A federal judge is considering whether to allow the continuation of a three-year experiment in methods of longlining for swordfish that will not kill endangered sea turtles. Turtle lovers try to stop
longlining experimentBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comThe Ocean Conservancy, Turtle Island Network and Center for Biological Diversity are suing the National Marine Fisheries Service, alleging that its experiment will cause unacceptable death rates of the very turtle species that it is supposed to be saving.
Under its research permit, the Fisheries Service could catch as many as 311 turtles over three years, with as many as 117 dying, as a side effect of searching for fishing methods that are less likely to catch and kill turtles.
When fishing for swordfish and tuna, there are specific limits for each of the four turtles caught by Hawaii-based longliners: the endangered leatherback, loggerhead and olive ridley turtles and the threatened green sea turtle.
"Here we have a case of an agency admitting up front that it will be jeopardizing the species" it is supposed to protect, said Paul Achitoff, the EarthJustice attorney representing the conservation groups, before U.S. District Judge Alan Kay yesterday.
"The problem with the experiment is, they are going to do it until they get 117 mortalities, whether or not the experiment is successful," Achitoff said. "Heads or tails, the turtles are going to lose."
Experts have predicted that the leatherback could be extinct in as little as 10 years, and worldwide populations of the other turtles are seriously declining, according to a Fisheries Service "biological opinion" document.
The lawsuit asks that the experiment, using various modified gear and fishing methods, be halted until the Fisheries Service performs an environmental impact statement that would have to show why the deaths are justified. Until it does that, the Fisheries Service is violating the Endangered Species Act, Achitoff said.
Attorneys for the Fisheries Service and the Hawaii Longline Association disagreed Tuesday and yesterday, arguing before Kay that finding less harmful fishing methods is the only hope for the endangered turtles' long-term survival.
Alternate fishing methods to be tried in the experiment include using blue-dyed bait, lines and buoys; using different hooks or other equipment; and altering the timing and depth of setting the longlines.
"There's a high likelihood that proposed gear will reduce sea turtle interactions," said Jeffrey Leppo, representing the Hawaii Longline Association.
"Don't prohibit the experimental fishery from going forward," Leppo asked Kay, saying that if the Hawaii experiment finds methods of longlining for swordfish with fewer turtle mortalities, international fishing boats might begin to use them.
Kay is expected to rule soon on the lawsuit.
Fisheries Service employees would not discuss the experiment because of the lawsuit.
It was the standard method of longlining for swordfish that led to U.S. District Judge David Ezra and the Fisheries Service in 2001 stopping all longlining for swordfish by Hawaii-based boats. Evidence pointed to more turtles being caught by the shallower swordfishing lines that the deeper-set tuna lines.