The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

New Oceana Press Release: U.S. House Bill Would Threaten Whales, Dolphins and Seals

A new press release has been posted to the Oceana Web site

(http://www.oceana.org):



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U.S. HOUSE BILL WOULD THREATEN WHALES, DOLPHINS AND SEALS

(http://northamerica.oceana.org//index.cfm?sectionID=10&fuseaction=35.detail&pressreleaseID=204)



October 5, 2004 (WASHINGTON, DC) -- Oceana today urged the U.S.

House of Representatives not to take action on H.R. 5104,

legislation recently passed by the House Resources Committee

that would weaken the existing law that protects whales,

dolphins, seals and other marine mammals from destructive

fishing gear.



Oceana opposes H.R. 5104, which waters down protections

currently included in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA),

primarily because the proposed changes would eliminate

significant deadlines to reduce the number of marine mammals

captured and killed each year during commercial fishing

operations.



Every year thousands of marine mammals, including whales,

dolphins, seals and porpoises, are unintentionally but commonly

caught and killed in fishing gear, a problem referred to as

bycatch. The MMPA sets a national goal to significantly reduce

bycatch, but commercial vessels using indiscriminate fishing

gear such as gillnets, trawl nets, and pelagic longlines catch

these marine animals in addition to the fish they intend to

catch. The whales, dolphins and other animals are then discarded

-- often injured, dead or dying...



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Read the complete release on Oceana's Web site:



http://northamerica.oceana.org//index.cfm?sectionID=10&fuseaction=35.detail&pressreleaseID=204



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