The United Nations is at this moment considering urgent measures to protect ocean wildlife from being injured and killed by industrial longline fishing in the Pacific. During June 6-10, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will consider a proposal by Costa Rica, supported by 3 other countries, to implement a moratorium on industrial high seas longline fishing. If you have not done so yet please sign the simple on-line petition to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urging him to support the call for a moratorium and ask 3 friends and colleagues to do the same at:
http://www.seaturtles.org/actionalertdetails.cfm?actionAlertID=43
The Pacific is being pillaged by longline fishing, a method of fishing with monofilament lines stretching as long as 60 miles with thousands of baited hooks. The leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles and black-footed albatross seabird have been driven to the edge of extinction and shark and billfish populations have crashed by nearly 90%. Longlining is also estimated to catch or kill about 4.4 million sea turtles, marine mammals (including dolphins, seals and false killer whales), sharks, billfish and seabirds each year.
At this time, thousands of other people like you concerned about protecting our ocean and the wildlife that calls it home have also signed the petition along with about 850 scientists from 83 countries and 300 non-governmental organizations from 54 countries.
All of the petitions will be delivered by a group of school children on June 8th, World Ocean Day, at the meeting at the UN considering the moratorium so there is little time to lose.
Please click on to the above link. It just takes one minute to sign this petition. Also please pass this email along to as many of your fishing buddies as possible.
(extracted from Robert Ovetz letter)
