Live in California? Take action to stop new, deadly drift gill nets.

Drift gill nets. Marine biologist Tom Steiner calls them “invisible curtains of death.” He says they are “a barbaric way of catching fish.”¹

At Environmental Action, we call them “monster nets.” And these deadly devices inadvertently have killed thousands of sea turtles, whales, sea lions and other ocean animals since 1991.

California is the only remaining state on the West Coast that does not prohibit drift nets off its coasts. If you live in California, please urge your state assembly member and senators to save ocean wildlife from these deadly monster nets.

Stop the Monster Nets – Send a Message

 

 

Drift Nets Threaten Wildlife

Drift nets are massive. They can be up to 100 feet tall and a mile wide.

Worse, these monster nets indiscriminately entangle, injure and even drown some of our most beloved ocean creatures. In fact, these “monster nets” have killed tens of thousands of sharks, hundreds of dolphins and sea lions. And they’ve killed more than 380 imperiled whales and 100 threatened or endangered sea turtles.² 

Fisherman kept just 22 percent of what their drift gillnets caught over the past 25 years, according to an analysis by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The rest are tossed back — sometimes alive, sometimes injured or dead.³

Oregon and Washington have already prohibited the use of these monster nets. But California still allows their use in some of the Golden State’s coastal waters.

To make matters worse, last fall the Trump administration cancelled carefully negotiated regulations that would have helped protect animals from drift gill nets.  The rules would have temporarily closed remaining drift net fisheries if too many animals were ensnared and killed.⁴

How Your Can Help

The good news is that Sen. Ben Allen, whose district includes parts of Los Angeles County’s coast, has said he plans to introduce California Senate Bill 1114 this session. The legislation would stop state permits for drift gill nets and require newer, safer fishing technology to reduce the number of whales, sea turtles, dolphins and other animals unintentionally ensnared in drift nets.⁵

This legislation is an important first step toward retiring the monster nets for good — and saving thousands of ocean animals off California’s coast. Please add your name now.

Stop the Monster Nets – Send a Message

Notes

1. Bigad Shaban, Mark Villarreal and Liz Wagner, “Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Among Thousands Entangled and Killed in Mile-Long Fishing Nets off California Coast,” NBC Bay Area, October 27, 2018.
2. Bigad Shaban, Mark Villarreal and Liz Wagner, “Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Among Thousands Entangled and Killed in Mile-Long Fishing Nets off California Coast,” NBC Bay Area, October 27, 2018.
3. Bigad Shaban, Mark Villarreal and Liz Wagner, “Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Among Thousands Entangled and Killed in Mile-Long Fishing Nets off California Coast,” NBC Bay Area, October 27, 2018.
4. Dan Weikel, “Trump administration cancels proposed limits on marine mammals and sea turtles trapped in fishing nets,” The Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2017.
5. Sandy Mazza, “South Bay lawmaker will introduce bill to phase out controversial drift gill nets,” Torrance Daily Breeze, March 23, 2017.