According to newly published data by the Mexican government, more than 1,088 North Pacific loggerhead turtles died in 2020 in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur alone. 2020 thereby marks a record year, surpassing the death toll of the last three years combined.
The news come at a dramatic time as the Mexican government just denied a petition to improve the turtles' protection. The government rejects scientific evidence that the high mortality was due to entanglement in fish gear, as the Center for Biological Diversity and the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) suggested. The petition had called for a factual record on the mortality of sea turtles and an investigation on whether the government was enforcing the existing rules adequately. In addition, the Mexican government had also cancelled the loggerhead turtle protection program budget since 2016.
Organizations are growing more desperate with the unfolding situation. “It is alarming that the number of dead loggerhead turtles in Mexican waters is not decreasing, even if there are plans, programs and zones for their protection,” said Mario Sánchez, director of the Northwest region of CEMDA. Conservation actions are clearly inefficient and need to be adapted with the help of laws and the fishing communities.
The endangered North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles are born in Japan and swim to the coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico to feed and reproduce. The public death toll of roughly 1,000 last year is likely an underestimation as most dead turtles get carried away by the current, never to be reported ashore.
For more information on the matter, see Records: More Than 1,000 Loggerhead Sea Turtles Died in Mexico in 2020 - Center for Biological Diversity