Longline Fishing Pillaging the Pacific Says New Report

By Marine Mammals & Seabirds, Sea Turtles, Sharks

On Monday, June 6th, the new report Striplining the Pacific: The Case for A United Nations Moratorium on High Seas Industrial Longline Fishing will be released at the United Nations Law of the Sea meeting June 6-10th. The new book length report echoes the sentiment of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin’s call on May 1st to end the “pillage” and “rape” of the ocean at an international fisheries conference this week.

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Texans Speak Out for a Marine Reserve!

By Sea Turtles

At least 250 sea turtle fans gathered at Galveston’s first Sea Turtle Saturday, April 9, and spoke up for a marine reserve in state waters at the Padre Island National Seashore, support for the sea turtle program at the NOAA facility in Galveston and against longline fishing which is killing millions of sea birds, marine mammals, fish and leatherback sea turtles in the world’s oceans.

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Fishing “Unsustainable” Says New UN Report

By Sea Turtles

(Forest Knolls, CA)—The United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis
Report released today calls capture fisheries “unsustainable” and calls for the expansion in Marine Protected Areas with flexible no-take zones that contribute to the economy. These conclusions echo the efforts of 3 nations, more than 800 scientists from 83 countries and 230 non-governmental organizations from 54 countries calling on the UN to implement a moratorium on industrial longline fishing in the Pacific and implement a network of high seas MPAs to protect both fish stocks and species endangered by longlines.

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Sea Turtle Crisis Addressed at UN

By Sea Turtles

(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.

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