The United States Government have threatened to block the import of Mexican seafood into the U.S. in an attempt to save the 2,000 endangered loggerhead sea turtles that are killed by Mexican fishers every year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Fisheries) issued the Government of Mexico with a “negative certification” for not adhering to a sufficient bycatch regulatory program. As a result, the United States Government could potentially impose sanctions on a variety of Mexican seafood and block its import into the U.S. market, if the number of sea turtle deaths do not decline rapidly.
The announcement comes just days after the fisheries service proposed new rules to globally protect marine mammals. In addition, just six months ago, the NOAA identified Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nigeria, Nicaragua, and Portugal as having high levels of “illegal, unreported and unregulated” fishing that poses great risk to many already endangered species.
The location currently in question in Mexico is the Gulf of Ulloa, in Baja California, a region which is both an integral breeding site for the endangered loggerhead sea turtle and an economically valuable halibut fishery. To catch the halibut, fishers use mile-long gillnets to catch large quantities of fish. Unfortunately, during this process, thousands of loggerhead sea turtles are caught and killed as bycatch, significantly reducing the species population.
“The United States and Mexico share a strong commitment to the conservation of North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles,” said John Henderschedt, Director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection. “Bycatch of these turtles threatens their continued existence and addressing this bycatch supports sustainable populations of the species. We will continue to consult with Mexico to address this issue and encourage measures that would achieve a positive certification.”
Mexico’s “negative certification” is the first that has been taken under the U.S. High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act. The Act allows the U.S. government to take action against countries that do not adopt a “regulatory program comparable to that of the United States to address bycatch” of endangered species. The decision was made after the country made minimal progress to improve its regulations after being identified in the “2013 Biennial Report to Congress.”
In 2012, the Mexican Fisheries Research Institute conducted bycatch trials in the region. During the six-day trials, they recorded that as many as 88 loggerhead turtles had been captured. Although Mexico has introduced a number of new regulations to help conserve sea turtles, conservation groups argue that these are not sufficient. The regulations will only be in place between October 2015 and April 2017, a time period which will only cover the 2016 summer fishing season.
In addition, the regulations also allow Mexican fishers to kill up to 90 loggerhead sea turtles annually, compared to U.S. regulations which limit the number to just two loggerheads a year. These strict U.S. restrictions have been implemented because keeping sea turtle bycatch numbers low is crucial to sustaining the species.
“We are encouraging the U.S. to issue strong and swift sanctions against Mexico, to pressure Mexico to get serious about saving sea turtles and also to send a strong message to the world that the U.S. is willing to use its lucrative market to protect imperiled wildlife wherever it is found,” said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Image Credit: WikiMedia Commons, Damien du Toit
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