After a decade of litigation from environmental groups, NOAA Fisheries announced Wednesday that it is tightening restrictions on how many false killer whales (which are actually large dolphins) can be killed or harmed by longline fishermen.  

The new rules are in response to pressure from The Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network, represented by Earthjustice, which sued the federal agency. 

Longline fishermen will now be required to use circular hooks that better protect false killer whales that get accidentally caught. The area around the main Hawaiian islands where longline fishing is prohibited will also be expanded. 

The environmental groups that brought the lawsuits cheered the plan, but also said that they would be keeping their eye on NOAA. 

From a joint press release:

“While these new measures will hopefully help reduce the severe impact the Hawai‘i longline fishery has been having on these magnificent dolphins, we are disappointed that some of the recommended measures have been weakened.  We will be monitoring the fishery closely for effectiveness and compliance and won’t hesitate to take additional actions if problems persist,” said Todd Steiner, biologist and executive director of the Turtle Island Restoration Network.

You can read Civil Beat’s previous coverage of the issue here:  Fate of False Killer Whales At Stake With New Report