The National Marine Fisheries Service has announced it will consider protecting Atlantic bluefin tuna under the Endangered Species Act. The decision comes in response to a petition to protect the tuna, which are in decline because of overfishing and habitat degradation, including from the BP oil spill. But members of Maine's congressional delegation oppose the move.
Earlier this week, a national organization called the Center for Biological Diversity announced plans to file suit against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service for failing to respond to a petition sent in May. The petition asked that certain populations of Atlantic bluefin tuna be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
"They've been in a severe decline for about 40 years due to overfishing but particularly steep deline in the last 10 years," says Catherine Kilduff, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity in San Francisco. She says her center's research shows that Atlantic bluefin tuna are at less than 20 percent of their historic baseline biomass.
Kilduff says there are two imperiled populations of Atlantic bluefin tuna — one that spawns in the Gulf of Mexico and another that spawns in the Mediterranean. The petition seeks endangered status for both populations.
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