oceans

This week in ocean news

Some 1,700 acres of English coast will be transformed from farmland to a saltwater marsh at a cost of £12 million (about $24.4 million) ...

... researchers tagged and released bluefin tuna in the western Atlantic in an attempt to track the species' perilous decline ...

... a Silicon Valley company is developing a way to eliminate excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by consuming it during the production of cement, a process known as "carbon sequestering" ...

... rescuers worked five hours to save a basking shark that had washed up on an east Scotland beach, but the shark eventually succumbed ...

Nobel Prize is a nice follow up to Oceana Award

We are thrilled to learn that Al Gore just won the Nobel Prize. As David Roberts points out, he certainly deserved it and this is good news for all of us in the environmental community and in the world.

Gore was also presented with Oceana's 2007 Partners Award this past Friday. The former vice president's work on highlighting the challenges climate change presents to our oceans is incredibly important.

Gore was joined by Dr. Daniel Pauly, winner of the 2007 Ted Danson Ocean Hero award. Pauly is one of the world's preeminent fisheries scientists.

New developments in WTO fisheries subsidies negotiations

Some new ideas by Brazil and Argentina during the Doha round negotiations at the World Trade Organization have left me feeling rather optimistic about the ability of the WTO to actually help address one of the world's biggest environmental problems: global overfishing.

Their proposal is a real attempt by developing countries in the ongoing negotiations about fisheries subsidies to establish some rules to prevent countries from subsidizing their fishing sector without regard to the fish!

The proposal still needs work. But finally, leadership by the developing world to try a find a workable approach to ensure that development keeps the best interest of marine life and habitat in mind while also tending to the needs of people.

European Commission springs to action

For bluefin tuna to have any chance of survival, we've got to make sure proper legislation is in place to protect them and, more importantly, that it's enforced adequately and effectively.

With that in mind, it's a welcome sight to see the European Commission threatening countries like Italy and France with legal action for failing to adhere to fishing quotas and not accurately reporting catches.

The Commission's decision, though welcome, is long overdue.

Walruses, whales and … wave farms?

Illegal acts pervaded the seas, waves were promoted as renewable energy, and Brooklyn got a new resident in a busy week for the oceans. This week in ocean news ...

... The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation voted to immediately reduce cod bycatch by 40 percent off Canada's eastern coast at its annual meeting ...

... nine Pacific nations concluded Operation Big Eye, a 10-day, $15 million sting on illegal fishing boats. Patrols boarded 38 vessels ...

... another multinational effort in the north Pacific captured photographic evidence of 10 vessels rigged with driftnets, which are banned by the United Nations ...

Evaluating seafood choices just became a lot easier

Wondering whether the seafood entrée you are about to order at a restaurant is environmentally friendly? Pulling the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Card out of your wallet to check it out is so 2006. Enter FishPhone, a text-messaging service provided by the Blue Ocean Institute.

Text 30644 on your cell phone with the message "FISH" and the name of the fish in question, and the BOI will get back to you within seconds. The FishPhone website allows mobile web users to look up seafood choices as well, and provides a "Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood" that you can download to a handheld device.

European fisheries ‘poor,’ island nation Palau rich in corals

Stakes in the seas are high, but in at least one case, an interest in ocean health can lead to cooperation between unlikely teammates ...

... the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution held an international conference on the possibility of mitigating global warming by seeding the ocean with iron, a controversial procedure which would theoretically boost phytoplankton populations ...

... meanwhile, the scientist behind the theory that the earth is a living organism suggested installing a series of giant pipes in the oceans to circulate water, creating algae blooms, under the theory that the algae would consume carbon dioxide and promote cloud production ...

New study shows turtle populations on the decline

Loggerhead sea turtle nesting subpopulations in the North Atlantic are on the decline, according to a new study released by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The study, a five-year status review for loggerhead sea turtles required by the Endangered Species Act, confirms what Oceana has been telling the federal government all along.

If there is to be any real chance for restoring sea turtle populations, the federal government is going to have to take major steps to protect sea turtles from commercial fishing gear, including increased time and area closures and increased monitoring on commercial fishing fleets.

A sound plan, or a load of manure?

Take a look at this conference on dumping iron into the oceans to boost carbon pickup.