March 16, 2023 — A federal court in the U.S. state of California has ruled the National Marine Fisheries Service must develop a whale take-reduction plan for the West Coast sablefish pot fishery, a decision that will put more pressure on the agency and industry to come up with gear alternatives.
U.S. District Court Judge James Donato ruled 14 March in favor of the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued NMFS challenging its permitting of the fishery without having a plan in place to reduce the danger of humpback whales entangling in vertical trap lines.