Oceana Wins Lawsuit to Protect Vulnerable Dusky Sharks - Oceana

Victory | March 26, 2019

Oceana Wins Lawsuit to Protect Vulnerable Dusky Sharks

A federal judge ruled that the federal government has to do more to reduce the killing of dusky sharks as a result of bycatch – the capture of non-target fish and ocean wildlife. The ruling, in response to an Oceana lawsuit in which we were represented by Earthjustice, found that the government failed to use all available scientific evidence. Dusky shark populations off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts have plummeted by at least 65% in the past two decades as a result of bycatch. Dusky sharks can live as long as a half a century and are greatly impacted by overfishing as they grow and reproduce slowly.