No. 341, August 22, 2003

COURT FINDS CALIFORNIA LONGLINE FISHERY VIOLATES ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, INTENT OF INTERNATIONAL FISHING AGREEMENT

   

FIRST CONDOR BIRTH IN ARIZONA IN OVER A HUNDRED YEARS

   
SANTA BARBARA CALIFORNIA TIGER SALAMANDER TO GET HABITAT PROTECTION

Tell your friends about the Center for Biological Diversity's Email Newsletter!
Click here...


and support the Center's work
Click now

To view past newsletters.

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Endangered Earth Online.

 

COURT FINDS CALIFORNIA LONGLINE FISHERY VIOLATES ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, INTENT OF INTERNATIONAL FISHING AGREEMENT

On 8-21-03, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals set the stage for the closure of an unsustainable longline fishing industry responsible for the bycatch killing of of thousands of sharks, sea turtles, and seabirds on the high seas. The court's ruling came in response to a 2001 lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network.

The pelagic longline fishing industry laces the high seas with monofilament lines up to 30 miles long, carrying thousands of hooks. In addition to targeted tuna and swordfish, it routinely ensnares and kills tens of thousands of sharks and seabirds, endangered leatherback, loggerhead, olive ridley, and green sea turtles, and the endangered short-tailed albatross. When unloading its catch in Hawaii, the industry was subject to the Hawaii Fishery Management Plan. But in 1999 the plan was revised to prohibit longlining due to court rulings and a finding by the National Marine Fisheries Service that the industry was jeopardizing endangered sea turtles. Rather than stop its unsustainable practices, much of the industry simply unloaded its catch in California where it was no longer governed by the Hawaii plan. It thus continued to mine the high seas under a legal loophole knowing full well it was driving endangered species to extinction. This is in accord with a long-standing fishing industry practice of switching registration from state to state and country to country to avoid environmental laws.

Incredibly, the National Marine Fisheries Service allowed the evasion to occur by declaring that the fishery was exempt from the Endangered Species Act when unloading in California. To get to this remarkable conclusion, the Fisheries Service also ran roughshod over the 1993 United Nations-brokered Agreement to Promote Compliance With International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas and the U.S. High Seas Fishing Compliance Act. The international Agreement was designed to stymie fishing industry efforts to avoid environmental laws by switching registration. The Compliance Act was designed to implement the international Agreement for boats registered in the United States. Flying in the face of the intent of these laws and agreements, the Fisheries Service argued that the Compliance Act forbids attachment of conservation restrictions to fishing permits, and that it trumps the Endangered Species Act. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, however, agreed with the Center that the Compliance Act was designed to reign in unsustainable fisheries, that it allows fishing restrictions, and that the issuance of fishing permits under the Compliance Act is fully subject to the Endangered Species Act.

The court ordered the Fisheries Service to issue an Endangered Species Act ruling on the California-based fishery just at it did when the industry unloaded in California. We expect the agency will have no choice but to shut down the fishery, as it did in Hawaii. A new ruling will soon be issued that may shut down the fishery during the interim.

The case was argued by Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity and Debbie Sivas of EarthJustice.

More Information: Press Release, Court Ruling


FIRST CONDOR BIRTH IN ARIZONA IN OVER A HUNDRED YEARS

The seven year old federal program to reintroduce condors to Arizona is showing early signs of success. A pair of birds nesting in the Grand Canyon hatched the first condor chick born in the state in over a hundred years. The 18-26 week old chick appears to healthy, happy, and blissfully unaware of its fame.


SANTA BARBARA CALIFORNIA TIGER SALAMANDER TO GET HABITAT PROTECTION

In response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Environmental Defense Center, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to map out and protect critical habitat areas for the endangered Santa Barbara tiger salamander. A proposal must be completed by January 15, 2004 and final decision issued by November 15, 2004. Reports by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show that species with critical habitat are recovering twice as fast as those without it.

The court flatly rejected the Bush Administration's argument that a lack of funding justified lengthy delays in habitat protection. The Bush Administration has purposefully refused to request sufficient funds from Congress, refused to take up Congress's offer to consider supplemental funding requests, and has instead tried to use the self-inflicted budget limitation to get around legal mandates and court orders.

The case was argued by Kassie Siegel (Center for Biological Diversity) and Karen Krause (Environmental Defense Center)

More Information: Press Release


Click now and become a member of the Center for Biological Diversity, and ensure a future for wildlife and habitat.


This message was sent to [email]. Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Center for Biological Diversity - Biodiversity Activist, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove or unsubscribe" in the subject line).


Center for Biological Diversity | PO Box 710 Tucson, AZ 85702 | 520-623-5252 | center@biologicaldiversity.org