Act Now! Comment Deadline This Week-Dec. 26! Protect Penguins and Whales
from Industrial Fishing
From: Center for Biological Diversity

Act Now! Comment Deadline This Week-Dec. 26! Protect Penguins and Whales
from Industrial Fishing

In the movie "Happy Feet," the penguins, elephant seals and other wildlife
of Antarctica face starvation as a result of industrial fishing fleets
depleting the fish these animals rely upon for food. Unfortunately, this
part of the movie is not entirely fiction. Industrial fleets fishing for
krill and toothfish (marketed in the United States as Chilean Sea Bass) ply
the rich waters of the Southern Ocean, catching not just the target species,
but seabirds and marine mammals as well. In some areas the fishing pressure
is intense enough that food competition with penguins and marine mammals is
likely.

Officials within the Bush administration apparently haven't seen "Happy
Feet" - or if they have, they've ignored the message. Last month the
National Marine Fisheries Service completed its environmental review on a
plan that would open the door to increased harvest of krill, icefish, and
toothfish, essential food for penguins, seals and whales. The plan also
would make it easier for illegally caught toothfish to be imported into the
United States; authorizes a new toothfish longline fishery that poses a
threat to albatross and whales; allows a trawl fishery that drowns Antarctic
Fur Seals; and permits destructive bottom trawling.

Nevertheless, the happy ending of "Happy Feet" is still possible. The
National Marine Fisheries Service is accepting comments on its management
plan for Antarctic fisheries until Dec. 26. Take action today and demand
that fishing for krill and toothfish be banned in Antarctic waters and that
imports of toothfish into the U.S. be suspended.


Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Robert Gorrell
SEND A LETTER ONLINE:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/penguins_whales/

Below is the sample letter:
Subject: CCAMLR.FPEIS: Prohibit Toothfish and Krill Fishing
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
I am writing to ask that you adopt the most environmentally protective
alternatives contained in the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement regarding the management of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Specifically, NMFS should adopt alternatives which prohibit U.S. vessels
from fishing for toothfish, icefish, and krill (Alternatives A4, B4, C4, D4,
E5, F4, and G4), and which prohibit longline fishing (Alternative J2) and
destructive bottom trawling (Alternative K4). Additionally, as the United
States is the world's largest importer of toothfish, NMFS should suspend all
toothfish imports until it can be demonstrated that the harvest is
sustainable and that measures have been taken to ensure that bycatch of
seabirds and marine mammals is eliminated. The United States should not be
supporting an industry which threatens to drive not just the toothfish, but
also many albatross species to extinction. Finally, given the significant
impacts of global warming on Antarctic ecosystems, NMFS must not authorize
any activities that impact seabirds and marine mammals, or their prey,
without first analyzing the effects of global warming on these species.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,

Annelisa Johnson

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What's At Stake:

While no place on Earth has escaped the impacts of human activity, the
waters off Antarctica, particularly the Ross Sea, comprise some of the most
intact marine ecosystems remaining on the planet. However, the whales,
seals, penguins, albatrosses, fish and other marine life in these waters are
facing the dual threats of global warming and industrial fishing.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration is ignoring the one while expanding
the other.

Fishing in the rich waters off Antarctica is governed by an international
treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living
Resources (CCAMLR). While the CCAMLR management scheme is one of the few in
the world that theoretically incorporates ecosystem-based management
principles into its decision-making, it has not prevented the severe
overfishing of toothfish, a long-lived species marketed in the U.S. as
Chilean Sea Bass. Nor does this management regime factor in the significant
impacts global warming is having on krill stocks, or on the species such as
whales and penguins dependant on krill. A study published in the journal
Nature in 2004 documented declines in krill stocks by up to 80 percent since
the 1970s in the southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. This is
the area where most krill fishing occurs.
Krill is generally caught for use as feed stock for aquaculture such as for
farmed salmon. However, krill fishing vessels don't just catch krill; they
also catch and drown seabirds and marine mammals. One U.S.-flagged krill
vessel killed 138 Antarctic Fur Seals in a five-week period in 2004, making
it perhaps the deadliest fishing vessel to marine mammals of any flying the
U.S. flag.

Longline fleets fishing for toothfish have not only severely depleted
toothfish populations but also hook and drown scores of albatross. Of the
21 albatross species, 19 are now considered Threatened, primarily as a
result of longline fishing. Sperm Whales and Killer Whales, which eat
toothfish off the longlines, also become hooked or entangled in the fishing
gear, and consequently drown or are shot by fishermen.

The U.S. operates a relatively small portion of the fishing fleet in
Antarctic waters but is the world's largest importer and consumer of
toothfish.

Last month the Bush administration completed its environmental review on a
plan that would open the door to increased harvest of krill and toothfish by
U.S vessels. The plan authorizes a new toothfish longline fishery which
poses a threat not just to toothfish populations but to albatrosses and
whales. The plan would also eliminate permit requirements for harvest of
toothfish in large areas of the Southern Ocean not subject to CCAMLR
requirements, and make it easier for illegally caught toothfish (marketed as
Chilean Sea Bass) to be imported into the United States.

The pending plan also allows a mid-water trawl fishery for krill, which not
only removes this important food source for seabird and marine mammals but
also directly kills them. Additionally, the plan would allow bottom
trawling on the relatively undisturbed continental shelf off Antarctica.
Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive forms of fishing practiced;
heavy steel chains are dragged across the seafloor, crushing and killing any
creature that can't get out of the way of the trawl gear and accompanying
net, and quickly reducing a complex ocean habitat to a muddy barren. Bottom
trawling has been banned from many areas of the United States, and efforts
are underway to internationally prohibit this destructive practice. It
should certainly be banned in Antarctic waters.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is currently accepting comments
on this misguided proposal. Please take a minute and send an e-mail or
write a letter to NMFS and demand that fishing for krill and toothfish be
banned in Antarctic waters, that imports of toothfish be suspended, that
bottom trawling be banned, and that any decisions regarding Antarctica must
take global warming into account. The comment deadline closes Dec. 26.

Comments may be e-mailed to CCAMLR.FPEIS@... or sent via mail or fax to
Robert B. Gorrell
Fishery Management Officer
Office of Sustainable Fisheries-SF3
National Marine Fisheries Service
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Springs, MD 20910
Fax:(301) 713-1193

Campaign Expiration Date:
December 26, 2006
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/penguins_whales/