*EPF311 02/28/01
Text: Commerce Dept. on U.S. Plan to Reduce Seabird Killings
(Voluntary program to work with regional U.S. fisheries) (600)

An agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce has released a plan to reduce the number of seabirds killed in U.S. longline fisheries.

In a February 28 press release, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) said the voluntary plan would implement a U.S. commitment made at a 1999 U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) fisheries meeting.

Working with NMFS to develop the plan were the State Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). NMFS and USFWS will seek to achieve the plan's goals by working through U.S. regional fisheries management councils.

A longline fisheries is one which uses a heavy fishing line that may be several kilometers long and that has baited hooks in series.

Following is the text of the press release:

(begin text)

NOAA FISHERIES RELEASES A NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION TO PROTECT SEABIRDS
February 28, 2001

Today NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, released a national voluntary plan of action that outlines specific steps for reducing the incidental catch of seabirds in longline fisheries throughout the United States. The objectives of the national plan are to reduce seabird bycatch in U.S. longline fisheries, to provide national-level policy guidance on reducing seabird bycatch in U.S. longline fisheries, and to call for an assessment of all U.S. longline fisheries to determine whether a seabird bycatch problem exists. NOAA Fisheries developed the national plan in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of State.

"We are concerned about the long-term ecological impacts of seabird bycatch in longline fisheries throughout the world," said NOAA Fisheries Acting Director Bill Hogarth. "This plan helps address those concerns by spelling out specific measures that will reduce seabird bycatch in U.S. longline fisheries," said Hogarth.

The national plan is a component of the international plan of action for reducing the incidental catch of seabirds in longline fisheries that was developed at the November 1999 meeting of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's Committee on Fisheries. The international plan is a voluntary measure that calls on FAO member nations that conduct longline fisheries to: (1) assess the degree of seabird bycatch in their longline fisheries; (2) develop individual national plans of action to reduce seabird bycatch in longline fisheries that have a seabird bycatch problem; and (3) develop a course of future research and action to reduce seabird bycatch. The international plan calls for FAO members to develop and implement national plans by 2001.

The national plan serves as an overarching framework within which NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will work through the regional fishery management council process to reduce the incidental catch of seabirds in longline fisheries. The national plan supports the FAO's International Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The Code of Conduct is the only international agreement that addresses practically all aspects of fisheries, including marine and freshwater capture fisheries, aquaculture, harvesting, and shoreside operations.

The final version of the plan is available on the NOAA Fisheries Web site at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov.

Written requests for copies of the final plan should be sent to Steve Leathery, Domestic Fisheries Division (F/SF3), National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or may be sent via facsimile (fax) to (301) 713-1193. For further information, contact Steve Leathery, (301) 713-2341.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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