Save Sea Turtles From Drowning in Florida's Longline Fishery

© Doug Perrine/Seapics.com

End of the Line for Florida's Loggerheads?

Between July 2006 and the end of 2007, the government estimates that the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery, which targets reef fish like grouper and tilefish, resulted in the capture of nearly 1,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles -- and that in more than 80% of these incidents, the turtles drowned or were injured!  Loggerheads nesting on Florida beaches -- the same turtles captured in the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery -- have plummeted by more than 40% over the last decade. 

The bottom longline fishery has far exceeded the number of turtles it is allowed to take under the Endangered Species Act.  Yet, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has refused to immediately close the fishery.  NMFS proposal to allow the fishery to operate while it studies options for reducing the deaths of sea turtles is illegal and misguided.

Please sign our petition to save the lives of sea turtles today, and we will deliver your names and comments to the agency at the end of the month.

I strongly urge you to immediately suspend the bottom longline fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Between July 2006 and the end of 2007, the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery, which targets reef fish like grouper and tilefish, resulted in the capture of nearly 1,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles -- more than three times the number authorized under the Endangered Species Act. In more than 80% of these incidents, the turtles were injured or killed. Please immediately close this fishery, further delay will only further jeopardize the existence of the region's beloved sea turtle populations. Thank you,

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0-25 of 3200 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Location	Got something else you want to say?
3200	February 04, 2010	DIMITRIOS DOINAKIS	ARIDAIA PELLAS - HELLAS
3199	January 24, 2010	Kim Frederick	, TX
3198	December 09, 2009	Alexandra MAUVE	Nimes, FRANCE
3197	November 08, 2009	Cornélia PALAZOTTO	Marseille
3196	November 08, 2009	Jean-Luc PALAZOTTO	MARSEILLE
3195	August 23, 2009	Mary Gaither	, GA	this is so sad these poor sea turtles should never be treated like this..have a heart
3194	August 23, 2009	NIKOLAOS PONIRIS	PIRAEUS GREECE
3193	August 23, 2009	NIKOLAOS PONIRIS	PIRAEUS GREECE
3192	August 20, 2009	Trina Fuoco	Jacksonville, FL
3191	August 18, 2009	Marcia Cooperman	Portland, OR
3190	August 17, 2009	nicole zaban	vireux-molhain
3189	August 06, 2009	Richard Cullen	Petaluma, CA
3188	August 04, 2009	DALLON SEVERINE	sievoz
3187	July 19, 2009	Erica Gurney	Boca Raton, FL
3186	July 15, 2009	Vera Pinheiro	Portugal
3185	July 13, 2009	Elisabeth Karcher	Marseille
3184	June 25, 2009	Nathalie Lecat
3183	June 18, 2009	Toni Siegrist	Cambridge, MA
3182	June 14, 2009	DJ Martinez	Martinez, CA
3181	June 14, 2009	Sharon McNeill	, NC
3180	June 11, 2009	Anonymous	, IL
3179	June 09, 2009	Nicole Bilodeau	, AZ
3178	June 09, 2009	Evan Rapoport	Kailua, HI
3177	May 30, 2009	mireille azouzou	Marseille
3176	May 30, 2009	eric duprat	Marseille

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