Recent scientific evidence shows climate change is changing the fundamental biology of Pacific leatherback turtles--not tomorrow, but today--and making these 100-million-year-old sea turtles more vulnerable to longline and drift gillnet fisheries.

A new study released on the Pacific leatherbacks in Costa Rica suggests that warmer oceans and more frequent EL Nino events--which are thought to be one consequence of climate change--may further complicate the species' recovery.  Leading sea turtle biologists report that warmer ocean waters have caused female leatherbacks to nest less frequently and take more time to reach sexual maturity.  The scientists believe that warmer water's reduced oceanic productivity is to blame.

Why is this important?  Simply because if leatherbacks nest less frequently than before, the turtles will have to survive for a longer period of time in the ocean before reproducing.  In short, leatherbacks will have to spend more time running a gauntlet of hooks and nets just to avoid extinction. 

Commercial longline fisheries and government decision-makers must respond to this new reality.  We now have direct scientific evidence that global warming makes the consequences of by-catch an even graver threat to the Pacific leatherback.  It is time to remodel our existing policy frameworks to respond to this new threat.

Click below to read the study: 

"Changed reproductive schedule of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles Dermochelys coriacea following the 1997–98 El Nino to La Nina transition"

Not only are loggerhead nests nearing a record-high in Georgia, far fewer dead sea turtles are washing up on shore. Read the Jacksonville newspaper article.

No doubt there are many reasons for this, but I suppose some of the credit should be given to Georgia shrimpers who we worked with about 10 years ago with our certified turtle-safe shrimp program. Those family based shrimpers were dedicated to protecting sea turtles by using Turtle Excluder Devices. One shrimper in particular, Sinkey Boone, argued for years that the holes in the TEDs needed to be bigger -- and years later the federal fishery managers finally did it. 

Perhaps far less trawlers are out there shrimping today due to fuel costs and competition from imports, but my sense is that the Georgia shrimper's early embrace of TEDs has made a big difference.

So now 10 years later, and knowing that sea turtles take decades to mature and return to nest, it seems that the responsible shrimpers should take a bow.

The fact that the Hawaii swordfish and tuna longline fisheries ensnare many imperiled leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles is well documented.  The impact of the Hawaiian longline fisheries on other species--such as whales, other marine mammals like dolphins, sea birds, and other marine wildlife--also deserves our attention and close scrutiny.

Every three months, the National Marine Fisheries Service releases figures on the previous quarters by-catch--species that are unintentionally caught in fishermens' lines or nets.  The by-catch numbers are collected and tabulated from the records of on-board observers that document the by-catch of the fishing boats.  Last quarter, there were observers on 100% of the swordfish boats--a regulation that is the product of Sea Turtle Restoration Project's 2001 lawsuit against the Hawaii swordfish fishery--but observers on only 33% of the tuna vessels.  The result are disturbing.

Hawaii’s vessel observer reports also show that longline fisheries may have already caught as many as 3 humpback whales, 7 false killer whales, 3 Pygmy Sperm whales, 3 shortfinned pilot whales, 3 spotted dolphins, 4 Risso’s dophins, 4 leatherback sea turtles, and 3 green sea turtles in 2008

Hawaii’s longline fisheries have proven to be particularly deadly for vulnerable seabirds this year.  According to NMFS, 25 Black-footed Albatrosses were killed in the last three months between April 1–June 30, 2008. In the entire years of 2005, 2006, or 2007, only 12, 17, and 14 Black-footed Albatross, respectively, were killed in the deep-set longline fishery.  This troubling rise could not come a worse possible time since an endangered species listing is pending for the Black-Footed Albatross under the Endangered Species Act (in response to STRP's 2003 petition).

The dramatic loss of marine life comes at a time when federal fishery managers plan to expand Hawaii’s longline fishery.  The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council has published plans to dramatically expand the swordfish fishery by eliminating limits on fishing effort and increase the allowed capture of loggerhead sea turtles from 17 to 46 loggerheads, an increase of 270%.  Their proposal would gut two key regulations designed to mitigate the impacts of the swordfish fishery when it was re-opened in 2001. 

 The Sea Turtle Restoration Project, the Center for Biological Diversity, and other groups are working together to make sure that the Hawaii longline fishery is not allowed to expand and increase it's death toll on sea turtles, whales, dolphins, and sea birds.  We'll let you know when and how you can speak up to oppose this destructive fishery!

The rising cost of fuel is shifting the tide for marine biodiversity in a way that few politicians have had the courage to do.  The past few years have produced front-page cover stories in newspapers and magazines lamenting the demise of the ocean’s bounty caused by overfishing, but few lawmakers are willing to address the fundamental root cause of overfishing, which is simply put, too many vessels chasing too few fish.

But there are some new headlines that may help:

Even before gas prices spiked this year, the economics of chasing fish with industrial-size vessels, especially on the high seas, has only “succeeded” because it has been propped up by an estimated $54 billion in annual subsidies, including discounted fuel costs.

A 2004 study by professor Peter Tyedmers in the Encyclopedia of Energy compares the material and petroleum energy required to power a wide variety of industrial fishing vessels with the energy contained in the harvested edible fish protein.  Tyedmers concludes, “it is now common for direct fossil fuel energy inputs alone to exceed nutritional energy embodied in the catch by at least an order of magnitude.” Shrimp, tuna and swordfish are at the top of the list for the worse offenders when it comes to “edible protein return on investment.” Specifically, Tyedmers lists longlining as the least efficient technology.

It may be coincidental, but fishing for tuna, swordfish and shrimp are also the fisheries that kill the most sea turtles, and longlining fishing is strongly implicated in pushing the Pacific leatherback to the brink of extinction.

If you need another reason to question the wisdom of destroying marine biodiversity by industrial fishing that uses more energy than it produces in edible protein, don’t forget that swordfish and tuna are also high in toxic mercury.  Eating it is hazardous to your health, especially if you are a woman of child bearing age or a child.

High fuel prices offers politicians an opportunity to reduce fishing effort by helping many of the fishers find alternative employment.  The worst thing that could happen would be a knee-jerk reaction to provide fisher with additional fuel subsidies.

STRP will be closely monitoring and opposing nany political attempt to “bail out” fishers by providing them with cheaper fuel.  If we want to help fishers, the oceans and ourselves, we need to find alternatives for fishers, not help them catch the last fish and kill the last sea turtle.

The nesting season of the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles has drawn to a close in a remarkable fashion. Records show that 190 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state): Bolivar Peninsula 5 Galveston Island 6 Brazoria County, just north of Surfside 1 Surfside Beach 2 Quintana Beach 1 Matagorda Island 13 San Jose Island 4 Mustang Island 5 North Padre Island 102, including 91 at Padre Island National Seashore South Padre Island 40 Boca Chica Beach 11

The 190 nest total exceeds the previous record of 128 Kemp's ridley nests found in Texas set during 2007. This marks the fifth consecutive year that record numbers of Kemp's ridley nests have been recorded in Texas since record keeping began in 1980.

So far this year, 2 green sea turtle nest has been confirmed on the Texas coast with one found at the Padre Island National Seashore and one at South Padre Island.
One leatherback sea turtle nest has been confirmed on the Texas coast at the Padre Island National Seashore setting a record of being the first nest found on the Texas coast in 30 years.

The annual Texas/federal closure of shrimping which began May 15 will end July 15, 30 minutes after sundown. Texas Parks and Wildlife states that "the purpose of the closed Gulf season is to protect brown shrimp during their major period of emigration from the bays to the Gulf of Mexico until they reach a larger, more valuable size before harvest and to prevent waste caused by the discarding of smaller individuals."

The closure also benefits sea turtles migrating, foraging and nesting in Texas waters. Sea Turtle Restoration Project has asked NOAA's law enforcement branch to board shrimp boats and look for any boats not using Turtle Excluder Devices from July 15 on. Shrimp boats from the entire Gulf come to Texas when the closure ends and puts sea turtles at further risk.

Allan Bolaños, Randall Arauz, German Soler and Alex Hearn, tagging a silky shark in Cocos

I recently returned from a trip to Cocos Island, tagging sharks.  Since 2005, PRETOMA and TIRN have been tagging sharks in Cocos Island with acoustic telemetry.  This type of tag is attached to sharks by shooting a dart with a tether into the flesh under the dorsal fin, by means of a spear gun.  However, during our last expedition, accompanied by researchers from Colombia (Sandra Bessudo and German Soler) and Ecuador (Alex Hearn) we also attached a satellite tag to a silky shark.  I want to share this picture with you, because in order to satellite tag a shark, we actually need to catch it, deck it, drill holes in the dorsal fin and attach the transmitter.  PRETOMA did this type of work in 2005, assisting researchers from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center NOAA, but this is the first time we are actually doing it as main researchers.

During our next expedition in March 2009, we will be doing more of both tagging methods on sharks, and we will be satellite tracking green turtles too.  And guess what?  You can actually join us!  You can either pay the full rate of going to Cocos Island and doing up to 4 dives a day for 7 days in one of the most fascinating shark sites, for slightly less than $5K, or you can purchase a raffle ticket for $100, and hey maybe you are lucky!

Today Greenpeace published a seafood report that ranks seafood sellers such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats for environmental soundness of their fish counter. It takes the concept of the seafood card produced by other organizations to a new level -- providing details on fish species and the stores that sell them. 

We think it is a huge milestone for the oceans and for groups like ours who continue to question seafood consumption. Check out the Greenpeace website.

 STRP plans to use this information along with what we know about the demise of sea turtles for swordfish and other species to identify and hopefully work with seafood retailers who want to provide fish lovers with only the very best options.

On a strong party-line vote, the California Assembly voted to support protection of sea turtles along the West Coast over the opening of deadly new longline swordfish fisheries. Assembly Joint Resolution 62 authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno passed easily off the Floor on Monday. It is now headed for the Senate.

However, it also appears that the single permit applicant, Peter DuPuy and his wife Karen, are attempting to thwart the state's efforts to protect marine biodiversity. They have riled up the anti-environmental minority in the Assembly to oppose the resolution in the name of seafood industry profits for a single fisherman and his cronies.

Yet the science speaks for itself: leatherback sea turtles are on the verge of extinction and every one we lose to longline fishing to serve the luxury food market for expensive swordfish (usually $20 per pound or more) is another step toward their disappearnce. We've never had a longline fishery along the California coast and we know there is no good reason to open one.

Those who support us are urged to sign the petition supporting West Coast Sea Turtle Protection and opposing the new longlline fisheries. 

 Here's the vote tally in the Assembly:

MEASURE: AJR 62 AUTHOR: Leno TOPIC: West Coast sea turtle protection. DATE: 06/09/2008 LOCATION: ASM. FLOOR MOTION: AJR 62 LENO Assembly Third Reading (AYES 45. NOES 27.) (PASS) AYES **** Arambula Beall Berg Blakeslee Brownley Caballero Carter Coto Davis De La Torre De Leon DeSaulnier Dymally Eng Evans Feuer Fuentes Furutani Galgiani Hancock Hayashi Hernandez Huffman Jones Karnette Krekorian Leno Levine Lieber Lieu Ma Mendoza Mullin Nava Nunez Parra Portantino Ruskin Salas Saldana Solorio Swanson Torrico Wolk Bass

NOES **** Adams Anderson Berryhill Cook DeVore Duvall Emmerson Fuller Gaines Garcia Garrick Houston Huff Jeffries Keene La Malfa Maze Nakanishi Niello Plescia Sharon Runner Silva Smyth Spitzer Tran Villines Walters

ABSENT, ABSTAINING, OR NOT VOTING ********************************* Aghazarian Benoit Charles Calderon Horton Laird Price Soto Strickland

Allan Bolaños, Ilena Zanela and Randall Arauz, on board the Proteus of Marviva

This is unbelievable, but I'm in Cocos Island and I have internet access!  I'm on board the Proteus, a surveillance boat owned by Marviva, a Costa Rican marine conservation organization that fights to protect Cocos Island. The goal is to tag fifteen sharks with acoustic tags, deploy two acoustic receivers, and tag 6 sharks with satellite telemetry.  I'm part of a team of researchers  from Marviva,  the Malpelo Foundation of Colombia, the Charles Darwin Foundation of Ecuador, and of course, Pretoma (the sister organziation of TIRN).  We are also accompanied by colleagues of the University of Costa Rica.  The expedition is funded by Conservation International-Walton Foundation.

Marviva:  Cindy Fernández
Malpelo Foundation:  Sandra Bessudo and German Soler
Charles Darwin Foundation:   Alex Hearn
Pretoma:  Randall Arauz, Allan Bolaños, Ilena Zanela

We left San José (the Capital of Costa Rica)  last Friday, and took a long 10 hour bus ride to Golfito, close to the border with Panama. Usually the trip takes 6 hours, but  the main road had been wiped out by the recent storms.   We were expecting our colleagues from Colombia to be flown into Golfito during the afternoon, so we could depart that evening, but again, the storms delayed thier flight until saturday morning.   We didn't start our 36 hour boat ride to Cocos Island until then, and finally arrived to the island today, this afternoon.

At Pretoma we have been tagging hammerhead sharks in Cocos Island with acoustic tags for 4 years, underwater with scuba gear.  The big challenge now will be tagging the sharks with satellite tags (called SPLASH tags), which will require the sharks to be caught, and decked by means of a cradle.  This will be exciting!

Tomorrow (monday morning) we will do our first dive in Manuelita, one of the most popular dive sites, and we hear there is plenty of hammerhead shark activity.  Tomorrow night Allan and I will go set a fishing line with 15 hooks, and will attempt to catch a shark.  I'll let you know how it goes!  Stay tuned!

Directly from Cocos Island!

I'm not sure what Texas media is waiting for!  Within the last week, several records were broken.  More endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles came on Texas beaches than ever recorded on one day (23) and the number of ridleys nesting broke last year's record of 128 and zoomed to 161 nests.  And, in addition to that, a rare leatherback nest was found at the Padre Island National Seashore.
This nesting is the first recorded since the 1930s!

Although a Houston Chronicle reporter is working on a story and the ABC TV channel in Houston has called for more information, nothing has been seen or heard about the Kemp's ridley history making year since a nest was found on Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston on April 25.  It's time the voice of the turtle was heard in the land!

Loggerhead soars into the depths - © Doug Perrine/Seapics.com

"Does the world need leatherback turtles? Most likely not."

That's how the New York Times coverage (thanks!) of the Great Turtle Race II came to a close Monday.  This was presumedly a "devil's advocate" position, but it seems that some of Mr. Revkin's readers heartily agreed.  Perhaps you've never thought about the value of leatherbacks beyond their instrinsic right to exist?  Or recognized that sea turtles have what Economists' refer to as "existence value" (the value people like me derive from laying in bed knowing that somewhere out there swims a creature of incredible resiliency and grace)?  Or maybe you implicitly understood that to pose this question about an ancient species makes the world... a smaller, lonelier place.

The question "Does the world need [insert]?" seldoms gets asked, but could be applied much more broadly.  Does the world need potato chips?  Does the world need high heels?  Does the world need air travel?  These aren't questions that we ask ourselves.  Why not?  And what does it mean when we pose this question about a 100-million-year-old species?  Is it indicative of the hubris and anthropocentrism of a modern life spent mostly indoors?  Is it ignorance?  Is it greed?

What is going on?!?  What does your life experience tell you?

And in case you are wondering, here's how Todd Steiner responded:

We (the Earth’s inhabitants) definitely do need leatherback turtles. This isn’t a question of aesthetics, as some readers state, because the ultimate lesson of ecology is “everything is connected.”

For example, nesting leatherback and other sea turtles reverse the usual flow of energy from land to sea and bring nutrients from the sea back to low nutrient beach habitats. Their eggs provide calcium that supports growth of dune vegetation which is the frontline against hurricane impacts on other inland habitats (where people like to build people their homes).

Leatherbacks eat (lots of) jellyfish including the stinging type we all like to avoid. Jellyfish blooms (which impact fisheries, recreation, and other maritime activities) have been linked to decrease in sea turtle populations.

Leatherback eggs and hatchlings feed a myriad of terrestrial species, which in their unique ways connect to other parts of our ecosystem upon which humans and other species rely.

These are some of roles we know leatherbacks play in ecosystem functions and who knows how other roles they play that we don’t know.

It is arrogant to think that we humans know enough about the role various species play in the web of life to assume it’s OK to lose a few of the working parts.

If you disagree, try to take apart a clock and just throw away one of the pieces that doesn’t look that imortant. Put the clock back together and see if still works.

Unless you live under a rock (and use one of those foot-powered Fred Flintstone cars), you’ve probably noticed that gas prices have gone up, way up.  Today we hear what may be one of several silver linings about the end of “cheap” energy--news that the increasing fuel costs may reduce overfishing in the world’s ocean.

See Longliners idle in port, citing fuel costs.

See fuel prices leading to less longlining.


In case you don’t know, recent studies are predicting a global fishery collapse by about 2045 (and I’m surprised that they predict it that far into the future).  Most scientists agree that the global ill of overfishing is at least partially due to overcapacity, a reality that is perpetuated by subsidies.

I have always felt that the WTO negotiations over the reduction of fishing subsidies hold great promise to cure overfishing.  Now, with high fuel prices, they hold even more importance.

How much do we spend on fuel subsidizing the decimation of our fish and turtles?

Estimated fuel subsidy for some of the developed countries

Country (US$/Litre)          Litres (million)       Total cost US$ millions/yr

Australia      0.20                   205                        41
France        *0.14                   673                       94
Greece        *0.20                   68                         14
Hong Kong  0.40                   155                        62
Japan            0.25                   4,459                    1,115
Spain           0.10                    1,259                    122
Taiwan1      0.09                    1,329                    120
USA            0.06                    3,010                    184

Total                                                                    1,752 million dollars!!!

Source: 

FUEL SUBSIDIES TO GLOBAL FISHERIES:
MAGNITUDE AND IMPACTS ON RESOURCE SUSTAINABILITY1
Ussif Rashid Sumaila1, Louise Teh1, Reg Watson1, Peter Tyedmers2 and Daniel Pauly1
1
Fisheries Centre, Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL), University of British Columbia. 
2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC., V6T 1Z4, Canada
2
School for Resource and Environmental Studies (SRES), Faculty of Management, 
Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

The finding of seven new Kemp's ridley sea turtles nests on the Texas coast on Thursday, May 29, brings the 2008 total to 101. Last year 128 nests were found and with more time left in the nesting season, that record will surely be broken.

With record numbers of Kemp's ridleys returning to the Mexican nesting beach at Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, it looks like a promising year in the Kemp's ridley struggle to survive following near extinction in the mid-80s. Stay tuned for more exciting developments.

ENVIRONMENTAL groups have welcomed a decision by eight Pacific nations to block tuna fishing in pockets of international waters. See the story or keep reading.

History was made again on the Texas coast on May 16 when the most Kemp's ridley nests found on any single day was recorded. Nineteen nests were found including nine at the Padre Island National Seashore, five on South Padre Island; three on Boca Chica Beach, one on Mustang Island and one on San Jose Island. This was the most Kemp's ridley nests documented on the Texas coast in a single day since record-keeping began in 1980, according to Dr. Donna Shaver, Chief, Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery. Padre Island National Seashore,National Park Service. So far this year, 78 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast.

Unfortunately, at least 12 possible cases of mutilation to have been recorded including a sea turtle at the National Seashore on May 8 with all flippers and its head cut off plus removal of internal organs. I contacted federal law enforcement and asked for an investigation into this inhumane finding. Although sharks are known to attack sea turtles, an investigation is needed to prove that it was a shark attack.

Thousands of dollars of reward money are available from the federal government if a report of killing an endangered sea turtle leads to arrest and prosecution. Anyone having information about the killing of a sea turtle should call the NOAA law enforcement Hotline (800) 853-1964 and report it.

Last May 1st, the US government announced that it had certified 40 nations as meeting the requirements set by Section 609 of PL 101-162 for continued importation of shrimp into the United States, including Costa Rica.  Ironically, as the US acknowledged the Costa Rican shrimp industry for protecting turtles, 13 artisinal fishing organization and PRETOMA filed suit against the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute INCOPESCA, for failure to enforce TED regulations and cause the deaths of at least 10,000 sea turtles per year.  I have been working on this issue for over a decade, and know by experience that a US certification only means that on the day of the announced inspection, TEDs were installed during port inspections.  Costa Rica has already been slapped with 3 embargoes since 1999 for failure to use TEDs.  When the last embargo was imposed in 2005, inspectors busted 3 shrimp vessels cheating, on the day of the announced inspection!  According to US law, to obtain a certification countries must have a comparable turtle conservation program (shrimp trawlers must use TEDs).  The 13 fishing organizations and PRETOMA filed suit because 17 vessels have been captured without TEDS over the last 3.5 years, and not a single one has been sanctioned.  Is this a comparable program?  Do boats ever get busted in the US?  If they do, do they ever pay fines?  If so, then there is no way in which the Costa Rican program is comparable to the US program, and thus, the US must impose the embargo, as Costa Rican shrimp trawlers are killing turtles.

Here's a video I use to recharge my batteries. 

Things are still looking good for the Kemp's ridley nesting season on Texas beaches. As of today (May 7), 48 nests have been found compared with 28 a year ago. In response to several dead sea turtles being found on the beaches and requests from the STRP Gulf Office, both federal and state law enforcement have gone into action boarding shrimp boats checking for Turtle Excluder Devices. The Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season for both state and federal waters will close from 30 minutes after sunset on Thursday, May 15, until an unspecified date in July. The closing and opening date is based on samples collected by Texas Parks and Wildlife Coastal Fisheries Division using trawls, bag seines and information gathered from the shrimping industry.

The closure is designed to allow small shrimp to grow to a larger more valuable size before they are vulnerable to harvest, according to Dr. Larry McKinney, TPWD coastal fisheries division director.

The sea turtles and every other creature that dies in shrimp trawls as untargeted species will benefit greatly from the closure.