Lawsuit Aims to Protect Endangered Caribbean Corals from Overfishing

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–January 31, 2012. A lawsuit was filed yesterday in federal district court seeking greater protections from fishing for threatened coral reefs in the Caribbean. The lawsuit asserts that the National Marine Fisheries Service ignored science showing that parrotfish and other grazing fish play a key role in promoting the health of coral reefs; the government’s authorization of targeted fishing for parrotfish poses a risk to elkhorn and staghorn corals, protected under the Endangered Species Act.