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Keep Deadly Gillnets Out Of Turtle Feeding Waters
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Sponsor: Free The Ocean
Pacific heat waves draw endangered loggerheads into Southern California waters. NOAA must keep deadly drift gillnets out of their feeding grounds.
North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles make extraordinary ocean journeys. NOAA Fisheries says loggerheads seen off Southern California are part of the North Pacific population, which originates from nesting beaches in Japan. Hatchlings drift and swim across the Pacific, and some spend decades feeding along the eastern edge of the North Pacific before maturity.5
Southern California waters become especially important during anomalously warm periods. NOAA researchers found no turtles during 2011 aerial surveys, but during warm conditions in 2015 they observed more than 200 loggerheads and estimated more than 15,000 in the area.5
That movement creates a predictable danger. When warm water pulls loggerheads into the Southern California Bight, large-mesh drift gillnets used for swordfish and thresher shark can become lethal walls in feeding waters.
The Pacific Loggerhead Conservation Area Exists For A Reason
NOAA Fisheries closed the Pacific Loggerhead Conservation Area to large-mesh drift gillnet gear from June 1 through August 31, 2026. The Federal Register notice says the closure applies off Southern California east of 120 degrees west longitude and is intended to protect Endangered Species Act-listed loggerhead sea turtles, specifically the endangered North Pacific Ocean Distinct Population Segment.2
The same notice says regulations prohibit drift gillnet fishing in that area from June through August during a forecasted or occurring El Niño event. NOAA found March and April 2026 sea surface temperatures were warmer than normal in the Southern California Bight and cited an 82% probability that El Niño conditions could occur from May through July 2026.2
The Center for Biological Diversity says the 25,000-square-mile Pacific Loggerhead Conservation Area was established in 2000 to prevent the drift gillnet fishery from jeopardizing loggerheads’ existence.3 Turtle Island Restoration Network says the closure covers the California Bight from Point Conception south to the U.S.-Mexico border during El Niño conditions.4
Gillnets Must Stay Out Until The Threat Is Gone
Drift gillnets are designed to hang in open water, but they do not catch only target fish. The Center for Biological Diversity warns these nets can entangle whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, and other ocean life, and trapped animals often drown.3
NOAA says loggerhead recovery requires reducing bycatch in commercial fisheries and using spatial or temporal closures to avoid or minimize harm.6
NOAA must enforce the closure this year and in the future, monitor sea surface temperatures carefully, reject any premature reopening unless conditions are truly safe, and complete the large-mesh drift gillnet phase-out required by federal law.
Endangered turtles should not survive a journey across the Pacific only to drown in preventable fishing gear.
Sign now to urge NOAA Fisheries to protect loggerhead sea turtles during Pacific heat waves and keep drift gillnets out of turtle feeding waters.
