13/01/2023
Hello, it’s ! Hope you are all enjoying the new year! Today we are highlighting NOAA Fisheries’ Species in the Spotlight initiative…focusing on the Pacific leatherback sea turtle! NOAA launched these efforts in 2015 to save this highly at-risk marine species from disappearing from the ocean ecosystem.
Leatherback sea turtles are divided into two populations by researchers…Pacific leatherbacks and Atlantic leatherbacks. Pacific leatherback sea turtles are both genetically and biologically unique. They are larger in size and migrate extreme distances from nesting to foraging/feeding areas. Unfortunately, Pacific leatherback populations have plummeted in recent decades mostly due to harvesting of their eggs and becoming bycatch in fishing gear. Other threats include coastal development, climate change, pollution, and marine debris.
There is good news! As part of the Species in the Spotlight initiative, NOAA Fisheries developed a 2021–2025 Priority Action Plan for the Pacific leatherback. This helps conserve their population numbers in both the United States and globally. In the first five years of Species in the Spotlight, NOAA Fisheries has:
• Reduced bycatch in U.S. pelagic longline fisheries
• Strengthened cooperation with Indonesia and Mexico
• Celebrated California's annual Pacific Leatherback Day and offered outreach and educations program
• Helped in efforts to reduce leatherback bycatch in coastal fisheries of five countries (Mexico, Peru, Chile, Philippines, and Indonesia)
• Protected key nesting beaches and foraging areas in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and California
For more information on the Pacific leatherback sea turtle and NOAA’s Species in the Spotlight initiative, here is the link: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/leatherback-turtle .
See you next week for another !
Photo Credit: The Aquarium of Hawaii, Maui Ocean Center
https://mauioceancenter.com/leatherback-turtles-are-sea-dogs-of-the-ocean/
