Conservations groups have sued NOAA Fisheries, claiming that the agency has failed to meet the legal deadline for determining whether tope sharks should be protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and Defend Them All Foundation first filed a petition to have tope sharks ESA-listed in February 2022. NOAA Fisheries responded with a 90-day preliminary finding acknowledging that the sharks may warrant protections in April of that year, triggering a full investigation due February 2023. The agency has still not issued a determination.
Now, the two groups are suing.
“Tope sharks are vanishing very quickly, so they can’t wait until federal officials find it convenient to act. They need protections now,” CBD Attorney David Derrick said. “We’ve been watching for years as these sharks are hunted for fins and meat and killed by fishing gear entanglements. The federal government already acknowledged that these sharks need help, and it’s time to stop their population plunge with Endangered Species Act safeguards.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature categorizes the tope shark, which lives in the waters off the West Coast of the U.S., as critically endangered. According to CBD, the tope shark population has declined by roughly 90 percent over an 80-year period. The center claims the shark is threatened by habitat degradation, being caught in gillnets as bycatch, and commercial overfishing.
“Relentless overexploitation, habitat degradation, inadequate regulatory mechanisms, and other manmade factors, including contaminants, are pushing the tope shark closer to extinction every day,” Defend Them All Attorney Lindsey Zehel said. “Federal protection will give this important top predator a fighting chance and must be prioritized.”
