U.S. set to declare loggerhead turtles an endangered species

From an article on Underwatertimes.com:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC), the world's oldest sea turtle research and protection group, today applauded the proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to designate Northwest Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles as an endangered species. Until 1998 Northwest Atlantic loggerheads were an Endangered Species Act success story. This proposed change in status from threatened to endangered recognizes the plight of rapidly declining Northwest Atlantic loggerheads, which nest on beaches from North Carolina to Texas.

Florida accounts for over 90% of loggerhead nesting in the United States. Protection provided by the Endangered Species Act and implementation of regulations requiring Turtle Excluder Devices in shrimp nets to prevent the drowning of entrapped turtles contributed to encouraging nesting increases from 1986 to 1998. Since that time, however, nesting throughout Florida has declined by nearly 50%. Nesting populations also are declining in the other states, for which long-term information is available. "This proposal is long overdue," said David Godfrey, CCC's Executive Director.

Loggerheads face numerous threats onshore where they nest and at sea, but accidental capture, injury and death in commercial fisheries is perhaps the greatest peril to their survival today.