Marine Mammals & Seabirds

Honolulu, HI – Today, the National Marines Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) finally acknowledged the devastating toll that the Hawai‘i-based longline fishing fleet inflicts on the Hawai‘i population of false killer whales, formally classifying the longline fleet as “Category I” in the List of Fisheries for 2004, a designation reserved for fisheries that annually kill and seriously injure marine mammals at unsustainable rates. In November 2003, Turtle Island Restoration Network, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and the Hawai‘i community group Hui Mälama i Koholäand, represented by the Earthjustice law firm filed suit on behalf to force NMFS to increase protection for the whale by making such a reclassification, as mandated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (“MMPA”).

March 11, 2004—Today, the US Fisheries Service issued new rules banning California longline fishing from targeting swordfish from a huge swath of the Pacific Ocean. The final rule comes on the heels of an August 2003 decision by the federal Ninth Circuit Court concurring with environmentalists that the Fisheries Service had failed to conduct the proper environmental review before issuing permits to the fishery.

Honolulu, HI – A coalition of local fishing and environmental groups sued the National Marines Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) in federal court today for its failure to protect the Hawai‘i population of false killer whales from the Hawaii’s industrial longline fishing fleet. NMFS has estimated the population of false killer whales

San Francisco- The Bush administration’s Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, andParks will be served with a lawsuit filed today for failing to take actions to protect an endangered population of Alaskan sea otters.

A coalition of conservation groups from both sides of the Pacific Rim filed a lawsuit in US District Court against the US Department of Defense over plans to construct a new heliport facility on a coral reef on the east coast of Okinawa, Japan. Conservationists are concerned that the proposed 1.5 mile long airbase to be built on reclaimed land over a coral reef will destroy the remaining habitat of the endangered Okinawa dugong, a relative of the manatee, and a cultural icon of the Okinawan people.