These are just a few conservation issues we're keeping our eye on...

We thought you'd be interested to know:

- Thousands of marine animals die each year entangled in active commercial fishing gear or in abandoned fishing nets and lines. Several species of dolphins, porpoises and whales are particularly vulnerable to entanglement. What's being done about it? The fishing community is working with scientists to create special types of gear that marine animals will avoid (such as attaching "pingers" to nets to warn animals of a potential danger)  or that marine animals can easily break through (so-called "weak links" in the gear).

- Marine debris is one of the world's most pervasive pollution problems. Fishing line and nets, six pack rings, rope and other discarded items can wrap around fins, flipper and limbs of animals, which can cause drowning or amputation. That's why it's so important to report abandoned nets that you might see floating in the water, and why it' imperative we dispose of our trash responsibly.

- One in four animals caught in fishing gear dies as bycatch - unwanted or unintentional catch. Many marine scientists now believe that overfishing has the biggest human-induced  impact on the world's oceans. Overfishing occurs when fish are caught faster than they can reproduce. The key to preventing overfishing is the careful monitoring of our fishing fleet. With the cooperation of the fishing community, Federal management of the the fishing stocks off the US and other countries are creating hope that our fishing stocks can be healthy again in the future.

- Between 1950 and 1984 the catch of ocean fish increased by 400% by doubling the effort and using more effective fishing gear. This makes the monitoring and management of our fishing stocks all the more important and timely.

- Although large-scale commercial whaling was banned in 1972, Japan, Norway and Iceland continue to hunt whales under "scientific" permits. The moratorium does not include small cetaceans (such as dolphins) and over 20,000 are taken each year.