Sep 23, 2007 8:36 am US/Eastern
Sea Turtle Populations Drop As Dangers Increase
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WASHINGTON (CBS4) ―
Floridians care a lot about sea turtles. They turn off beachfront lights to prevent nesting turtles from being disoriented, they turn out to guard turtle nests, and the special tag to raise money for turtle protection is the state's fourth best seller. Now, a new report indicates the turtles are in more trouble than ever, and it blames commercial fishing.
After encouraging gains in the 1990s, populations of loggerhead sea turtles are now dropping in the United States, including Florida, which is one of the prime nesting areas.
The federal report is a five-year status update required under the Endangered Species Act, and says the problems can be traced to commercial harvesting of the turtles outside of US protected waters.
It stops short of recommending that the federally threatened species be upgraded to "endangered" status, but scientists and environmentalists say it should serve as a wake-up call.
The Southeast, particularly Florida, is one of the two largest loggerhead nesting areas in the world. Eggs are laid and hatched along beaches from Texas to North Carolina.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
