Wall of Death: Will Feds challenge use of international driftnets?

NATIONWIDE—Labeling anything as a “Wall of Death” is certain to capture the attention of, well, anyone who is paying attention to whatever is being labeled as a Wall of Death. In this instance the Wall of Death is a drift gillnet, also known as a driftnet. Most people reading The Log are familiar with driftnets. For those who don’t know: Driftnets are long nets, sometimes miles in length, placed along the ocean floor for the purpose of catching fish. Driftnets, which can also be referred to as gillnets, have come under attack in recent years, however, because of their collateral damages: innocent fish species not targeted by the miles-long net are often captured as bycatch. Federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Administrative Administration, or NOAA, have been reviewing proposals to keep certain seafood imports out of the United States because they were caught with driftnets – and placed other species in danger of being endangered or extinct (such as the vaquita in Mexico or Māui dolphin in New Zealand). Environmental groups, meanwhile, have taken the Trump Administration to court and accused the President and the departments he oversees of failing to properly enforce the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the...