USA & world: A simple way to keep thousands of whales out of fishing nets

From: NRDC - Frances Beinecke <biogemsdefenders@savebiogems.org>
Date: Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 12:19 PM
Subject: A simple way to keep thousands of whales out of fishing nets

Dear Liz, This whale got away. But 650,000 other marine mammals weren't so lucky. That's how many are injured or killed every year by foreign fishing fleets. Tell the Obama Administration to help stop these senseless and avoidable deaths! Dolphins trapped in massive gillnets ... sea lions hooked on longlines ... whales entangled in crab and lobster pots, unable to move. That's the tragic reality for more than 650,000 marine mammals every year that are seriously injured or even killed by foreign fishing fleets, according to a forthcoming NRDC report. The numbers alone are staggering. What's more, the accidental capture -- or "bycatch" -- of these magnificent ocean creatures is pushing some of them to the brink of extinction. The good news is: there's a very simple solution at hand -- if the Obama Administration would only choose to use it. Tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to enforce our import law and protect marine mammals from injury and death in foreign fisheries! The landmark Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 requires all imported seafood to be caught in accordance with U.S. standards for protecting marine mammals. But this lifesaving measure has never been enforced by the federal government! Meanwhile, countless marine mammals -- including endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale and the New Zealand sea lion -- remain in grave and constant danger. Most Americans would be shocked to know that the majority of foreign seafood -- from sea bass to lowly fish sticks -- violates federal law, and that our government has been doing nothing to stop it. But change may be at hand, if we act now. The Fisheries Service is about to propose new rules that could save thousands of marine mammals by enforcing the law on seafood imports. Please urge the Fisheries Service to issue strict rules and ban imports from foreign fisheries that continue to injure and kill marine mammals in violation of U.S. standards. With your help, I believe we can persuade the Obama Administration to do the right thing -- and save the lives of countless marine mammals around the world. Please join me and NRDC in making your voice heard right away. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council