ALex
06-12-2008, 02:18 PM
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Help Preserve Our Ocean's Keystone Species
Click here to Take Action (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/wenux3xzlijj7b7?)
Dear Alex,
<table style="width: 200px;" align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td>http://img.getactivehub.com/act2/custom_images/earthjusticeaction/action_herring0608.jpg (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/wenux3xzlijj7b7?)</td></tr></tbody></table>
Herring are the linchpin of the Atlantic Ocean food chain, and an important part of the coastal ecosystem and economy of the northeast United States. Tuna, whales and cod feast on herring, and lobstermen use herring in their traps.
But the health of this vital resource is threatened by high-volume industrial ships that now dominate the commercial herring industry. Towing small-mesh nets five stories high and as wide as a football field, these ships strain the waters from the Gulf of Maine to the tip of Long Island, indiscriminately capturing and killing all sea life in their path.
Under current federal rules, these high-volume ships are allowed to fish in fragile spawning grounds, and benefit from loopholes in laws established to protect the health of the ocean. With little federal oversight and almost no accountability, the commercial herring industry has operated in the shadows for too long.
Most fishermen and ocean conservation groups agree that it's time to reform the commercial herring industry now... before it's too late!
Specifically, we need common-sense reforms, including:
Ending midwater trawling within 50 miles of shore and in areas closed to groundfishermen
Requiring 100 percent observer coverage on midwater trawlers
Banning at-sea dumping and requiring on-board sampling of all catch (including discards)
Instituting a shore-based monitoring system with real-time catch and bycatch (non-target species) monitoring
Meaningful bycatch caps that are monitored in real-time
Determining the needs of herring predators and establishing sufficient herring set-asides for predators
In response to your letters and emails along with thousands of letters from fishermen and others like you, federal fishery managers decided last November to make reforming the commercial fishing practices for the herring fishery a priority and are now accepting public comments on a management plan amendment that could be the turning point for protecting the herring resource. The New England Fishery Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Services are facing pressure from special interest industry groups to continue to ignore the threat posed by the herring industrial fleet. It's up to us to see that they don't.
Please take a moment to write to federal fishery managers (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/wenux3xzlijj7b7?) and tell them that you support strong reforms to the commercial herring industry.
Join Earthjustice and Take Action Today! (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/wenux3xzlijj7b7?)
-Earthjustice
Because the earth needs a good lawyer
P.S. Help us turn the tide! Please tell a friend (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/forward/wenux3xzlijj7b7?) to take action!
</td></tr></tbody></table>
Help Preserve Our Ocean's Keystone Species
Click here to Take Action (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/wenux3xzlijj7b7?)
Dear Alex,
<table style="width: 200px;" align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td>http://img.getactivehub.com/act2/custom_images/earthjusticeaction/action_herring0608.jpg (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/wenux3xzlijj7b7?)</td></tr></tbody></table>
Herring are the linchpin of the Atlantic Ocean food chain, and an important part of the coastal ecosystem and economy of the northeast United States. Tuna, whales and cod feast on herring, and lobstermen use herring in their traps.
But the health of this vital resource is threatened by high-volume industrial ships that now dominate the commercial herring industry. Towing small-mesh nets five stories high and as wide as a football field, these ships strain the waters from the Gulf of Maine to the tip of Long Island, indiscriminately capturing and killing all sea life in their path.
Under current federal rules, these high-volume ships are allowed to fish in fragile spawning grounds, and benefit from loopholes in laws established to protect the health of the ocean. With little federal oversight and almost no accountability, the commercial herring industry has operated in the shadows for too long.
Most fishermen and ocean conservation groups agree that it's time to reform the commercial herring industry now... before it's too late!
Specifically, we need common-sense reforms, including:
Ending midwater trawling within 50 miles of shore and in areas closed to groundfishermen
Requiring 100 percent observer coverage on midwater trawlers
Banning at-sea dumping and requiring on-board sampling of all catch (including discards)
Instituting a shore-based monitoring system with real-time catch and bycatch (non-target species) monitoring
Meaningful bycatch caps that are monitored in real-time
Determining the needs of herring predators and establishing sufficient herring set-asides for predators
In response to your letters and emails along with thousands of letters from fishermen and others like you, federal fishery managers decided last November to make reforming the commercial fishing practices for the herring fishery a priority and are now accepting public comments on a management plan amendment that could be the turning point for protecting the herring resource. The New England Fishery Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Services are facing pressure from special interest industry groups to continue to ignore the threat posed by the herring industrial fleet. It's up to us to see that they don't.
Please take a moment to write to federal fishery managers (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/wenux3xzlijj7b7?) and tell them that you support strong reforms to the commercial herring industry.
Join Earthjustice and Take Action Today! (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/wenux3xzlijj7b7?)
-Earthjustice
Because the earth needs a good lawyer
P.S. Help us turn the tide! Please tell a friend (http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/herring_0608/forward/wenux3xzlijj7b7?) to take action!
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