Topsail Island, N.C. – The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center has filed a lawsuit in federal court asking the State of North Carolina to stop authorizing gill net fishing in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).The lawsuit cites studies by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries that have found gill net fishing in North Carolina waters results in the injury and death of sea turtles protected by the ESA. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
The suit alleges that defendants North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF), North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission, and DMF Director Dr. Louis Daniel have issued permits and licenses that “have resulted in the illegal take of estimated thousands of protected sea turtles over the previous decades, and continue to result in the illegal take of protected sea turtles today.”
See entire press release here.. http://www.law.duke.edu/news/story?id=4605&u=5
See court venue, case number, presiding Federal Judge here...... http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-ncedce/case_no-7:2010cv00032/case_id-104804/
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