Tell Congress: Don't Allow Overfishing!

We’ve made incredible progress in reversing overfishing. This has been good for both the environment and jobs in fishing. Through smart fishery legislation, we’ve been able to bring back fish whose populations were crashing due to years of overfishing.

But all our progress is about to be destroyed! In the House of Representatives, Rep. Hastings (R-WA) is trying to pass legislation that would create a new law allowing overfishing and eliminate deadlines to rebuild fish populations.

Please take action today and tell your Congressional Representative to say NO to Rep. Hastings legislation when it comes to the floor for voting.

Healthy fish populations are essential to ocean ecosystems and to the local economies that depend on them. Together, we can truly make a difference.

Personalized letters help make an even bigger impact. Please take one extra minute to include in your letter why the ocean matters to you or why this issue is important to you in your daily life.
Dear [Decision Maker],

Despite receiving thousands of public comments in opposition, Rep. Doc Hastings is still trying to roll back successful fishery conservation provisions. Please vote No on H.R. 4742, a bill to reauthorize and amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The bill is shortsighted and would roll back major gains in stopping and preventing overfishing, and rebuilding fish populations that are critical to local economies and a healthy ocean.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act--our nation's 38 year old marine fishery management law--is working to end overfishing and rebuild U.S. fish populations, which leads to more fish and better fishing opportunities. Members on both sides of the aisle substantially amended the Act in 1996 and again in 2006, safeguarding a vital part of our economy and our environment. Those key conservation provisions are working today and have led to the successes we are seeing in the water.

H.R. 4742, the "Empty Oceans Act," would roll back the progress we have made in rebuilding fish populations and ensuring healthy fishing communities and coastal economies. Specifically, this bill would remove the law's requirement for annual catch limits for potentially hundreds of species. It would roll back the law's successful rebuilding requirements, by establishing broad loopholes that remove reasonable time limits and allow short-term economic concerns to trump the long-term economic and ecological health of the nation's fish and fisheries.

Further, the bill would circumvent both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The bill would also make a significant amount of publicly-funded fisheries information off limits to fishery managers, scientists, industry, and the public.

[Your comments go here]

The Magnuson-Stevens Act is working. Throw back the Empty Oceans Act and vote No on H.R. 4742 to ensure that America's fishing industry does not become just another fish tale.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
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