San Diego-Environmental Activists, scientists, and concerned
citizens assembled before City Hall today to draw attention to the crisis of over
fishing and the consequential threat to ocean ecosystems and marine mammals
such as turtles, dolphins, and whales.
“The problem is that we are catching too many fish, we are
adding too much pollution and we are changing fragile ocean areas forever,”
said Aida Navarro, Wildlife Conservation Program Manager for Wild Coast. “If current over fishing trends continue, all
fish and seafood species are projected to collapse within our lifetimes, by
2048. The good news is the ocean has the ability to recover, but we need
to act now.”
Here on the west coast, approximately 14% of the fish stocks
under federal control are being overfished, meaning that the fish population
has been reduced to below 20-25% of its original population. This is creating
an unbalanced ecosystem and has negative effects on the rest of the ocean’s
animals and ecosystem.
In the past the Pacific Fishery Management Council and the National
Marine Fisheries Service have ignored the advice of independent scientists
advocating for catch limits and thus produced regulation that set catch limits
at unsustainable levels.
“It is essential that the National Marine Fisheries Service
establish catch limits with precaution, granting strong conservation-minded
protection for fish,” said Debbie Moguillansky from Environment California. “These
limits must be based upon un-biased scientific advice in order to ensure
sustainability. In addition, consequences must be enforced when these catch
limits are exceeded. “
In December 2006, the House and Senate passed a
reauthorization of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (MSA), the primary law that governs fishing in U.S. ocean waters. Now that the MSA reauthorization has been
signed into law by President Bush, the National Marine Fisheries Service is
required to rewrite the regulations that manage fishing in the U.S. NMFS began this process earlier this year
with a notice of intent to do a rulemaking on National Standard 1, NS1, the
core fish conservation law.
“We need to tell the Pacific Fishery Management Council and
the National Marine Fishery Service that the people of California and
specifically those in San Diego want to see an end to overfishing, this is our
last best chance to act,” states James Burke Field Organizer for Environment
California
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