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Bill would provide more work for fishermen, help revive ocean health at same time

2010-06-30T23:10:32Z

Laura Pagano, Attorney, San Francisco

The ongoing Gulf disaster is not only destroying marine life on a massive scale, it has had devastating impacts to the people and communities who make a living on the water. Shrimpers, oystermen and fishermen are out of work for an undetermined amount of time and many are now using their boats to clean up the mess that is costing them their livelihoods. Even though people may receive some compensation from BP, it’s not in their hands yet, and many are worried they’ll never see that money (or if they do – it won’t come close to making up for their loss). There is no doubt that this is an environmental disaster, but it is also a human disaster – and the cost of each is yet unknown.

As an ocean attorney, I work with our conservation laws to protect the long-term survival of fish populations, which are the best resource for fishing communities. After all, you need to have healthy fish stocks in order to be able to fish for them into the future. These laws are not always supported by some in the fishing community, however, as they can result in temporary restrictions on fishing for certain populations to allow depleted species to rebuild.

But environmentalists and fishermen alike were excited to see the Senate version of the Coastal Jobs Creation Act introduced last Thursday (by 11 bipartisan Senators!). This bill (like the House version introduced in March) provides environmentally beneficial job opportunities for fishermen. It increases support for cooperative research management and monitoring projects that improve ocean science (such as identifying and protecting essential fish habitat). It also would provide funds to conserve coral reef ecosystems, and restore and protect coastal resources like wetlands.

Conservation and fishing groups support this bill because it creates ocean-related jobs (like hiring fishermen to remove litter in the sea), which helps coastal communities while fish populations are rebuilding. These jobs would improve ocean AND economic health at the same time – a win-win opportunity we should take.

Showing our Blue Spirit for Oceans

2010-01-13T22:54:51Z

Laura Pagano, Attorney, San Francisco

In celebration of Wear Blue for Oceans, the San Francisco NRDC office turned out in blue!

After taking this picture (I'm in the group by the plant), some of my Ocean Program colleagues and I went to rally in support of healthy oceans on the steps of San Francisco. People were enthusiastic and waived signs while grooving to the music beat. Charming marine life animals showed up in costume, including an otter, shark, and several sea turtles.

At the rally, Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco Supervisor for District 5, told excited listeners that San Francisco has passed a resolution he sponsored which calls on President Obama to issue an Executive Order to protect our oceans! Philippe Cousteau, grandson to the legendary Jacques-Yves Cousteau, spoke movingly about being part of a third generation mission to save oceans and their wonders. California Senator Leland Yee, representing San Francisco and San Mateo counties, talked about the need for healthy oceans to the gathering.

Other NRDC offices showed their blue spirit too! Sarah Chasis just blogged about the national Wear Blue for Oceans efforts (with a great picture of the New York NRDC office staff in blue). Here is the Chicago NRDC office staff showing their blue:

And here is the wild blue spirit of NRDC's Santa Monica office in Southern California:

The Power of Blue: Use It on January 13 for a National Ocean Policy

2010-01-08T18:45:03Z

Laura Pagano, Attorney, San Francisco

Blue is magical! Comes in many varieties –cerulean, azure, royal, navy, baby, ultramarine, and cobalt to name a few. Blue Planet, blue skies ahead, blue moon, blue book. And, of course, blue oceans!

Even though many of us love our oceans, we don’t have that many opportunities to show it. JANUARY 13th, however, gives us that chance! Next Wednesday is Wear Blue for Oceans Day. Join me in thanking our oceans for all they do and calling on our nation’s leaders to help our troubled oceans by WEARING BLUE and ATTENDING A SAN FRANCISCO RALLY at City Hall.

As you may know, the Obama administration is in the process of formulating a National Ocean Policy, which is badly needed to address issues like ocean acidification, overfishing, marine debris, pollution, and renewable energy development. The administration’s ocean task force came out with their initial policy recommendations in September. Now, as the final recommendations are being formulated, we need to let President Obama and his task force know how important it is to keep environmental health at the center of any national ocean policy. We also need to urge President Obama to make the policy official by issuing an executive order this year.

We had an enormous turn out (over 400 people) in San Francisco this fall when the Task Force came here to hear the West Coast’s perspective on what this policy should look like. Let’s make sure that the West Coast voice remains strong as the final recommendations are formulated and the actual National Ocean Policy is decided by WEARING BLUE on January 13th.

If you can make it to the rally –grab your favorite blue shirt and head to the steps of San Francisco City Hall January 13th from 11:30-1:00 p.m. Pedro Nava and J. Wallace Nichols are scheduled to speak! (If you don’t live in SF, you can find details here on the other cities that are hosting Wear Blue Cay events, including Washington DC, New Orleans, St. Petersburg FL, Anchorage, Houston, Cambridge, Honolulu, and Seal Beach CA)

And if you can’t make it out to the event –don’t fret –there are other simple things you can do to recognize Wear Blue for Oceans Day:

Wear blue --get your friends to join you-- and upload a photo to the Wear Blue for Oceans website
Take Action here: Send a letter to President Obama to protect our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes

Live Blogging from the Ocean Policy Taskforce Hearing in San Francisco

2009-09-17T21:30:18Z

Laura Pagano, Attorney, San Francisco

The Obama Administration's Interagency Ocean Policy Taskforce will come to San Francisco Thursday, Sept. 17, in its only scheduled West Coast stop in a series of public hearings nationwide on a national ocean policy. The Task Force has been directed to create a unifying oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes policy. I'll be live blogging from the event today, and our California Advocacy Director Ann Notthoff will be testifying on what we want our future oceans to look like.

Join me live blogging here on Switchboard or come on by if you're in the area!

When: Thursday, September 17, 2:30 - 6:00 p.m. PDT

Where: Hyatt Regency San Francisco at Embarcadero Center, Ballroom A 5 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111 (near BART and MUNI Embarcadero Station)

New Guide: Eat healthy, sustainable seafood this World Ocean's Day

2009-06-06T15:29:08Z

Laura Pagano, Attorney, San Francisco

June 8 is World Oceans Day, and NRDC has just released a new Sustainable Seafood Guide My challenge to you: why not celebrate the day by eating healthy, sustainable seafood?

Making smart seafood choices is one of the best ways individuals can help our oceans. Other organizations have already created really great guides that review the sustainability of hundreds of species and their status. There are also guides that look specifically at mercury levels in fish.

NRDC's guide, however, was created with the intention of offering easy-to-remember, general tips to help you choose delicious seafood that is both healthy for you and our environment - even if you haven't memorized the facts about every creature in the sea.

The guide tells you:

General tips to keep in mind when you're shopping (like choose American fish over foreign, and wild fish over farmed).
How to eat the top 5 most popular fish in America in the healthiest, most sustainable way possible.
A quick list of popular seafood to eat, as well as avoid.

Why does it matter how we select the seafood we eat? It makes a big impact on the environment and the health of our bodies for a variety of reasons.

First, much of the fish we consume was caught by a highly destructive gear called bottom trawlers. Trawlers drag huge nets along the floor of the ocean, "clearcutting" everything from coral and forage fish to 150-year old orange roughy, sea turtles and dolphins in their quest to get other fish. Other fishermen, though, use safer gear, like traps, or hook and line gear, which destroy much less marine life. By sending our consumer dollars towards fish that was caught by sustainable methods, we are helping to preserve our ocean's bounty.

And avoiding big fish (like swordfish and tunas) also makes a big difference, because these large predators at the top of the marine food web are so overfished that 90% of them are now gone. As it turns out, giving the big fish a break is not just good for our oceans but a healthy choice for us as well, because these are the fish that often have high mercury risks.

So check out the guide - and hopefully you'll find something that sticks with you this World Ocean's Day. I'll leave you with a few dinner recommendations from the guide to get you started: try eating wild Alaska salmon, Pacific halibut, squid, mussels, or clams; instead of shrimp, tuna and farmed salmon - you'll feel good about the choice you make for your body and the sea.