Protect Our Oceans And Marine Life

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Protect Our Oceans And Marine Life

Letter	Dear Dr. Balsiger, Director, National Marine Fisheries Service: I congratulate you on your initial ideas for National Fishing Standard 1; they reflect a true shift in the paradigm for the management of fishing. But as an interested party I want to make sure the final regulations reflect the following principles: â€¢ There must be strong conservation-minded rules that sustain healthy fish populations, including numerical annual catch limits for the amount of fish that can be caught. The catch limits should be set to minimize the potential for overfishing by taking a precautionary approach. â€¢ Decisions about annual catch should be based on independent science, not self-interest. Independent science advisors must set limits on the amount of fish caught. In the past, fishery managers often ignored the advice of independent scientists and the limits were set at unsustainable levels. â€¢ The rules need to be enforced. If the limits on amount of fish caught are exceeded, there must be consequences. Fishing should be stopped or catch limits lowered for the next fishing seasons. Fishery managers and fishermen should be held accountable. â€¢ All fishermen should report their total catch in a timely fashion so that accountability measures can be used swiftly and fairly and be based on accurate catch data. Today, many decisions are based on catch data that come from inaccurate surveys and sources that come in months after the fishing season is over. Please consider this to be an official comment. Sincerely,
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We need to protect whales, dolphins, sea turtles and fish from harmful activities. One important way to save these magnificent animals is to end destructive overfishing. We need you to call on the Bush administration to protect our oceans and stop overfishing when they write new national fishing rules this fall. Here’s a message you can send to the Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service who will be making the decision about what the new rules look like.

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Stopping Oil Drilling Off Our Coasts

Supporting the 26 year-old moratorium on new offshore drilling, we helped block an amendment that would have allowed drilling for natural gas as close as 50 miles off the coast of Virginia, off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and off Assateague Island National Seashore and wildlife areas. Read more.