A new report says Mexico has abandoned protection of loggerhead sea turtles

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A new report finds that the Mexican government has largely abandoned protection and enforcement measures for loggerhead sea turtles. That has led to a spike in the number of turtles being caught up and killed in fishing nets. The findings were announced by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, which functions as part of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. The commission does not have any powers to enforce its findings, but the U.S. government could impose import bans on Mexican seafood if it concludes that Mexico isn’t enforcing protections. Loggerhead sea turtle deaths and strandings rose in 2018, the year President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office.