Only in Hawai’i, among the 50 states, is the practice of shark-finning legal. This distinction has not gone unnoticed; lately, shark-finning by the Hawai’i longline fleet has come under increasing fire from a broad spectrum of national groups. The issue … Continued
To Lose a Species Is Cause for Sadness Thank you for your recent coverage of the state Natural Area Reserve System and the serious threat posed by introduced mammals to native Hawaiian species and ecosystems. I agree with Kathryn Wiese … Continued
The Peregrine Fund Transfers State Contract to San Diego Zoo On December 10, representatives of The Peregrine Fund appeared before the Board of Land and Natural Resources with a request to allow the transfer of its $300,000-a-year state contract to … Continued
In its recently issued 1998 report on pelagic fisheries regulated by the Western Pacific council, NMFS lists the numbers of each species of sea turtle it estimates to have been hooked that calendar year. The loggerhead turtles, federally listed as … Continued
Just how depleted are leatherback populations? And will the injunction imposed on the Hawai’i longline fleet by U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra help leatherbacks at all? The first question is easier to answer. Pamela Plotkin is generally regarded as … Continued
Leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea) are the largest species of sea turtles. Adults may weigh up to 1,600 pounds and attain a length of six feet. They can dive as deep as 3,300 feet. Their diet consists of jellyfish and related creatures. … Continued
When the Center for Marine Conservation and the Turtle Island Restoration Network brought a lawsuit last February against the National Marine Fisheries Service, they were asking for an order requiring NMFS to prepare an environmental impact statement for the Hawai’i … Continued