Environmentalists accuse New York, New Jersey and Delaware in federal lawsuits of improperly allowing Atlantic sturgeon to be killed by commercial fishing operations even as the prehistoric fish is on the brink of disappearing. The three lawsuits from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Hudson Riverkeeper were filed Thursday and accuse the states of violating the Endangered Species Act. The environmentalists say the once thriving fish’s recovery is threatened because they are unintentionally caught in commercial nets as “bycatch.” Sturgeon populations began to drop steeply more than 100 years ago amid pollution, dam construction and overfishing. Environmentalists accuse New York, New Jersey and Delaware in federal lawsuits of improperly allowing Atlantic sturgeon to be killed by commercial fishing operations even as the prehistoric fish is on the brink of disappearing. The three lawsuits from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Hudson Riverkeeper were filed Thursday and accuse the states of violating the Endangered Species Act. The environmentalists say the once thriving fish’s recovery is threatened because they are unintentionally caught in commercial nets as “bycatch.” Sturgeon populations began to drop steeply more than 100 years ago amid pollution, dam construction and overfishing. AP Technology and Science
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