The US government is proposing some tweaks to the rules that govern the safe handling of sea turtles unintentionally caught by commercial longline fishermen.
According to a notice published this week:
“This proposed rule would update the Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) regulations regarding the sea turtle safe handling and release requirements and equipment in the HMS pelagic and bottom longline fisheries.”
The proposed updates are based on two technical memoranda published by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) meant to simplify those rules.
The updates would also add other tools or options for fishermen to use to safely handle and release sea turtles.
Check out the notice on the proposed rule here.
