Ban on long-line commercial fishing may be lifted / Restyled hook won't spare sea turtles, opponents contend

Ban on long-line commercial fishing may be lifted / Restyled hook won't spare sea turtles, opponents contend

By Glen Martin

Source: sfgate

8/5/2005

Marine conservationists say the West Coast's last sea turtles could be wiped out if federal agencies decide to overturn a ban on long-lining, a form of commercial fishing that has killed hundreds of thousands of turtles over the past 20 years.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, a subsidiary agency of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, banned long-lining for swordfish off the California coast in 2004 after concluding the practice was destroying sea turtles -- especially leatherbacks, huge marine reptiles sometimes exceeding a ton in weight.