Ireland was poised to ask the European Union to permanently ban deep-sea fishing off the country’s Atlantic coast to protect coldwater coral reefs …
… the E.U. completed negotiations with non-E.U. member state Norway for 2008, allowing Norway and the E.U. to increase their North Sea cod catch by 11 percent in exchange for the E.U. reducing its cod discards, or unwanted bycatch, to 10 percent …
… a marine scientist called for a worldwide oceans monitoring system, including tagged marine creatures and robot submarines, in order to protect humanity from an ocean-based disaster …
… Hawaii’s Aquatics Resources Division proposed new limits on commercial deep-sea fishing …
… in Brussels, a hundred Polish fishermen protested a freeze on Baltic cod fishing …
… the National Organics Standards Board met to discuss whether farmed fish could ever earn the USDA’s “organic” label …
… scientists at the All-Russian Research Institute of Fish Industry and Oceanography suggested using Antarctic toothfish to study the geology of the sea floor. The toothfish swallow stones indisciminately, and no one knows why …
… a video was shown in the trial of a fishing vessel skipper who ordered fish dumped in the “big blue rubbish bin” — the ocean — after a processing plant could not handle the 311 tons of fish. A fed-up factory supervisor shot the video …
… despite worldwide controversy, Japan’s annual whale hunt — including humpbacks for the first time in 40 years — was set to go ahead. “We cannot change the program abruptly,” said a member of the Japanese cabinet …
… dolphins were sighted for the first time in 30 years near the Kanwar coast of India …
… and a helmsman in the Barcelona World Race was struck by a flying fish.
