August 6, 2014 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:
Litigation was filed today alleging that several agencies and their representatives have failed to abide by the Endangered Species Act, (ESA), in the protection of sea turtles.
Filed in Raleigh, North Carolina by two commercial fishing organizations, the complaint requests that the Court rule that the defendants have violated and continue to violate Section 9 of the ESA and have allowed the recreational hook and line fishery to "operate in a manner that has caused and is continuing to cause the illegal take of endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtles and the unauthorized take of threatened loggerhead, green and leatherback sea turtles". They further request that the Court order the defendants to implement regulations in the recreational hook and line fishery until they receive an incidental take permit, and further, for the federal agencies to conduct abundance surveys and nesting population surveys. The groups filed a letter of intent to sue in March of this year.
The listed defendants are Penny Pritzker, Secretary of the US Department of Commerce; Sally Jewell, Secretary of the US Department of the Interior; Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Daniel Ashe, Director of the US Fish & Wildlife Service; John Skvarla, Secretary of the NC Department of Environment & Natural Resources; Dr. Louis Daniel, Executive Director of the NC Division of Marine Fisheries; and Gordon Myers, Executive Director of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.
Plaintiffs are the North Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc,; and the Carteret County Fisherman's Association, Inc., both non profit trade associations of commercial fishermen, seafood dealers and processors.
The complaint states that the defendants have long realized that the recreational hook and line fishery has been in violation of the ESA, yet have failed to take any action to prevent the illegal take of sea turtles in the fishery. On the other hand, commercial fishermen have been required to adhere to a number of measures in efforts to protect sea turtles, including shrimping, large mesh gillnets and the longline fishery.
Read the filing in the District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina here