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The U.S. government announced it will conduct a detailed review of the loggerhead sea turtle population in the Atlantic Ocean to decide whether they should be declared "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. government also will determine whether further habitat protections are warranted in the Atlantic. This review is in response to a formal petition filed by Oceana and the Center for Biological Diversity in November 2007.

"We are encouraged to see that the government is considering proactive steps towards protecting loggerhead sea turtles in the Atlantic," said Elizabeth Griffin, marine wildlife scientist at Oceana. "This population of sea turtles could face extinction from commercial fishing and climate change."

Specifically, the petition urged the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate western North Atlantic loggerheads as a distinct population segment and change their status from "threatened" to "endangered" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which are responsible for protecting sea turtles in the water and on land respectively, also were urged to strengthen protections for key loggerhead nesting beaches and marine habitats by designating loggerhead critical habitat areas...