The article discusses the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) claim that the “regulatory mechanisms” it has in place to protect marine turtles “are insufficient or are not being implemented effectively to address the needs of loggerheads.” The authors dispute this claim and contend that the NMFS is responding to a petition to list the loggerhead sea turtles as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), in order to avoid court conflict with specific organizations. The authors contend that the basis of this claim is not supported with valid information and “may provide a false sense of urgency.” Lastly, the article asserts that “routine council-based fisheries management can only become increasingly displaced by command-and-control ESA management.”

Time to Fight NMFS Over Sea Turtle Plans