5/21/2004
1303
BUSH ADMINISTRATION SUED FOR NOT PROTECTING HAWAIIAN FALSE KILLER WHALES
On 11-20-03, the Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network, and the Hawaii community group Hui Malama i Kohola, filed suit against the Bush administration for refusing to protect Hawai'i population of false killer whales from destructive longline fishing. False killer whales are routinely injured or killed when caught on the miles of large hooks strung across the oceans by the commercial tuna and swordfishing industry. The population has only 83 individuals and is being killed at nearly 20 times the rate allowable for a sustainable population.
The
suit seeks to reclassify the false killer whale from
a Category III status to a Category I under the Marine
Mammal Protection Act. It is being argued by Paul
Achitoff of Earthjustice (Honolulu).
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