leik, ohmigawd!

So this lady from Oceana just emailed me:

Hi (Cypress),

I hope you are doing well. I’m the online editor at Oceana, and a (state) native myself – I was very impressed with all of your sea turtle activism. (lalalala asking me a question about all my work with sea turtle stuff)

I’m writing to you because we have reached an important moment in our shark campaign, and we thought you might be able to help us. I know your big passion is sea turtles, but I was wondering if you might be interested in helping out with a big push we’re doing right now around the Shark Conservation Act in the U.S. Senate.

The bill, if passed, would finally put an end to shark finning in U.S. waters, and it’s already passed the U.S. House, so we are really pushing right now for its passage by the Senate. One senator who has expressed opposition to it is (A senator.). We are asking all of our Wavemakers to call their Senators, but we thought you in particular could be a big help as a result of your presence in (state) and experience talking to legislators.

Would you be interested in going to the (senator's) office closest to you and expressing your support for the bill? If so, we might be able to do a bit of press around it. Attached are some talking points you could use to talk to Senator (ahemahem) if needed.

And blah blah blah and she says she'd understand if I don't want to, and says some other optional things I could do... Sorry for all the things I blocked out of that, I'm just not interested in my own personal creeper. Not that anyone would care enough to stalk me. But anyway...

Just how cool is this! I have a new mission! From OCEANA! What if they, like, hire me one day! Do yall even know what this means? They remember some cutesy grassroots project that I started up to pass a bill against gillnet fishing (ask me another time, I'll go totally apeshit on that soap box). And they rememer me!

Maybe they'll offer me a job one day! And wouldn't that be sweet...

In the meantime, I've got to memorize all this stuff and more and go talk to a real live US senator. Not state senators anymore. Movin' up the ranks mmmhmm.

 • Each year, humans kill more than 100 million sharks worldwide. Shark finning alone kills up to 73 million sharks annually. As a result, shark populations around the globe have plummeted. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, 30 percent of shark and ray populations are threatened or near threatened with extinction.

• Almost ten years ago, Congress passed the Shark Finning Prohibition Act with the intent to end shark finning in U.S. waters. In practice, shark finning is still occurring. Current law allows for fins to be removed on the vessel as long as a fin to carcass weight ratio is not exceeded. The ratio is difficult to enforce while fin removal hampers species-specific identification and management.

The Shark Conservation Act would:

END SHARK FINNING IN ALL U.S. WATERS.

Currently, federal shark fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico are required to land sharks with their fins attached. Additionally, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission also issued similar regulations for the state waters along the Atlantic coast. Passing the Shark Conservation Act would provide consistent requirements for all shark fisheries in U.S. waters. 

• CLOSE LOOPHOLE IN EXISTING LAW

In August 2002, the United States Coast Guard boarded the King Diamond II, a Hong Kong owned vessel, and found 32 tons of shark fins, but no shark carcasses. The fins were seized pursuant to the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000. The case went to trial and the U.S. government prevailed. However, in March 2008, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the previous decision, exposing that fishermen can circumvent the existing shark finning ban by transferring fins at sea to non-fishing vessels. The Shark Conservation Act would close this loophole.

• ALLOW THE U.S. TO BE A LEADER IN INTERNATIONAL SHARK CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT. 

• The bill has successfully passed the House by unanimous consent, been favorably reported to the full Senate by the Commerce Committee and has garnered the bipartisan support of 33 Senators.

Sweeeeeeeet. Let's go save some sharks. :)