NGOs Sue NMFS to Protect West Coast Whale Populations from Entanglement on Sablefish Pots
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] September 13, 2016
Conservation groups today filed a notice of intent to sue NMFS to protect endangered whales from mile-long drift gillnets and strings of sablefish pots off the West Coast.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network submitted the 60-day legal notice. The groups noted two years of record reports of whales entangled in fishing gear off the West Coast — more than 60 in 2015 alone — 40 whales were reportedly entangled as of June 30, putting 2016 on pace to break records again.
The lawsuit was filed just as the gillnet season is getting underway, where whale entanglements in both the fisheries likely already exceed the number allowed in the expired permits the groups said in a press release...
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