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PSO's Anti-Oceans Track Record |
This special interest attack on our oceans and wildlife isn’t new. The PSO's stale arguments against the MLPA are nearly identical to their backers' efforts against other federal, state, and worldwide balanced ocean protection measures.
PSO members lobbied for the “lethal removal” of sea lions – a protected species. The Sportfishing Association of California’s Robert Fletcher, one of the harshest critics of the MLPA, told a Congressional subcommittee in testimony that “If state or federal resource agency officials could be given general authority for limited lethal removal in those specific areas or in those instances where a documented nuisance animal is operating, the magnitude of the interactions would decline dramatically.” (October 11, 2001)
California sea lions are thankfully protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
PSO members sought to remove manatees from the Endangered Species Act list and oppose policies to protect them – despite scientific evidence that the manatees needed continued protection. “…perhaps the time has come to delist the manatee, much as the alligator and the eagle have been delisted."
The same Palm Beach Post article quoted a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist saying 10 to 20 additional years of protection are needed.
PSO members also opposed a ban on lead sinkers – despite evidence showing damage to the environment and waterfowl. The Canadian government, for example, found that “lead from fishing tackle now accounts for 18 percent of uncontrolled releases and is the largest source of mortality in loons that are found dead (Source: Environment Canada website). |
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But as usual, PSO members attacked the science. “…ASA has found that insufficient data exists to warrant state or federal bans on lead sinkers used for fishing…ASA acknowledges that lead toxicosis can kill water birds and lead fishing sinkers may contribute to this mortality.” (ASA Website).
PSO members also opposed efforts to protect rare species of sea turtles, reef fish, and other ocean life by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service around the world. PSO tried to derail and then weakened the Rose Atoll National Monument off the coast of American Samoa – a proposal that even the Bush Administration favored. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rose “supports the largest populations of giant clams, nesting sea turtles, nesting seabirds, and rare species of reef fish in American Samoa.”
Its members also opposed the Bush Administration’s creation of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, which, according to a National Public Radio report (December 8, 2008), has waters that “are rich with undisturbed sea life and home to some of the world’s most majestic underwater geology, including the deepest canyon in the ocean.”
PSO members attacked these efforts – with the same reasoning they are attacking the MLPA. “We do not support any unnecessary closures to recreational fishing unless there is a scientific determination that shows recreational fishing is harming the ecosystem,” ASA’s Patty Doerr told the Honolulu Weekly (January 7, 2009).
PSO members pressured the White House to reject any additional marine protected areas in the United States. In a June 10, 2008 letter to President Bush, the National Marine Manufacturers Association coalition said: “We wish to express our serious concern over the potential designation of marine protected areas in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. South Atlantic Ocean, and the Central Pacific Ocean. While we understand that such designations are meant to enhance conservation efforts, they stand to do irreparable harm to the sport of fishing.
In other words, short-term profits are more important than sustainable fisheries.
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