Greetings ECOFEMers!
I thought some of you might be interested in this. It's
(politically) specific to the U.S., and it's quite long. I apologize
for using so much bandwidth. Peace, Stefanie
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
>From the Marine Fish Conservation Network ([EMAIL PROTECTED]).
Please forward to your friends. Apologies for crosspostings!
* * *
* * * ######
* * * ## ##
* *______ * ## ##
* |\ /* \ * ##
* | \/ * o \ * ##
* | /\ * _/ * ##
* |/ \___*__/ * ##
* * *
* * * ##
* * *
N O M O R E F I S H ?
.....that may become the case if the federal government continues to regulate
marine fisheries in an environmentally unsound manner. Right now, marine
ecosystems from sea to shining sea are being decimated by a commercial
fishing industry that has never received the benefit of effective government
regulation. Large in number and modern in technology, commercial fishing
fleets are efficiently and systematically destroying the very ecosystems upon
which they depend. Here are some snapshots of the our ocean's current
demise:
* Overfishing of cod, flounder, haddock and other groundfish costs the New
England economy approximately $350 million annually and the loss of 14,000
jobs.
* For every 1 pound of shrimp caught by trawlers in the Gulf of Mexico,
four pounds of fish are discarded and killed. Total discard of this deadly
"bycatch" is estimated at 175,000 tons of juvenile fish per year.
* Only 12% of 353 coastal Pacific salmon stocks are known *not* to be
threatened by habitat loss and degradation.
* Numbers of factory trawlers (300-400 feet long) operating off Alaska have
increased by 540% between in 1986 and 1993.
* Last year, a staggering 750 million pounds of fish were discarded off
Alaska's shore alone.
|\
||\
|||\
||||\ This action alert will tell you what's
|||||||||||||\ wrong with fishing in the United
||||||||||||||} States, how the destruction can
|||||||||||||/ be stopped, and how you can help!
||||/
|||/
||/
|/
____________________________________________
OVERFISHING-- WHAT IT'S DOING TO OUR COUNTRY
The overexploitation of America's fisheries is an issue in which all
Americans should take a stand.
- As populations of commercially lucrative fish have decreased, the United
States has increased the number of fish it imports-- swelling our nation's
trade deficit by more than two billion dollars every year.
- The fishing crises off New England and the Pacific Northwest have
already required hundreds of millions of dollars in federal assistance
through such programs as job retraining and boat buy-backs. More spending is
likely to be needed.
- Thousands of commercial fishers have already gone out of business,
devastating the coastal communities that depend on healthy fish populations.
Fishing families are suffering through the same hardship that plagues
farming families.
- Fishing crises affect not only the commercial industry, but also
thousands of recreational sport fishers-- many of whom have enjoyed fishing
the oceans their entire lives.
- An important part of our national heritage, our nation's fisheries
should be conserved for everyone to enjoy. The current situation can be
likened to a savings account for our children's future: current practices
take not only the interest on the principal, but also the principal itself.
We are rapidly squandering our children's inheritance.
- The rampant destruction of marine ecosystems-- and the life that
inhabits them-- is not only environmentally unsustainable, it's morally
unconscionable. We must put a stop to this.
____________________________________________
PROTECTING OUR OCEANS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
Saving our oceans means reversing a twenty-year-old government policy of
favoring short-term economic gain over long-term sustainability and
prosperity. This year, Congress has the opportunity to turn the tide in
favor of commercially, recreationally, and ecologically valuable fisheries
during its 1995 reauthorization of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and
Management Act. Enacted in 1976, "Magnuson" serves as the principal
regulatory vehicle for the entire US fishing industry within 200 miles of
shore.
Now due for reauthorization, the Magnuson Act could be made more
environmentally sensible if Congress were to focus upon:
<> Eliminating overfishing
<> Reducing bycatch
<> Reforming the Regional Fishery Management Council system to insure
against conflicts of interest
<> Protecting fish habitats
<> Conserving pelagic species such as tuna and swordfish
<> Improving research and enforcement
/.
_ / .
______[_]_/_ .
\ / .
---------- \_______ /--------- .---------
.
.
________________________________________________________
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 06/22/95. Having already been reported out of the House
Resources Committee, the 1995 Reauthorization of the Magnuson Act will be
considered in the full House in July. A complimentary bill is expected to be
taken up by the Senate Resources Committee in late July, and the full Senate
in August. Citizen input will play a critical role at every step of the
process....make your voice heard!!
*** This week's action *** When the bill goes before the full house,
environmentally-minded Congresspeople will introduce amendments which address
two of MFCN's main concerns. Here's what those amendments will look like:
A REDEFINITION OF OPTIMUM YIELD. Right now, the optimum yield (or target
harvest) of a fishery is determined largely by the short-term economic
interests of the industry, and not the strength of the ecosystem itself. We
are urging Congress to adopt an understanding of optimum yield that reflects
the fishery's maximum *sustainable* harvest based on the ocean's biological
limitations. This change would ensure that long-term economic and ecological
health is not compromised by short-term profit.
REDUCTIONS IN HARMFUL BYCATCH. Right now, the indiscriminate destruction of
non-target species results in millions of pounds of wasted, dead fish.
Newer, more sophisticated types of gear have been designed to target only
the species for which the fisher is searching, allowing other species to
escape. Requiring more selective capturing of fish will greatly reduce
needless destruction and waste.
These two changes to the Magnuson Act will help turn our fisheries around and
halt the senseless destruction of marine ecosystems. Moreover, these
amendments will also help the long-term prosperity of the fishing industry.
For example, the Department of Commerce estimates that if our fisheries were
managed sustainably, the nation as whole could directly generate an extra $3
billion in revenue and create 300,000 new jobs. However, we face an uphill
battle in getting Congress to adopt these basic, common-sense measures. To
find out how YOU can help, read the next section.
**
**
**
**
**
***
*** E V E R Y
***
** *** V O I C E
*** ****
*** **** C O U N T S !
*** ****
********
******
****
**
___________________________________________
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP PROTECT MARINE FISH
Congress will determine the fate of the oceans THIS SUMMER when it
reauthorizes the Magnuson Act. Your input is critical! Tell Congress that
you support changes to the Act that provide for strong conservation measures
ensuring the survival of fish populations into the future. Remember, healthy
numbers of fish will mean healthy oceans and a healthy economy. Here's how
to help:
(1) CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS
Phone calls, short letters, and even emails are great ways to make your voice
heard.
/////////////////////////////////////////
// //
// Capitol Hill Switchboard: //
// 202-224-3121 //
// //
// House mailing address format: //
// (Congressperson's name) //
// US House of Representatives //
// Washington, DC 20515 //
// //
// Senate mailing address format: //
// (Senator's name) //
// United States Senate //
// Washington, DC 20510 //
// //
/////////////////////////////////////////
In your communication, let your elected officials know that (*) you are a
constituent in their district, (*) that you support reforming the Magnuson
Act to eliminate all overfishing, and (*) that you support a reduction in
bycatch in **all** waters. Your communication need not be more complicated
than that. Feel free to contact us for more information.
(2) IF YOU LIVE IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING STATES, CONTACT US AS WELL
Alaska Montana *********
Arizona Nebraska Phone numbers and
Hawaii Nevada email addresses for
Kentucky North Dakota these Senators are
Louisiana Oregon included at the end of
Maine South Carolina this document.
Massachusetts South Dakota *********
Mississippi Texas
Missouri Washington State
These states are represented by Senators who sit on the Senate Commerce
Committee, which will have a key role in marking up (or editing) the text of
the bill. If you live in one of these states, please contact us to share
your ideas and input. Send us your ***email address***, and we can even
include you on our twice monthly electronic legislative update.
(3) WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF YOUR LOCAL PAPER.
By writing a letter to the editor and getting it published, you voice reaches
thousands of other constituents who will in turn voice their concerns.
Letters should be short and packed with both solid information tangible
imagery. Contact us, and we'd be glad to send you some talking points or
even take a glance at your first draft.
____________________________________________________
BACKGROUND ON THE MARINE FISH CONSERVATION NETWORK (MFCN)
The MFCN is a coalition of national and local fishing and conservation
organizations working to protect, restore, and conserve fish. From coast to
coast, we are informing, educating, and activating people on fish issues.
For more information, contact: _____________
THE MARINE FISH CONSERVATION NETWORK |\ /|
408 C St., N.E., Washington, DC 20002 | \ / |
Voice 202-546-0707 Fax 202-546-0732 | \ / |
[EMAIL PROTECTED] | \ / |
| /\___/\ |
Ask about our free resource materials, | / \ |
including our talking points for | / \ |
writing letters to the editor, |/___________\|
and our four page newsletter.
In addition, we also offer a 25-minute informational VHS cassette, at cost,
for $10....and stay tuned for a new WWW site!
________________________________________________________
BACKGROUND ON THE MAGNUSON FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT ("Magnuson
Act")
The Magnuson Act is the basis of fisheries management in US jurisdictional
waters. In 1976, in an effort to halt overfishing by foreign fleets and aid
the development of the domestic fishing industry, Congress passed the
Magnuson Act to give the United States sole management authority over living
resources within 200 miles of our shores.
While the Act has been effective in bringing American fisheries under
American control, it has done little to reduce the level of exploitation
applied to our marine resources. The cause for this failure can be traced
all the way back to the original language of the Act itself, which
paradoxically attempts to conserve limited resources while permitting
unlimited exploitation of those resources. Nowhere is this juxtaposition of
contradictory goals more evident than in Sec 301(a)(1) of the Act, where
Fishery Management Councils created by the Act are instructed to prevent
"overfishing" -- an undefined term-- while achieving "optimum yield", which
is defined as the maximum sustainable yield "modified by any relevant
economic, social, or ecological factor." Whatever the true strength of a
particular fishery, this clause in effect states that catch limits should be
determined not by environmental science, but by social and market forces.
This makes no sense. Twenty years later, this policy's effects can be felt.
Many of our nation's most economically important fisheries are seriously
depleted or overfished, with consequent disruption of ocean biological
systems. More than 40% of those assessed species in the US are known to be
overfished, while the status of a third more is unknown. In New England
alone, the cost of overfishing is estimated at $350 million annually from
lost potential catches and 14,000 lost jobs.
While part of the problem with the Magnuson Act lies in its paltry commitment
to conservation, another lies in a poorly conceived loophole in the Act's
establishment of a regulatory decision-making structure. When Congress
adopted the Magnuson Act, it created a unique form of participatory
government by establishing eight Regional Fishery Management Councils.
Designed to include fishers as well as scientists and government officials,
these Councils are dominated by representatives of the industry from fishers
who have great financial interest in the outcome of their decisions.
Often, these conflicts of interest impede Council efforts to conserve fish:
too often, the short-term economic interest of some Council members has
overridden the long-term interest of the resource. It's like throwing the
fox straight into the middle of the hen-house. Therefore, we must urge
Congress to put in place not only reforms that conserve fish, but also
reforms that preserve democratic policy-making without conflicts of interest.
Please feel free to contact MFCN for more information, even the text of
proposed legislation.
________________________________________________________
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR SENATORS ON THE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
AK Sen. Ted Stevens
202-224-3004
(no email 06/21/95)
AZ Sen. John McCain
202-224-2235
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
HI Sen. Daniel Inouye
202-224-3934
(no email 06/21/95)
KY Sen. Wendell Ford
202-224-4343
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
LA Sen. John Breaux
202-224-4623
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
MA Sen. John Kerry
202-224-2742
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
ME Sen. Olympia Snowe
202-224-5344
(no email 06/21/95)
MO Sen. John Ashcroft
202-224-6154
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
MS Sen. Trent Lott
202-224-6253
(no email 06/21/95)
MT Sen. Conrad Burns
202-224-2644
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
ND Sen. Byron Dorgan
202-224-2551
(no email 06/21/95)
NE Sen. James Exon
202-224-4224
(no email 06/21/95)
NV Sen. Richard Bryan
202-224-6244
(no email 06/21/95)
OR Sen. Bob Packwood
202-224-5244
SC Sen. Ernest Hollings
202-224-6121
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
SD Sen. Larry Pressler
202-224-8172
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
TX Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
202-224-5922
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
WA Sen. Slade Gorton
202-224-3441
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
WV Sen. John Rockefeller
202-224-6472
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
///////////////////////////////////////////////
// //
// The Marine Fish Conservation Network //
// 408 C St., N.E. //
// Washington, DC 20002 //
// Voice 202-546-0707 / Fax 202-546-0732 //
// [EMAIL PROTECTED] //
// //
///////////////////////////////////////////////
# # #
