US Opens Up Marine Protected Areas to Fishing: What This Means for Ocean Conservation

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It seems as though every time I go away

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on vacation, there's some breaking news.

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And today on the breaking news is from

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the US that the US

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President Donald Trump wants

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to roll back fishery regulations in the

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Pacific remote islands of

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the National Monument so

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that they can be a bigger player in

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fisheries around the world.

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We're going to talk about why that's

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significant, why we're not

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surprised to hear this on this

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episode of the How to

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Protect the Ocean podcast.

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Let's start the show.

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Hey everybody, welcome back to another

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exciting episode of the How

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to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, and this is

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the podcast where you

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find out what's happening

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with the ocean, how you can speak up for

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the ocean, and what you

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can do to live for a better

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ocean by taking action.

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On today's episode, we're going to be

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talking about the US

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fisheries rollback so that it

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allows for I guess what US President

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Donald Trump wants is

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global dominance, especially

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in the Pacific on fisheries latest

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announcement coming out of

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the White House saying that

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they want to fish more

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in the Pacific right now.

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They are contributing about 25% of the

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amount of fishing that

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goes on in the Pacific, and

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they want to open that up.

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And how are they going to open that up?

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They're going to open it up in their own

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waters that is protected.

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The Pacific Remote Islands

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Marine National Monument.

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I've been rehearsing that I didn't really

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get it off the bat,

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but the Pacific Remote

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Islands Marine National

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Monument is going to be opened up.

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It's 400,000 square acres of water,

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pristine coral reefs

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that's home to marine mammals,

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sea turtles, sharks, fish, coral reefs,

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seabirds, all sorts of

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things that make this wonderful

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habitat just beautiful.

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It was originally protected in 2009,

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designated in 2009, and

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then it was later expanded in

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2014, which was amazing.

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People don't realize how long it takes

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for these national

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monuments to be designated.

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The planning, the workshops, the

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stakeholder engagement, the

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public comment, everything

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that goes into it.

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It takes years, if not decades, to be

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able to make sure that

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these are implemented and

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not only implemented

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properly and managed properly.

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And that's what it's been doing.

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It's been managed properly for the last

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10 years or even more

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since it was designated.

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So to see that the environmental

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regulations are going to be rolled back

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is really disappointing.

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We're going to see this happening more

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and more in the U.S.

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As they, you know, we know Donald Trump

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is not somebody who

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wants to have environmental

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regulations.

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This is a very common thing to see with

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Republicans or conservatives

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around the world where they

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think that economic prosperity is

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hindered by regulations.

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It does slow down the process, no doubt

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about it, as it should

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and as it's designed to do.

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It's designed to make sure that people

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are thinking about the

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environment, making sure

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that people do the proper assessments

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around the environment

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to ensure that they're not

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destroying the environment and their

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quest to get money or

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their quest to develop.

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And that's what we

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have to be careful about.

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We've seen collapse of fisheries before.

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We will see collapse of fisheries again

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if they are not managed properly.

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Protected areas are there to make sure

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that fisheries can prosper,

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just not in certain areas.

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Marine protected areas are

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designed to enhance fisheries.

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I know it sounds weird, but when you

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protect an area of 400,000

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acres, you allow fish within

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that area to prosper.

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And then that there's a spillover effect

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from the borders of that marine protected

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area that goes outside the borders and

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that allows fishermen to prosper.

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And I think that's what

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really people don't understand.

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You need to protect and prevent

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extractive processes like

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fishing so that you can fish

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for a longer time and

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it's more sustainable.

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That's the key here,

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sustainability of fisheries.

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When you open up a marine protected area,

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it's like for

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fisheries, why bother protecting

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it?

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You're going to get

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destructive fisheries.

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You're going to get unmanaged fisheries.

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You're not going to have quotas.

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It sounds like you're not going to have

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management of any type of fisheries and

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you'll have short-term

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gain, but you're going to pay for it in

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the long term, which to be

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honest, a lot of governments

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don't really see.

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They look at the next four years.

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They look at the next five years in case

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of Canada's terms when

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we have our governments

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in.

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It's so frustrating when you see

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governments do this over

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and over and over again.

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It's like they're not paying attention.

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It's like they don't really

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care about the environment.

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All they care is economic prosperity and

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being number one, which

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is what we're seeing in

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this case here.

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So if the US wants to be number one in

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their fisheries in the

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Pacific, they would have

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to increase their catch by

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11.2 million metric tons.

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That's a lot of fishing.

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Currently in the Pacific, they sit about

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fourth or fifth in the

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standings, I guess behind

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China.

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They're number one, of course, and the US

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is currently probably

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taking out about two

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million metric tons estimated.

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They would have to increase 11.2 to even

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match the 13.2 million

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metric tons that China is

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taking out every year.

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And we know that China's fleet has had

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problems in the past.

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They're very controversial.

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They go all over the world in the

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Pacific, like different

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countries or outside different

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countries in the international treaty

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area and they will fish

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and they will fish without

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regulations.

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They will fish as much as possible.

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And I guess to compete with that, you

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have to do the same.

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You have to fish without worrying about

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management, without

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worrying about a lot of things.

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And that's a problem.

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That's a problem right there to be able

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to try and just be number one.

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This is an ongoing thing that the US

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wants to do, that they want

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to increase their self-reliance

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in a number of areas.

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And I guess now this

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is including fisheries.

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They currently import

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90% of their fisheries.

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And so they want to increase their

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domestic take, I assume, and so that they

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can be more self-reliant.

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So that makes sense in a way.

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But to do it by opening up a marine

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protected area doesn't make sense.

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It doesn't make sense

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for long-term prosperity.

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It doesn't make sense to protect this

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wonderful area that is pristine.

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Beautiful coral reefs.

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Like I said before, marine mammals

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protecting like, monk seals protecting

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sea turtles, protecting sea birds,

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protecting sharks, all these different

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species that it protects.

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And it's working.

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And now they're just going to open it up

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and we're going to see

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devastation in that area

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because industry has been wanting to get

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into that area for a long time.

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They haven't been able to.

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They've been strong proponents to be able

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to fish more and they're going to get it

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under this government.

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This is a time where you need to help.

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And to help is to contact

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your government representative.

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This is where it counts.

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If you don't want to see the Pacific

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remote islands marine national monument

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to be opened up to fishing, then it's

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time to contact your federal, your state,

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especially if you live in Hawaii.

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Representatives to say, hey, you know

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what? We don't want this. This is awful.

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This is a really bad idea.

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And there must be checks and balances to

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be able to open this up or

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to stop this from opening up.

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You know, maybe talk to your Congress

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person, talk to your senator.

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This is where it counts.

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And if you're not in Hawaii and you want,

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you know, somebody in Hawaii to listen,

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then talk to them as well, whether you're

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in that state or not, talk

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to them because it matters.

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Tell them the stories of what you want to

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see in terms of a sustainable ocean,

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especially in the Pacific.

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So that's the episode here from Jamaica.

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I hope you think about what's being done

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in the U.S. and it goes to

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show that voting matters.

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And if you want to protect the

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environment, you want to protect

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fisheries, you want to protect pristine

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environments and marine protect areas

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that have already been designated.

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Then we need to really make sure that we

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vote properly and remember this in two

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years when the midterms come in and to

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start to make a change.

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So that's it for today's episode.

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I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

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Let me know in the comments below if

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you're watching this on YouTube.

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And if you're listening to this on Apple

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podcast or your favorite podcast that

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just let me know what you think.

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DM me at how to protect

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the ocean on Instagram.

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That's at how to protect the ocean.

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I want to thank you for joining me on

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today's episode of the How

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to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I am your host, Andrew

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Lewin from the Grail, Jamaica.

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Have a great day.

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We'll talk to you next

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time and happy conservation.