Jim Waymer

FLORIDA TODAY

Green sea turtles are no longer endangered in Florida.

Federal wildlife officials have reclassified the species as threatened. But that won't change much in terms of regulations in Florida.

The change takes effect May 6, said Kate Brogan, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Two federal agencies issued a final rule Tuesday, changing the listing for green sea turtles under the Endangered Species Act. The change includes reclassifying turtles originating from two breeding populations — Florida's and those along the Pacific coast of Mexico — from endangered to threatened status, due to successful conservation.

The change means those populations of turtles are no longer considered at imminent risk of extinction but still threatened. Green turtles have been protected under the Endangered Species A since 1978, "and will continue to be protected under this rule in similar manner," Brogan said.

Green sea turtles shatter nesting record

The new final rule also does not impact rules that require escape hatches in shrimping nets that allow turtles to escape the net, she said via email, nor will it change any long-line fishing rules, permitting for dredging or other federally permitted actions. "In Florida, it is possible that some minor changes to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission permit program will result from this rule because the Florida population had been identified as a separate endangered breeding population in the past and is now considered part of a threatened Distinct Population Segment," Brogan said.

NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will divide the turtles globally into 11 distinct populations segments, "allowing for tailored conservation approaches for each population," NOAA officials said in a release.

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Three of the population segments will be reclassified as endangered, and the rest as threatened. Green sea turtles have been listed as a threatened species, with the exception of the endangered breeding populations in Florida and the Pacific coast of Mexico, since 1978. “Successful conservation and management efforts developed in Florida and along the Pacific coast of Mexico are a roadmap for further recovery strategies of green turtle populations around the world," Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries, said in the release. Splitting the species into distinct population segments across the green sea turtle’s range "provides flexibility for managers to address specific challenges facing individual populations with a tailored approach," Sobeck said. "Ultimately, this will help us protect and conserve green sea turtles more efficiently and effectively, so that we can achieve our goal of recovering the species.” Years of coordinated conservation efforts, including protection of nesting beaches, reduction of bycatch in fisheries, and prohibitions on the direct harvest of sea turtles, have led to increasing numbers of turtles nesting in Florida and along the Pacific coast of Mexico. NOAA Fisheries and the Fish and Wildlife Service have reclassified the status of the two segments that include those breeding populations as threatened rather than endangered. The agencies reviewed the green sea turtle's global status to determine the new classifications. Their review looked at genetic and tracking studies. Threats remain to the turtles, including getting tangled and drowning in fishing nets and habitat alteration. Four decades ago, biologists thought green sea turtles might go extinct. But last year, the endangered reptile dug a record number of nests at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. "It's an incredible thing," Llew Ehrhart, professor emeritus at University of Central Florida, said in early September. He's studied turtle nesting at Archie Carr since the 1980s. In the 1970s, biologists could only find a handful of green sea turtles nests at Archie Carr and the Melbourne Beach area. Now it's tens of thousands of nests. The nesting at Archie Carr is significant, because biologists consider that span of beach among the most important sea turtle nesting spots in North America and indicative of how turtle nesting is going as a whole. In general, green sea turtles nesting has on years and off years, with the number of nests spiking every other year. So biologists anticipated an "on" year in 2015. By early September, with a few months remaining in nesting, UCF researchers had already counted more than 12,000 green turtle nests at Archie Carr refuge, already crushing a record the turtles set at the refuge in 2013 — 11,839 nests.