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SalmonAid-2008! Our West Coast salmon and fishing communities need leadership!
Across the West Coast, salmon are an essential part our economy, ecology, culture, and cuisine,
Today, however, our salmon are in jeopardy. "Collectively, from Canada to Mexico, this will be the worst ever (salmon fishing) season off the West Coast," said Don McIsaac, Executive Director of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council.
Without public support and political leadership, we will lose this amazing fish, the nutritious food that it provides, and a resilient and valuable natural resource.
Please help us send a strong message to Congress that we need to take care of our coastal communities and develop long-term solutions to restore the rivers and streams that have supported salmon populations for centuries.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please take steps today to restore our West Coast salmon populations and fishing communities.
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Our wild Pacific salmon populations, major salmon rivers, and fishing communities are facing an unprecedented disaster. We need your leadership in Congress to quickly address these very serious problems. I urge you to actively support (1) disaster relief for our coastal communities, and (2) congressional hearings to investigate the recent causes of our salmon crisis as the first step toward crafting effective long-term solutions.
Fishing today is not driving wild salmon populations downward. Some harmful dams, habitat destruction, and the federal government's poor planning and management decisions have devestated wild salmon populations. As these populations decline, impacts on our fishing communities and coastal economy mount.
In the face of continuing unprecedented declines in wild salmon populations, Congress must act quickly to address this coastwide crisis. Two specific measures are desperately needed.
First, please secure short-term disaster relief funding to aid struggling communities across the coast. Fishing families need assistance in order to keep the lights on and food on the table.
Second, Congress should act quickly to investigate the causes of decline and craft effective, fiscally-responsible, science-based recovery plans for the major salmon rivers of the West Coast. We need your committed leadership in Congress to end the ongoing wild salmon crises and instead develop long-term solutions that will restore healthy habitat, abundant salmon, and thriving coastal communities.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
April 15, 2008
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SalmonAid is equal parts call-to-action and celebration.
The Call-To-Action: Anyone reading the news recently knows that Pacific salmon populations across the West Coast are in serious trouble. Ocean fisheries have been closed off the coast of California and Oregon this year, and severely reduced off the coast of Washington State.
"Collectively, from Canada to Mexico, this will be the worst ever season off the West Coast," said Don McIsaac, Executive Director of the PFMC.
Please take a moment to contact Congress, and urge them to support both (1) short-term financial aid to our West Coast fishing community and perhaps more importantly, (2) long-term solutions for our rivers and salmon populations.
The Celebration: The SalmonAid Festival will celebrate wild salmon and steelhead with a free, family-friendly, music festival in Oakland's famed Jack London Square on May 31 and June 1, 2008.
Organized by the largest ever coalition of West Coast salmon advocates (including commercial, recreational and tribal fishermen, conservation organizations, chefs, restaurants, scientists, and many others), SalmonAid will raise awareness of the plight of west coast salmon populations, the rivers and streams they spawn in, and the many coastal and inland communities that rely on salmon for their livelihoods and survival.
The festival will feature educational booths, activities and foods highlighting the natural history of salmon, as well as the history, culture and traditions of salmon towns and the peoples connected through our west coast salmon heritage - from Morro Bay, California to Bellingham, Washington, and inland to Idaho and Nevada.
By uniting commercial, tribal, and sportfishing interests with conservation organizations, chefs and restaurant owners, and the American consumer to celebrate and restore our wild salmon and healthy, free-flowing rivers, SalmonAid will inform the public about the historic, cultural, economic, dietary, and environmental benefits of healthy wild salmon populations and the threats to their continued existence.
SalmonAid celebrates wild Pacific salmon as a valuable cultural resource for all Americans, an important economic resource for west Coast fishing communities, an exciting recreational fishing experience, a nutritious food source, and a vital ecological link between our freshwater and marine ecosystems. In addition, SalmonAid will raise funds to support education and habitat restoration efforts directed at re-establishing abundant wild, native Pacific salmon populations in Pacific coast watersheds.
learn more at: http://www.salmonaid.org
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