Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act. This legislation updates the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to phase out the use of harmful drift gillnets and replace it with more sustainable fishing gear. Drift gillnets, which are approximately one to one and a half miles long, are intended to catch swordfish and thresher shark. Tragically, nearly 60 other species are accidentally caught and killed in the nets, including dolphins, porpoises, whales, sea lions, and sea turtles. These are known as bycatch. While some of these species can be sold, most are wastefully thrown back in to the ocean either dead or injured, making survival unlikely. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, gillnets account for 90% of whale and porpoise species killed in West Coast Fisheries. In the 1980s, Congress enacted legislation to end the domestic use of driftnets approximately 1.5 miles long. Under President George H.W. Bush, the United States entered binding international agreements banning such nets worldwide. Driftnets are prohibited or not utilized off the United States Atlantic and Gulf coasts or in Washington State, Oregon, Alaska, or Hawaii. Mexico permanently banned the use of these nets in 2017.…”