TAKE ACTION - SPEAK UP NOW
Please visit www.tightlined.org for more information
The Tightlined Slam was founded to raise awareness and funds for the conservation of our marine resources in a fun and competitive way.
It is absolutely critical, however, that our efforts continue throughout the year. It can be overwhelming knowing how to take steps to help, but the most important thing is that we all SPEAK UP. There are constantly places, fisheries, species and other resources that are under attack and need our help.
This page is meant to serve as an easy way to TAKE ACTION on timely issues that we can all make a difference by simply SPEAKING UP. Each of us have a powerful voice to protect our incredible marine resources, we just need to use it. Below are links to easy ways that anyone can help in these efforts. Please read more about all of them and ACT TODAY.
Speak Up for Striped Bass
Striped bass are overfished and overfishing is occurring. The population of breeding females has fallen precipitously in the past several years, and is now less than 75% of what has been deemed the sustainable threshold (chart below). We haven't seen this few fish since five years before the moratorium was lifted, and without real change, the negative trends will continue. We must all work together to restore the species to acceptable levels as soon as possible.
The ASMFC met on August 8 and is moving forward with an addendum to the Striped Bass Management Plan. We are about to enter a public comment period on that addendum, so have an opportunity to influence the decisions that will be made on what new regulations will go into effect in 2020.
The options being considered are listed here, but the main issue that is not addressed by these is the rebuilding of the stock and the chance of success that these new regulations have associated with them. The analysis that went into these proposed limits stipulates a 50% chance of ending overfishing, and projects a potential rebuild of the stock in 13 years, not the 10 years outlined in the ASMFC bylaws. When the public comment period opens, the more voices we can get pushing for more conservative regulations, the better chance we have to turn the tide on striped bass overfishing and allow the stock to rebuild. Stay tuned for next steps and ways to reach your Commissioners or attend public meetings.
Save Bristol Bay - NO to the Pebble Mine
Alaska, simply put, is a magical place and home to the largest remaining salmon runs on earth. For years, a proposed pebble mine that would threaten or destroy these salmon populations and the pristine and magical habitat they support, has been successfully prevented. Now, however, these salmon and Bristol Bay are at risk, as the Pebble Mine has taken further steps towards becoming an awful reality.
The first major federal permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently under review. In its application, Pebble is seeking to develop the first 1.5 billion tons of its nearly 11 billion-ton deposit and set the stage for future expansion and the construction of an industrial mining district in Bristol Bay.
During this review process, it is important that Senators across the country hear from us and many others that Pebble Mine is an ill-conceived and potentially disastrous project that put one of the most incredible natural resources at risk.
Visit http://www.savebristolbay.org/take-action today and send a letter to your Senators to help protect this amazing place.
Protect Mako Sharks
Mako Sharks are the fastest shark in the world. They are also highly-targeted for their meat, fins and for their sport (Makos will jump 20+ feet in the air when hooked!), and have been overfished to the point where their survival is not remotely certain. It takes a female mako shark 18 years to reach sexual maturity, and they have only 10-18 pups every three years (including 15-18 month gestation period). The dire condition of the Atlantic stock of Mako Sharks cannot be overstated. Recent data found that even if all mako shark fishing was immediately banned in the Atlantic, it would still take the population 50 years to recover. (the full ICCAT assessment can be found here - https://www.iccat.int/Documents/Meetings/Docs/2019/REPORTS/2019_SMA_SA_ENG.pdf)
Country leaders are meeting from August 17-28 and have the opportunity to adopt regulations on Makos by listing them on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This would quickly implement actions to protect Makos, reduce fishing pressures on the species, and give them a chance at recovery.
There are a number of places that are working to collect signatures for this, below are a few that take just a few minutes to sign-on. Obviously, with the meeting starting this weekend, this is incredibly timely. Mako sharks need your help.
https://www.sealegacy.org/pages/protect-mako-sharks
https://e-activist.com/page/45870/data/1
PAST EFFORTS
Tell your Senators that the Modern Fish Act can WAIT
As originally proposed, S.1520, the “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act of 2017” or “Modern Fish Act,” would have extended rebuilding timelines for depleted fish stocks among many other detrimental provisions. As a result of the hard work by organizations like and including the Marine Fish Conservation Network, Senators worked to remove most of the harmful provisions in the bill and made the legislation far less objectionable than from where it started. S. 1520 passed in the Senate by unanimous consent on December 17 and in the House under suspension of the rules on December 19.
The Marine Fish Conservation Network encourages congress to bring back the Magnuson Stevens Act's bipartisan spirit and pass comprehensive, science-based fisheries management legislation that serves all Americans.
For more on the 2018 year in review from the MFCN, read their write-up at the link below:
http://conservefish.org/2018/12/20/reflections-on-the-115th-congress-and-the-future-of-fisheries/
Keep Striped Bass Protected in the EEZ
The comment period has closed on whether NOAA will open the Block Island Transit Zone within the Federal exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Block Island and Montauk. As you may know, this area is a unique habitat that holds the most important fish of the species, the big breeding females, and opening the area to fishing would make a serious impact on the survival of this biomass at a time when stripers need MORE protection, not less. The Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission is now recommending to NOAA that this area remain closed to fishing for striped bass in light of the recent stock assessment.
https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0106
