Home  »  National Ocean Policy  »  Something is Rotten in Washington in Fisheries Legislation

Something is Rotten in Washington in Fisheries Legislation

Something is rotten with H.R. 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.  This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage.  The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

H.R. 4742 reeks of unfounded fears of too much government meddling, despite much hard work by fishing industries with state and federal governments on the fisheries councils.

H.R. 4742 would allow fishery management councils to exempt many seafood species from the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s requirements to set science-based fishing limits and to rebuild depleted fish populations, the provisions that are most responsible for our success in restoring fish populations and ending overfishing.

For cod and country, please sign our letter to Congress and add your own words for fish and fishing communities.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act is the primary law governing conservation of U.S. ocean fisheries.  Since 2000, 34 depleted fish populations have been rebuilt.  Since 2000, the number of fish stocks subjected to overfishing (the problem of fish populations in specific ocean areas being fished faster than they can reproduce) has decreased from 72 fish stocks to 28.  It should be only a matter of time, money and work before America has sustainable fisheries across the board.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides funding to count cod in the Gulf of Maine every three years.  Yet, no funding is provided to count cod in the adjacent Georges Bank water a bit further offshore.  As a result of a lack in federal funding the fishery council is blind-sided in the setting of cod catch allotments.

More funding for Magnuson-Steven Act implementation is needed.  With federal funding haddock were researched when encountering a trawl net.  Haddock swim with flounder and cod.  As the net set about them, the cod and flounder swam down towards the bottom.  Haddock swam to one side or the other, to evade the net, unsuccessfully.  By modifying their gear and their practices fishermen are now sustainably fishing haddock without flounder and cod bycatch.  Fisheries management succeeds with government money well spent.

We should build on the success of the law in restoring individual fish populations and incorporate a more comprehensive approach that protects ocean habitats, reduces wasteful bycatch, strengthens the management of forage fish (herring & menhaden) by accounting for the important role they play in ocean ecosystems, and requires ecosystem planning. These actions strengthen ocean ecosystems, support fish populations and support coastal communities all being assaulted by global warming, shifting currents and increasing ocean acidity.

Please oppose H.R. 4742.  It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality.  Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

For cod and country, please sign our letter to Congress and add your own words for fish and fishing communities.

606 responses on “Something is Rotten in Washington in Fisheries Legislation

  1. T. Roland

    We need more fish protections, not less, in this age of rampant toxification and destruction of habitats, and over-fishing.

  2. Jared Howe

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  3. Maria Williamson

    Please oppose HR 4742. It is a bad bill that will harm our fisheries and coastal communities. More and more fish are getting in peril. If we don’t start being smart about these situations, we won’t have any fish left.

  4. Ellen Cohen

    H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  5. Kevin Wightman

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  6. Bill Duggan

    Please oppose Rep. Hastings’s bill HR 4742. This representative seems to be intent on destroying a lot of people’s hard work and the world we live in.

  7. barbara poland

    We are overfishing our oceans and destroying non food fish and animals. We must follow science in protecting future food sources.

  8. Gregry Loomis

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  9. Bob Schilling

    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is working just fine as it is. If anything it could use additional funding to better manage ecologically sounds catching. The H.R. 4742 proposal only serves to weaken a sound, well run approach to commercial fishing. Please oppose H.R. 4742.

  10. Sylvia Kaneko

    Please oppose HR 4742! It will harm our fisheries and greatly reduce sustainability of ocean and river life and ultimately harm our ecological niche, Mother Earth. Please oppose HR 4742!

  11. Gabriela Till

    We should build on the success of the law in restoring individual fish populations and incorporate a more comprehensive approach that protects ocean habitats, reduces wasteful bycatch, strengthens the management of forage fish (herring & menhaden) by accounting for the important role they play in ocean ecosystems, and requires ecosystem planning. These actions strengthen ocean ecosystems, support fish populations and support coastal communities all being assaulted by global warming, shifting currents and increasing ocean acidity.
    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  12. Lynne Evarts

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities. Why do we constantly have to keep struggling to move forward instead of backwards? It just should not be so difficult.

  13. Lynne Evarts

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  14. Lynne Latham

    Someone is being either very short-sided or greedy. I’m sure that money has crossed palms somewhere. We cannot afford to irresponsibly fish and then have nothing for the future.

  15. Kent Wilson

    Please oppose H.R. 4742, would would greatly weaken the Magnuson-Steven Act, which is the primary law governing conservation of U.S. ocean fisheries. This law needs additional funding for implementation, not budgetary cuts.

    It is important to look at environmental issues for the long term, not merely short term. It is crucial that our fisheries be sustainable, a matter which is becoming more problematic as the oceans warm and acidify.

    Thank you for your attention.

    Sincerely,

    Kent Wilson
    1711-F Wildberry Dr.
    Glenview, IL 60025

  16. Maty Truelove

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  17. Jan Weisel

    Please make sure that sufficient funding is in place to protect our cod populations. This important fish population needs to be kept at a sustainable level.

  18. Allen Terrill

    As always, the god almighty dollar legislation is trying to trump the people! Please stop this, and stop it right NOW!

  19. Dick Evans

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a terrible bill that would harm our nation’s fish, fisheries and coastal communities.
    Thank you,
    Dick Evans

  20. Sharon

    We must protect our fishing industry for ourselves as well as for future generations and also so fishermen/women will be able to sustain viable businesses. We must make and keep them sustainable.
    H.R. 4742 harms our nation’s fish, fisheries and coastal communities. Please do NOT support this dangerous bill.

  21. Ms. L. Carmel

    People Of Congress,

    Please Protect Our Fish And Fishing Communities By Opposing
    HR4742.
    And I Thank You All Very Much, In Advance, For Helping With This Very Important, And Very Worthwhile Issue.

    Sincerely/Respectfully,

  22. Michael Nelson

    Almost every living thing on our planet needs an environment which is characterized by sustainability. We cannot focus on one or several species because all are interrelated. We are currently over-fishing because we do not allow for replenishment of those which are harvested. Let’s do what is necessary for the future, not expedient for the present.

  23. ChesterLusk

    I oppose quick profits for a few while destroying a fishery – disgusting
    profits over sustainability. Stop HR 4742!

  24. Lyndon and Susan Lanes

    Please do not allow our precious American fisheries to become overfished and underprotected again. It is only through good management that we can continue to keep healthy stocks and prevent the waste that is so prevalent in the fishing industry. The survival of the industry, a healthy ocean, and our future food source is at risk.

  25. Victor Carmichael

    Managing our fisheries is one of the few things we do right. Please
    don’t undermine the Magnuson-Stevens Act!

  26. Karen Hedwig Backman

    Science-based fishing limits and rebuilding depleted fish populations are anathema to science-hating, irresponsible Republicans. That is why I oppose the rotten H.R. 4742, drafted by Republican Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world. Hastings’ bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  27. Judith k. Sanders

    Please follow the recommendations of scientists in establishing limits for various species. In general, because ocean life is under so much stress from pollution, warmer and more acidic waters, fishing needs to be cut back, or we will lose many species.

  28. Karen Hedwig Backman

    Science-based fishing limits and rebuilding depleted fish populations are anathema to science-hating, irresponsible Republicans. That is why I oppose the rotten H.R. 4742, drafted by Republican Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world. Hastings’ bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  29. robert weinstock

    We need to do everything we can to help rebuild fish stocks everywhere. If it means fisheries have to cut back, then so be it. The alternative is unacceptable.

  30. Vickie Wagner

    This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

  31. Luke Asbury

    We are destroying our planet and its life at an alarming rate. This must STOP if we are to survive. Our oceans are NOT a garbage dump or something to plunder. Wake up!

  32. robert weinstock

    We need to do everything possible to replenish fish stocks everywhere. If that means fisheries have to cut back, so be it. The alternative is unacceptable.

  33. Bridgett Heinly

    Please oppose H.R.4742. This is a harmful bill that will roll back key conservation provisions that made the American fisheries management an unsurpassed science based model for the world. This bill will harm our nations fish, fisheries and coastal communities.

  34. jak brewer

    We destroyed the Cod industry and destroyed the most prolific fish population in the world. It is time to restore not destroy. We are charged by God to take care of our world not destroy it. Do the right thing and vote against HR 4742 and provide more money to help restore fish stocks. If you can subsidize the big oil, gas and coal companies surely you can help the fish recover. I vote.

  35. Joan Faszczewski

    I eat seafood either when I go out for dinner or at home. Please don’t overfish and keep the oceans and lakes clean.

  36. Marjorie Streeter

    Both the fish and the fishing communities are essential to preserve life as we want it to be on our beleaguered planet!

  37. Wayne Heckman

    Another special interest ideological tea party attempt to undermine a program that has helped limit overfishing ocean stocks. If your are in any way aware, you would know our seafood stocks in many areas are at risk. To further jeopardize these stocks is plain stupid.

  38. Wendi

    All our ocean life deserves respecting & protecting & to be here as much as we do & we need to do more on behalf of all our ocean life especially since we have the power to do so & before it’s too late & sadly extinction is forever & we don’t want that to happen thank you?!!!

  39. mary grimaldo

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  40. Gary Thomsen

    It is imperative that we save our earth’s fish assets and not bow down to corporations that have one goal to make money regardless of the their harmful consequences.

  41. Debra Saude

    Please vote against H.R. 4742. This bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill attempts to gut ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  42. Todd H. Crawford

    It amazes me that incompetent people like Rep. Hastings get elected to Congress. Says something about his constituents. However, acting in his capacity on “belief” or ideology alone without any foundation in evidence or facts is extremely dangerous. That’s what terrorists do. Get rid of this atrocious bill and from this point on ignore Hastings and render him irrelevant.

  43. Ben Goldfarb

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.e

  44. John & Rose Martin

    Our oceans and their life are crucial to the entire planet. Too much wrong already being done. Magnuson Steven Act should be strengthened, not diluted. Please oppose HR 4742

  45. Charlotte Doran

    All species of marine life needs to be protected….this is so basic and obvious; sustainable fisheries worldwide is necessary…do the right thing.

  46. Matthew Straw

    Everything the GOP attempts or does acts to destroy the middle-class economy. Having an extra few hundred fisheries jobs right now at the cost of losing ALL fisheries jobs in the near future is stupid beyond measure. Everything that was a “rough fish” when I was young is now a “delicacy,” as we’ve decimated populations one after another. By all informed accounts, ocean fisheries are collapsed or on the verge of collapse everywhere. When is Washington going to run out of crooked fingers to stuff into the holes of this massive, failing dam?

  47. Edward Dillon

    The Magnuson-Stevens Act must be left the way it is or strengthened. It is vital in order to conserve fish populations for fishermen, consumers and the American people.

  48. Marci de Sart

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  49. sue good

    We need politicians that are protecting the earth and not voting for the interests of huge corporations .WE will vote anyone out that isn’t concerned about 99% of Americans and the earth!

  50. Lisa Vaughan

    We need to be good stewards of this planet and its resources, and ensure we fish sustainably, ensuring future generations of both people and the fish we consume.

  51. Evgenia Vyatchanin

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  52. Susan

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change. We need to protect our fisheries rather than destroy them. This is important for long term protection of fish and actually the fishing industry as well.

  53. susan peirce

    H.R. 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

    Please defeat this bill!

  54. Karen Ash

    Humans are fast depleting the oceans resources. Most of it by waste, pollution and now global climate change. We must allow the fish to regroup, to charge to supplies back ip and be more judicious in our style of fishing. Heck, we feed fish to fish in fish farming?! How stupid is that?

  55. Linda Cortez

    My GOD! The majority of chairmen are Republicans. Who do control and take all management to Rich fish industries. They do not care! They care for big business interest’s, not what is in the bill to protect fishing and fisheries for cod, haddock, and flounder. I pray that that bill H.R.4742 does not fall apart or they do not take it apart. These men are there to protect the conservation Natural Resources and Natural Heritage. The Hastings Bill will destroy everything we as U.S. citizens have protected. TEA PARTY republicans are terrible Men.

  56. Denise Greaves

    Please reject H.R. 4742. It is irresponsible and will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  57. Don Margeson

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  58. Marc DeLateur

    I think you’ve got it backwards… We FIX things that are BROKEN, not the other way around. Leave the fisheries alone, they’re doing just fine without your “help.”

  59. Christiane Riederer

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  60. MARY MCMACKIN

    Thinking intelligently beyond the short-term is the only way we’ll make positive impacts for the world we live in and leave for future generations. Think smart: oppose HR4742.

  61. Danya kuperstein

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    Please, we need to protect these natural resources now.
    Thank you.

  62. CATHERINE DASH

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  63. Barbara Sallee

    Stop this bill, HR4742 It would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage.

  64. CLAUDY ASSALIT

    THIS GOVERNMENT IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED AND CERTAINLY NOT OUR CONGRESS AND NOTHING IN THIS COUNTRY IS REALLY SAFE UNLESS YOU GIVE UP MEAT AND FISH AND ONLY EAT FROM OUR GARDEN FRESH AND ORGANIC VEGETABLES . AMERICA IS NOT WHAT IT USE TO BE , ALL FOR THE 1& AND POISON FOR THE 99%, I DO NOT EAT MEAT OR FISH AND IT IS GOOD FOR MOTHER EARTH . HUMANS HAVE ABUSED AND POLLUTED THIS PLANET FOR SO LONG BUT WE ONLY HAVE ONE PLANET , WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO GO WHEN ALL COLLAPSE

  65. John Hutchison

    All of our food sources, and other goods must be sustainable in order for ecosystems to survive. Without ecosystems, humans won’t survive. This is important.

  66. Sarah McLean

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996.

    H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    I want to enjoy seafood guilt-free and want to have our fisheries be the most sustainable in the world. Why not? Please help to make that the reality.

  67. Ann B. Clarkson, PhD

    Our fisheries need all the help they can get to fully recover from the over-fishing that was done in the past.

  68. Rebecca Stone-Ready

    Resources are finite. The web of life intricate. Each strand affects the rest. Short-sighted greed is the path to reckless, needless and unconscionable planetary destruction. No one owns the oceans.

  69. Arthur B. Wyse

    Protection of our environment and protection from over fishing is our paramount responsibility for our future generations. Any effort to gut our laws is unpatriotic!

  70. Lisa Katter-Jackson

    Do not amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This new legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world. Many oceanic species are teetering on the brink of extinction already, the ocean ecosystems and species need much more protection, not less. Do not let special interests whose goals are only profits destroy what is left of life in the oceans.

  71. Arthur B. Wyse

    Our laws should be guided be sound scientific and environmental studies. Any other reason is shortsighted and selfish. We are to be good stewards of all resources, so that future generations can enjoy the abundance we may enjoy today.

  72. R. Thorne

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  73. Patrice Summers

    H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  74. Cindy

    Our oceans and wildlife in it are dying, and we’ll go with them! We MUST do something NOW, because the money used to bribe you won’t save us.

  75. Brenda Norris

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  76. Belinda Wilks

    We need to keep out fisheries at healthy levels, turning back the clock on legislation is just not the way to accomplish that! Please keep the Magnuson-Stevens Management Act in place, whole! We cannot over fish and not hurt the Oceans, the fishing communities and the Fishing Industry permanently! Don’t change what is working!

  77. Ann Marshall

    Please oppose Bill 4742. The Bill will harm our Nation’s Fish, Fisheries and Coastal Communities.

    Thank you,
    Ann Marshall

  78. frank belcastro

    Something is rotten with H.R. 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  79. sandra hazzard

    We must protect these fishing communities as living beings that add immusurably to our eco-system. We cannot survive without them.

  80. Amy Heyneman

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. This bill will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996, and will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  81. Ruth Boroshok

    The Magnuson-Stevens Act works well as intended. Please do not ruin it by passing this proposed H.R. 4742. Properly fund Magnuson-Stevens so that it my continue to function.

  82. Marianne Hunter

    American fisheries are making a comeback in areas where they were once devastated. We are currently managing many species much better than in the past, assuring fishermen and the population of a steady supply.
    Vote no on H.R. 4742. DO NOT role back sensible management to past inadequacies. There are too many fishing factories on the waters, too much demand on fish populations not to husband this resource responsibly.

  83. Jessica McGuire

    I urge you to protect our nations’ fisheries and the communities that depend on a strong, sustainable fisheries industry.

  84. Samuel Durkin

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  85. Elaine Wilson

    H.R. 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world. NO NOOOOOO

  86. Julie

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  87. Priscilla Rocco

    H.R. 4742 would allow fishery management councils to exempt many seafood species from the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s requirements to set science-based fishing limits and to rebuild depleted fish populations, the provisions that are most responsible for our success in restoring fish populations and ending overfishing. I think H.R. 4742 is a bad idea.

  88. Drs. Hilary and Derrell Lorraine-Chambers

    We are dependent on a healthy ocean ecosystem that can provide sustainable marine resources for the future. The short-term economic interests of a single interest should never out weigh the long-term interests of the world community.

  89. Rafael

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  90. Tom Caine

    You would have to be a friggin idiot to want to eliminate an act that has been so successful in restoring fisheries and making them sustainable.

  91. Sheila Dempsey

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  92. Gail Veiby

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  93. Richard Pendarvis

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  94. doug krause

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  95. MARY ROJESKI

    I AM SO SICK OF CROOKED POLITICANS WHO ARE WILLING TO SELL THEIR SOULS FOR A LITTLE MONEY AND A EVEN LITTLER AMOUNT OF POWER!!!! DO THEY EVEN HAVE A CLUE WHAT THIS WILL DO TO OUR OCEANS AND THE CREATURES THAT LIVE IN THEM AND THE HUMANS WHO DEPEND ON THE FISH??????? MAY THE GOP GO TO HADES WHERE THEY BELONG!!!

  96. Marie Perkins

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  97. Dave Dunkak

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  98. Theo B. Giesy

    Regulation of fishing practices is not government over reach. It is necessary to keep the fish available for the fishing industry. In any industry some individuals or companies will look to their own immediate profits and ignore long term harm. This is unfair to those who operate in a responsible manner and unfair to everyone who comes after the damage is done. In this case after the fish are gone. We need to keep the regulations that have been working, not weaken them so some can make faster profits, and ruin the ecosystems permanently.

  99. Catherine

    Please do the right thing and protect the health of our environment; it is what makes everything possible and deserves our protection and respect.

  100. John Comella

    H. R. 4742 would weaken protections on fish populations. We need stronger protection, NOT weaker protection. Please vote NO on H. R. 4742.

  101. Paula Denissen

    Our oceans, rivers and lakes, as in the Great Lakes, are troubled. We don’t need set backs at this point, we need more protection and forward thinking.

  102. Mary Cuellar

    It seems to me that when someone in Congress writes a bill to undo a previous bill that has much needed regulations, for any natural resource, the amendment is probably solely based on monetary gain for some special interest group who cares nothing about long term sustainability of our natural resources.
    Please do not vote for this bill.
    Thank You for listening
    Mary Cuellar

  103. lyndaroux

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  104. Vanessa Carbia

    H.R. 4742, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world. It would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill attempts to gut ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change. H.R. 4742 reeks of unfounded fears of too much government meddling, despite much hard work by fishing industries with state and federal governments on the fisheries councils. Since 2000, the number of fish stocks subjected to overfishing has decreased from 72 fish stocks to 28. Please protect fish and fishing communities by opposing H.R. 4742. Thank you.

  105. Frank Fredenburg

    Why don’t we just leave things alone. I don’t think we should turn back the clock. If anything we should pass more laws to protect our fisheries.

  106. John Macdonald

    Everyone needs a healthy fishing industry. This bill undermines every commonsense effort to maintain appropriate fish stocks.

  107. Marketa Anderson

    Our current law has allowed fish populations to recover and fishing communities to thrive. Please reject this bill that would cause such harm to our fish populations and ultimately the fishermen and the entire world.

  108. Maureen Burke

    It’s imperative to protect and sustain our fish and fisheries. The oceans are the source of life and necessary to sustain all life. We’re poisoning them and ourselves and cutting off all of our food supplies.

  109. Erica Johanson

    Dear Legislator,
    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We should build on the success of the law in restoring individual fish populations and incorporate a more comprehensive approach that protects ocean habitats, reduces wasteful bycatch, strengthens the management of forage fish (herring & menhaden) by accounting for the important role they play in ocean ecosystems, and requires ecosystem planning. These actions strengthen ocean ecosystems, support fish populations and support coastal communities all being assaulted by global warming, shifting currents and increasing ocean acidity.

    We want to enjoy seafood and protect it for future generations. We are borrowing the planet from them.

  110. Lynn Slonaker

    Please help us gain the funding to make our fisheries the most
    sustainable in the world and set an example for conservation
    worldwide. Thank YOU.

  111. Rachel Tedesco

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. We must continue to protect our ocean ecosystems and fisheries and support our coastal communities.

  112. William Fast

    Sustainable waters – both freshwater and saltwater – are a necessity, not a luxury. They are also a public responsibility to either manage or restore.

  113. Sergey Galushko

    As a professional commercial fisherman I consider the proposed bill as a outstanding step towards a destruction of a rather balanced and effective system that allows a sustainable use of marine resources in the U.S. People who proposed the new bill should be better kept far away from regulating natural resources if we want a brighter future for our country and our children.

  114. Carolyn Hansen

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  115. Martha Arreguin

    Sustainable fish indurstry is very important to all of us. This bill would be harmful and undermine the success we have achieved.

  116. Nick McNaughton

    H.R. 4742 is the wrong direction to take in light of our severely depleted fisheries. We need more smarter protections, not less.

  117. Todd

    Hastings is not very bright or he is being duplicitous. His legislation relies on biased opinion- typical conservative “science.”

  118. Yvonne

    Please protect the ocean and prevent over fishing. We must act NOW to ensure that our descendants are left with a beautiful planet that is thriving; we do not want to leave a planet that has been trashed by big corporations and government who put MONEY before NATURE!!

  119. norma harris

    Doesn’t any government agency understand the words
    ethical, truth, honesty and working together for the betterment
    of the community?

  120. Janice Rocke

    Something is rotten with H.R. 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

  121. William Dearstyne

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  122. Maria Celia Hernandez

    Please oppose H.R. 4742.
    To : Congress
    It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains , the assistance for funding the Magnuson-Steven Act implementation is needed . Increased federal funding law for restoring individual fish populations to incorporate a more comprehensive approach that protects ocean habitats, reduces wasteful bycatch, strengthens the management of forage fish (herring & menhaden) by accounting for the important role they play in ocean ecosystems, and requires ecosystem planning. These actions strengthen ocean ecosystems, support fish populations and support coastal communities all being assaulted by global warming, shifting currents and increasing ocean acidity.
    Thank you.
    Maria Celia Hernandez 7-12-2014

  123. Karen Greenhalgh

    We must conserve our natural resources — any move to do otherwise is not in our nation’s best interest. Fishing and the
    coastal waters must be preserved. Please consider carefully
    how new legislation will affect our future.

  124. Todd Corbett

    H.R. 4742 reeks of unfounded fears of too much government meddling, despite much hard work by fishing industries with state and federal governments on the fisheries councils. Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities. We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world.

  125. Ann McCaffray

    Please!!! Oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  126. Elizabeth Stewart

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.
    Thank you-
    Elizabeth Stewart

  127. Tatyana Stevens

    Please don’t undo fifteen years of conservation work, but instead honor and adopt these hard-earned lessons into daily life to keep our oceans and fisheries healthy for the next century to come.

  128. Kristin Womack

    Our oceans and fisheries are under great stress and need to be protected, not exploited to the point of collapse.

  129. Jeanette

    We need to limit the harvesting of several fish and other sea life, otherwise it will be gone and there will be no way to bring it back.

  130. sarah

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  131. Russell Blalack

    Please continue to use science-based management of our last and greatest resource – the oceans.
    H.R. 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is designed to roll back the key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.
    The effect, intended or otherwise, would be to ransack the oceans to the point of collapse and “kill the golden goose” on which all life depends.

  132. kelly byrnes

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  133. Karen

    Stop it! Stop wasting the world’s resources. You do not own everything just because you can take it. I pay top dollar for fresh caught local fish, I just eat less of it and put food my priority over less important “things” in this life. I think if you educate people to eat healthy and put healthy food first they will learn to pay more for it and appreciate sustainable companies. Just do it! If I can do it anybody can.

  134. Lil Judd

    Protect the world’s fisheries. We’re overfishing as it is. We need to limit the fishing before we kill off all the fish.

  135. Lou Stammer

    At this rate of disappearance, our oceans will be contaminated and devoid of fish by the half way mark of this century.

  136. Gay Williamson

    Why would you want to make changes to a program that’s working well when the changes aren’t long-sighted? Sounds like busy work to me.

  137. Brandon Courtney Miller

    “Seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world”: <——— THIS!

  138. Bryann J. Ybarra-Weckmann

    We should build on the success of the law in restoring individual fish populations and incorporate a more comprehensive approach that protects ocean habitats, reduces wasteful bycatch, strengthens the management of forage fish (herring & menhaden) by accounting for the important role they play in ocean ecosystems, and requires ecosystem planning. These actions strengthen ocean ecosystems, support fish populations and support coastal communities all being assaulted by global warming, shifting currents and increasing ocean acidity.

  139. Robert Musacchio

    When all the fish are gone via over-fishing, there will be a world
    hunger that will be unprecedented in history, and the migrations from Asia, Africa and Latin America will destabilize Western societies, namely North America and Western Europe.

  140. Catherine Marcoux

    Please enact common sense legislation that will help our environment and help our fisheries to be sustainable. If we roll back the conservation efforts, then over fishing will be a problem and eventually there will be no fish.

    Sincerely,
    Catherine Marcoux

  141. Charlot Taylor

    Foolish laws will soon lead to famine. Overfishing, wastefulness, and pollution are areas which need REGULATION!
    On a planet with 6 billion plus people, why would Any Intelligent person come to the conclusion that rules and regulations are anything bit Requirements for sensible
    governance. A free for all plan Does Not Work.
    Limit human population and Protect our environment through sensible regulation or step down.

  142. James Heard

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  143. Tim Leighton

    Doc Hastings is a fear monger touting too much government oversight into our fisheries when we need more oversight because all fishermen cannot be trusted to police themselves or catch fish responsibly. When one breaks the rules, they all break the rules to avoid being left behind, and that leaves fish stocks ruined and potentially extinct. Humans are selfish, and they will not do the right thing when others do not play by the rules….hence the need for strong rules and strong enforcement. HR 4742 does not further progress, it undoes it and therefore should be opposed.

  144. Ann Galbraith Miller

    I have to be honest – rather than trying to follow the current news about harmful/safe seafood, I have elected not to eat any.

  145. Katherine Galloway

    Why is it the our government can spend trillions on foreign wars, but can’t spend money on conservation and other necessities for those of us who actually pay the taxes in this country?

  146. Diane White

    We know there are Corporations and People who don’t care about the future of anything they just want now, now, now. It’s either for profit or they don’t like the government telling them what to do.
    They are selfish hypocrites who are destroying our Nation.

  147. Ted Voth Jr

    Not that any of you care about the general welfare, only your own corporate campaign contributions. But there is a God in Heaven— remember that God you profess to believe in? — who made the heavens and the earth, and the seas and everything in them, and who is not pleased with what you are doing to his creation. You will have some hard questions to answer when you stand before him…

  148. Linda Ricks

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  149. Clark Stringer

    Please understand the urgency with which action is needed in stopping the rapid collapse of marine species. Every little bit helps and there really can’t be enough done soon enough in my opinion. What is happening right now in our oceans is truthfully my greatest worry for our immediate future.

    Sincerely:

    Clark C. Stringer

  150. Phyllis Brault

    Please oppose HR 4742. As drafted this bill will destroy key conservation provisions for the management of American fisheries.

  151. Phyllis Brault

    Please oppose HR4742. As drafted this bill will destroy key
    conservation provisions for the management of
    American fisheries.

  152. Richard Esten

    Living on an island off of the coast of Maine where fishing is what sustains many of my friends and neighbors way of life, it’s of paramount importance that we continue to do all we can to build sustainable fish stocks that will allow these fishermen to support their families for years to come.

  153. Tim Leighton

    Doc Hastings continues his worn out bark about too much government regulation by attempting to weaken sound, proven and beneficial fishery policy that is currently in place by proposing H.R. 4742. We all know rules are needed, otherwise a few bad eggs will ruin the lot for everyone. This is no different when it comes to overfishing and fishery managment. Please vote for sustainable fisheries by opposing H.R. 4742. The only thing worn out is Doc Hastings and his archaic and misguided policy.

  154. Julie Stamper

    Without protective measures, our fisheries will be depleted at an alarming rate. Please vote for conservation measures.

  155. Louise Wallace

    It is time to stop drift-net fishing, and any other practice that harms the world’s marine life. This includes stopping the trash entering the storm drains that go to our waterways and oceans.

  156. Vicky Adams

    If we do nothing to protect the fish populations around the world we will see one of most vital resources gone forever & we must make sure with new restrictions on over fishing that this doesn’t happen in our lifetime!

  157. Carole Plourde

    Please oppose HR 4742 which will destroy the hard earned gains in sustainable and scientific based ocean management. Sustainability is the only key to preserving this national resource and HR 4742 is another run around against prudent management of the fishing industry and fishing grounds.
    Preserve our fishing grounds for future generations and defeat HR 4742.

  158. Pat Bryan

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  159. Cathy Otstott

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  160. Jill Allen

    I urge you to oppose HR 4742 and to maintain protection for our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.
    Thank you

  161. David Marshall

    It is extremely important to maintain the protection of our fisheries from over fishing, pollution, and pirating by foreign nations. To maintain a healthy and producing fishery it is necessary to not only protect the habitat, but the foundation feeder fish population and breeding population for future generations.
    r8dmarshall

  162. John K Erskine

    We need continued vigilance & modification incorporated into our fisheries legislation. The continued health and regeneration of this vital aspect of our ecosystem requires it. Research & amendment of current regulations is a continual requirement, not an impediment.

  163. Lois Feinberg

    For cod and country please oppose H.R.4742. It will harm our coastal communities and fisheries. It will roll back laws that help conserve our food supply.

  164. Vicky Matsui

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

    H.R. 4742 reeks of unfounded fears of too much government meddling, despite much hard work by fishing industries with state and federal governments on the fisheries councils.

    H.R. 4742 would allow fishery management councils to exempt many seafood species from the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s requirements to set science-based fishing limits and to rebuild depleted fish populations, the provisions that are most responsible for our success in restoring fish populations and ending overfishing.

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  165. Kay

    It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  166. Evan Jane Kriss

    Shortsightedness and greed will spell disaster for our fisheries. We must act responsibly NOW. Only then will we ensure that there is enough fish to feed us all. Please DO THE RIGHT THING.

  167. Bill Marcus

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  168. K. Redman

    This bill will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm your nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  169. Melisande Smith

    If left to it’s own devices, the fishing industry in this country would continue to overfish for short term profit despite knowing that, in the long run, there won’t be anything left for them to catch. That’s why an outside entity needs to set the rules and limits. Just like the banking industry needs a regulator, the SEC, so to does the fishing industry need to be regulated.

  170. Tami Calliope

    I urge you strongly to oppose H.R. 4742, engineered by Hastings, the man who has managed to write and pass several environmentally destructive bills in the past six months.
    H.R.4742 would substantially weaken ocean habitat, sustainable fishing practices, and environmental studies of our dwindling fish populations.
    Say NO to Hastings. Say NO to H.R.4742!

  171. Kristan Mccully

    More than ever now we must practice sustainable fishing. Our oceans and the creatures in them are in trouble and it is up to us to protect them.

  172. Marcy Gustafson

    Show yourself to anyone (with few exceptions) under the age of 21 and the word conservation means more to them than it did to you at that age.

    Please for everyone, mostly the young, do the right thing. Think and act on the word conservation.

  173. Rita Kain

    Changing this law in this way could undue all the good of the original law! It is very short sighted, profits today at the expence of the future fish levels! Typical of some politicians, short term benefits out flank long term sustained growth!!!

  174. James A Clark Jr

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  175. Elena Powers

    Decades of overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and climate change must be addressed head-on before we lose the oceans’ ability to feed the world.

  176. Roy Pearson

    Passing this bill will put us on the fastback of fisheries deprivation.
    Moderation in management will result in a sustainable industry.
    Humanity needs regulations to prevent greed of all sorts to
    overtake our conscience. Thank You for Reading.

  177. nancy princetta

    Please do not support this biased legislation. IT IS CRUCIAL that we begin to create safe and sustainable laws and regulations that protect our precious oceans and all the marine life that she supports and therefore support us. It is a travesty that we are so short-sighted that we are now in a major world-wide crisis!! Please use your position as my representative to support our precious natural resources for ourselves and our future generations!!
    thank you!

  178. Sandra Couch

    The HR4742 will roll back key conservation legislation.
    It fails to advance the ecosystem. It fails to address decades of overfishing and how to rebuild depleated fish species from 28 back up to at least the 72 that we did have. It fails to address the habitat destruction. It fails to address climate change.
    PLEASE OPPOSE HR4742 for the sake of our fish species’ survival.

  179. roland

    The effects of overfishing along with all other factors such as climate change, etc. is just commonsense. Nothing more needs to be said.

  180. Torah

    Please ensure that our fish are healthy, safe & happy. Please do not let this be another disaster story.

    Thank you
    Torah Alabidi

    Because i care 🙂

  181. Stephen Battis

    I don’t know what to say. When is this foolishness going to stop? I want to impeach the Republicans and get the congress back to work doing something positive instead of negative.

  182. Mike and Virginia

    This is a really unbelievable problem … changing a law and regulations that have effectively worked to protect marine life.

  183. Cynthia Brooks-Fetty

    Our oceans and waterways and all that call them home cannot be replaced. Stop legislation that continues to destroy our planet.

  184. Mr Robert K Schwartz

    Please oppose HR-4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act and will harm our fish, fisheries and coastal communities.

  185. Julie Brickell

    Please vote against H.R. 4742. The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  186. Nancy White

    HR4742 would shatter sustainable fisheries, and appears to only support the same old greed that has depleted fisheries in the past. I strongly oppose HR4742.

  187. Paul James Ordway

    As a former commercial fisherman, I would like more control and science be used to help refurbish our fisheries.

  188. kelly Choi

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities. It is critical that we continue to support the revival of these threatened fish species and move towards building sustainable fisheries in the US. Please, please oppose this bill.

  189. Elizabeth Prewitt

    This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

  190. Faith Strailey

    Please oppose H.R. 4742 which will weaken the Magnuson-Stevens Act. We need to strengthen -not weaken legislation which regulates the harvesting of fish.

  191. patti schultze

    It is important to oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  192. Eric Fosburgh

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  193. Laura

    Please stop H.R. 4742. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world. It would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage.

  194. Ellen Leary

    As a lifelong citizen of Massachusetts, I care about the ocean and the devastating effects we have caused by inappropriate overfishing. Please take action

  195. JAMIE BROWN

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

    H.R. 4742 reeks of unfounded fears of too much government meddling, despite much hard work by fishing industries with state and federal governments on the fisheries councils.
    H.R. 4742 would allow fishery management councils to exempt many seafood species from the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s requirements to set science-based fishing limits and to rebuild depleted fish populations, the provisions that are most responsible for our success in restoring fish populations and ending overfishing.
    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.
    I want all people to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  196. Joe Salazar

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  197. Carolyn Crow

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  198. Cheryl Caldwell

    Let’s be smart and make our world better, not worse. It is the right thing to do, now and for future generations. Thank you, Cheryl

  199. amy lippert

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  200. Amanda Porter

    Giving fish adequate time to replenish their numbers is more important than constant fishing killing off too many!

  201. chuck mitchell

    There has to be a better way to save the Oceans than allowing Congress to mess things up, ignoring the common good in favor of vested interests.

  202. Adam Mills

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  203. david oneill

    We must continue to protect our natural resources. The fisheries and their environment as our National Resources, belong to every American, not just the oligarchs.

  204. Thomas Perez

    We should build on the success of the law in restoring individual fish populations and incorporate a more comprehensive approach that protects ocean habitats, reduces wasteful bycatch, strengthens the management of forage fish (herring & menhaden) by accounting for the important role they play in ocean ecosystems, and requires ecosystem planning. These actions strengthen ocean ecosystems, support fish populations and support coastal communities all being assaulted by global warming, shifting currents and increasing ocean acidity.

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  205. Christine MacMurray

    We must continuously move in the direction of sustainable fisheries. The ill-advised HR 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

  206. Carol Lawson

    We need to protect the waters that provide sustenance for all the people of the earth from encroachment, pollution and destruction of habitat for the profit of the few special interests who buy government.

  207. Pat Dengel

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  208. Brian Goins

    “Since 2000, the number of fish stocks subjected to overfishing (the problem of fish populations in specific ocean areas being fished faster than they can reproduce) has decreased from 72 fish stocks to 28.”
    The facts speak for themselves. Pulling back on this landmark act will hasten the demise of our fisheries for short term gains. We need to be continuously vigilant when it come to managing this incredible resource not only for it value as a food source but also as an environmental barometer of the health of our oceans
    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.
    Sincerely;
    Brian Goins
    Bend Or, 97707

  209. Mary Gutierrez

    Please fund the Magnuson-Stevens Act to help us achieve a sustainable fisheries and fisheries management. We have more work to do.

    Please oppose H.R. 4742 that will negate all the great, positive work that has been done by the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

  210. Anthony Parisi

    HR 4742 must not be allowed to pass. We are destroying our fish stocks as it is. It is important to preserve our supply of fish for the benefit of future generations.

  211. Wm Schultz

    There are already plenty of examples of overfishing going on. One species of Tuna are now endangered. We need to stop strip-mining the oceans.

  212. david bowman

    I am a former commercial fisherman and have grave concerns about overfishing stocks to the point where the industry becomes unsustainable. Regarding H. R. 4742, we need to better fund agencies that regulate and study fish populations, behavior and our practices so that we can bring our industry back to a strong position where we have real capacity to plan on some level of predictable income for now and in the future.

    Thank you.

  213. Jackie Maldonado

    Do the right thing and don’t look the other way. No one benefits more than wildlife. We, humans and you, those in power should care. Thanks

  214. Christine Worlaw

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.Thank you

  215. Ann Rennacker

    Please oppose HR4742, a bill that would weaken protection for fish, fisheries and coastal communities by removing important conservation measures. There has been too much bycatch, overfishing and ocean pollution, so we need to strengthen protections.

  216. Cleveland Wheeler

    Good management of natural resources is good sense. Washington has proved over and over again they have none.

    Replenish our oceans. Keep it healthy. Fishing it to death is pure ignorance and selectively exempting types of fish from healthy replenishment practices is utterly ignorant.

    Keep good sense in it’s unaltered form. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is doing a fine job without amending it to serve fish to the lobby.

  217. Penny Gregorio

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

  218. Don Krueger

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  219. Kathy Moran

    Please oppose bill H.R.4742 – This bill will ruin all that has been accomplished since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

  220. Liz

    Under no conditions or circumstances should the proposal Hastings wants to push through should be allowed. What needs to be done instead is additional legislation to strengthen regulations of protection for fish and wildlife in the waters. Do not let big business influence environmental protection laws; instead make big business accountable for all the risky projects they engage in before they even begin. History has proved over and over that there is no question whether something will go wrong because it always has and does.

  221. Olive Franklin

    Our oceans, its fish, and our fishing communities need our devoted protection, and we must supply that protection.

  222. Brian Inzer

    H.R. 4742 would allow fishery management councils to exempt many seafood species from the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s requirements to set science-based fishing limits and to rebuild depleted fish populations, the provisions that are most responsible for our success in restoring fish populations and ending overfishing.

  223. Karen Guilliams

    I oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities. Please protect the US for our future!!!

  224. Cecelia Samp

    The fishing industry and state and federal officials have worked hard to come up with a management plan. This bill would undermine this plan. Leave management to the experts, not a representative with other interests in mind.

  225. mark porter

    we need more conservation legislation rather than giving in to greedy PACs who see nothing in the environment but dollar signs. some day you’ll regret the blood of innocent creatures on your hands.

  226. Carolyn Smith

    For the future of our oceans, sustainable fishing is one step that we can take to ensure the next generation’s food source.

  227. Helen Drwinga

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  228. Barry Anderson

    Please use reason and good science to make decisions that are sustainable. Denial and short-term greed is something that “We the People” choose not to renew. The question becomes, “Is America Even Run By It’s People Anymore, Or Have We Become Just Another Selfish, Irresponsible Plutocracy?”

  229. Louise Wallace

    We need to stop drift netting, block our storm drains to prevent trash going into the oceans, plant grasses to capture run off, and create Marine sancturaries all over the world.

  230. Steve Iverson

    The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides funding to count cod in the Gulf of Maine every three years. Yet, no funding is provided to count cod in the adjacent Georges Bank water a bit further offshore. As a result of a lack in federal funding the fishery council is blind-sided in the setting of cod catch allotments.

    More funding for Magnuson-Steven Act implementation is needed. With federal funding haddock were researched when encountering a trawl net. Haddock swim with flounder and cod. As the net set about them, the cod and flounder swam down towards the bottom. Haddock swam to one side or the other, to evade the net, unsuccessfully. By modifying their gear and their practices fishermen are now sustainably fishing haddock without flounder and cod bycatch. Fisheries management succeeds with government money well spent.

  231. David Christman

    We have already defiled the ecology of the oceans, to the point of its near collapse. We MUST reduce fishing levels to give fish a chance to avoid extinction. As the ecology of the ocean goes, so does society.

  232. Bonnie Newburg

    Please do not roll back fisheries regulations. Many fish species are currently being over-fished to the point they cannot reproduce themselves quickly enough for their own survival, let alone for the massive amounts that are being swept up indiscriminately in drift nets, gill nets and longlines.

    We need STRONGER regulations in order to help some species recover, and we need to lead the way so that other seafaring countries can learn from us and also assist in preserving the sealife we all rely on.

  233. Dennis Miller

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  234. Gavi Stevens

    We are already killing our oceans with pollution. As vast as they are they are not unlimited and hold a finite amount of seafood that grows smaller every year. At the rate we are decimating it’s population, the once bountiful sea could soon become another Sahara albeit a liquid one.

  235. Brad Longboard

    What really is going on (wrong) in Washington DC?? The ones who represent “us” and call themselves ‘Christians’ are the first to break the biblical rule, i.e. Gen 1 when we are instructed to subdue the earth and care for it because that is equal to being fruitful!! And those on the other side, They are easily distracted by such lunacy as gay marriage, and in the mean time, our world around us is quickly changing and deserves our attention if we truly care about the future generations!!

  236. Andy Zemel

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours

  237. Heather Scheiderer

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

    We want to enjoy seafood guilt-free in the knowledge that our fisheries are the most sustainable in the world. We ask for your assistance in gaining increased federal funding to make that the reality. Thank you for attending to this great concern of ours.

  238. Patricia Brown

    Food resources are our most vital resources. Once depleted, or eradicated the impact on eco-systems and humans is evident. Sustainability is the responsible action to take, always!

  239. Karen Parlette

    Please do not vote for HR 4742, and please do expand funding for the existing Magnuson-Stevens Act. All life arose from our magnificent oceans. We cannot sit idly by and watch them die.

  240. Vicky VanValkenburg

    Something is rotten with H.R. 4742, the bill drafted by Representative Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This legislation, as currently drafted, would roll back key conservation provisions that made American fisheries management an unsurpassed science-based model for the world.

    The Hastings bill would undermine keystone federal laws that help conserve and manage our public resources and natural heritage. The bill fails to advance ecosystem-based management and sets back efforts to address emerging challenges coming from decades of overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

    Please oppose H.R. 4742. It is a bad bill that will undo hard-earned gains since the Magnuson-Stevens Act was first strengthened in 1996. H.R. 4742 will harm our nation’s fish, fisheries, and coastal communities.

  241. Robyn Cleaves

    Please protect our oceans and the fish that live in them. Keep science-based conservation methods for fisheries in place!

  242. Rob Moir

    Rob, I will contact our House Representative about fisheries management. Rob, people have to wake up and see what is being done to our country. They are destroying every thing they can to let the big money run things without regulations.
    The Koch Brothers had our state stop reporting dangerous chemicals located in Texas. I have never seen such disregard for our lands, air and water. judith

    Judith, Citizens are more awake and aware of what is being done to our land and waterways than you give them credit. Koch Brothers, BP, Peabody Coal, Standard Oil (100 years ago) have wrought harm and continue to destroy our lands, air and water. Turning the tide on their dastardly deeds takes time. Nature is remarkable for its resiliency when assaults are stopped. Be vigilant, keep tacking to windward.

    Thank you for taking the time, finding the courage, to speak out against irresponsible behaviors. Bill by bill, action by action, we are progressing towards a healthier planet. Thanks to the unrelenting pressure by many to do right for all.

    These are the voyages. Celebrate victories where you can find them, and enjoy “a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover.” Rob

  243. John Dunn

    Fish conservation is needed now more than ever. Please think and plan for the future rather think of only present profits. Thank you for considering my opinion, John Dunn

  244. Elizabeth Beatty

    As a registered voter I oppose H.R. 4742. By overfishing you are hurting the economy by putting fisherman out of work. You are hurting the global ocean ecosystem for the present and the future.

Leave a Reply to Jonathan Gigear Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.