Tuna Imperiled by Overfishing, Oil Spill Clears First Hurdle to Endangered Species Act Protection

The National Marine Fisheries Service today announced it will consider protecting Atlantic bluefin tuna under the Endangered Species Act. The decision is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Sept. 21 and comes in response to a Center for Biological Diversity petition last May to protect the tuna, in dramatic decline because of overfishing and habitat degradation, including from the BP oil spill. The Center issued a notice of intent to sue the agency earlier this week for failing to respond to the petition within the legally required timeline.

“As a result of today’s decision, the bluefin tuna could become the first species considered for federal protections in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” said Catherine Kilduff, an oceans program attorney at the Center. “Unfortunately, tuna epitomize the precarious position of many Gulf of Mexico species. Tuna were already on the brink of extinction before the oil spill from severe overfishing; then the spill drowned their breeding grounds in oil during spawning season.”…

Source: Catherine Kilduff, Center for Biological Diversity