Oceana Report Describes Threat to South Atlantic Gulf Ocean Habitat by Deep-Sea Trawls

Oceana Approach Adopted to Protect Bering Sea From Destructive Bottom Trawling

U.S. House of Representatives Calls for End to Destructive Fishing Subsidies

June, 2007

Protecting Pacific Leatherbacks from Gillnets

Under pressure from scientists and conservation groups, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) denied a proposal to allow drift gillnet vessels to operate in an area off the California and Oregon coasts where such fishing is seasonally banned to protect the critically endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle. The drift gillnet fishery, which targets swordfish, tuna and sharks, also kills not just endangered sea turtles, but humpback, fin, gray and sperm whales, several species of dolphins and other marine mammals.

June, 2007

First-ever Fishery Ecosystem Plan Passed for Aleutian Islands

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted the nation’s first comprehensive ecosystem-based management measure when it approved the Aleutian Islands Fishery Ecosystem Plan. This Fishery Ecosystem Plan is a blueprint for considering all aspects of the marine ecosystem, including biological diversity, abundant populations of fish, food needs of top predators, and healthy intact habitats, when making decisions on managing healthy and sustainable fisheries in the Aleutian Islands.

This is an important new tool in managing Aleutian Islands fisheries from a more holistic, ecosystem-based perspective, and sets a remarkable precedent for ecosystem-based management measures in other fisheries around the nation.

Leading Scientists Appeal to World Trade Organization to Stop Destructive Fishing Subsidies; Say Vital to Future of World’s Oceans

U.S. Senators Call for Worldwide Ban on Destructive Fishing Subsidies