Environmental Group Sues Feds To Better Protect Endangered Sharks

A new lawsuit seeks to force federal regulators to determine how seriously oceanic whitetip sharks are affected by longline fishing fleets operating in waters off Hawaii, American Samoa, and other areas.

An analysis of how many sharks are caught by these commercial boats and whether that number pushes them closer towards extinction should have taken place when the oceanic Whitetip was first added as an endangered species in 2018.

This study could force the U.S. longline fleets involved in this study to take additional steps beyond those already mentioned. Changes they have already madeto their fishing gear in an effort to reduce the number dead sharks from being hooked on their fishing line.

Earthjustice reports that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has been slowing down over the past four years, and has not completed the Impact Analysis required by the Endangered Species Act.

Grace Bauer, an Earthjustice attorney, stated Tuesday that we don’t know what the impacts of these fisheries are on these sharks. Thats a big, gaping question mark.

Earthjustice filed suit Tuesday before the U.S. District Court in support of the plaintiffs Conservation Council for HawaiiKona-based Hawaiian cultural practitioner Mike Nakachi. CCH and Nakachi warned the National Marine Fisheries Service of their intention to sue in 2019 over the lack of a consultation on the oceanic whitetip Shark.

It is not clear why NMFS has not completed its analysis. A spokeswoman stated Tuesday that NMFS cannot comment on ongoing litigation.

It’s a question we were all kind of baffled on,” said MoanaBjur, CCH’s executive director. Given a species on the verge of extinction, I would expect that a national organization would need stronger data.

It is evident that the oceanic whitetip shark species, once abundant, has seen its numbers plummet in recent decades due to overfishing across the Pacific as bycatch.

According to an Earthjustice news release, the species has been shown to have suffered a decline of up to 95% since mid-1990s.

The international Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission also shows that 53,500 whitetip sharks were caught by fishing boats in the Western and Central Pacific every year between 2013 and 2017. This includes more than 1,700 captures by Hawaii’s deep-set, longline vessels.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council recently reported that approximately 2,125 oceanic Whitetips were caught by Hawaii deep-set vessels in 2019. This council, also known by Wespac, oversees the U.S. commercial fishing operations in the region.

The trauma causes the death of significant numbers of sharks each year.

Bjur stated Tuesday that the lawsuit seeks to obtain more reliable data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration monitors on the impacts on sharks in Hawaii and American Samoa, to better hold the fishing industry responsible.

The Hawaii Longline Association will announce its 2020 plans It would replace it voluntarily To better protect sharks, replace all the steel wire leaders at its fishing lines with more lethal nylon ones. At the end of the month, a NOAA ban will be in place on wire leaders.

Fishermen and conservationists see the change positively, but Bauer called it a shot at the dark as federal regulators don’t know the full impact of longline fishing on sharks.

Bauer stated that this is an obligation required by the Endangered Species Act. All of this was to be done before authorizing the use of fisheries by the agency.

Representatives of Wespac did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment. Kitty Simonds, the long-serving executive director of Wespac, expressed concern about the threat of litigation in 2019. She also stated that the lawsuit could cause the closure of fisheries. Environment Hawaii.

Environment Hawaii reported that Simonds also blasted National Marine Fisheries Service’s slowness in fulfilling its duties. This led to a heated exchange with the NMFS regional administrator at a Wespac meeting.

Now, the potential lawsuit Simonds expressed grave concerns about three-years ago is a fact.

We decided to carry on our fight for reporting measures, Bjur said. Lets get numbers.