Fish

Pew Environment Group Urges Stronger Action to Save Bluefin Tuna and Sharks, Regrets Failure of International Fisheries Commission

Porto de Galinhas, Brazil - 11/15/2009 - After meeting for ten days, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) refused to end fishing for Atlantic bluefin tuna. Instead, ICCAT set the catch limit for bluefin, considered the most valuable fish in the sea, at 13,500.

Member countries also agreed on only one measure that will help conserve sharks in the Atlantic, a ban on the retention and landing of big eye threshers, but Mexico was granted an exemption to catch 110 of these vulnerable sharks.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 11/12/2009 - During this year’s Global Week of Action, a week devoted to farmed salmon awareness, the Pew Environment Group today raised concern about the creation of fish farms in U.S. waters without adequate uniform national aquaculture standards in place.

In the past two months, tens of thousands of farmed salmon have escaped from open-net fish farms in British Columbia, Norway and Scotland. This poses serious threats to wild salmon populations and coastal marine ecosystems. While monetary losses amount to millions of dollars, the ecological damage caused by these fish is immeasurable. Escaped fish spread disease to wild fish and compete and interbreed with wild salmon populations.    » read more »

Nov 13, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine today applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to delay a proposed plan banning the interstate sale of untreated raw Gulf oysters in warm months. Both the Governor and Secretary had previously expressed their concerns with the proposal directly to the FDA, which has now agreed to commission a study on both the economic impact of any decision for the oyster industry and how to decrease the incidence of vibrio vulnificus infection.

Governor Jindal sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg on Tuesday, outlining the effects of its proposed regulations on the state’s oyster industry.    » read more »

Senator Landrieu gets commitment from FDA Commissioner Dr. Hamburg in phone call today.

11/13/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to halt a proposed plan to ban Gulf Coast oysters that are not subject to post-harvest processing. Sen. Landrieu received the news in a phone call with FDA Commissioner Dr. Peggy Hamburg earlier today.

Sen. Landrieu has been a staunch opponent of the FDA regulation, and has organized several calls and meetings urging top FDA officials to reconsider their proposed action.    » read more »

Legislation seeks to expose true causes for declines of fish, return flow of water to Valley

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Dennis Cardoza introduced bipartisan legislation today that calls for a review of the federal biological opinions that have significantly reduced the amount of water flowing to San Joaquin Valley farmers. Congressmen Costa (D-Fresno) and Radanovich (R-Mariposa) joined as original cosponsors.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- Today, Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, announced that the United States supports a proposal submitted by the principality of Monaco to list the Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in Appendix I of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).

CITES Appendix-I listing affords a species stringent protection and prohibits all international commercial trade. The fifteenth regular meeting of the CITES parties is scheduled for March 13-24, 2010 in Doha, Qatar (CoP15). Strickland will lead the United States’ delegation to CoP15, on behalf of the U.S. government.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 10/14/2009 - Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, today issued the following statement on the United States’ failure to co-sponsor a proposal for consideration by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that would protect Atlantic bluefin tuna.

The proposal was made by Monaco to ban the international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna through a listing of the species on Appendix I of the Convention because of the deteriorating status of this species.    » read more »

Vancouver, British Columbia - 10/08/2009 - Major shifts in fisheries distribution due to climate change will affect food security in tropical regions most adversely, according to a study led by the Sea Around Us Project at The University of British Columbia.

In the first major study to examine the effects of climate change on ocean fisheries, a team of researchers from UBC and Princeton University finds that climate change will produce major shifts in productivity of the world’s fisheries, affecting ocean food supply throughout the world. The study is published today in the journal Global Change Biology.    » read more »

September 30, 2009 -- (Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Judd Gregg and Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter today called on Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to adjust proposed fisheries regulations in New England to reflect the unique needs of New Hampshire's fishing fleet, which has suffered disproportionately under previous regulations. Shaheen, Gregg and Shea-Porter also requested that the agency's budget provide adequate resources to help New Hampshire fishermen transition to the new management system.    » read more »

Aug 31, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal issued the following Executive Order creating the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force whose mission is addressing factors adversely affecting Louisiana’s shrimping industry, and forming strategies for boosting the economic vitality of the Louisiana shrimp industry.

Executive Order creating the LOUISIANA SHRIMP TASK FORCE:

WHEREAS, the Louisiana shrimp industry has a long, significant cultural importance to the State of Louisiana, and is of great economic impact because of the many jobs the industry provides;

WHEREAS, currently, global markets are experiencing an economic slowdown that, among other things, has led to extremely low prices that have affected all Louisiana shrimpers and the shrimp industry;    » read more »

Federal Fisheries Disaster for Yukon Chinook

August 7, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sean Parnell today sought to secure federal disaster relief for Yukon River residents. Parnell urged the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to declare a fishery disaster due to poor returns of chinook salmon on the Yukon River.

“I trust Secretary Locke will recognize the severity of the situation on the Yukon and declare a fishery disaster,” Governor Parnell said. “I look forward to working with federal agencies and Alaska’s congressional delegation to secure disaster relief assistance for this region.”    » read more »

June 15, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today issued the following statement on the decision of the Federal government to expand the Endangered Species Act in Maine for Atlantic Salmon. The rule includes the Androscoggin, Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers to the existing Endangered Species Act.

“I am deeply disappointed and concerned that the State’s comments to the draft rule were not incorporated in the final decision of the Federal government. This Federal action ignores Maine’s strong track record in species management and our need for a flexible approach which will enable us to use all our tools to work with stakeholders to manage Atlantic salmon.”    » read more »

Casey Introduces Legislation to Protect Fish Habitats, Improve Health of Waterways

June 10, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), a member of the Congressional Sportsmen Caucus, introduced the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act, legislation which will significantly advance ongoing efforts to restore and protect fish habitats, improve the health of America’s waterways and ensure that the United States has robust fish populations far into the future.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today announced the introduction of the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act, legislation which will significantly advance ongoing efforts to restore and protect fish habitats, improve the health of America's waterways and ensure that the United States has robust fish populations far into the future.

"The National Fish Habitat Conservation Act will go a long way toward ensuring the viability of our fish and their habitats for generations to come," said Senator Lieberman. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important legislation and reverse the decline of our ailing waterways and fisheries."    » read more »

Washington, DC - 06/01/2009 - The Pew Environment Group today commended the Mid-Atlantic Council on its initial step toward implementing new federal requirements designed to end overfishing and rebuild depleted fish populations through the application of annual catch limits and accountability measures.

The 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that fishery management councils develop plans that include new annual catch limits and accountability measures by 2011. By basing these regulations on best available science, the new law aims to eliminate the overfishing and depletion of natural fish populations that have suffered in the past from short-sighted political and economic decisions.    » read more »