Please Help Create the World’s Largest Marine Sanctuary in the Pacific: Petition Before Aug.11, 2014

turtle in pacific ocean

The following video presents “US Proposes Establishing World’s Largest Marine Sanctuary.”

“President Barack Obama recently proposed that the US establish the world’s largest marine sanctuary.
An area in the Pacific Ocean that lies between American Samoa and Hawaii has been selected, but specific boundaries have not been decided upon.
The proposed area would reportedly be adjacent to several U.S. controlled territories, and include 200 nautical miles of surrounding waters.
- The location already has a roughly 87 thousand square mile protected area called the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
- It was established by President George W. Bush during his time in office.
Under Obama’s plan that sanctuary would be expanded to include about three-quarters of million miles of ocean off limits to fishing, drilling and other activities that put the habitat in peril.
Before the expansion can be made official, the proposal must go through a period of review during which time the public can make comments.
Both the Department of Commerce and Department of the Interior will also conduct research into the plan to get a big picture of how closing the area to fishing will affect commercial activity.
At this time, about 3 percent of tuna legally caught by the US fishing industry comes from the central and western Pacific Ocean.”

Above, centre, is the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Image by National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality said the waters in the south-central Pacific Ocean contain “some of the most pristine tropical marine environments in the world.

These tropical coral reefs and associated marine ecosystems are also among the most vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification,” the White House said in a statement.”

FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/17/obama-will-reportedly-expand-protected-areas-pacific-ocean/

In the following letter, the Avaaz team is asking for our help to:

urge and support US President Obama to create the world’s largest marine sanctuary,
empower him to counter opposition,
help save our oceans for generations to come, and
please sign this urgent petition below and share it with everyone you know– let’s deliver one million voices before the official consultation closes in days: August 11^th.
- At the present time of this blog posting, 258,695 people have signed.
- Please help us get to 1,000,000 signatures.

Dear Friends,

In days, US President Obama could create the world’s largest marine sanctuary, but a powerful fishing lobby is trying to stop this ocean-saving plan. Let’s build a tidal wave of support before it’s too late and deliver it straight into the White House. Sign now to create an Ocean of Hope, and tell everyone!

Right now, the US government is receiving public comments on whether or not to create the world’s largest Marine Protected Area in the Pacific Ocean. But President Obama is under enormous pressure from a powerful fishing lobby to water down the plan.

We can’t let that happen — majestic whales, turtles and fish stocks are all disappearing. Scientists say the best way to save our oceans is to protect large swaths from exploitation so that marine life can recover. Four years ago, we played a pivotal role persuading the UK government to create a massive marine sanctuary in the Indian Ocean, and the UK Foreign Ministry cited our campaign in its announcement. Now, if we all speak out, we can create a reserve the size of Mexico!

If we send Obama a tidal wave of global public support now, we will empower him to counter opposition and help save our oceans for generations to come. Sign the petition below and tell everyone — let’s deliver one million voices before the official consultation closes in days:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/ocean_of_hope_loc/?bkyeWbb&v=43591

The reports are dire: in less than 4 decades, our oceans could be completely fished-out and coral reefs might be dead within our grandchildren’s lifetime! This new plan alone won’t be enough to fix the problem, but it could start turning the tide against global ocean destruction — it will not only double the worldwide oceanic area that is fully protected, but also encourage other governments to follow suit.

Obama says he is willing to use executive action to implement the plan, but a powerful fishing lobby is trying to sink it with misleading propaganda. They say the sanctuary will hurt their business, but 95% of the fishing they’re talking about happens outside of the protected zone. Other interests want to keep the area open for future drilling and mining, which could be disastrous.

The comment period is only open for a few more days, and on August 11th the government will consult with local interest groups in Hawaii to scope out the plan. If we build a million strong global petition now and deliver it straight into the White House and the Hawaii meeting, flood the official consultation with support, and run a poll that shows massive public support near the site, we can drown them out.

With the greatest ownership of ocean in the world, the US now has a tremendous opportunity in the Pacific. Let’s drown out the opposition, and lay the foundation for protecting our oceans from exploitation. Sign the petition below, and forward it to friends and family:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/ocean_of_hope_loc/?bkyeWbb&v=43591

Our oceans are being decimated by a myriad of threats. But time and again Avaaz members have rallied to save our precious marine life. We have helped secure massive ocean sanctuaries before and plans to protect tuna and whales. We can win this!