U.S. Government Finalizes Protections for Whales, Sea Turtles from Death in California-Based Fishery - Oceana

Victory | February 26, 2020

U.S. Government Finalizes Protections for Whales, Sea Turtles from Death in California-Based Fishery

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a final rule to implement strict limits — known as hard caps — on the number of whales, sea turtles and dolphins that can be injured or killed in the California-based swordfish drift gillnet fishery. This development comes after extensive legal action from Oceana, following NMFS failure to enact protections first approved in 2015. The California-based swordfish drift gillnet fishery kills more dolphins than all other observed U.S. West Coast and Alaska Fisheries combined.