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We the undersigned, endorse the following petition:
"Bycatch" Fishing Destroys Ecosystems
Target: President Bush
Sponsor:
Oceana
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Ocean Animals At Risk
Did you know that every year, an estimated 20 million tons of marine wildlife is unintentionally caught and dumped, mostly dead, back into the ocean? This so-called wasted "by-catch" is more than 60 times the weight of the empire state building!
Many fishing nets and methods used to capture commercially-valuable fish, particularly drift gillnets and drift longlines, unintentionally capture and kill numerous species of animals, including sharks, sea turtles, whales, dolphins, and seabirds.
Fast facts:
- 9 pounds of marine life by-catch is killed for every one pound of shrimp caught!
- Last year, the U.S. government announced that 31 fish species in U.S. fisheries are on the brink of commercial
extinction.
- On the East Coast, less than two percent of fishing trips record data on bycatch.
Although bycatch is illegal, the U.S. government has done little to enforce the laws intended to protect our ocean life. Last month a House Subcommittee voted to weaken
the nation's principal ocean fish management law. In the next few weeks, U.S. Congressional committees will vote on bills to further amend these laws; the outlook is grim for marine life.
Sign this letter to President Bush asking him to implement and enforce existing laws, including a full investigation of wasted catch, and call on the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect ocean life.
URGENT: DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS IS JUNE 14th! SIGN NOW!
..... See full petition below.td> |
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Thank you for your Interest!
However, this Petition is now closed.
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.>MOST RECENT 25 of 39,843 SIGNATURES | | | | | Number |
Date |
Name |
State |
How will wasteful fishing practices affect you, your family and the environ |
Why is the Environment important to you? |
| 39,843 |
2:44 pm PDT, Jun 18 |
Kate Paull |
MI |
environmental issues effect everything |
Responsibility |
| 39,842 |
2:41 pm PDT, Jun 18 |
lulu franco |
PR |
cause we need a balance on our world..and fishing will afects an ecosistem... |
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| 39,841 |
2:38 pm PDT, Jun 18 |
joyce C. |
FL |
I have taught my children to return catches to the seas and rivers that are undersized, therefore ensuring a larger fish for us and others. If practices for "Bycatch" are continued there will no longer be the vast abundance of fish in our world. |
As our environment is destroyed so will the food chain and we will be facing less and less food. |
| 39,840 |
2:37 pm PDT, Jun 18 |
Deanna Chase |
KS |
Wasteful fishing practices will lead to a decrease in the populations of the many creatures of the sea/ocean, causing the food chain to become unstable, causing us to search for new sorces of food and slowly depleating the ocean of its inhabitats, and causing a chain reation that could cause for loss of jobs and the loss of life. |
It is important to me because it is part of me and because it is my home. Any one knows that in order to have a tidy house you must take care of it. The same goes for the earth. If people really wish to have a earth to live on, for them and the children that follow, then they must take care of it at whatever cost that it may take; that is if they expect the human race to survive anyway. |
| 39,839 |
1:49 pm PDT, Jun 18 |
stephanie r. |
VA |
i want my children to have a beautiful and healthy planet. |
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| 39,838 |
1:18 pm PDT, Jun 18 |
lila spring |
VT |
Practices such as this reflect the mounting disrespect we as humans show towards our world and ourselves. |
Without the environment, we are without ourselves. |
| 39,837 |
12:55 pm PDT, Jun 18 |
Elizabeth Hieronymus |
OH |
We can not afford to deplete the abundant supply of nature that we have been provided. |
It is the legacy that we leave to the earth. |
| 39,836 |
11:51 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Beck Archer |
-- |
I love marine life and it is one of my dreams to become a marine biologist and study it. |
Their is so much still to learn from marine life - we hardly know anything and selfish people are destroying it. |
| 39,835 |
11:39 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Anonymous |
NY |
HOW IT WILL AFFECT ME PERSONALLY IS THAT THIS KIND OF THING REALLY DISTURBS AND UPSETS ME.TO THINK THAT THERE ARE HUMAN BEINGS IN THIS WORLD WHO ARE CARELESS AND INCONSIDERATE ENOUGH TO HURT INNOCENT HARMLESS CREATURES IN OUR WATERS IS REALLY INDISPICABLE AND DISQUSTING. |
BECAUSE THIS IS THE ENVIRONMENT WE ALL HAVE TO LIVE AROUND EVERY DAY. THE RIDDING AND DESTRUCTION OF ALL CREATURES BOTH ON LAND AND IN THE WATERS HAS GOT TO BE PUT TO AN END! |
| 39,834 |
10:48 am PDT, Jun 18 |
kim warwick |
GA |
in alot of ways. people should be more cocerned about the world,people,environment,animals, rights etc.. than always trying to make lots of money. |
lots of resons life,health,etc. |
| 39,833 |
10:48 am PDT, Jun 18 |
shanna bontrager |
IN |
We are avid campers and wildlife travelers...however, this doesn't just affect us--it affects the world, time, eternity! |
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| 39,832 |
10:30 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Regina Klein |
IL |
Eventually we will not have these resources to fall on. I think NATO needs to get involved, because it's a global issue. |
Being of a Native heritage, I value Mother Earth and all she has to offer. If you abuse her, she will stop giving; and wont that be a sad day. I personally don't want my children to suffer for the mistakes of their elders. |
| 39,831 |
10:25 am PDT, Jun 18 |
VALENTINA LUNARDI |
-- |
HOW I DON'T KNOW, BUT I THINK THAT OUR SOCIETY IS DESTROYING OUR WORLD MORE AND MORE |
LOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTT!!!! |
| 39,830 |
10:06 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Janet B. |
-- |
I hate people who do that its like they have no brain |
Cuz it is i luv nature its really important |
| 39,829 |
9:57 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Patrick Stoddard |
TX |
itry my best to enjoy the environment as often as i can weather it is through hiking, camping, rock climbing or mountain biking. I think that the environment is a very awsome thing that we take for grantid. If we aren't careful we are goig to destroy it. |
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| 39,828 |
9:29 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Michelle McAleer |
IL |
Stop destroying our environment |
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| 39,827 |
9:00 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Pamela Clarke |
CA |
I want my sister's kids and future generations to have a variety of species of marine wildlife to appreciate on this planet. |
|
| 39,826 |
8:39 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Natalie Abram |
KY |
Since I learned about the unbelievable amount of waste, my family will no longer buy product from companies that enforce 'bycatching'. |
We all inhabit this earth, and it should be important to all of us! |
| 39,825 |
8:25 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Melissa Savilonis |
CT |
wasteful fishing will cause less fish to be available to eat, but also it will cause those fish that can reproduce to cease because of the decrease in the number of mates available. i enjoy fish, but i do not want to enjoy it at the cost of aiding others to be wasteful since the fish are species like we are. |
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| 39,824 |
7:49 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Anonymous |
MA |
no answer |
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| 39,823 |
7:36 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Anonymous |
-- |
How can I now willingly buy fish? I cannot. We as a nation have so many tools at our disposal. We must be able to fish without destroying everything! |
We need to secure the future for all living beings. Without a real commitment, we are driving everything to extinction. We must think of the future. We must do our best to save as many animals as possible. |
| 39,822 |
7:27 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Julia Tawyea |
PA |
Excess fishing will deplete the population of fish needed to increase #'s later.. The more fish caught and killed means more fish not eaten and then thrown out... |
We are all resonsible for this planet.. Our species has destroyed enough.. We must repair and help maintain what we have left.. |
| 39,821 |
7:12 am PDT, Jun 18 |
William Nichols |
MD |
The sea is the begining of all life...lets not let it be the end! |
The earth will go after us but can we go on without the earth? |
| 39,820 |
6:53 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Kim Marohn |
-- |
Ocean fish management, and the monitoring/reduction of bycatch MUST be strictly controlled. Laws must be enforced to prevent the depletion of our oceans' resources. If not, we will eventually witness the extinction of valuable species and a destruction of the delicate marine ecosystem.
A dead and stagnant ocean in the future IS NOT an option. Fisheries must be aided and encouraged to find ways to continue to SAFELY harvest from the ocean for generations to come. |
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| 39,819 |
5:47 am PDT, Jun 18 |
Anonymous |
DC |
"Bycatch" fishing harms the environment by endangering marine species. It is fueled by corporate profits and greed. |
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.>"Bycatch" Fishing Destroys Ecosystems
Dear President Bush:
I am very concerned about the senseless destruction of ocean life caused by wasteful fishing. Every year billions of pounds of fish, hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions and sea birds, and countless numbers of other ocean animals are caught, killed, and discarded.
Four Federal laws clearly require the U.S. to reduce wasted catch, also known as bycatch. But, through delay, inaction, and inadequate regulations, the government has failed to enforce them. The government has not even taken the smallest step toward solving this problem, such as placing observers on fishing vessels to monitor wasted catch.
President Bush, please implement and enforce existing laws, including a full investigation of wasted catch, and call on the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect ocean life. Please take action now to prevent this wasteful destruction, which puts our oceans, food supply, and economy at risk.
Sincerely,
Your name here
CC: Congress and other Government Officials
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