The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the Trump administration for what it says is a failure to release public records about ocean conservation work “interrupted by firings and layoffs” at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The rash and irresponsible firings at NOAA will have enormously damaging consequences for ocean life and people deserve to know the full extent of it,” said Mark Patronella, oceans attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Trump has sacked scientists who protected endangered species, surveyed fish populations and restored habitat, but the truth behind NOAA’s dismantling needs to be out in the open. So many whales, sea turtles and corals are already struggling to survive and Trump’s attack on NOAA has cut huge holes in their safety net.”
The Center filed a Freedom of Information Act request with NOAA in March seeking this information, but has not received a response. The filing requested job descriptions and workplans of those fired by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, as well as communications discussing workforce and funding cuts and an agency reorganization plan Trump ordered.
In February DOGE, says the Center, fired at least 600 NOAA employees and previously gave buyouts to around 170 workers. A federal court blocked the firings a few weeks later, and many probationary employees were rehired, only to be fired again in April when another court reversed the first ruling.
Current and former employees say the firings are crippling NOAA’s ability to protect marine species such as critically endangered whales, sharks, sea turtles and corals, the Center says. The agency is also reportedly struggling to adequately manage fisheries, opening and closing them late and lacking accurate stock assessments, says the lawsuit.
The fired experts include the director of an ocean acidification research program, a marine biologist who worked on bycatch and entanglement of marine mammals, and a fisheries management specialist assessing salmon stocks in Alaska.
A Trump budget proposal, says the lawsuit, outlines additional budget cuts to NOAA that would likely eliminate several programs, including grants that fund species recovery and habitat conservation. The administration is also reportedly planning another round of firings that would cut an additional 10% of NOAA’s staff.
NOAA Fisheries is responsible for safeguarding and stewarding the marine species and protected areas off the coasts of the United States. It has jurisdiction over 165 endangered and threatened species.
Today’s lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md.