Save Sea Turtles From Drowning in Florida's Longline Fishery E action

[Omaha Steve]

Take action here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1723/t/6251/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1850

End of the Line for Florida's Loggerheads?



©Doug Perrine/Seapics.com

About 799 loggerheads (the turtle above) were caught in ~ 17 months

Between July 2006 and the end of 2007, the government estimates that the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery, which targets reef fish like grouper and tilefish, resulted in the capture of nearly 1,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles -- and that in more than 80% of these incidents, the turtles drowned or were injured! Loggerheads nesting on Florida beaches -- the same turtles captured in the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery -- have plummeted by more than 40% over the last decade. Sign our petition to stop the killing of sea turtles!

The bottom longline fishery has far exceeded the number of turtles it is allowed to take under the Endangered Species Act. Yet, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has refused to immediately close the fishery. NMFS proposal to allow the fishery to operate while it studies options for reducing the deaths of sea turtles is illegal and misguided.

Please sign our petition to save the lives of sea turtles today, and we will deliver your names and comments to the agency at the end of the month.

Sea Turtle Restoration Project Email News and Updates
PO Box 370, Forest Knolls, CA 94933 USA

Tell a friend about this here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1723/t/6251/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=4027

To subscribe, visit http://www.seaturtles.org/subscribe.

I'm # 803 on the list. :-)

[catnhatnh]

1. Steve, as a past commercial fisherman (oyster,lobster) I have to question this...

Because we all love sea creatures and diversity but the report cites "80% drowned or injured". Now I know a bit about long lining, let's look at that statistic a different way...appearantly 20% of the turtles captured are unhurt-IE:merely snarled in lines and released unhurt. The balance are "drowned or injured"-IE:hooked!

Every fish and marine creature that bites on a hook is "injured"-whether commercially or recreationally hooked. The fact is that damn few are EVER fatally hooked or permanently injured and that is why this reads as propaganda. Before I can take this seriously I need to know the number of turtles killed-not how many might have a tort claim in a class action suit.

A 40% fall off in population is a horrible thing but I need a lot more facts before I'll blame it on long liners...perhaps the author recognizes it's easier to chase the last few remaining commercial boat guys from our oceans than it is to seek to stop the shoreline development that is killing off their nesting sites...and remember that for a lot of people it's easier to accept seaside condos than smelly old fishing boats.

Just my take...

[Judi Lynn]

2. Thank you, Omaha Steve, for posting this information.

Appreciate knowing about it so much. Hope they can be persuaded to observe the law on this issue.