Environmentalists sue Trump administration over dusky shark

PORTLAND, Maine – An environmental group is suing President Donald Trump’s administration for better protection of a threatened species of shark.

Oceana filed the lawsuit Thursday against the secretary of the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The lawsuit says the administration’s recent moves to protect the dusky shark from bycatch do not go far enough.

It says the new rules don’t adequately establish limits on the number of dusky sharks that can be accidentally caught or establish measures to enforce those limits.

Dusky sharks are large sharks that are down to about 20 per cent of their 1970s population off the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. They range from Maine to Florida.

Spokesmen for the sued agencies declined to comment on ongoing litigation.