The Trump administration is canceling a proposed rule that would have shut down any gill net fishery that killed or seriously injured sensitive species like sea turtles, whales and dolphins in West Coast fishing nets.
The rule — proposed in 2015 by the “14-member Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages fisheries in California, Oregon and Washington”— was deemed unnecessary and a cost burden to fishermen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA argued that other preventions like better training for boat skippers and nets with wider openings had already curtailed the number of species accidentally caught, says the LA Times.
“NOAA statistics indicate that the deaths and injuries to protected whales declined from more than 50 in 1992 to no more than one or two a year by 2015. During the same period, the numbers for common dolphins steadily declined from almost 400 to only a few,” says the Times.
Some environmental groups say that the canceled rule is part of a larger onslaught by the Trump administration against endangered species protections. “The Trump administration has declared war on whales, dolphins and turtles off the coast of California,” said Todd Steiner, director of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, which is based in Northern California. “This determination will only lead to more potential litigation and legislation involving this fishery. It’s not a good sign.”