The Trump administration announced on June 12 that it would rid the U.S. of a rule designed to protect whales and turtles, which was first implemented in 2016 at the request of the fishing industry.
According to the Associated Press, the National Marine Fisheries Service deemed a rule that aimed to reduce the number of endangered whales and sea turtles caught in fishing nets designed for swordfish catching unwarranted.
The rule would stop the fishing of swordfish off the coasts of California and Oregon if too many endangered animals got caught in the mile-long nets used to trap swordfish. Those animals include endangered fin, humpback, and sperm whales, short-fin pilot whales and common bottlenose dolphins, as well as endangered leatherback sea turtles, loggerhead sea turtles, olive-ridley sea turtles and green sea turtles, according to the AP.
While the Los Angeles Times reported that environmental groups are outraged at the move, a spokesman from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defended canceling the regulation.
“The fishery has been under pressure for years to reduce its impact, and it has been very successful doing that,” Michael Milstein, a NOAA fisheries spokesman, told the Los Angeles Times. “The cap would have imposed a cost on the industry to solve a problem that has already been addressed.”
The Times reports the fisheries management council had recommended the cap, but a NOAA review found the costs outweigh the benefits. The organization said other precautions have been effective, like better training for those manning fishing boats, sound warnings attached to fishing nets and wider openings at the top of nets that allow large marine life to escape. NOAA also says deaths of the endangered animals in question have drastically declined over the last few decades. Opponents reportedly say those numbers have dropped because there are fewer fishing vessels in the water, not because of precautions.
“The Trump administration has declared war on whales, dolphins and turtles off the coast of California,” Todd Steiner, director of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, told the Times. “This determination will only lead to more potential litigation and legislation involving this fishery. It’s not a good sign.”
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