Endangered leatherback sea turtles migrating from an Indonesian beach to feed on jellyfish off the Pacific coast have one less obstacle to overcome.
NOAA has denied issuance of the special exempted fishing permit required for gillnet boats to operate in an area of coast stretching from central California to central Oregon, during the time critically endangered leatherback sea turtles are feeding there.
Commercial fishing operations kill an estimated 10,000 sea turtles annually while harming an additional 334,000. Sea turtles are often drowned when they are inadvertently caught in gillnets.
This is a huge victory for the oceans, as scientists have observed an average of just 178 leatherbacks each year, feeding off this stretch of the Pacific Coast.
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Mark Powell Posted 8:55 am
20 Jun 2007
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Grevangelical Posted 8:58 am
20 Jun 2007
Preserving a wild area for any breeding species is essential to preserving the biodiversity of creation and in spite of the difficulties this creates for fishers it must be done.
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Biodiversivist Posted 9:28 am
20 Jun 2007
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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caniscandida Posted 5:06 am
21 Jun 2007
Still, it is interesting to observe that at this stage in the moral evolution of many people, we are very concerned about what harm such fishing gear as gillnets do to cetaceans, pinnipeds and sea turtles, but not nearly so concerned about the targeted species of bony and cartilaginous fishes.
In fact, there is not a single technique used for hunting and killing fish which can possibly be considered humane.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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caniscandida Posted 8:01 pm
21 Jun 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/opinion/19tue4.html?em& ...
His immediate subject is the Audubon Society's caution regarding the steeply declining counts of a number of previously very numerous North American birds. But he makes observations which deserve to be extended to what we are doing about all species, including marine wildlife off the Pacific coast.
VK suggests that we are fools, not to be alarmed when population statistics for a particular species have dropped from, say, 500,000 to 5,000 in a matter of decades. "Well, there are still 5,000 of them out there, so we must be doing something right, no?" No. We should pay attention to the "missing" 495,000, and should realize, with a sense of extreme urgency, that whatever we did to kill them off, is before long going to kill off the last 5,000.
This point of his is applicable to all endangered species, including leatherback turtles.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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