Photo Doug Perrine SeaPics.com

Thanks to the diligent support of STRP members and the persistent work by STRP staff and allies, in 2009 an emergency closure of the Bottom Longline fishery in the Gulf of Mexico was ordered by NMFS to protect imperiled sea turtles from capture and death in the fishery. This time without longline vessels cutting through loggerhead habitat likely saved hundreds of sea turtles from harmful encounters, much needed time  “off the hook”.

The closure resulted when NMFS’ own data indicated the fishery had captured more than 9 times the number of sea turtles authorized previously by NMFS in its 2005 Biological Opinion, when at least 782 loggerheads were captured and 85 incidental takes were allowed. 

During the closure, NMFS completed another Biological Opinion and then reopened the fishery in October 2009, allowing over 1,000 loggerhead encounters over the next 3 years, over 600 of which are expected to be lethal.

In response to the new regulations, STRP and allies have filed suit to challenge the agency’s new Biological Opinion as unlawful and incomplete. The incomplete science behind the agency's decision to reopen the fishery and allow hundreds of rapidly declining loggerhead sea turtles to be captured and killed in the longline fishery comes at a time when STRPs’ petition to uplist Atlantic loggerheads from threatened to endangered status under the ESA is in review, and when this season Florida nesting beaches reported the fourth lowest number of returning loggerheads on record. Loggerheads need greater protections to survive and recover, and NMFS is responsible for protecting sea turtles under federal law.

"We simply cannot risk losing more sea turtles to bottom longline fishing, which has shown no regard for protected species," said Carole Allen, Gulf of Mexico office director of the Turtle Island Restoration Network/HEART (Help Save Endangered Animals - Ridley Turtles). "We’ve worked too hard to protect sea turtles in the Gulf from fisheries to have them pushed farther towards extinction by Florida longliners."

This year, thousands of STRP members called for the permanent closure of the fishery, given that hundreds of rare and endangered sea turtles are caught and killed every year by bottom longlines in the Gulf of Mexico, impeding the recovery of declining populations. Detailed comments were submitted by STRP and allies denouncing the weak sea turtle protections, and our lawsuits against the re-opening of this deadly fishery are still pending.

We will continue pressure and consistent focus on the scientific evidence for stronger protections in our fight to keep Gulf of Mexico loggerhead sea turtles “off the hook.”