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View Point
BASED on available information, I believe the environmentalists and the judicial system in Hawaii have placed the local longline industry in a whipping-boy situation, without due cause. Longliners are
whipping boyBefore some people start screaming that I am not concerned with the environmental impacts of this issue, let me note that, as laboratory director of the Honolulu Biological Laboratory (the federal unit responsible for marine research in the Pacific Ocean) from 1973 to my retirement in 1988, I:
It seems all parties involved with the longline issue seem to be bogged down with the semantics and interpretation of the ruling and therefore miss a key point: Are the available data sufficient to indicate that shutting down the Hawaiian longline fishery will result in substantial increase in turtle populations? As noted by some, the effort of the Hawaiian longline fishery is a very small fraction of the total longline effort in the Pacific.Initiated and successfully sought funding to carry out research on green sea turtles in Hawaii.
Another consideration is whether fishing effort is the major component in the total mortality of the sea turtles. One comment made by the environmentalists is that they were responsible for shutting down the butchering in a Central American country. Was that the only shoreside mortality of sea turtles?
Incidentally, have the environmentalists monitored the previously observed butchering operation to see that it has not resumed? Are there other areas where butchering occurs? How about the robbing of turtle nests for eggs?
I understand that a substantial number of eggs are dug up and consumed by people living in areas where turtles nest. Are these turtle eggs of little consequence in the mortality picture or are the environmentalists gun-shy about raising this issue, since in many areas poor people are consuming these eggs?
Or it may be that the environmentalists feel the Hawaiian longline fishery is a lot easier fish to fry than taking on communities seeking a source of protein.
One fact that we should keep in mind while we make charges and countercharges about who is responsible for the extinction of sea turtles is that, since life began on Earth, species have evolved and species have become extinct.
I don't know the total number of species that have become extinct; however, I am pretty sure that mankind has been responsible for only an infinitesimal fraction of the total. This is mostly due to mankind being only a recent inhabitant of Earth in terms of geological time.
IF it is any consolation to the environmentalists, mankind is not immune to becoming extinct. The current hypothesis is that the dinosaurs became extinct as the result of an asteroid hitting Earth and causing dramatic changes in the environment, which led to their extinction. Just think of another large asteroid hitting Earth and making it impossible for mankind to survive.
I would make one suggestion. Instead of spending millions of dollars to provide for 100 percent observer coverage of the Hawaii longline fishery, why not instead spend a few bucks to build turtle population models?
Even a primitive model should begin to give us some ideas as to the relative importance of the various contributors to the mortality of the sea turtles. One can then begin to set priorities on what to do in a logical and realistic fashion.
Richard S. Shomura is the former director of the National Marine Fisheries Service's Honolulu Biological Laboratory.
Longline ban ruling
Longline ban delayed
NOAA Fisheries headquarters