green sturgeon under the ESA.

In December 2001, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) found that we presented substantial information in our petition to show that listing the green sturgeon may be necessary, but the agency failed to make a final listing determination by June 2002 as required. On November 4, 2002, EPIC filed a federal lawsuit to compel the NMFS to take action, and on January 29, 2003, NMFS decided not to list the species. On April 8, 2003, EPIC and other co-plaintiffs filed an amended complaint to challenge and overturn this arbitrary determination and gain protection for this ancient fish under the ESA, leading to the victorious March 2004 ruling.

EPIC is represented in this case by Brent Plater from the Center for Biological Diversity and Sharon Duggan.