Atlantic Loggerheads in Trouble

In September 2007, the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a report on the status of loggerhead sea turtle populations in the United States. The report, a five-year status review for loggerhead sea turtles required by the Endangered Species Act, concluded that all five nesting populations in the North Atlantic are declining. In addition, it confirmed what Oceana has been telling the federal government for five years:

"The most significant man-made factor affecting conservation and recovery of the loggerhead is incidental capture in commercial and artisanal fisheries."

Tens of thousands of loggerhead sea turtles are killed annually in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico by destructive fishing gear, including trawls, gillnets, and longlines. Loggerheads are also captured and killed by commercial fisheries using hook and lines, seines, dredges and various types of pots and traps.

In the Atlantic Ocean, the majority of nesting occurs along the southeastern United States, but loggerheads also nest in the eastern Atlantic and western South Atlantic. All of the nesting populations in the Atlantic, with trend data available, are experiencing significant declines. The largest decline is in the South Florida nesting population, which declined 50% in the past decade.

It is clearly time for the federal government to step up and take control of sea turtle bycatch in commercial fisheries. Taking the lives of thousands of loggerheads each year will result in the disappearance of one of the oldest animals on earth. Loggerhead sea turtles are currently categorized as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, which requires the National Marine Fisheries Service take actions necessary to protect the species in the water and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect their nesting areas on the beach. However, the National Marine Fisheries Service allows tens of thousands of sea turtles to be killed by commercial fishing operations annually.

It is time to act.