In California, fishermen and conservationists are putting pressure on fisheries managers to re-open the U.S. swordfish catch, which had been heavily restricted in order to protect endangered species frequently caught in gillnets, says the San Diego Tribune.
Those species include dolphins, whales and especially the leatherback turtle — California’s official marine reptile. “With populations down by more than 90 percent since the 1980s, the animals are ranked as one of eight marine species at greatest risk of extinction, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service,” says the Tribune.
Curbing local swordfish catches hasn’t helped the turtles, which annually swim almost 7,000 miles between Indonesia and California, eating massive quantities of jellyfish the entire way. Instead, restaurant owners have upped their purchase of swordfish from countries where fisheries’ management is more relaxed.
Some U.S. fishermen say that if they were allowed to catch more swordfish, they could avoid leatherbacks by electronically monitoring their migrations. New gear could also help fishermen haul in swordfish from depths where the turtles don’t swim. From the standpoint of regulations, conservationists are encouraging the state to give fish importers no more than five years to improve their leatherback management practices or else bar them from selling to California.