Feds settle lawsuit, move to protect sea turtle habitat

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

First part of protection plan due July 1

A NOAA map showing the range of loggerhead sea turtles.

A NOAA map showing the range of loggerhead sea turtles.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it will protect loggerhead sea turtle feeding, breeding and migratory habitat in ocean waters by July 1, pursuant to a settlement agreement with conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana and Turtle Island Restoration Network and the U.S. government.

The agency also committed to finalizing critical habitat protection for marine habitat and nesting beaches by July 1, 2014. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed critical habitat protection for loggerhead nesting beaches along Atlantic and Gulf coasts and will accept public comment until May 24. (more…)

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Groups want critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
A loggerhead sea turtle off the coast of New England. Photo courtesy NOAA/Matthew Weeks.

A loggerhead sea turtle off the coast of New England. Photo courtesy NOAA/Matthew Weeks.

Lawsuit filed to speed up designation

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Gill net fishing in Mexico and coastal development in Florida is driving loggerhead sea turtles to the brink of extinction, according to conservation groups, who filed a lawsuit this week to try and get better protection for the turtles’s critical habitat.

The groups acknowledge that conservation efforts in Florida have helped populations recover, but insist that the overall long-term threats require greater protection. The number of loggerhead sea turtles nesting along Florida beaches has grown in recent years, but these numbers have varied significantly over the past two decades.

North Pacific loggerheads, which nest in Japan and cross the Pacific to feed along the coasts of Southern California and Mexico, have declined by at least 80 percent over the past decade and were recently reclassified from threatened to endangered. It has been estimated that more than 1,000 loggerheads die each year as a result of gillnet fishing in Mexico, with more than 400 washing ashore dead last summer. (more…)

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Lawsuit targets critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Endangered species still facing threats from fishing, coastal development

A NOAA map showing the range of loggerhead sea turtles.

A loggerhead sea turtle off the coast of England. Photo courtesy NOAA/Matthew Weeks.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Federal officials aren’t moving fast enough to protect critical habitat for endangered loggerhead sea turtles, according to conservation advocates, who hope to speed up the process with a lawsuit aimed at spurring the National Marine Fisheries Service to act sooner, rather than later.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, critical habitat protection would help safeguard key nesting beaches as well as migratory and feeding areas in the oceans. The designation would also prohibit federal projects that would potentially destroy or harm these areas to ensure the conservation and recovery of imperiled sea turtles. Endangered species that benefit from protected critical habitat are twice as likely to show signs of recovery than those without it. (more…)

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Groups seek critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

A loggerhead sea turtle escapes a fishing net. PHOTO COURTESY NOAA.

Pacific populations have dropped 80 percent in just the last 10 years

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — After suffering population declines of 80 percent in just the past 10 years, Pacific loggerhead sea turtles are poised on the brink of extinction, and even though they’re listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the turtles do not yet have any protected critical habitat.

But that may soon change, as the Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Obama administration to designate critical habitat for loggerheads along the U.S. West Coast and across the Pacific Ocean. North Pacific loggerheads nest in Japan and cross the Pacific to feed along the coasts of Southern California and Mexico. (more…)

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Environment: Spike in sea turtle deaths prompts lawsuit

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

A hawksbill turtle swimming in the Caribbean. PHOTO COURTESY NOAA.

Conservation groups seek more protection for endangered sea creatures

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — With sea turtle deaths in the Gulf of Mexico and the southern Atlantic spiking to levels not seen in recent decades, conservation groups last week filed a legal complaint that would force the National Marine Fisheries Service to strengthen protection for the endangered turtles.

The fisheries Service has linked these “strandings” to drowning in shrimp fishing nets. Despite this rise in sea turtle strandings and the devastating impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the conservation groups say the agency has not fulfilled its duty to protect the imperiled animals from harm.

Recent federal reports show the number of drownings in the Gulf alone likely exceeds the allowable take for the Gulf and Atlantic shrimp fisheries combined, and also indicate significant noncompliance with existing regulations. The lawsuit aims to force the fisheries service to complete the required studies and adopt interim measures to protect turtles. (more…)

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