Ocean Sentry
The Obama administration designated the North Pacific loggerhead sea turtle as endangered under the Endangered Species Act today. Populations of this rare and ancient turtle, which spends much of its time off the coasts of Mexico and Southern California, have declined by at least 80 percent over the past decade. Although loggerhead sea turtles have been listed as threatened since 1978, today’s rule recognizes that some populations are nearing extinction from fisheries bycatch, climate change and marine pollution, including oil spills. “Pacific loggerheads need increased protections immediately to reverse their decline toward extinction,” says Dr. Chris Pincetich, a marine biologist with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project of the Turtle Island Restoration Network. “Deadly high-seas longline fisheries, illegal poaching and the radioactive debris offshore of loggerhead nesting beaches in Japan all jeopardize these endangered sea turtles.”
“Loggerhead populations across the world need more protection to survive this century,” said Catherine Kilduff, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This listing is a wake-up call that a whole host of threats, from oil spills, channel dredging and commercial trawling to longline and gillnet fisheries, continue to kill off turtles faster than the animals can possibly hope to reproduce.”…
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
