PETITION TO LIST THE PACIFIC LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE (DERMOCHELYS CORIACEA) AS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT Photo Credit: Peter Winch CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION NETWORK January 9, 2019 FGC – 670.1 (3/94) NOTICE OF PETITION TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME COMMISSION For action pursuant to Section 670.1, Title 14, California Code of Regulations (CCR) and sections 2072 and 2073 of the Fish and Game Code relating to listing and delisting endangered and threatened species of plants and animals. I. SPECIES BEING PETITIONED Common name: Pacific leatherback sea turtle Scientific name: (Dermochelys coriacea) II. RECOMMENDED ACTION: List as endangered The Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network submit this petition to list the Pacific leatherback sea turtle as endangered throughout its range in California pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act (California Fish and Game Code §§ 2050 et seq.). This petition demonstrates that the Pacific leatherback sea turtle clearly warrants listing based on the factors specified in the statute. III. AUTHOR OF PETITION Catherine Kilduff Center for Biological Diversity 1212 Broadway, Suite 800 Oakland, CA 94612 (202) 780-8862 [email protected] I hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, all statements made in this petition are true and complete. Signature: Date: _January 9, 2020_____________ The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.6 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. The Turtle Island Restoration Network is a nonprofit conservation organization with over 100 thousand members dedicated to the protection of vulnerable marine species worldwide. i TABLE OF CONTENTS NOTICE OF PETITION .................................................................................................................. i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 1 1. The California Endangered Species Act Listing Process and Standard for Acceptance of a Petition ..................................................................................................... 2 2. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4 3. Life History ......................................................................................................................... 4 3.1. Species Description ................................................................................................. 4 3.2. Taxonomy ............................................................................................................... 6 3.3. Population Genetics ................................................................................................ 6 3.4. Reproduction and Growth ....................................................................................... 7 3.5. Diet and Foraging Ecology ..................................................................................... 7 3.6. Migration................................................................................................................. 8 4. Population Trend, Distribution, and Abundance ................................................................ 9 4.1. Population Trend ..................................................................................................... 9 4.2. Historical and Current Distribution ...................................................................... 10 4.3. Historical and Current Abundance ........................................................................ 10 5. Importance of California Waters for Leatherbacks .......................................................... 11 6. Factors Affecting the Ability of the Population to Survive and Reproduce ..................... 13 6.1. Present or Threatened Modification or Destruction of Its Habitat ....................... 13 6.1.1. Oil and Gas Activities in California .......................................................... 15 6.1.2. Aquaculture ............................................................................................... 16 6.1.3. Coastal Development Throughout the West Pacific Leatherbacks’ Range ................................................................................. 16 6.1.4. Entanglement by and Ingestion of Marine Debris .................................... 16 ii 6.1.5. Vessel Strikes from Commercial Shipping and Other Boat Traffic ......... 17 6.1.6. Beach Erosion ........................................................................................... 18 6.2. Overexploitation ................................................................................................... 19 6.2.1. Fisheries bycatch and entanglement in fishing gear ................................. 19 6.2.1.1. California’s Pelagic Fisheries Threaten Leatherback Sea Turtles ................................................................................. 20 6.2.1.2. Foreign Fishing Threatens Pacific Leatherbacks ....................... 21 6.2.2. Harvest of Adults and Eggs at Nesting Beaches ....................................... 22 6.3. Predation ............................................................................................................... 23 6.3.1. Nest Predation ........................................................................................... 23 6.4. Disease .................................................................................................................. 23 6.5. Other Natural Events or Human-Related Activities ............................................. 23 6.5.1. Climate Change ......................................................................................... 23 6.5.1.1. Ocean Warming Affects Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtles ........ 24 6.5.1.2. Sea Level Rise Affects Nesting Success of Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtles ............................................................. 26 6.5.1.3. Ocean Acidification ................................................................... 27 7. The Degree and Immediacy of Threat .............................................................................. 28 8. Inadequacy of Existing Regulatory Mechanisms ............................................................. 28 9. Recommended Future Management and Recovery Actions ............................................. 29 10. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 30 11. Literature Cited ................................................................................................................. 32 iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network submit this petition to list the Pacific leatherback sea turtle as endangered throughout its range in California pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act (California Fish and Game Code §§ 2050 et seq.). The leatherback sea turtle in the Pacific Ocean has declined by more than 90% over the past four decades, primarily as a result of drowning in industrial longline and gillnet fisheries targeting swordfish, sharks and tunas. The primary cause of the leatherback decline, and the greatest threat to its continued existence, is entanglement and drowning in longline fishing gear (Tiwari et al. 2013). Such fishing is largely banned in the waters off the California coast during the spring, summer and fall when leatherbacks are present, making these waters a rare refuge for this highly imperiled species. In October 2019, however, longline fishing off the California Coast began for the first time in decades under an “exempted fishing permit” issued by the Trump administration. In addition, entanglement in vertical lines of groundfish pots, Dungeness crab traps, and numerous other impacts including marine debris, pollution, shipping, and global warming threaten to render this important area unsafe and unsuitable for leatherbacks. As recently as October 18, 2019, a dead leatherback was found entangled in fishing gear off southern California. The waters off California comprise one of the most important foraging areas identified for the critically endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle. Each year from mid-summer through the fall, leatherback sea turtles, having completed a journey of thousands of miles from their nesting beaches in Indonesia, arrive off the U.S. West Coast to feed on seasonably abundant jellyfish in the California Current ecosystem. California has named the Pacific leatherback sea turtle as the official state marine reptile and designated October 15 as Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle Conservation Day. Two decades ago in its Recovery Plan for the U.S. Pacific populations of the leatherback turtle, the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) acknowledged that prompt, long-term protection of identified foraging habitat is necessary to prevent the extinction of the species. In a 2007 study, NMFS scientists concluded that “the waters off central California are a critical foraging area for one of the largest remaining Pacific nesting populations.” Although leatherback sea turtles have been listed on the federal Endangered Species Act for decades, and California’s waters have been designated as critical habitat under the