top
Americas
Americas
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Congress Urges Action on Mexico Turtle Deaths

by Teri Shore (tshore [at] tirn.net)
US Congress calling for halt to thousands of endangered sea turtle deaths in Baja Mexico fishery

Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-2nd) and 12 House members urged Obama officials to pressure Mexico to immediately end the needless drownings of Pacific loggerhead sea turtles in a Baja California fishery -- a global hot spot for turtle bycatch. Download the letter here: http://www.seaturtles.org/downloads/HuffmanCongressLTRBajaTurtles12.13.pdf
lh_cropped_gillnetbycatch_baja_2012.jpg

The Congressional letter seeks to pressure the Obama administration to step up its efforts to end the excess sea turtle bycatch in Mexico. The U.S. requires its fishermen to stop netting and hooking loggerheads, but Mexico refuses to do the same. Instead Mexico is denying that fishing nets are killing the sea turtles.

The bycatch rate of loggerheads in Baja Mexico gillnets is among the highest in the world — and it is jeopardizing their continued survival. Last summer a horrific 600 percent increase in dead sea turtles was observed in Gulf of Ulloa along Baja's Pacific coast. A shocking 705 loggerheads washed up dead on one stretch of shoreline in just two months. Sea turtle scientists estimate over 2,000 loggerheads were killed last year in gillnets alone off of Baja's coast. Take action here: http://action.seaturtles.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=12788

In January, the United States officially “identified” Mexico for its unsustainable loggerhead bycatch under the U.S. Protected Living Marine Resources statute, which requires nations to be formally identified, certified and sanctioned for failing to adopt bycatch measures comparable to U.S. protections.

If Mexico doesn't act to stop the turtle bycatch, it faces a U.S. trade embargo.

In May, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Center for Biological Diversity filed a legal petition with the Obama administration seeking a ban on Mexican seafood or other imports to the U.S. until Mexico reduces its sea turtle mortality. Read more here: http://www.seaturtles.org/article.php?id=2468

Congress members who signed the letter about bycatch of Baja Mexico sea turtles were:

Jared Huffman, CA - 2nd District, San Rafael
Lois Capps, CA- 24th, Santa Barbara
Anna Eshoo, CA - 18th, Palo Alto,
Sam Farr, CA- 20th, Salinas
Michael Honda, CA -17th. San Jose
Barbara Lee, CA- 13th, Alameda
Zoe Lofgren, CA - 19th, San Jose
Alan Lowenthal, CA - 47th, Long Beach
George Miller, CA - 11th, Richmond
Mike Thompson, CA - 5th, Napa
Rick Larsen, WA- 2nd, Bellingham,
Madeline Bordallo, Guam
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Northern Mariana Islands
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network