Closing the Gap in U.S. Caribbean Scalloped Hammerhead Protections

As apex predators, large sharks like the scalloped hammerhead have a critical role to play in coral reef ecosystems. But overexploitation has cut the scalloped hammerhead shark populations in the Atlantic and Caribbean by an estimated 80 percent since the early 1980s. Using cutting edge science to identify potential nursery areas for these sharks and applying legal and policy strategies to protect them is crucial to recovering the scalloped hammerhead and boosting their ability to be effective apex predators and promote resilience in already stressed reef ecosystems.

Scalloped hammerheads have been listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since 2014. But a regulatory loophole results in significant, unregulated catch of juvenile hammerheads in a small-scale fishery operating in Puerto Rico’s territorial waters. Earthjustice is committed to closing this regulatory gap. Working with other SCF-funded experts, we seek to secure more comprehensive ESA protections for scalloped hammerheads in the U.S. Caribbean and support in-the-water protections for juvenile scalloped hammerheads in Puerto Rican waters.