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Fisheries (22) new

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Waste Headed for a Third World Bin

The Panamanian flagged ship Probo Koala unloaded more than 550 tonnes of toxic waste at Abidjan port in Cote d'Ivoire a month back. Emissions from that toxic waste have killed seven people and poisoned thousands. (Julio Godoy, IPS, 21 September 2006)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34818

(Added: Mon Sep 25 2006   Hits: 80)

Canada-South Pacific Ocean Development Program

The Canada-South Pacific Ocean Development (C-SPODP) Program is Canada's major regional commitment to the Pacific Islands. It reflects the Canadian and Pacific belief that ocean development is a key priority and focuses on the sustainable development of the Pacific region's living marine resources and promotes regional partnership, ownership, and accountability for the program's results C-SPODP projects are developed and implemented by the program's four participating Pacific regional partner organizations -- the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency, Solomon Islands; the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Fiji; the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Samoa; and The University of the South Pacific, Fiji. The projects are approved and managed by a committee of the regional organizations and CIDA. All projects funded through C-SPOD ensure equity and balanced benefits for all Pacific Islanders, including children, women, and men. They also are concerned with environmental sustainability and encouraging the involvement of the private sector. Sea turtle conservation, tuna management plans, ocean pollution control, marine ornamentals export, projects supporting women in fisheries, and Marine Studies Programme post-graduate scholarships are among some of the diverse projects.

http://www.c-spodp.org

(Added: Mon Aug 18 2003   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 339)

Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

A growing number of organisations are working together to protect seamounts, cold-water corals and vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition is calling on the United Nations General Assembly to secure a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling and protect these fragile and unique pockets of life in the deep seas before they are destroyed forever.

http://www.savethehighseas.org/

(Added: Thu Oct 20 2005   Hits: 100)

Earthdive

Conservation of marine biodiversity is a vital issue of our age. Never before has marine habitat loss occurred on such a scale. earthdive seeks to halt this decline by mobilising divers, snorkellers and those that simply care about our future in a global effort to monitor and conserve life on this planet. earthdive members are logging dives, snorkel trips and observations into a unique Global Dive Log (GDL) - a database of dives, snorkel trips, divers, dive sites, dive logs, science logs, key indicators, anthropogenic pressures and dive centres. The earthdive GDL includes additional datasets on coral reefs, seagrass beds and protected areas from the United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). UNEP-WCMC plays a fundamental role monitoring the world's changing biodiversity and along with Coral Cay Conservation (CCC) are valued partners of earthdive.

http://www.earthdive.com

(Added: Fri Jul 30 2004   Modified: Tue Jun 20 2006   Hits: 301)

From ocean to aquarium : the global trade in marine ornamental species [PDF]

UNEP-WCMC Biodiversity Series 17. By Colette Wabnitz, Michelle Taylor, Edmund Green and Tries Razak (2003). This report takes an objective look at marine ornamental trade. A potential source of income for communities living close to coral reefs, the aquarium trade has been heavily criticised for the use of unsustainable collection techniques and poor husbandry practices. Policy makers have been faced with something of a dilemma in trying to control the environmentally undesirable aspects of the industry without risking the economic incentive which aquarium fishers have in caring for the coral reefs that provide their livelihoods.

http://www.ourplanet.com/wcmc/17.html

(Added: Thu Jul 28 2005   Hits: 104)

G8 Leaders Pledge Marine Protection, Clean Water

EVIAN, France, June 3, 2003 (ENS) - Leaders of the world's eight largest industrialized democracies wound up their annual three day meeting today in Evian on the shore of Lake Geneva, with a joint statement that emphasizes environmental responsibility and sustainable development. Economically, "major downside risks have receded and the conditions for a recovery are in place," the G8 leaders said, and they called for measures to prevent marine pollution and improve tanker safety, and adopted a plan of action to help halve the number of people without access to clean water and sanitation by 2015.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2003/2003-06-03-01.asp

(Added: Thu Jun 05 2003   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 173)

Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based activities

The GPA is designed to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance to be drawn upon by national and/or regional authorities for devising and implementing sustained action to prevent, reduce, control and/or eliminate marine degradation from land-based activities. The GPA aims at preventing the degradation of the marine environment from land-based activities by facilitating the duty of States to preserve and protect the marine environment.

http://www.gpa.unep.org/

(Added: Mon May 30 2005   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 126)

Great Fish Going the Way of the Dinosaurs

Ninety percent of all large fish in the world's oceans are gone, and just 10 percent remain after commercial fishing vessels have taken their toll over the past 50 years, according to a long term study conducted by Canadian and German scientists and released today. The scientists say there is an urgent need to attempt fisheries restoration on a global scale. "From giant blue marlin to mighty bluefin tuna, and from tropical groupers to Antarctic cod, industrial fishing has scoured the global ocean. There is no blue frontier left," says lead author Ransom Myers, a fisheries biologist based at Dalhousie University in Canada. "This isn't about just about one species," he says. "The sustainability of fisheries is being severely compromised worldwide."

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/innews/fishkill2003.htm

(Added: Fri May 16 2003   Modified: Wed Jun 07 2006   Hits: 269)

How Abidjan became a dump

This article explains how a load of toxic sludge from Europe was sent to poison an African city. Since the Probo Koala docked in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on August 19 and spread its foul cargo all over the town, tens of thousands of residents have experienced symptoms ranging from headaches to vomiting, rashes and difficulty breathing. Officially eight people, including four children, have died. About 8,000 have sought medical treatment. It is a complex international story: the ship had been to the US, the Netherlands and Spain; it has a Russian crew, is registered in Panama and managed by a Greek company. (Philippe Bernard, Guardian Weekly, October 2006)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly/outlook/story/0,,1925276,00.html

(Added: Wed Oct 25 2006   Hits: 90)

Human Activities Put Pressure on Great Barrier Reef

CANBERRA, Australia, July 10, 2003 (ENS) - The world's longest reef is losing its dugongs and nesting sea turtles at a rapid rate, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the Great Barrier Reef since 1998. Australian Environment Minister Dr. David Kemp released the "2003 State of the Reef Report" last week at a reef conference in Townsville, Queensland. "The Great Barrier Reef is under mounting pressure," Kemp told delegates. "The numbers of nesting loggerhead turtles have declined between 50 and 80 percent, and dugong populations adjacent to Queensland's urban coast are estimated to be only three percent to what they were in the 1960s." The annual flow of sediments and nutrients from land based activities into the reef has increased four-fold since European settlement, according to the report.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2003/2003-07-10-04.asp

(Added: Mon Jul 14 2003   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 216)

In the Frontline: Shoreline protection and other ecosystem services from mangroves and coral reefs [PDF 1.03 Mb]

The aim of this publication is to help decision makers and policy makers around the world understand the importance of coastal habitats to humans, using coral reefs and mangroves as an example. It looks at the role of these ecosystems in protecting the coast, and takes into account new studies of this complex topic triggered by the tsunami and tropical storms. The publication also addresses the huge range of other benefits provided by these ecosystems and the role that they can play in coastal development and in restoring and maintaining the livelihoods of those who have suffered from extreme events, whether natural or induced by human activity. UNEP-WCMC/UNEP 2006.

http://www.unep.org/pdf/infrontline_06.pdf

(Added: Thu Feb 16 2006   Hits: 130)

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) UNESCO

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO was founded in 1960. The work of the IOC, over the three decades since its inception, has focused on promoting marine scientific investigations and related ocean services, with a view to learning more about the nature and resources of the oceans. This has laid the foundation towards an expanded role of the IOC in meeting new challenges. The IOC is composed of its Member States, an Assembly, an Executive Council and a Secretariat. The Secretariat is based in Paris, France. Additionally the IOC has a number of Subsidiary Bodies.

http://ioc.unesco.org/iocweb/

(Added: Thu Jul 25 2002   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 223)

Map shows toll on world's oceans

Only about 4% of the world's oceans remain undamaged by human activity, according to the first detailed global map of human impacts on the seas (BBC news, 14 February 2008).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7241428.stm

(Added: Fri Feb 15 2008   Hits: 101)

Net closing on coral reef bombers

By New Scientist Jan 3 2003. Fishermen who illegally blast reefs to boost catches can now be detected with a system that filters out the confounding sounds of shrimp.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993237

(Added: Fri Jan 10 2003   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 205)

Ocean Biogeographic Information System

Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) is "a user-friendly, web-based provider of global geo-referenced information on accurately identified marine species" developed by the international research program Census of Marine Life. OBIS can be used to integrate information from a host of stand-alone databases including biological, physical, and chemical oceanographic data on a selected species and geographic range of interest.

http://www.iobis.org/

(Added: Mon Aug 26 2002   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 251)

One last chance to save Coral

Daniel Kane - THE 15 AUGUST ISSUE of the journal Science published by AAAS, the science society, features a special report on coral reefs. All sorts of records, from pirate's logs to modern day fish counts, reveal that humans have a long history of damaging reefs. Based on this history, humans have one last chance to establish a sustainable reef-protection strategy, according to the authors. - MSN

http://www.msnbc.com/news/951951.asp?cp1=1#BODY

(Added: Mon Sep 22 2003   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 219)

Pacific Island Mangroves in a Changing Climate and Rising Seas (pdf)

Action is needed to conserve mangroves in the Pacific amid concern that rising sea levels, linked with climate change, are set to drown large areas of these precious and economically important ecosystems. This 70-page study, which has assessed the vulnerability of the 16 Pacific Island countries and territories that have native mangroves, finds that overall as much as 13 per cent of the mangrove area may be lost, and over half of total mangroves could be lost by the end of the century. This will have a huge effect on local communities and economies unless appropriate action is swiftly taken. (UNEP et al, July 2006)

http://www.unep.org/PDF//mangrove-report.pdf

(Added: Mon Jul 24 2006   Hits: 128)

Review and Recommendations for Reduction of Nitrogen Export to the Coral Coast of Fiji [pdf]

While tourism has brought growth and a degree of prosperity to the Coral Coast of Viti Levu, Fiji, the population growth caused by this popularity has led to increased levels of pollution which is causing massive growths of algae and and the destruction of the coral. This is threatening the health of the coastal lagoons and fringing reef, the future of the local tourist industry, and livelihoods of the communities living along the coast. This report makes recommendations on how this problem can be tackled, for the benefit of both people and environment. (Chris C. Tanner and Arthur J. Gold, NIWA, October 2004)

http://www.crc.uri.edu/download/Fiji_Coral_Coast_N_reduction.pdf

(Added: Mon Mar 27 2006   Hits: 115)

Take Action to Defend Our Oceans

Become a Greenpeace ocean defender and pressure governments, corporations and the UN to respect our oceans and the people that depend on them.

http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/ocean-defenders

(Added: Wed Oct 04 2006   Hits: 88)

The CMATS Treaty

Earlier this year, the governments of Australia and Timor-Leste signed a treaty to explore and exploit oil and gas fields of the Timor Sea outside the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA). The Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS Treaty), often referred to in Timor-Leste as the "Sunrise Agreement," allocates oil and gas revenues from formerly disputed areas, but delays deciding which country's territory includes which areas of the sea and seabed. This enables international companies to proceed with petroleum projects, and will provide additional revenue to both countries, but does not resolve the essential question of maritime boundaries.

http://www.laohamutuk.org/Bulletin/2006/Apr/bulletinv7n1.html#CMATS

(Added: Tue Feb 13 2007   Hits: 78)

The Fate of the Ocean

This article from American magazine Mother Jones examines the state of the World's oceans. The article addresses changes in the oceans' temperature as well as their acidity and salinity. The article also looks into the consequences of over-fishing. The conclusions it draws are sobering: not only are the oceans in bad shape, but also humans depend upon the health of the oceans for their own well-being far more than most of us realise. In short: if the oceans are in trouble then so are we.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/03/the_fate_of_the_ocean.html

(Added: Mon Mar 13 2006   Modified: Fri Jan 19 2007   Hits: 129)

The Ocean Project

The Ocean Project is an international network of aquariums, zoos, museums, and conservation organizations working to create an understanding among their visitors and members of the significance of the oceans and the role each person plays in conserving our ocean planet for the future.

http://www.theoceanproject.org

(Added: Mon Dec 20 2004   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 141)

United Nations Atlas of the Oceans

The UN Atlas of the Oceans is an Internet portal providing information relevant to the sustainable development of the oceans. It is designed for policy-makers who need to become familiar with ocean issues and for scientists, students and resource managers who need access to databases and approaches to sustainability. The UN Atlas can also provide the ocean industry and stakeholders with pertinent information on ocean matters. The Atlas includes four main entry points to access information: 1. about the oceans - from history, biology, maps and statistics to research, climatology and ecology 2. uses of the oceans - from fishing, shipping and mining to tourism, dumping and marine biotechnology 3. issues - from food security and climate change to governance and human health 4. geography - information categorized by geographical area.

http://www.oceansatlas.org/index.jsp

(Added: Mon Jun 10 2002   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 239)

Urgent action for deep sea life

The deep-sea is woefully inadequately protected from destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling. The only clear action for countries left to take now is support a global moratorium on high seas bottom trawling at the United Nations General Assembly in October. You can help protect the oceans by sending a message to the ministers of Canada, Finland, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain and the USA.

http://ctk.greenpeace.org/od-en/ctk-letters/get-info?letter%5fid=2165130&referrer%5fid=

(Added: Fri Oct 06 2006   Hits: 230)

Why Prawns Make You Sick: Environmental Justice Foundation Shrimp Campaign

Environmental Justice Foundation is investigating the devastation caused by shrimp production. We will give a voice to our partners around the globe to highlight the environmental degradation and human rights abuses resulting from commercial shrimp farming.

http://www.ejfoundation.org/shrimp/index.html

(Added: Thu Jul 31 2003   Modified: Mon Jun 13 2005   Hits: 215)

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