Conservationists Encouraged by Government Proposal to Protect Baby Swordfish -- Strong Public Support Key to Success The Give Swordfish a Break Campaign is pleased that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) finally has issued a proposed rule that seeks to protect baby swordfish and other species caught as bycatch by longline fishing vessels. Baby swordfish are caught and killed in huge numbers by fishing vessels using "longlines," which are fishing lines stretching dozens of miles long and baited with hundreds of hooks. Longline vessels catch, kill and discard tens of thousands of baby swordfish every year in the U.S. Reducing the catch of young swordfish is essential to the recovery of North Atlantic swordfish, which have been severely depleted by more than a decade of overfishing. The proposed rule, which appeared in the December 15 Federal Register, would prohibit pelagic longline fishing at certain times and in certain areas, totaling over 196,000 square miles, in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The government will consider public comment until February 11, 2000. NRDC and SeaWeb, as well as the Ocean Wildlife Campaign (which includes the Center for Marine Conservation, the National Audubon Society, National Coalition for Marine Conservation, NRDC, the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society), will closely review the proposed rule, and the supporting technical documents (such as the Environmental Impact Statement) when they are publicly available. They will assess the rule's efficacy in reducing bycatch mortality of baby swordfish and other valuable species and will submit detailed comments before the public comment period concludes. Without commenting on the specifics of the rule, Vikki Spruill of SeaWeb noted: "It is crucial for the public to express strong support for protections for baby swordfish. There is likely to be strong opposition from commercial fishermen." "Almost 2/3rds of the US catch of north Atlantic swordfish consists of juveniles, and the killing of so many young fish before they have the chance to reproduce has been a major factor in the decline of the North Atlantic population," said Lisa Speer, of NRDC, co-founders of GSAB. The two goals of GSAB have been to secure an international recovery plan and protection for young swordfish. Last month a major new international agreement to reduce the catch of swordfish was reached at a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Rio. Now attention is turning to domestic action to protect baby swordfish. With the current proposed rule, NMFS sets the stage for accomplishing the other key element of swordfish recovery -- protection of swordfish nursery areas. GSAB is continuing to call on consumers not to eat swordfish from the North Atlantic until adequate protections for young swordfish are adopted by the government. "Longline fishing results in the incidental catch of juvenile north Atlantic swordfish, blue and white marlin, sailfish, bluefin tuna and other valuable migratory fish, all of which are already depleted by overfishing, said David Wilmot, director of the Ocean Wildlife Campaign. "The bycatch mortality of these species significantly impairs their ability to rebuild to healthy levels." Three conservation groups, National Coalition for Marine Conservation, National Audubon Society, and Natural Resources Defense Council, represented by the Ocean Law Project, a Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, sued NMFS earlier this year for its failure to take action to reduce bycatch and prevent overfishing of highly migratory species, including north Atlantic swordfish. The conservation groups agreed to a stay of the litigation so long as the government issued a proposed rule addressing these issues by December 15 and a final rule by May 1, 2000.   Contact: Charles Longer, 202-822-5200