PORTLAND (AP) – Maine officials said Friday it will be a few weeks before they decide whether to appeal a ruling that upholds the federal decision to list wild Atlantic salmon as endangered in Maine.

The judge’s decision makes the state’s uphill battle to overturn the endangered species listing even more difficult, said Howard Crystal, a lawyer for environmental groups that pushed to protect salmon.

“Hopefully now we’ll get on with dealing with threats to the species instead of arguing about whether there are threats,” said Crystal, who represents the Forest Ecology Network and Defenders of Wildlife, among others.

Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe will be consulting with Gov. John E. Baldacci and others about legal options after a thorough review of U.S. District Judge Gene Carter’s 87-page ruling, said Assistant Attorney General Chris Taub.

“We’re still in the process of evaluating the court’s opinion,” he said. “We’ll make a decision in the next few weeks whether to seek an appeal.”

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared wild Atlantic salmon endangered on eight rivers in November 2000.

The state opposed the decision, which is viewed as harmful to aquaculture and blueberry industries vital to Washington County.

The rivers are the Dennys, East Machias, Machias, Narraguagus, Pleasant, Ducktrap, Sheepscot and Cove Brook, a tributary of the Penobscot River. Five of the eight are in Washington County.

The state argued, among other things, that the fish were not genetically unique and worthy of protection because of decades of interbreeding between stocked salmon and their wild counterparts.

Sebastian Belle of the Maine Aquaculture Association maintains that the state’s points were valid.

“From our perspective, we remain convinced that our challenge of the science is a fair one,” Belle said Friday.

The judge’s decision creates a hurdle for the state by ruling that the federal government did not act in an arbitrary manner in its decision to put salmon on the Endangered Species List.

The judge also ruled that the aquaculture industry did not have standing in the lawsuit.

It didn’t take into account an independent review after the lawsuit was filed that sided with the federal agencies, as well. The committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences found last year that the wild salmon survived as a genetically distinct population.

Former Gov. Angus King was outspoken in his opposition to the listing. While Baldacci agrees that the listing is bad for the state, his spokesman suggested Friday that “it may be time to move on.”

If the state chooses to file an appeal, the case would go to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

“Ultimately, it will be the attorney general’s decision on whether to appeal, but he’ll have input from the governor and heads of various bureaus within the state,” Taub said.

AP-ES-04-25-03 1719EDT