Two marine conservation organizations intend to sue Northeast states over what they say is a failure to protect an endangered species.
Earlier this month, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network announced its intent to file suit against New York, New Jersey and Delaware.
Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum says, according to scientists, there are fewer than 250 spawning adult Atlantic sturgeon left in the Delaware River.
“People say, ‘Well, why should we care about the surgeon?’ Well, we should care about the surgeon because it's another species on this earth which is on the brink of extinction, very directly because of the actions and activities of people and the failure of our government officials to put in place critical protections,” said van Rossum.
The Atlantic sturgeon, an endangered species, has five distinct populations. One occupies the area known as the New York Bight, which includes the Delaware River and the Hudson River Estuary.
The prehistoric fish, which live in the ocean but spawn in rivers, were once so numerous in the Hudson River, they were nicknamed “Albany beef.”
In 1996, New York and New Jersey declared moratoriums on harvesting Atlantic sturgeon. Two years later, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an interstate compact, banned possession of the sturgeon in all Atlantic coastal states.
But advocates say the fish are still being unintentionally caught by fisherman as bycatch.
“There's no enforcement action taken by any of the states or the federal government,” said Jackman.
George Jackman is Habitat Restoration Director at Riverkeeper of the Hudson Valley. The group this week joined Delaware Riverkeeper’s legal effort.
Jackman says despite restrictions, and the acknowledgement from state governments and regulatory agencies that bycatch remains a significant problem, New York has not issued incidental take permits for fisheries. And even if the state did, Jackman questions if they’d be effective.
“If this was a bald eagle, which are no longer the [Endangered Species List], and people were shooting them inadvertently while shooting pheasant, there’d be hell to pay,” said Jackman.
Van Rossum says because incidental take permits are not being issued for the endangered sturgeon, it’s difficult to measure how many fish are mistakenly caught. A 2017 study by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission observed bycatch through 2014.
“One of the outcomes we expect from our successful legal effort, and I'm very confident that our effort will, in fact, be successful, is that we will both have a reduction in the bycatch, but two, we will also have in place monitoring requirements so we'll have a much better understanding of what is the level of impact on the species, and we’ll know whether or not more needs to be done,” said van Rossum.
In a statement, DEC said it is “aware of Delaware Riverkeeper’s letter of intent.”
The statement says, “DEC is committed to the protection and restoration of the Delaware River basin and all the species it supports.”
