For Immediate Release

CONTACT:
Joanna Nasar
Communications Manager
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Cell: (415) 488-7711
Joanna@SeaTurtles.org

Doug Karpa
Legal Program Director
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Cell: (415) 860-6681
DKarpa@seaturtles.org

WHO:  Turtle Island Restoration Network’s Legal Program Director Doug Karpa and our partner organizations.

WHAT: Pacific Fisheries Management Council Meeting on the status of the California Drift Gillnet fishery for swordfish. 

WHERE: The Hilton Vancouver Washington, 301 W. Sixth Street, Vancouver, WA.

WHEN:  Wednesday March11th, early afternoon.

BACKGROUND: Drift gillnet gear is one of the most destructive indiscriminate industrial fishing gear.  Although it has been banned on the high seas and along the rest of the West Coast, California maintains a small drift gillnet fishing fleet.  This fleet has among the highest rates of bycatch, including endangered whales and turtles, in the U.S. The Pacific Fisheries Management Council is considering proposals to eliminate or restrict the use of gear in California, but may also choose to expand the use of such gear. Turtle Island Restoration Network and our partner organizations will be presenting the case for the closure of the fishery.

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Turtle Island Restoration Network is an international marine conservation organization headquartered in California whose 150,000+ members and online activists work to protect sea turtles and marine biodiversity in the United States and around the world. For 25 years, Turtle Island Restoration Network has mobilized people to preserve oceans, restore rivers and streams, and protect the marine wildlife – from sea turtles to sharks – that call these blue-green waters home. SeaTurtles.org