Saving Seafood

Environmental groups take steps to sue to compel new protections for gray whales

August 28, 2026 — Amid a decade of die-offs and a sharp decline in the population of gray whales that swim along the Pacific coast of North America, three environmental groups are preparing to sue the Trump administration over its failure to bring back Endangered Species Act protections for the animals.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the International Marine Mammal Project and Oasis Earth on Tuesday submitted a notice of intent to sue the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over gray whale protections.

Oasis Earth submitted a petition a year ago to NOAA Fisheries for a threatened or endangered listing to be granted to the Eastern North Pacific gray whale population. But the agency neither issued a 90-day finding on the petition’s validity nor a 12-month finding on the population’s status, as required under the law, the groups’ notice said.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

CBD sues NOAA Fisheries over lack of queen conch protections

July 10, 2026 — The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) sued NOAA Fisheries over inadequate queen conch protection, noting the agency has yet to designate critical habitat for the snail despite listing the species as a threatened under the Endangered Species Act

“The Fisheries Service’s failure to protect the coral reefs and other places where the queen conch lives is driving this iconic snail closer to extinction,” CBD attorney Alex Muir said in a release. “Without this crucial protection, we’ll have to watch pollution, dredging, and climate change continue to threaten these charming marine snails. What’s so frustrating is that this is preventable. If federal officials move quickly to shield their habitat, it’d give these conchs a fighting chance as they struggle to survive devastating overharvesting.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

‘Indiana Jones’ shark gains protection at Cites meeting

October 4, 2016 — Known for its long whip-like tail, the threatened Thresher shark is among a number of marine species given extra protection at the Cites meeting.

Devil rays and Silky sharks have also been given additional safeguards.

These shark species have seen huge population falls over the past decades, due to the demands of the shark fin trade.

Devil rays are valued for the gill plates which are used in Chinese medicine.

Campaigners believe the safeguards under Cites will make a real difference to these species survival.

Few sharks protected

It’s estimated that around 100 million sharks of all types are killed in commercial fisheries – with their fins often destined for markets in China and Hong Kong.

Despite the scale of the fishing, there are just eight species given some protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

At the previous Cites meeting in Thailand in 2013, hammerhead, oceanic whitetip and porbeagle sharks were added to Appendix II as well as all species of manta rays.

Appendix II means that trade is allowed but it has to be shown to be sustainable.

Read the full story at the BBC

NOAA awards $5.4 million in grants for endangered, threatened species recovery

August 22, 2016 — NOAA has awarded $5.4 million in grants to states and tribes in all coastal regions to help in the recovery of endangered and threatened marine species. The agency also opened a call for 2017 proposals under the Species Recovery Grants Program, authorized under Section 6 of the Endangered Species Act.

This year’s awards include $3.9 million for 17 new grants to 12 states and one federally recognized tribe. The remaining funds will support seven continuing state projects and one continuing tribal project. Visit our website for highlights of this year’s new state and tribal projects.

The funding supports management, research, and outreach efforts designed to bring vulnerable species to a point where Endangered Species Act protections are no longer necessary.

Read the full release at NOAA.gov

Cuba launches shark protection plan produced with US group

October 21, 2015 — HAVANA (AP) — Cuba announced Wednesday that it is launching a long-term plan to preserve its sharks in cooperation with a U.S. environmental group, part of a rapidly accelerating partnership between the two countries aimed at preserving their shared waters in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits.

Nearly a year after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced that they would end a half-century of official hostility and start moving toward normalization, the most visible progress has been in the realm of environmental protection.

The shark plan announced by Cuba after two years of work with the U.S -based Environmental Defense Fund commits Cuba to recording shark catches by fishing vessels and eventually implementing stricter rules that would limit shark fishing and protect shark nurseries.

Secretary of State John Kerry announced in Valparaiso, Chile this month that the U.S. and Cuba were signing an accord to work together on protecting marine preservation areas in far western Cuba located a relatively short distance from Texas and Florida across the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits.

In April, a research vessel operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration carried marine scientists from Cuba and other countries on a research cruise aimed at gathering information about the spawning of blue-fin tuna, a commercially valuable and highly threatened species.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard – Times