- Signatures: 4,434
- Goal: 10,000
- Deadline: 1-1-2008

The Galapagos Islands, renowned throughout the world for their unique biodiversity, are threatened by a proposal to open protected waters to longlining, a method of fishing usually associated with high levels of bycatch and high pressure on fish stocks.
The Galapagos Marine Reserve is home to a high proportion of species that occur nowhere else on earth. Longlining could be devastating. Given the high numbers of sharks, rays, turtles, sea birds, and sea lions it is inevitable that the bycatch of these animals will be extremely high and will impact populations which are threatened or endangered.

Sign Now to encourage President Rafael Correa of Ecuador to take action now to protect the Galapagos for future generations!
Tell them to stop Long Line Fishing TODAY!
| Number | Date | Prefix | Name | State | Country | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,433 | 12:50 pm PDT, Oct 30 | Anonymous | Michigan | United States | we love our turtles! we love our fishies! we love the ocean as it is (or as it was) and do NOT want to reduce its diversity or destroy its food chain! | |
| 4,432 | 9:24 am PDT, Oct 3 | Mr. | peter foley | California | United States | |
| 4,431 | 11:02 am PDT, Sep 30 | Mrs. | Kimberly Tilley | Idaho | United States | |
| 4,430 | 9:23 am PDT, Sep 28 | Ms. | Tara Peers | Canada | These things need to stop. There is no reason for. People like us need to take a stand. | |
| 4,429 | 1:20 am PDT, Sep 18 | Mr. | Casey Khashayar Bayandor | Switzerland | Selective fishing is understandable- but killing other species by accident / carelessness is not. | |
| 4,428 | 12:14 pm PDT, Sep 12 | michael gagliano | Florida | Canada | i love the sea... the ocean is very important for the worlds climate.. withought fish the ocean will be unbalanced..we need to act now. www.theendoftheline.com | |
| 4,427 | 7:56 am PDT, Sep 4 | Lianne Mabin | United Kingdom | |||
| 4,426 | 2:37 pm PDT, Aug 21 | Mrs. | Deborah Satterfield | Georgia | United States | |
| 4,425 | 11:27 am PDT, Aug 5 | Justine Burton | Canada | |||
| 4,424 | 10:42 am PDT, Jul 24 | Hari Narendran | Canada | Sad to see such a practice being permitted in a conservation area - makes a mockery of the significance of the Galapagos islands | ||
| 4,423 | 4:13 am PDT, Jul 21 | Ms. | Anonymous | United Kingdom | ||
| 4,422 | 8:33 am PDT, Jul 19 | Monica Arias Miranda | New York | United States | ||
| 4,421 | 3:19 am PDT, Jul 19 | Mrs. | Karen Nunn | Australia | I recently saw a story on television about the beautiful Galapagos Islands and the huge threats they are facing. I am happy to help! | |
| 4,420 | 7:18 am PDT, Jul 18 | Ms. | Anonymous | New York | United States | Please think of the overall impact instead of immediate profits. |
| 4,419 | 10:24 am PDT, Jul 17 | Ms. | Laura Wood | Canada | This has got to stop. Now. | |
| 4,418 | 4:27 pm PDT, Jul 16 | Dr. | Brianna Wood | Canada | What you should do is take what you get from just one long line and bring it into the office of these goverment officials that should make a large impact. or drop it at there front doors. | |
| 4,417 | 9:24 am PDT, Jun 23 | Heather Connors | California | United States | We are killing our selves by killing sharks! Pretty soon they will be gone and no one will be able to control fish population that eat photoplankton which creates 70% of the world oxygen. Sharks are alive while lims are cut off and sent back to the sea to suffocate. We will be suffocating soon | |
| 4,416 | 11:46 am PDT, Jun 21 | Anonymous | Norway | |||
| 4,415 | 2:58 am PDT, Jun 18 | Mr. | mark ames | United Kingdom | ||
| 4,414 | 6:15 pm PDT, May 27 | Karolina Salikier | United Kingdom | |||
| 4,413 | 5:33 am PDT, May 12 | Mrs. | Deborah Hodgson | Australia | Cut out this awful act...the Galapagos should be a sanctuary for all marine life. | |
| 4,412 | 5:20 am PDT, May 9 | Nina Cioffi | Florida | United States | Stop pilliging our oceans. The greed is depleting the planet | |
| 4,411 | 6:57 am PDT, May 6 | Stoyka Chipchakova | Bulgaria | |||
| 4,410 | 10:21 am PDT, May 5 | Ms. | Angie Whiteman | United Kingdom | ||
| 4,409 | 7:07 am PDT, Apr 29 | Mr. | Sean Ferguson | Canada | I wanna know, who the hell eats shark fins? I think it's an eastern cultural hoity toity thing - Do they not understand what they are doing to the ecosystem? also, I bet they don't fish in their waters for shark fins cause it's probably ILLEGAL just like it should be. Stop this mass and unrequired killing of sharks and other species on the islands. | |
| 4,408 | 9:59 pm PDT, Apr 23 | Stephen Brown | Canada | It's crazy!! It needs to stop. Any semi-intelligent person who informs themselves will understand that. | ||
| 4,407 | 7:59 am PDT, Apr 16 | Ralph Hofman | Netherlands | |||
| 4,406 | 12:00 am PDT, Apr 15 | Mrs. | Alexandra Douglas | Greece | ||
| 4,405 | 6:35 pm PDT, Apr 7 | Ms. | Rachel Velasquez | North Carolina | United States | I watched "Shark Water". |
| 4,404 | 1:10 pm PDT, Apr 7 | Mr. | Duncan Carson | United Kingdom | Long line fishing is indescriminate and should not be used anywhere especially the Galapagos. | |
| 4,403 | 9:12 am PDT, Apr 7 | Alisa Schwartz | New Jersey | United States | Charles Darwin travelled to the Galapagos aboard the HMS Beagle, and the divergence of species that he observed in the isolated islands helped set him on the path to the theory of evolution. Jacques Cousteau said "If we go on the way we have, the fault is our greed and if we are not willing to change, we will disappear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by the insect" It is frightening that this great area of eco-diversity is in deep trouble with many of its native species near extinction. What is even more frightening is that we are watching its demise. Protect beautiful Galapagos! Stop long line fishing! | |
| 4,402 | 12:31 am PDT, Mar 25 | Mrs. | Catherine Gaspard | Belgium | ||
| 4,401 | 4:56 am PDT, Mar 9 | Ms. | lizzy ellison | United Kingdom | Long lining is barbaric and must be stopped now.These innocent creatures that are unfortunate enough to be caught by these lines are subjected to a cruel and slow death, many of which are unwanted catch and thrown back in to the sea injured or dead. Pure barbarism - stop it now |
Prevent Long Line Fishing in the Galapagos!
We, the undersigned, applaud the government of Ecuador for its increasing efforts to conserve the Galapagos Marine Reserve and strongly support its designation as a World Heritage Site. However, we urge you not to allow destructive fishing methods, such as longlining, within the Reserve.
The Galapagos Marine Reserve is the second largest marine reserve in the world and home to a wonderful array of marine life, such as whales, dolphins, sea lions, sea birds, sharks, rays and other fauna and flora, much of which is unique to this area.
The Galapagos Islands, renowned throughout the world for their unique biodiversity, are threatened by a proposal to open protected waters to longlining, a method of fishing usually associated with high levels of bycatch and high pressure on fish stocks.
The Marine Reserve is home to a high proportion of species that occur nowhere else on earth. Longlining could be devastating. Given the high numbers of sharks, rays, turtles, sea birds, and sea lions it is inevitable that the bycatch of these animals will be extremely high and will impact populations which are threatened or endangered.
Though the longlines currently being advocated for use inside the Reserve are small-scale, this is unlikely to be economically viable for fishermen used to high returns from sea cucumbers and lobsters. It seems inevitable that pressure would mount to increase the scale and therefore the impact. The history of participatory management in these waters is poor, such as severe overfishing of sea cucumbers, the illegal shark fisheries and riots and vandalism by fishermen against management in the lobster fishery. Opening longlining would likely be an unmitigated disaster.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
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