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Federal officials are reviewing whether Hawaii’s green sea turtles — known as honu — should be classified as a population separate from other green sea turtles, an action that could result in removing their protection as a threatened species. Delisting honu would give the state authority to manage the species, and could allow hunting to resume.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are conducting a global status review of green turtles, which have been listed under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1978. The last review in 2007 found Hawaii’s green sea turtle population has been growing at an annual rate of 5.7 percent for the past three decades.
The Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, which petitioned NOAA and FWS, also reports that the nesting population has been increasing at a rate of 5.7 percent per year, but Inga Gibson of the Humane Society of the United States said there are only about 400 nesting females right now, a far cry from the 5,000 nesters specified by recovery goals for the species.
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