Monthly Archives

October 2016

FACT SHEET: Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles

By Sea Turtles

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) are the smallest and most vulnerable species of sea turtle in the world. They weigh only 100 pounds at most in adulthood and get up to 2 feet long. Kemp’s ridleys have a limited habitat, nesting in just two countries in the Gulf of Mexico. This means that the Kemp’s ridley is particularly vulnerable to localized threats like commercial fishing, egg harvesting, and oil spills.

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Texas & National Bag Law Advocates Blast Texas Attorney General’s Assault on Bag Law

By Resources for the Media, Sea Turtles

State and national bag law advocates convened this week to defend bag ordinances in the wake of embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against Texas’ first local law against bag pollution in Brownsville. A range of organizations plan to assist as this issue lands in the lap of the Texas Supreme Court with the City of Laredo appealing a recent decision striking down that city’s bag law.

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Turtle Island Wins Victory for Whales, Dolphins & Sea Turtles Threatened by the California Driftnet Fishery for Swordfish

By Marine Mammals & Seabirds, Resources for the Media, Sea Turtles

A newly proposed rule would put in in place limits on the number of fin, humpback, sperm whales, leatherback, loggerhead, olive ridley, green sea turtles, short-fin pilot whales, and bottlenose dolphins that the California driftnet fishery for swordfish can catch.

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Pacific Bluefin Tuna One Step Closer to Endangered Species Act Protection

By Marine Mammals & Seabirds, Resources for the Media

In the face of staggering declines, Endangered Species Act protection may be warranted for Pacific bluefin tuna, the National Marine Fisheries Service said today. The announcement, in response to a petition from conservation groups earlier this year, means the agency will now conduct an in-depth status review of the species. Under pressure from overfishing, bluefin tuna populations have reached dangerously low levels, declining more than 97 percent since fishing began.

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