Hi,

I received this posting through my work, and thought that some Tweeters
might also be interested in the group.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, WA
anderjda at dfw.wa.gov


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 16:21:48 -0400
From: FISH1IFR at aol.com
To: audubon at agora.rdrop.com, Gerry.Leape at green2.greenpeace.org,
73312.1155 at compuserve.com, csafina at audubon.org, sdrennan at audubon.org,
whoffman at audubon.org, glebaron at aububon.org, mengland at audubon.org,
jbeyea at audubon.org, penglemeyer at audubon.org, jpissot at audubon.org,
krogers at audubon.org, iudices at dccmc.mns.compuserve.com,
seacom at interaccess.com, NSIALIZ at aol.com, Rohleder at aol.com,
73362.1120 at compuserve.com, dallison at igc.apc.org, rod at edf.org,
anderjda at dfw.wa.gov, cwiller at ednet1.osl.or.gov
Cc: FISH1IFR at aol.com, BCWnet at aol.com
Subject: Invitation to join SEABIRD NETWORK BYCATCH WORKING GROUP

Dear friends --

Below is an announcement of the Seabird Network Bycatch Working Group, a
joint project of the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) and the National
Fisheries Conservation Center (NFCC). IFR is the conservation arm of the
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, long an advocate for
resource protection and sound fisheries management, and NFCC is spearheaded
by Brad Warren of National Fisherman Magazine. Both organizations (as well
as the commercial fishing industry as a whole) are very concerned about
potential bycatch problems, and seeking ways to minimize or eliminate those
problems in cooperative problem solving forums.

We are personally inviting you to participate in this effort to take a
serious look at the west coast bird bycatch problem, particularly with
respect to the marbeled murrlet, and to help us ascertain (on the basis of
the best available science) just what and where these bycatch problems might
be, and to help us come up with sound and creative solutions. Your expertise
will be most valuable, and we sincerely hope you can participate. Please
confirm whether or not you want to remain on our list for this project to:

FISH1IFR at AOL.COM

This e-mail address will be the main contact point for this project until we
get a Web site Home Page up and running, which we expect by the end of this
year.

It is hard for us to know in advance all the people who need to be
invited to participate in this project. Please feel free to repost the
announcement below to your own networks!! All interested members of the
sport and commercial fishing industry, environmental and conservation
organizations, the scientific community, and state, federal or tribal
agencies who are working on these problems are invited to participate.

Glen Spain, IFR (FISH1IFR at AOL.COM)

Brad Warren, NFCC (BCWNET at AOL.COM)


=============================================================

ANNOUNCING
THE
SEABIRD NETWORK
BYCATCH WORKING GROUP
Cooperative Solutions to Seabird Bycatch Problems
A joint project of the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the
National Fisheries Conservation Center

The Seabird Network Bycatch Working Group will be a major cooperative
effort among fisheries, conservation and scientific organizations to not only
seriously address the issue of seabird bycatch on the basis of the best
available science, but to arrive at real-life solutions. It will also make
use of modern communications technology to greatly leverage our outreach,
impact and effectiveness, while minimizing costs. Using "Internet"
technology, the proposed Seabird Network will electronically convene
scientists, conservationists, and fishing leaders throughout the west coast
(and worldwide) to do the following:

1) Assess the problem, gather all the scientific data on seabird bycatch
(now widely scattered) into one readily available form easily accessible by
computer modem, and to review and critique the current status of all relevant
research;

2) Recommend priorities for future study and funding at state and
federal levels, based upon an assessment of where entanglements are most
likely to cause significant population-level impacts;

3) With the help of those actually in the fishery, to identify and
promote new fishery strategies to reduce the impact of fishing methods where
appropriate, including the development and evaluation of new gear types and
techniques designed to minimize or altogether avoid unwanted bird bycatch;
and

4) Advocate sound conservation and management policies regarding bird
entanglement, including working to identify and help secure funding for key
additional research to make better conservation possible.

Thanks to modern electronic networking, this work can be truly
international by involving literally hundreds of participants from all over
the world, be ongoing (rather
than just a single event such as a conference), be fully accessible to the
general public from any desktop computer, be electronically recorded, and be
conducted at only a fraction of the costs any such effort would have entailed
in the past.

The Seabird Network will establish a publicly accessible World Wide Web
(WWW) site and host one or more E-mail "listserver" round table discussions
and scientific working groups among scientists, agencies and citizens
involved in bird conservation and fisheries issues. Notice of our electronic
discussions and report will be posted to all relevant Internet mailing lists
and in fisheries and conservation publications throughout North America and
Europe.

The Network will deal with a variety of species, but the initial focus will
be on the marbled murrelet. Fisheries interactions with this species have
generated concerns that are urgent in both biological and socio-political
terms. Among bird species known to be incidentally caught in fisheries, only
the marbled murrelet is listed under the US Endangered Species Act as well as
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The fragile and protected status of this
species has raised the possibility of population-level impacts from
fisheries. Likewise, the future of some commercial salmon fisheries depends
upon sound conservation of these birds. For example, Puget Sound's gillnet
fleet may be banned outright unless its members can demonstrate or develop
the capability to meet legal and biological standards for protection of
marbled murrelets and other seabirds.

In addition, the Network expects to research and publish a report on
seabird interactions with fisheries by January, 1997. This report will
summarize the findings and recommendations of the Network, provide a basis
for public policy makers to evaluate proposed actions for seabird
conservation in fisheries, and lay out a proactive strategy for continuing
research and action.

The Seabird Network Bycatch Working Group is a collaborative effort of the
Institute for
Fisheries Resources (affiliated with the Pacific Coast Federation of
Fishermen's Associations) and the National Fisheries Conservation Center, two
organizations known for fostering cooperation among fishing and conservation
leaders to solve problems. Participants and advisors will include
representatives of the National Audubon Society, the Center for Marine
Conservation, National Fisherman Magazine, the American Fisheries Society,
fishermen's groups, many state and federal agencies and a number of reputable
institutions dealing with fisheries research and management in both the US
and Canada. Funding is being sought for this effort now, with a projected
start-up date of January 1, 1996.

TO JOIN THE NETWORK: You only need E-mail capability and access to the
World
Wide Web. Please indicate your interest and E-mail your name, surface
mailing address and phone, what agency or organization (if any) you are with,
and a brief description of your interest and expertise on this issue to the
Institute for Fisheries Resources at:

FISH1IFR at AOL.COM

This will be the initial Network E-mail address for this Project. Project
coordinators will be Glen Spain, Program Director for the Institute for
Fisheries Resources, and Brad Warren, Executive Director of the National
Fisheries Conservation Center. For more information you may also contact
Glen Spain, Institute for Fisheries Resources, at PO Box 11170, Eugene, OR
97440-3370, (503)689-2000 or FAX:(503)689-2500.