• Fish stocks could be fished down to half the size at which we now consider them healthy before being designated as "overfished." Even then, this legislation would require no action to rebuild stocks within any set period of time.

• All stock assessments would be required to undergo extra scientific review. This would only delay the government's ability to respond to conservation issues and give fodder to industry groups looking to overturn regulations by lawsuit. At the same time, non-reviewed and potentially biased "anecdotal information" supplied by commercial fishermen could be considered when making management decisions.

• All protection for essential fish habitat within three miles of shore, where 70% of fish spend at least part of their lives, would be removed.

• At-sea observer programs to collect badly needed information on catch and bycatch would be blocked by creating insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles.

In sum, the bill removes most of the safeguards in place to keep our fisheries healthy, undermines the government's mandate to rebuild overfished stocks and stalls or weakens any action the government could take.

"If the fox could write a bill about how to run the henhouse, this would be it," says NCMC Fisheries Project Director Tim Hobbs. "Senator Collins's bill is designed to satisfy the short-term demands of the seafood industry while sacrificing the long-term health and sustainability of our nation's fish stocks. Ironically, the net result would be to settle for less productive fisheries."

Two independent commissions - the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy - have spent over a year examining ways to improve fisheries management in this country. The NCMC is urging Congress to hold off on changing our nation's fishery management laws until these reports have been released (expected sometime this summer) and thoroughly reviewed. In the meantime, Senator Collins must get the message that her bill would be bad for fish and bad for fishing.

Those who share our concern with her bill should WRITE A BRIEF EMAIL OR LETTER TO SENATOR COLLINS. Specifically, tell her that the provisions of the 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act must be upheld and strengthened, and that Congress should await the two independent commission reports on ocean policy before considering any changes to U.S. fisheries law.

Send an email to Senator Collins at senator@collins.senate.gov. Letters via regular mail should be sent to:

The Honorable Susan Collins

United States Senate

172 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Or, fax your letter to: 202-224-2693.

You should send a copy of your letter to your home-state senators as well. To find contact information for officials from your area, click on www.house.gov/writerep or www.senate.gov.