Pew to Launch Urgent Effort to Protect Bluefin Tuna in Gulf of Mexico

Need for protection intensifies after failed global attempt to prohibit commercial bluefin trade

TAMPA, Fla., March 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Thursday, March 25 at 1 p.m. EDT, the Pew Environment Group will host a Web-based tele-press conference to detail its new campaign to protect bluefin tuna in its only known spawning area in the western Atlantic Ocean by prohibiting surface long-lining in the Gulf of Mexico.

Following last week's failed attempt by governments at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to enact a global tuna trade prohibition, speakers will provide analysis on the CITES tuna trade vote and discuss what the future holds for this iconic fish. They will focus on the indiscriminate fishing practice of surface long-lining – a practice where hundreds of baited hooks are attached to commercial fishing lines that stretch for an average of 25 miles. Bluefin tuna, sea turtles, sharks, marlins and other ocean animals die when caught on the lines intended to catch swordfish and yellowfin tuna.

WHO:

* Lee Crockett – director, federal fisheries policy, Pew Environment Group (moderator)

* Rob Kramer – president, International Game Fish Association

* Dr. Carl Safina – co-founder and president, Blue Ocean Institute

* Dr. Susan Lieberman – director, international policy, Pew Environment Group, will join from the closing CITES talks in Doha

WHEN:

Thursday, March 25 at 1 p.m. EDT

For more information on the campaign, visit www.pewenvironment.org/gulftuna.  A recording of the Web briefing will be posted to that site shortly after it ends. High-definition broadcast quality b-roll of Atlantic bluefin tuna and hi-res images are available upon request. This briefing is for credentialed press only.

The Pew Environment Group is the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization that applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improving public policy, informing the public and stimulating civic life.

Contacts: Debbie Salamone - 321.972.5020; Kymberly Escobar - 202.887.8814

SOURCE Pew Environment Group

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