October 10, 2006
Bush does it again!
BY: Andy Sharpless
Last Tuesday, the White House issued a statement calling for a halt to destructive bottom trawling on the high seas and promised that the US would work with other nations and international groups to change fishing practices and create international fishery regulatory groups if needed.
On Oct. 4-5, the United Nations met in NY, to debate banning bottom fishing on the high seas, especially where it’s unregulated. The US joined Australia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa in supporting the moratorium. The UN will likely reach a decision in November.
And the good news doesn’t end there. President Bush also called on Congress to pass the Magnuson Stevens Act reauthorization (for you non-fishheads, this is the constitution of ocean conservation). Of course, he neglected to mention what the MSA should include (nobody’s perfect).
Fortunately, Oceana is more than happy to fill in the blanks and we’ll be working with Congress to make sure deep-sea corals and sponges are protected through the MSA reauthorization.