Sea Turtle Restoration Project members attended Obama Ocean Task Force hearings around the country and turned out in force for a big rally in San Francisco. To learn more, read on!

Read our detailed comments on the Interim Report of the Ocean Task Force

Read our press release about the Draft Ocean Task Force Report.

 See the video and details from our ocean rally in San Francisco!

Read about the Hawaii rally from ocean activists there.

CITIES AND DATES
Providence, Rhode Island – Sept. 24, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (tentative times) at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Ballrooms D & E
•    Honolulu, Hawaii – Sept. 29
•    New Orleans, Louisiana – Oct. 19
•    Cleveland, Ohio – Oct. 29

Make your voice heard now by commenting on marine spatial planning and emerging issues or other issues to the Ocean Task Force at the  White House Council on Environmental Quality website to send your message and read others' views.

Suggested Comment:  Urge President Obama to issue an Executive Order that establishes a comprehensive national policy that protects, maintains, and restores sea turtle, salmon and marine populations, oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. We need a national policy that ends bycatch of sea turtles, dolphins, whales and other marine life; halts overfishing and holds the line on wasteful fishing methods; restores marine wildlife populations, protects key ocean habitat, cleans up our waterways and reduces harm to the ocean from climate change.

In the Gulf states, urge the Ocean Task Force to adopt a marine reserve for Kemp's ridleys along the South Texas Coast and enforcement of Turtle Excluder Devices in the shrimp fleet.

Most importantly, those in charge of managing our oceans must consider all harmful activities to sea turtles, marine mammals and other marine species together and prevent harm in a coordinated way that allows sea turtles and ocean wildlife to thrive. Fishery people who want to expand commercial fishing must no longer be the ones who decide how many sea turtles or whales or sharks can be captured and killed as by-catch on longline hooks and in drift and shrimp trawl nets. It is time, finally, for sea turtle, salmon and marine mammal biologists and the best available science to determine how to protect sea animals for the U. S. government. President Obama's new ocean policy should no longer allow sea turtles or false killer whales or other marine species to hover a few animals away from extinction, but ensure that they will swim forever in great numbers in America's waters and around the globe! Yes we can!