Two conservation groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to halt overfishing of large coastal shark species in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Ocean Conservancy and National Audubon Society, represented by the environmental lawfirm Earthjustice, charge that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has failed to rebuild large coastal shark populations and is allowing continued overfishing on some of the most vulnerable species by implementing risk prone quota increases.

The suit challenges NMFS' emergency rule of December 27, 2002, which raised the large coastal shark quota by 33 percent and did away with a size limit that would have protected young sharks. The groups also claim that NMFS has short circuited public participation in fisheries management by regulating via emergency rules, eliminating the opportunity for public comment.

The groups also charge that NMFS failed to do a proper environmental assessment of the full impacts of its emergency rule.

Slow growing Atlantic large coastal sharks, including sandbar, dusky and hammerhead sharks, have been overfished during recent decades. Although a 2002 population assessment indicates that two species - blacktip and sandbar - may have begun a recovery, overfishing continues on most species in the large coastal grouping, including sandbar.

"The U.S government has jumped the gun and once again jeopardized some of the oceans' most vulnerable animals. Their smoke and mirror calculations just don't add up to support more fishing," said Sonja Fordham, shark conservation specialist at The Ocean Conservancy.

"By rushing to ensure maximum exploitation of just one type of commercially caught shark they have turned their backs on a whole host of other imperiled species," Fordham added. "This risk prone action flies in the face of the precautionary approach that is so clearly warranted for sharks."

In 1999, after input from shark experts and the public, NMFS adopted a management plan focused on rebuilding 22 species of large coastal sharks in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Due to shark fishing industry lawsuits, planned quota reductions, minimum sizes, and other measures from this plan never took effect.

Since then, coastal sharks have undergone a new population assessment. This assessment found that large coastal sharks are still overfished, and suggested that quota cuts of up to 50 percent might be necessary to rebuild populations.

However, for a third year in a row, NMFS has set shark fishing quotas via emergency rule, avoiding a public comment period. This action circumvents the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the conservation groups charge.

"What is NMFS thinking?" said Dr. Merry Camhi, assistant director of the National Audubon Society's Living Oceans Program. "The only emergency here is that most large coastal sharks are still in trouble."

Sharks are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow slowly, mature late, and produce a small number of young. Decades of unrestricted fishing for Atlantic large coastal sharks has depleted many species. The sandbar shark population has declined by as much as 80 percent since the late 1970s, and other species remain in serious trouble. Depletion of sand tiger, night, and dusky sharks led to a prohibition on fishing for them, and they are now considered candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act. However, all of these species continue to be killed incidentally in the coastal shark fishery.

A new study, published this month in the journal "Science," documented declines of as much as 89 percent for hammerheads, 79 percent for great white, and 65 percent for tiger sharks over the past two decades. These Atlantic large coastal sharks now face an increased quota and relaxed management measures due to NMFS' action last month.

The groups are calling for NMFS to lower the fishing quota to a precautionary level that stops overfishing and ensures rebuilding of all large coastal shark species, particularly the most depleted and vulnerable species, as mandated by law.

"Floridians support protections for coastal sharks, and marine biologists have warned against raising quotas," said Earthjustice attorney Aliki Moncrief. "Still, officials rushed through this change that bypasses public opinion and disregards scientific research. It's a handout to the fishing industry, plain and simple."