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Sea turtle advocate - Dredging dangerous to sea life
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
keysnews.com
KEY WEST —
Concerns about sea turtle deaths could throw a last-minute monkey wrench
into the Navy's $36 million plan to dredge the Outer Mole Pier, which is
slated to start by the end of the month.
Marathon
Turtle Hospital Director Richie Moretti is calling for more turtle
safety precautions during the 18-month dredging project to protect
loggerhead, Kemp's ridley and green turtles. He has not ruled out filing
a civil injunction to stop the dredging until greater turtle safety
measures are put in place.
The New
Orleans-based dredging group Bean Stuyvesant plans to use a hopper
dredger called the Eagle 1. Hopper dredgers suck up sand, rock and other
debris from the sea floor and chop the material into smaller pieces. The
hoppers have been known to do the same to turtles.
"A hopper
dredger is like a huge vacuum with teeth," Moretti said. "I agree that
they should dredge, I just want them to do it the right way. We are
finally making progress [with the growth of the turtle population].
Dredging is important to Key West, we just don't want them to kill our
turtles."
Green turtles
are on the federal endangered species list and loggerheads are on the
threatened species list, Moretti said.
The hopper
dredger would be used in the first couple weeks of the dredging program.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the project, has
consulted with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Fisheries scientists to
develop dredging protocols that protect all animals, Corps spokeswoman
Cindy Foley said. The Corps has agreed to put a turtle deflector, which
is similar to a cow catcher on the front an old steam locomotive, on the
hopper dredger. The group also will have spotters on board the dredging
boat looking for turtles.
"We looked at
the most sound science we could," Foley said. "We have done everything
we can to protect all natural resources."
If three
loggerheads, one Kemp's ridley or one green turtle is killed, the
dredging must come to a halt until a risk assessment can be done,
according to the Bean Stuyvesant's permit. However, the overflow
screening on Eagle 1 makes sampling for protected species difficult,
according to National Atmospheric and Oceanic Fisheries.
The criteria
is not stringent enough for Moretti, he said. He wants the group to put
a trawling boat in front of the hopper to force the turtles out of the
way or into a trawling net, where they could then be relocated, Moretti
said.
Moretti said
that trawling vessels are used during the Key West powerboat races. He
believes the costs would be around $30,000, which is small when compared
to the total price tag of $36 million.
The state Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission also recommended using a trawler
boat while dredging with a hopper dredger. The state agency could have
some jurisdiction because the channel is state bay bottom, Moretti said.
Foley said a
trawler could create turbidity, which would make it harder to see
turtles. |
