Bottom Longline Fishing Threatens Loggerhead Sea Turtles in the Gulf of Mexico

LOGGERHEAD

In the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery for reef fish, fishermen set miles of baited hooks in their quest to provide consumers with popular fish like grouper and snapper. Unfortunately, these lines also attract threatened loggerhead sea turtles. The results are grim: once hooked, the turtles can be seriously injured or drown and die by the time they are brought aboard by fishermen.

Recent observations of this fishery conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) indicate that the number of turtle fatalities is far greater than previously thought and violates the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Over a 30-month period, more than 800 loggerhead sea turtles were caught; nearly half were dead or comatose. With this degree of loss, the ability of loggerhead turtles to recover from centuries of hunting and habitat loss is at risk. The estimated level of sea turtles caught, or taken, greatly exceeds the three-year incidental total take level authorized by the 2005 Biological Opinion on the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan for the combined commercial and recreational reef fish sectors.

Nesting Populations in Decline

The population is in trouble. US nesting populations of loggerhead sea turtles are showing steady declines. On Florida nesting beaches, where more loggerheads nest than anywhere else in the Western Atlantic, nesting has declined by nearly 50 percent over the last decade. Immediate action must be taken to drastically reduce the number of turtles caught and killed in the bottom longline fishery.

Government Responsibility for Protection

The fate of the loggerhead and other sea turtles is in the hands of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) and NMFS, which are responsible for ensuring the bottom longline fishery does not threaten the continued existence of these animals. NMFS and the Gulf Council are working on Amendment 31 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan, which include measures to reduce turtle takes, but final rule-making is not expected until Fall 2009. Unless and until NMFS authorizes the fishery with an updated biological opinion and Incidental Take Statement, based on the measures in Amendment 31, continued takes are a violation of the ESA.

We commend NMFS and the Gulf Council for taking decisive action at their January 2009 meeting to recommend an emergency closure of the Gulf of Mexico reef fish bottom longline fishery out to 50 fathoms. We remain concerned, however, that the agency is not acting fast enough to implement this closure. We urge NMFS to implement the emergency closure as soon as possible to include all waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. We also strongly recommend that NMFS increase observer coverage to 100% until the emergency closure is in place.

Fishermen and the Environmental Groups in Agreement on Long-Term Measures

At the April 2009 meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, Ocean Conservancy and Oceana forged an agreement with longline fishermen on long-term meassures needed to protect turtles while also maintaining a viable longline fishery. Measures included a closure of the entire Eastern Gulf to longline fishing out to 35 fathoms for June, July, and August, and a reduction in the number of vessels fishing. The Council unanimously voted in favor of this compromise agreement as their Preferred Alternative for Amendment 31.

This agreement signifies a willingness for the different interest groups to come together to find solutions that consider the best interests of both the turtles and the longline fleet. NMFS should move quickly to complete its environmental analysis of the Preferred Alternative so that a new ESA Biological Opinion can be published by summer 2009, and a final fule by fall.