(Forest Knolls, CA)—Three countries successfully raised the industrial longline fishing problem as a key concern for the June meeting of the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Costa Rica, Croatia and Sweden joined more than 800 scientists from 83 countries and 230 environmental organizations from 54 countries at a recent planning meeting of UNCLOS in calling for the UN to prevent the extinction of two sea turtle and one albatross seabird species. Proposed solutions include a moratorium on longlining and a network of high seas Marine Protected Areas in the Pacific, which will also benefit poor coastal fishing communities.

An Investigation of the Economic, Cultural and Social Costs of Industrial Longline Fishing in the Pacific
(Forest Knolls, CA)-—A new report, “The Bottom Line: Saving Sea Turtles is Good for the Economy,” published by the Sea Turtle Restoration Project has found that industrial longline fishing in the Pacific not only causes extensive damage to the marine ecosystem but has pervasive negative cultural, economic and social consequences for coastal fishing and fish consuming communities. Implementing a moratorium on industrial longlining and creating a network of Marine Protected Areas on the high seas of the Pacific would be a boon to local coastal economies.

Forest Knolls, California—New proposed guidelines issued last December by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to address the plight of critically endangered Pacific leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles is set for a vote March 7-11. Specifically, the guidelines recommend that fisheries posing the greatest threats should be subjected to “temporary and spatially-limited controls.” The recommendation to limit fishing in certain areas is welcomed by environmentalists who urge the UN to specifically identify and take action on some of the hot spots of turtle-fishing interaction.

Program Broadcast Nationwide Andy Peri of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project’s Mercury Awareness Program was featured in the second half of this week’s Ecotalk episode broadcast nationwide on Air America….

Forest Knolls, California—New proposed guidelines issued today by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have repeated the recommendation of an earlier panel of experts that immediate attention be given to the plight of critically endangered Pacific leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles. Specifically, the report recommended that fisheries posing the greatest threats should be subjected to “temporary and spatially-limited controls.” Environmentalists are welcoming the recommendation to limit fishing in certain areas, and are urging the UN to specifically identify and take action on some of the hot spots of turtle-fishing interaction