Dear Birding-Aus,
I'm writing to urge any of you that haven't already signed the BirdLife
petition against pirate fishing to do so - we only have until June to
collect as many signatures as possible. Please help us to stop more
albatrosses being needlessly slaughtered on longline fishing hooks!
If you have already signed, many thanks. Otherwise, you can sign online
at:
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/petition/index.asp
The petition is hosted by BirdLife's partner in New Zealand, Forest and
Bird. You can sign it in one of 12 languages; Bulgarian, Catalan,
Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Eskara, French, German, Portuguese,
Polish and Spanish.
We are keen to show the breadth of international concern over this issue
- so if someone reading this is willing to translate it into another
language, please do so and email it to me.
Some background as to why this petition is needed:
Hundreds of thousands of albatrosses and other seabirds are killed each
year by longline fishing vessels. 19 of the world's 21 albatross species
are currently at risk of extinction.
"Pirates" - illegally operating fishing vessels - particularly those
that target Patagonian Toothfish and Bluefin Tuna, are known to kill
many seabirds each year. Their illicit catches are destined mainly for
markets in the west coast of the USA and Japan.
The United Nations will discuss the issue of pirate fishing in Rome this
June. There, John Ridgway, who is currently sailing around the Southern
Ocean to raise awareness of the plight of albatrosses, will present the
BirdLife petition to delegates.
This is a real opportunity to raise pirate fishing as a serious
international issue that needs urgent action - which is why I am
appealing to those of you that haven't already done so, to sign up and
show you care. It is only a few clicks and will help save albatrosses
from a slow and gruesome death.
Many thanks in advance to those of you that respond. Please feel free to
pass this message on to others who may wish to sign.
Richard Thomas
BirdLife International
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