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Leatherback sea turtles have been safe from destructive Drift Gillnet Fishing in the Leatherback Conservation Area along the California and Oregon Coast since 2001. Now the the government is poised to issue a new Fishing Permit which will authorize the killing of this critically endangered species in this protected area!

Background
On July 11, the U.S. federal fishing agency - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service - announced their preliminary intent to issue a Fishing Permit which will eliminate a highly effective LEATHERBACK CONSERVATION AREA along the California and Oregon coast. The same fishing method has been banned on the high seas by the United Nations. But the government wants to expand it off our coast.

This proposal would authorize the killing of critically endangered leatherback sea turtles, humpback whales, short-finned pilot whales and sperm whales. Other threatened species caught by this Fishery include loggerhead sea turtles, green sea turtles, olive ridley sea turtles and fin whales. Dolphins, seals, sea lions, seabirds and additional species of whales have also fallen victim

Drift Gillnet fishing, which targets swordfish and thresher sharks, has been closed since 2001 in over 100,000 square miles along the West Coast for a four-month period each year to protect the leatherbacks. This important Leatherback Conservation Area has resulted in NO leatherback deaths since it was put in place. The fishing permit will allow up to 30 vessels back into this protected area.

Now the government is attempting to gut this important protection. Let them know this is UNACCEPTABLE!

What You Can Do!
Please send an email by AUGUST 10TH to NOAA Fisheries asking them to keep leatherback protections in place OR

Send a letter to: Mr. Rodney R. McInnis, Regional Administrator, Southwest Region NMFS, 501 West Coast Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach CA, 90802-4213, Fax: (562) 980 4047, Email: 0648-AU25.SWR@noaa.gov