Viva la Tortuga! - sea turtles

Viva la Tortuga!Viva la Tortuga!

GREEN SEA TURTLES once num-bered in the millions, but now lessthan 1 percent remain on our blue-

green planet. These beautiful ocean giantsthat can weigh up to 700 pounds and canmeasure up to five feet in length are one ofthe largest sea turtles in the world, but theyare also among the most vulnerable.

Beautiful green sea turtles, like all sea turtles,are extremely vulnerable to the impacts ofclimate change due to their nesting behav-ior. For instance, a staggering 96 percent ofall Hawai`i green sea turtles nest on onelow lying sandbar that could be swampedby sea level rise. Another 79 percent of

green sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico andthe Caribbean all nest on a single CostaRican beach that is equally vulnerable torising seas.

Over the past three years, Turtle IslandRestoration Network and nearly 160,000advocates like you helped stop an effort tostrip away Endangered Species Act Protec -tions from Hawai’ian green sea turtles.

Now, federal wildlife policy-makers areproposing to list eight distinct populationsegments of green sea turtles as ‘threat-ened’ and three as ‘endangered’ whichcould result in better protections.

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NEWSLETTER OF TURTLE I S LAND RESTORAT ION NETWORK SEATURTLES .ORG

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Protecting Green Sea Turtles in the Face of Climate Change

Leatherback Sea Turtle VisitsBay Area

ONE OF THE FIRST CON-FIRMED sightings of anendangered Pacific leather -

back sea turtle this season occurredon Saturday, Aug. 15th near PedroPoint in Pacifica, Calif. Leather -backs, like the one spotted, migrateacross the entire Pacific Ocean, over6,500 miles each way, to feed onjellyfish along our Pacific Coast.

Captain Roger Thomas of the SaltyLady, a sport fishing boat, spottedthe leatherback coming up for air,and passenger Peter Winch capturedthe sighting with his camera.

Turtle Island won protections forthese gentle giants in 2001 with theformation of the Pacific Leather backConservation Area, which prohibitsdeadly drift gillnet fishing betweenpeak turtle times along our coasts.

ISSUE NO. 2, 2015

PETER WINCH

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TODD STEINER, Executive DirectorTurtle Island Restoration Network

Letter from the Director

Nearly 7,000 of our members andactivists signed on to our recent petitioncalling for greater protections for theseturtles’ historic nesting beaches andforaging grounds, and for designatingall existing and historic beaches as“critical habitat” to secure the future ofthis beloved species.

Turtle Island presented your petitionsalong with our own scientific commentsin September. Please give today atSeaTurtles.org/Donate to supportTurtle Island’s persistent advocacy forgreen sea turtles.

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IT WAS MARCH 3, 2008 whenwe completed a formal “peti-tion” to compel the U.S. gov-

ernment to enforce a provision ofthe Marine Mammal ProtectionAct (MMPA) that could have far-reaching impacts for the hundredsof thousands of animals that dieevery year in the worldwide fleetsof fishing vessels that catch seafoodfor the U.S. marketplace.

“Section 101” of the MMPArequires the U.S. to “ban the impor-tation of commercial fish or fishproducts that have been caught withcommercial fishing technology whichresults in the incidental kill or inciden-tal serious injury of marine mammalsin excess of United States standards.”

Submitting our petition was noteven the first step of a long andarduous process to get the U.S.government to accept its responsi-bility to enforce this decades-oldprovision that until recently, wasbeing completely ignored.

As early as 2002, Turtle Island andCenter for Biological Diversity(CBD) filed suit against the FisheriesService for its failure to convene aMarine Mammal Take ReductionTeam (TRT) for the Atlantic pelagiclongline fishery. A TRT is a groupof scientists and other experts, whoare required to create plans todevelop strategies to reduce theinjury and mortality of marinemammals from U.S. fisheries. Theresult of this lawsuit resulted in a2003 settlement agreement requir-ing the agency to convene a TRT byJune 30, 2005, to address bycatch oflong-finned pilot whales, short-finned pilot whales, and commondolphins in the Atlantic pelagiclong line fishery. Similarly, we alsofiled a successful lawsuit against theHawaiian longline fishery to reduce

the “take” of false killer whales thatresulted in another TRT to dealwith this deadly fishery.

By assuring that U.S. fisheries werereducing the death of marine mam-mals, we were able to set a strong“bar” to require foreign fisheries tomeet.

In the ensuing years, we organizedthe public support of scores of envi-ronmental organizations, congres-sional support, hundreds of scientists(including Dr. Sylvia Earle), andwhen all this was still not garneringaction, we filed a lawsuit in 2014.

As part of a settlement of the law-suit, in August 2015, the U.S. gov-ernment finally issued proposedrules to protect the 650,000 dol-phins, whales and other marinemammals that are caught annually bythe international seafood industry.

Now, nearly eight years after sub-mitting our petition (with our col-leagues at the CBD), we are on thecusp of a breakthrough that mayprevent the death and injury ofhundreds of thousands of whales,dolphins and other marine mam-mals each year.

Over the next couple of years, therules will be “phased in.” We willcontinue to watchdog the govern-ment to ensure compliance andenforcement. Only persistence andvigilance will result in “on-the-water” implementation and com-pliance, and you can be assured thatTurtle Island will be on the case!

Sincerely,

A DECADE OF WORK TO PROTECTMARINE MAMMALS COMES TO FRUITION

Collaboration in the EasternTropical Pacific

THIS SUMMER, Turtle Island’sExecutive Director Todd SteinerSteiner and Central American

Director Randall Arauz traveled toEcuador and participated in CMAR toadvocate for a new, bi-nationalProtected Swimway between CocosIsland National Marine Park, CostaRica and Galapagos Islands NationalPark, Ecuador as a model of coopera-tion to protect sea turtles and sharks.CMAR, the Spanish acronym for theEastern Tropical Pacific MarineCorridor, is a regional initiative of gov-ernments and civil society working forthe conservation of Marine ProtectedAreas of Ecuador, Colombia, Panamaand Costa Rica. Signed into law by theEnvironmental ministers of the fournations in 2004, the initiative hasrecently has been revived under theleadership of Colombia.


VICTORY! Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles Protected from Shrimp Trawls in Louisiana

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ON JULY 1, Louisiana GovernorBobby Jindal signed House Bill668 into law. Turtle Island wel-

comes this new law, which will allowLouisiana law enforcement officers toinspect shrimp boats for Turtle ExcluderDevices (TEDs). These devices areplaced on shrimp trawls and let sea tur-tles escape drowning by swimming outof the net through a turtle-sized hatch, asrequired by the U.S. Endangered SpeciesAct. Back in 1987, Louisiana had passeda law preventing the enforcement ofthese turtle-saving devices.

Thanks to thousands of members andactivists, and the work of our environ-mental allies, this out-of-date law is no

longer on the books. Turtle Islandworked to convince the state’s leadersthat a change must be made, while theMonterey Bay Aquarium’s SeafoodWatch program “red listed” shrimp toalert consumers that shrimp caught inLouisiana state waters was contributingto endangered sea turtle drownings. Dueto this pressure, and over 6,000 petitionsfrom Turtle Island members like you,H.B. 668 introduced by RepresentativeDorothy Hill passed both the LouisianaHouse and Senate and was signed intolaw by Governor Jindal.

In more good news for the Gulf ’s seaturtles, the recent five-year reviewcompleted by U.S. Fish and WildlifeService and the National MarineFisheries Service recommends steppingup TED compliance in both U.S., andMexican shrimp fisheries, and we willbe working to ensure this happens!Thanks to the support of Turtle Islandmembers like you, more sea turtles inthe Gulf of Mexico will be able toescape trawl nets and come up for air.

EACH YEAR, more than 250,000sea turtles are accidentally cap-tured, injured or killed by U.S.

fishermen. Often fishermen will acci-dently hook a turtle, then cut the fish-ing line quickly leaving the hookintact, because they fear legal trouble ifthey report that they hooked a turtle.

To reduce the staggering number ofthese incidents on piers and encourageresponsible behavior, Turtle Island part-nered with Loggerhead MarinelifeCenter to adopt the Center’s“Responsible Pier Initiative,” whichpromotes healthy pier environmentsfor sea turtles and other marine lifealong the upper Texas coast by workingdirectly with fisher men and fishingpiers. It also gives first-responders on

piers the necessary resources to respondeffectively to injuries and strandings onor around fishing piers.

In June, Turtle Island helped piers inGalveston, Texas implement the Initia -tive. We are educating the fishing com-munity, and with the help of dozens ofvolunteers, installing signs and collectingmonofilament line to reduce entan-glements. We hope to expand ourResponsible Pier Initiative model inGalveston to the entire Gulf Coast.

SeaTurtles.org

MEXICO’S FISHERIES arekilling too many endan-gered loggerhead sea

turtles. Thanks to your supportTurtle Island and our allies won amajor victory when the U.S.National Marine Fisheries Service(NMFS) announced that Mexicomust strengthen its fishing regula-tions to protect sea turtles or face apotential U.S. embargo of seafoodimports.

This announcement comes afterwe provided evidence that Mexicowas in violation of U.S. law for itssea turtle bycatch under the Mora -torium Protection Act. Under theact, Mexican fishermen must fishunder comparable rules as U.S.fishermen.

In the U.S. fishermen follow seaturtle bycatch prevention meas-ures. But despite Mexico adoptingnew rules, scientists estimate thatMexican halibut and shark fish-eries off Baja California Sur havekilled more than 2,000 endangeredNorth Pacific Ocean loggerheadseach year. Thus, NMFS found thatrules were not “comparable.”

Now, Turtle Island will push theWhite House to authorize anembargo on seafood productsfrom Mexican fisheries in order tosafeguard sea turtles in Mexico.

Saving Mexico’sLoggerhead Sea Turtles

Responsible Pier Initiative

RON WOOTEN

© RON WOOTEN


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TURTLE ISLAND RestorationNetwork is proud to announcethat we are teaming up with

Photography for a Change, photogra-phyforachange.com, to offer you highquality, fine art prints from top, emerg-ing photographers. For a limited timeyou can purchase these stunning printsthat put you in an ocean state of mind,liven up your walls and help protectour world’s oceans and marine wildlife!

That’s right, Photography for a Changewill donate 100 percent of the profitsto Turtle Island Restoration Network.Here’s what happens when you buy abeautiful print from Photography for aChange:• You get a fine art print to enjoy

• You support a talented photographer’s career

• You support Turtle IslandRestoration Network

Now, about the show! Dana Bove,friend of Turtle Island and founder ofPhotography for a Change, curated anincredible online show especially foryou. Bove sought out talented photog-raphers from around the globe andpicked three—Ron Wooten based inthe Gulf of Mexico, Roy Kimhi basedin Costa Rica and Lee Sie based in

Calif ornia—that showcase our oceansbeauty.

Please join us online for this excitingshow, share the show with your friends,and purchase a print to bring a little bitof the blue world into your home oroffice. Visit photographyforachange.com.

SeaTurtles.org

These 100% organic cotton t-shirts are made in the U.S.. Blackwith white tribal turtle design.

Available in Men’s & Women’ssizes: S, M, L & XL (women’s sizes run small).

$25 (please add $3 for shipping):

Order online on our secure server at SeaTurtles.org/Shop, call us during business hours at 1-800-859-7283or send a check to: Turtle Island, PO Box 370 Forest Knolls, CA 94933

Photography For A Change

Drones and Subs Assist Scientists at Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica

TURTLE ISLAND’S recent high-tech expedition to Cocos Island,Costa Rica deployed small sub-

marines, inflatable boats, and Unmanned

Aerial Vehicles (drones) to patrol formarine wildlife.

Randall Arauz, Alex Hearn, and ToddSteiner of Turtle Island directed theexpedition in collaboration with CostaRica’s National System of ProtectedAreas and the Cocos Island MarineConservation Area, and with the com-panies Alucia Productions II, PrecisionIntegrated and Aeroval, and with sup-port from the Dalio Ocean Initiative.

Researchers used inflatable boats to tagsharks, and subs to put listening stationson an undersea mount where the sta-tions can track migrations of ‘tagged’marine wildlife. Drones searched forwildlife and illegal fishers from the sky.

Sea Turtle T-Shirt

ROY KIMHI

DANA BOVE

RON WOOTEN

LIE SIE


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TURTLE ISLAND Restora -tion Network is proud toannounce a new pilot

program to find illegal fishingvessels within the MarineProtected Area surroundingCocos Island, Costa Rica. TurtleIsland teamed up with DigitalGlobe’s crowdsourcing platform,Tomnod. com, to create one ofthe first crowdsourced, digitalpatrols of the marine hot-spotusing satellite imagery.

Cocos Island is an important stop -over for large marine wildlife, likehammerhead sharks, on their oceanicmigrations. The island is also home togreen and hawksbill sea turtles.Jacques-Yves Cousteau dived at theIsland and called it “the most beautifulisland in the world.”

Yet, sadly this blue gem is under attackby illegal longline fishing vessels thatenter into the marine protected zonethat extends around the Island, insearch of tuna and sharks. Longlinefishing is a deadly type of fishing thatconsists of setting a main line with

hundreds or thousands of baitedhooks and then indiscriminatelycatching, harming or killingwhatever bites the baited hooks.Air-breathing endangered seaturtles that get caught will oftendrown as they are unable tocome up for air, while sharksthat must swim to force water intheir gills also perish whencaught.

Turtle Island and Tomnod teamedup to share satellite images of

Cocos Island with the world and findillegal fishing boats. Large satelliteimages were uploaded on Tomnod.comand overlaid with a grid, more than10,000 users from around the worldand Turtle Island members digitallypatrolled for illegal vessels online. Thecampaign had the highest participationrate of any Tomnod campaign to date.

IN EARLY APRIL, American Airlinesannounced via Twitter that theywill no longer ship shark fins on

any of their flights, including USAirways flights.

The announcement comes after TurtleIsland and our Costa Rican sisterorganization PRETOMA found evi-dence that American Airlines planeswere exporting scalloped hammerheadshark fins from Costa Rica on planesdestined for Hong Kong by way ofstops on U.S. soil. This is illegal underthe U.S. Endangered Species Act.

With this evidence in hand, Turtle Islandbegan negotiations with AmericanAirlines to convince the carrier to ban

shark fin shipments on their planes.

Using evidence gathered by TurtleIsland and PRETOMA that showedDHL and UPS also had involvement inthe shark fin trade, partner organiza-tions, involved citizens and our mem-bers put pressure on ground carriers tore-evaluate their shipping policies.Now, both DHL and UPS have changedtheir policies and no longer fly shark fins.

Unfortunately, FedEx and other airlineshave refused to change course and stillfly fins.

Though banned in many parts of theworld, global trade of shark is still valuedat over $1 billion and an estimated 73

million sharks are killed annually, mainlyfor their fins. Please join us and takeaction at seaturtles.org/nofinsonboard.

Crowdsourcing with Satellite Imagesto Find Illegal Fishing Boats

American Airlines, DHL and UPS Announce They Will No

Longer Ship Shark Fins

SeaTurtles.org

NOAA

TOMNOD.COM

An estimated 73 million sharks arekilled annually, mainly for their fins

A view of Cocos Island, Costa Ricafrom DigitalGlobe’s satellites


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Shop at the Sea Turtle Store

“I Love Sea Turtles” silveradjustable charm bracelet withsea turtle charms and glass beads.Price: $34.00 (includes shipping)

Order online on our secureserver at SeaTurtles.org/Shop.

Call us at 1-800-859-7283 to place your order.

Send a check to: Turtle Island, PO Box 370Forest Knolls CA 94933.

Silver “I Love Sea Turtles”

Charm Bracelet

ONE OF OUR YOUNGEST mem-bers, Jacob Cohen, successfullyraised over $1,000 to support

Turtle Island’s ocean and marinewildlife conservation as part of his 7thgrade Tzedakah project focused aroundthe Jewish value of righteous giving atthe Ronald C. Wornick Jewish DaySchool in Foster City, California.��

Jacob selected Turtle Island because ofour dedication to action. “Not only isTurtle Island trying to solve problemsourselves, but they are also trying toinspire other people to help,” he said.

Thank you, Jacob for your generosity tomarine animals! We welcome creativeideas for support from our members—let us know at [email protected].

Leave a Legacyfor the Sea Turtles

Donor Spotlight: 7th Grader JacobCohen Raises Funds for Turtle Island

Donate your Vehicleto Turtle Island

THROUGH A BEQUEST toTurtle Island Restora tionNetwork in your will and

other estate plans, you can leave alegacy for sea turtles, sharks,salmon and the oceans.

Visit SeaTurtles.org/BequestGiftor contact us at info@Sea Turtles.org or 1-800-859-7283 for infor-mation on including a bequest toTurtle Island in your will, addinga simple codicil to your existingwill, and other ways to givethrough your estate. Any infor-mation discussed is confidential.

A professional financial advisormay be able to help you identifyadditional ways to provide youwith tax benefits, as well as helpprotect the earth’s oceans andwildlife. Thank you for consider-ing this important way to give.

SUPPORT SEA TURTLE andocean conservation bydonating your vehicle to

Turtle Island, no matter whereyou are in the U.S. Your contribu-tion may be tax deductible. Bydonating your car, truck or boat,you will be making a vital contri-bution to Turtle Island RestorationNetwork, which receives 70-80%of the net proceeds, depending onthe sale value of the vehicle.

The process is simple. Just contactDonate For Charity atwww.donateforcharity.com orcall 866.392.4483 and they willarrange to pick up your vehicle.They accept most cars, trucks,vans, fleet vehicles, trailers, boatsand RVs that are 15 years ornewer from any location in all 50states.


Meet the Interns

WILL JONES, Media and Communications Intern—B.A., Philosophy, B.A., Environmental Sustainability, Miami University

AIMEE POLEKOFF, Education and Outreach InternIntern—B.A. Geoscience, Franklin & Marshall College

YANI POHL, Fundraising and Habitat RestorationIntern—B.S. Ecology and Evolutionary Science, UC Santa Cruz

MICHAEL RHODES, Smolt Monitoring Intern—B.S. Environmental Studies, University of Pittsburgh

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TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATIONNETWORK is proud to honorCarole Allen, our Gulf OfficeDirector and board member. Sincethe 1980s, Carole has turned herpassion for sea turtles into effectivecampaigns to save the criticallyendangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtlesof the Gulf of Mexico.

“In the 1980s, I founded an all-volunteer group called HelpEndangered Animals—Ridley Turtles (HEART) that let school-children help pay for turtle food for sea turtles in the Texas‘turtle house.’ The federal government was raising hatchlingsto regenerate the species from near-extinction, but the fund-ing for this project was in jeopardy so, I knew I had to takeaction,” says Carole. “Later, the fight to save these turtles frombeing killed in shrimp nets took over my life.”

In 2002, after working together on a successful effort to gaina shrimping closure along Texas nesting beaches, HEARTmerged with Turtle Island. Carole has been an invitedCongressional speaker, her work has been featured in EdwardHumes book, “Eco Barons” and Oprah Magazine, and she hasreceived numerous awards. Today, Turtle Island honors Carolefor her tireless work for protections that have saved thousandsof sea turtles each year. Carole, congratulations and thank you!

Turtle Island Honors Gulf Director Carole Allen

Left to Right: Michael Rhodes, Yani Pohl, and Aimee Polekoff.Not Pictured: Will Jones.

Learn more about our internship program and pleaseshare with folks looking for opportunities to help us savethe oceans at SeaTurtles.org/Intern.

Join Turtle Island’sMonthly Giving Program

HELP US TAKE SWIFT, sustained and innovative actionby participating in our Monthly Giving Program. Bymaking a monthly recurring donation to Turtle Island

Restora tion Network you can make a huge impact with asmall monthly donation! Choose a species or program to sup-port, or let us use your tax-deductible contribution where itis needed most.

Donate just $5 a month or more and we will thank you witha Turtle Island baseball cap made from 100% organic cotton.

You can cancel or change the amount of your donation any-time. Use the enclosed envelope to join, or go online toSeaTurtles.org/Monthly.

TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION NETWORK is proudto help train the next generation of environmentaliststhrough our internship program. Get to know our

interns:

This designation has drastically reduced the number of leatherbackdeaths in the fishery. The sighting of this leatherback helps demon-strate the need for continued and increased protections. Turtle Islandhelped draw attention to this amazing species by getting our StateAssemblymember to introduce legislation that made the leatherbackthe official marine reptile of California, celebrated on Oct. 15th asPacific Leatherback Conservation Day.

SeaTurtles.org

Leatherback Sea Turtle Visits Bay Area continued from page 1

PETER WINCH


Turtle Island Restoration NetworkP.O. Box 370Forest Knolls, CA 94933

in this issue:Save Green Sea Turtles

Using Technology to LocateIllegal Fishing Boats

Shutting Down Shark Finning

Rescuing Texas Turtles on Piers

Viva la Tortuga!Issue No. 2, 2015Newsletter of Turtle Island Restoration Network

DESIGN: DANIELA SKLAN | HUMMINGBIRD DESIGN STUDIO

THE SEA TURTLE RESTORATION PROJECT was founded more than 25years ago, and is a conservation initiative of Turtle Island, a leadingadvocate for the world’s oceans and marine wildlife.

Our work is based on science, fueled by people who care, and effective at cat-alyzing long-lasting positive change that protects the likes of green sea turtlesand steelhead trout.

Our mission is to mobilize people in local communities around the world toprotect marine wildlife and the oceans and inland watersheds that sustain them.

We accomplish our mission through grassroots empowerment, consumeraction, strategic litigation hands-on restoration, environmental education, andby promoting sustainable local, national and international marine policies.Learn more at SeaTurtles.org.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Donna Howe (Chair), Carole Allen, Barb Andrews,Randall Arauz, Julie OwenHanft, Rick Misuraca, Wallace J. Nichols, Debbie Sivas,Jim Spotila, Todd Steiner(Executive Director).

About the Sea Turtle Restoration ProjectA Conservation Initiative of Turtle Island Restoration Network

Contact Us:

CALIFORNIA HEADQUARTERSP.O. Box 370, Forest Knolls, CA 94933phone 415-663-8590 or 800-859-7283fax 415-663-9534e-mail [email protected] www.SeaTurtles.org

LATIN AMERICA OFFICERandall Arauz (Costa Rica)phone 011-506-2241-5227email [email protected]

GULF OF MEXICO OFFICE2228 Broadway, Galveston, Texas 77550phone 409-795-8426 email [email protected]


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Viva la Tortuga! - sea turtles