\u201cI\u2019m deeply concerned about the proposed adjustments to the fleet-wide hard cap. Even though \u2018the highest number of [leatherback] interactions on record\u2019 is 16 leatherbacks, the draft BiOp would authorize the fishery to take even more leatherbacks [if conservation measures reduced take levels by 25 percent]. For loggerheads, the draft BiOp would authorize 36 takes, two more takes than NMFS authorized in the illegal 2012 BiOp,\u201d he said, adding that there is no legally valid analysis to support the agency\u2019s conclusion that both critically imperiled species can survive those high levels of harm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the final BiOp fails to comply with NMFS\u2019s mandatory ESA [Endangered Species Act] duties, we will do what it takes to counter the existential threat to leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles posed by the Hawai\u2018i-based longline swordfish fishery,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flip-Flop
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit ruled that NMFS erred when it determined in late 2017 that a proposed increase in fishing effort by the Hawai\u2018i swordfish fishery would not jeopardize endangered loggerhead sea turtles. That ruling overturned a lower court that upheld NMFS\u2019s 2012 BiOp, which\ncapped annual leatherback and loggerhead\ntakes at 26 and 17, respectively.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2012 BiOp used a climate-based model to determine turtle population trends. It found that loggerheads faced a high risk of extinction, even without any increase in fishery effort. When the effort increase proposed by NMFS was incorporated into the model, \u201cthe additional loss to the loggerhead population … ranged from 4 to 11 percent,\u201d according to the court\u2019s majority decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same model also showed that the population of leatherbacks would likely increase if the swordfish fishery\u2019s level of effort stayed the same and that if that effort rose, there would still be a low extinction risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that time, the service determined\nthat the swordfish vessels were likely\nto kill just one adult female loggerhead\nturtle a year, which it said would have\na negligible effect on the loggerhead\npopulation \u201cwhen considered together\nwith the environmental baseline and the\ncumulative effects.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, NMFS found that the\nswordfish fishery would not jeopardize\neither turtle species.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court majority, however, found that the agency\u2019s 2012 decision with regard to loggerheads was arbitrary and capricious. \u201cSpecifically, the panel held that the climate-based model predicted that the proposed action would exacerbate the loggerheads\u2019 decline, and the Biological Opinion was structurally flawed to the extent the NMFS failed to incorporate those findings into its jeopardy analysis,\u201d a summary of the decision states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the new draft BiOp, the service\u2019s \u201cno jeopardy\u201d finding for an endangered species facing extinction could still be a problem. This time, however, analyses suggest that the loggerhead turtle population may be increasing, while the Western Pacific leatherback population is decreasing and faces a high risk of extinction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To NMFS\u2019s determination that the fishery poses no jeopardy to any of the species it interacts with, Henkin had this to say: \u201cThe agency acknowledges that the species is steadily declining towards extinction and that the fishery adds to the leatherback\u2019s woes by contributing as much as 6 percent to the species\u2019 annual mortality. NMFS provides no population viability analysis or other reasoned analysis to support its claim that this additional mortality would not appreciably change the species\u2019 chances of survival and recovery. The ESA demands that NMFS base its decisions on science,\nnot bald assertions.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the current draft BiOp, the service decided against using a climate-based model, which it said would heap even more uncertainty into extinction risk predictions that were derived from limited data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The climate-based models\nused in the 2012 \u201cdid not\nperform as expected because\nthe predictions were wrong\nfor leatherback sea turtles\nthe majority of the time, and\npredictions for loggerhead sea\nturtles were wrong half the\ntime,\u201d the draft BiOp states.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This time, the service instead relied on \u201ccausal loop diagrams,\u201d which aid in understanding how variable factors in a model are related, and incorporated climate change studies and information into various facets of the BiOp, such as its characterization of the environmental baseline and action area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also examined whether climate changes would alter the species\u2019 timing, location, or intensity of exposure to the fishery, and \u201cwhether and to what degree a species\u2019 responses to anthropogenic stressors would change as they are forced to cope with higher background levels of stress caused by climate-related phenomena.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While studies suggest that a warmer ocean could increase the abundance of leatherback prey (i.e., sea jellies), \u201cwe do not know what impact other climate-related changes may have such as increasing sand temperatures, sea level rise\u201d \u2014 both of which may already be affecting hatch success \u2014 \u201cand increased storm events,\u201d the BiOp states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To Henkin, the BiOp\u2019s abandonment of a climate-based model is particularly troubling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNMFS continues to acknowledge in its draft BiOp that climate change threatens \u2018species persistence\u2019 of both leatherback and loggerhead turtles. However, citing the allegedly \u2018inherent challenges with creating population models to predict extinction risks,\u2019 NMFS then refuses to apply any climate-based model to inform its jeopardy analysis, and the agency does not otherwise appear to have incorporated any meaningful consideration of the future impacts of climate change. If finalized, the Draft BiOp\u2019s failure to conduct any meaningful analysis of the entirely foreseeable and unquestionably harmful impacts of climate change on leatherbacks and loggerheads would violate the ESA,\u201d he stated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other major threats include the harvesting of leatherback eggs and adult leatherback sea turtles and the harm done to the species by other countries\u2019 longline fisheries in the North Pacific. The BiOp estimated that an annual average of about 120 leatherbacks a year die from their exposure to fisheries in the region, including the Hawai\u2018i fishery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The BiOp determined that the Hawai\u2018i\nswordfish fishery alone would interact with\nat most 21 leatherbacks a year with an annual\naverage of 10. The current average is six.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n In determining the risk the fishery posed to the population, the BiOp took a scientifically conservative approach, evaluating the results of the likely maximum take of 21 leatherbacks in a given year. In that case, the BiOp estimated that three of those 21 would die and that loss would represent a mere 0.2 percent of the current population estimated to number 1,424 individuals in the Western Pacific. Given the already projected population decline of 5 percent a year, the Hawai\u2018i shallow-set fleet would be responsible for 4 to 6 percent of the 71 leatherback deaths\nexpected to occur in year one.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[In] many years the total mortality is likely to be less than 3,\u201d the BiOp stated. Even so, the document stated that leatherbacks face a high risk of extinction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe cumulative effect of other stressors, including other fisheries must be removed or abated or this species will reach a catastrophic bifurcation (tipping point) where recovery is no longer possible. Today, based on the present population abundance, we expect that there is time yet to ensure that the chances for the recovery of the West Pacific Ocean population are not yet foreclosed,\u201d it states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fishery representatives testified to Wespac that more turtles would be conserved if the United States got more of its swordfish from the strictly regulated Hawai\u2018i fleet rather than foreign fleets, such as Brazil\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The BiOp, however, did not come to the same conclusion, which Henkin was happy to see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNMFS \u2018found no evidence to suggest that a market transfer effect occurs today.\u2019 Then, NMFS debunked the longliners\u2019 claim that \u2018sea turtle bycatch rates of the foreign longline fisheries [are] higher than the sea turtle bycatch rate of the [swordfish] fishery.\u2019 After reviewing the best available data, NMFS said it \u2018cannot conclude … there is a beneficial effect from the continued operation of the [fishery] to sea turtles, generally, or to the specific sea turtle species adversely affected.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n To Justin Hospital, a researcher with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and member of the council\u2019s Scientific and Statistical Committee, however, the BiOp\u2019s conclusions about market transfer effects were \u201ca little strong,\u201d and the method used to calculate interactions by foreign fleets was unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result of previous litigation over the swordfish fishery\u2019s take of sea turtles, the fishery was closed in 2001. NMFS was forced to take strong measures to limit the interactions. By 2004, the agency had released a biological opinion that cleared the way to allow the vessels to resume their pursuit of swordfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current draft BiOp takes note of the relative success of these measures: \u201cThe 2004 management measures have proven to reduce leatherback sea turtle interaction rates by 83 percent…. Since the [swordfish] fishery reopened in 2004, an estimated 22 leatherback sea turtles have died. All of the leatherback sea turtles caught were released alive; mortality estimates come from applying the NMFS post-hooking mortality criteria.\u201d From the mid-1990s to the closure, the longline fleet routinely caught more than 100 leatherbacks a year, with the shallow-set swordfish vessels accounting for almost all of those interactions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In that same period, Congress appropriated millions of dollars to fund efforts by Wespac to join forces with conservation groups to improve the nesting success of leatherbacks and loggerheads on beaches in both the eastern and western Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The funding for those efforts dried up years ago and the council has no ongoing work in these areas, so far as any public record can document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More recently, starting in 2015, the council has received a grant of $875,000 for what it described as a \u201cmarine turtle award\u201d \u2013 although none of the actions described in the narrative associated with the grant mentions turtles at all. Instead, it is described as assisting the council in carrying out its responsibilities under the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act, which governs fishing by all U.S.-permitted fleets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At Wespac\u2019s April meeting, Ann Garrett, assistant administrator for the service\u2019s Protected Resources Division in the Pacific islands region, reported that the agency provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds to international partners every year to conduct surveys of the turtles\u2019 nesting beaches, outreach, and a variety of other\nactivities.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n NMFS regional administrator Mike Tosatto added that for more than a decade, his office has received about $1 million for sea turtle work, but that money has been used instead to offset a shortfall in fishery observer funding. He said he\u2019s been working with NOAA headquarters to regain observer funding, which would allow that $1 million \u201cearmark\u201d to be spent on turtle research and the like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tosatto also said his agency is working to\nreduce the number of turtle takes by foreign\nfleets in the Pacific. \u201cI believe our fishery is\nthe model fishery. We are working hard on\nthe international forum to level the playing\nfield,\u201d by trying to get international fishery\nmanagement organizations to mandate the\nkinds of sea turtle protection measures the\nHawai\u2018i fleet is subject to.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014Teresa Dawson and Patricia Tummons <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Can the 1,424 adult leatherback sea turtles that ply the western Pacific withstand the losses resulting from their interactions with gear set by the Hawai‘i-based longline fishing vessels that target swordfish? A new “internal and deliberative” draft biological opinion (BiOp) … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,8,453],"tags":[7,3],"class_list":["post-11243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-endangered-species","category-fisheries","category-may-2019","tag-patricia-tummons","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/1280_6hx4vibXSNhM.jpg\")
Lethal sand temperatures, sea level rise, increasing storms due to climate change, and egg harvesting threaten the hatch success of endangered leatherback sea turtles. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHawai\u2018i Fleet Effects<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Previous Efforts<\/h4>\n\n\n\n