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Judge’s longline Environmentalists are satisfied. Tuna fishermen are relieved. But longline fishermen who look for swordfish have tough decisions to make.
ruling causes
mixed reactions
His order bans longlining
in a turtle 'hot zone,' cuts
swordfishing and reopens
a huge area to tuna fishing
By Peter Wagner
Star-BulletinAll were sorting their thoughts after a compromise ruling yesterday by U.S. District Judge David Ezra aimed at protecting endangered sea turtles while maintaining a longline fishing industry in Hawaii.
"We think this is the kind of action that's ultimately necessary to reverse the extinction of Pacific leatherback sea turtles," said Todd Steiner, director of the San Francisco-based Turtle Island Restoration Network, whose lawsuit last year triggered the fishing industry shakeup.
Ezra's order, which went into effect yesterday, outlaws longlining in a turtle-sensitive "hot zone" north of Hawaii, limits swordfishing to a relative handful of "sets" in two adjacent areas and opens a huge area surrounding the islands to tuna fishing."I'm happy we can keep fishing," said Jeff Mareck, co-owner of the tuna longliner Anna. "I'm glad I'm not a swordfisherman."
Thien Nguyen, a crew member on the swordfish longliner Lady Karen tied up at Pier 17 yesterday, was concerned.
"It's bad news for a lot of boats," said Nguyen.
The Lady Karen, like other longliners targeting swordfish, may have to convert to tuna fishing, or look elsewhere for a living.
In the latest of several modifications to his November injunction against longlining, Ezra severely limited swordfishing to a total of 370 "sets" -- daylong gear deployments -- in two areas north of Hawaii, pending completion of an environmental impact statement by the National Marine Fisheries Service due next year. Hawaii longliners recorded some 12,000 sets in tuna and swordfish fishing grounds last year.
Ban for turtle migrations
Ezra earlier had planned to completely close northern waters to longlining, so his new ruling gives a net gain in the area.The judge, meanwhile, opened a larger area of about 5 million square miles south of the restricted areas to tuna longliners, with no restriction on sets. The monofilament fishing lines, up to 50 miles long with thousands of hooks, take a day to deploy and retrieve.
Ezra's ruling will affect both tuna and swordfish longliners during the period March 15 through the end of May, when all longlining will be prohibited because of turtle migrations.
Ezra, who required all swordfish boats to carry a biological observer while only 20 percent of tuna boats will do the same, explained that swordfishermen are snagging far more turtles with their shallower lines.
Calling the National Marine Fisheries Service "an agency that didn't do its job," Ezra said he was bound to enforce federal laws protecting endangered species, even at the expense of jobs in the Hawaii longline industry.
The fisheries agency had argued Ezra's June 26 order would have shut down 95 percent of the fishery and cost $44 million in lost revenues while doing little to help sea turtles.
Endangered species impact
Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the federal agency is required to complete a formal environmental study to determine the impacts of ocean activities on endangered species before allowing the activities.At Pier 35 yesterday, Kimo Iakau, crew member aboard the tuna longliner Marie M, was planning to celebrate. "I'm going to take my wife out to dinner."
But Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association and part owner of a fleet of longline tuna boats, was less jubilant.
"It's important to recognize the ruling affects everybody and that there are impacts to the entire fleet," he said. "It very well may be that folks who traditionally fish for swordfish will start fishing for tuna."
Martin noted that about 40 swordfishing longliners "will have tough decisions to make about their future in Hawaii."
The 2,000-member Turtle Island Restoration Network, joined by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Marine Conservation, sued the National Marine Fisheries Service last year for failing to prepare a key environmental study on Hawaii longlining.
Paul Achitoff, attorney at Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund representing the two environmental groups, said the loss of even a few endangered sea turtles to a longline hook is too many.
"Saying only a couple of leatherbacks is like saying only a couple of pandas," he said. "Why don't we cut down this bamboo forest so we can continue to have a cheap source of materials for rattan furniture?"
Star-Bulletin reporter Steve Murray contributed to this report.
Special section: Caught in controversy
Longline ban ruling
Longline ban delayed
