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Tell the US Fisheries Service to Ban Swordfish Imports and Protect Marine Mammals

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Posted in Marine | Tagged Marine

United States consumers’ appetite for swordfish has unwittingly contributed to the injury and death of marine mammals around the world. The gear used by global fishing fleets — primarily pelagic longlines and gillnets — inevitably ensares dolphins, sea lions, whales, sea turtles, and sea birds. Thousands of these animals die in longlines and gillnets each year. U.S. swordfish fisheries are regulated to reduce harm to marine mammals and other species, but U.S. regulation alone is not enough to protect far-ranging species in international waters.

The U.S. leads the world in swordfish consumption, yet most of the swordfish eaten in the U.S. is imported from countries where little to no fishery regulation exists to protect marine mammals. The illegal importation of unsustainably caught swordfish devastates marine mammal populations and places U.S. fishers at a competitive disadvantage to unregulated foreign fishers.

The National Marine Fisheries Service can put an end to unintentional U.S. subsidization of destructive foreign fishing fleets simply by enforcing existing law. A longstanding provision of the Marine Mammal Protection Act bans the import of seafood unless the source country provides proof that its fishing practices meet U.S. standards for protecting marine mammals. Though this law has been in place for over 30 years, it has never been enforced and the consequences to marine life have been devastating.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Project petitioned the federal government to immediately enforce this critical law and ban swordfish imports until the required proof is provided. Now the National Marine Fisheries Service is asking for public comments on the petition. Please tell the Fisheries Service to take immediate action and protect marine mammals worldwide.

If you have trouble following the link, go to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26435.

Subject: Ban Swordfish Imports to Protect Marine Mammals

To: Dr. Rebecca Lent (Attn: Swordfish Petition)

I am writing to urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to immediately enforce the Marine Mammal Protection Act Section 101 by banning swordfish imports until exporting countries demonstrate that their swordfish catch meets U.S. standards for protecting marine mammals. This 36-year-old law protects dozens of species of dolphins, porpoises, sea lions, whales, and other species I care about while safeguarding U.S. fishers from unfair competition with unregulated foreign fishing fleets. The time is long overdue to enforce the law and ban swordfish imports.

Congress recognized that fishing posed a threat to marine mammal species when it passed this provision of the Marine Mammal Protection Act over 30 years ago. Enforcement of Marine Mammal Protection Act provisions for U.S. fisheries has led to the establishment of significant protective measures aimed at restricting harmful fishing practices and protecting marine mammal populations from unsustainable fisheries bycatch. Congress also recognized that, if the United States’ efforts to protect marine mammals from fisheries bycatch were to be successful, it would have to exert pressure on fisheries of other nations to adopt similarly protective measures.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires that all fisheries meet a “zero mortality rate goal” - in other words, that they reduce incidental death and serious injury of marine mammals to as close to zero as possible. This requirement has led to a number of important regulations on U.S. fishing, including gear-based requirements such as the use of pingers and net extenders, limits on the length of longlines, and as other measures like time-area closures, safe handling and release training and equipment, and mandatory observer coverage. All of these measures play a vital role in reducing fisheries’ impact on populations of marine mammals and other species.

Banning swordfish imports until source countries demonstrate that they meet these important standards would use U.S. market power to protect marine species I care about around the world and protect the economic interests of domestic fisheries. Therefore, I strongly urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to implement the ban immediately. Thank you for your attention to this important issue.