The Online Magazine for Sustainable
Seas
November, 2002, Vol.5 No. 11
November, 2002, Vol.5 No. 11
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The Online Magazine for Sustainable
Seas
November, 2002, Vol.5 No. 11 |
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Coastal Alert |
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Philippines DENR
reorganizes World Fish
prices seen rising sharply in real terms by 2020
Philippines DENR reorganizes Starting January 1, 2003, the designations of Assistant Regional Executive Directors (AREDs) will be abolished, and the positions of Regional Technical Directors (RTDs) will be reinstituted. There will be an RTD each for Forestry; Lands; Research; and Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Resources. The DENR said the new structure will assure a client-oriented system where documents on, for example, a forestry issue, will go directly to the RTD for forestry and then to the Regional Executive Director (RED), and not have to pass through the ARED for Operations, ARED for Technical Services, and then to the ARED for Legal Services, as is the case in the present setup. The RTDs are mandated to provide operational, technical and other assistance to the RED for “a more aggressive, efficient and responsive delivery of frontline services at the regional level.” The RTD for Forestry will supervise the operations of the Forestry Resources Development Division and Forest Resources Conservation Division. The RTD for Lands will supervise the operations of the Land Management Bureau and the Surveys Division, which will assume the Land Evaluation Party, Field Network Survey Party, and survey verification functions. The RTD for Research will supervise the Technology Transfer and Utilization Division and Ecosystem Research and Development Division. The RTD for Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Resources will oversee the activities of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Division and the Coastal and Marine Management Division. Manila Bulletin, 11.24.02 Proposed bill offers incentives for fishing boats,
gears Called “Act providing for a Rural Agricultural Credit and Financing System (RACFS) and creating a Rural Agricultural and Development Council (RADC), the proposed bill will grant exemptions from paying gross receipts tax (GRT) to banks that extend loans with outstanding maturity of five years or more. For loans with maturity of from 3 years to less than 5 years, the GRT rate will be 1.5%, while loans with less than 3 years maturity will be subjected to a 3% GRT. The proposed law is a revision of Presidential Decree 717 or the Agri-Agra Law, which mandates all banks to allocate 10% of their loanable funds for financing agrarian reform, and 15% for agriculture. It phases down fund allocation for agriculture-agrarian reform to 20% in the first year of program implementation, 15 percent in the second year, 10% in the third year, and 5% thereafter. The RACFS aims to stimulate financing of agricultural needs, including the acquisition of work animal, farm equipment and machinery, fishing boats and gears, seeds, fertilizers, poultry, livestock and feeds, loans for the construction and acquisition of facilities for processing, storage and marketing of agricultural products, and loans for the construction of infrastructure. MM Aguiba, Manila Bulletin, 11.07.02 Philippines could lose underwater rights by default,
expert warns Dr. Teodoro Santos of the University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) said the dire prospect looms as the 2004 deadline set by the United Nations for the filing of offshore claims draws near, and the government is still in the preparatory stage of the delineation project. Found all around the archipelago, the country’s continental shelf extends 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) from a baseline near the shores. The delineation project, initiated in the academic community, was begun last year in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. But Santos said Congress has yet to approve the project budget, which could reach Php1 billion. T. Orejas in Philippine Daily Inquirer, 11.18.02 Duty-free privileges on fishery inputs, equipment
urged House Bill 4379 will complement other proposed bills filed in Congress that aim to exempt all types of agriculture and fisheries inputs, equipment and machinery from import taxes. “The Department of Finance estimates that the total foregone revenues from this duty-free privileges at Php39.11 million, Php439.44 million, and Php627 million in 1999, 2000 and 2001, respectively, or a total of Php1.106 billion. With the scaling down of tariffs for most [agriculture and fishery] production, additional incentives may be needed to sustain investments in the agriculture sector,” said Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor. Montemayor however expressed concern about a provision of the proposed bill, which would grant individuals, cooperatives and other enterprises engaged in the importation of all types of agriculture and fisheries inputs, equipment and machinery duty-free privileges. “We believe that the beneficiaries of the duty-free privileges should be limited to agriculture and fisheries enterprises,” he said. Manila Bulletin, 11.17.02 Manila hosts international fish conference Dubbed “PrepCon3”, the conference is a “government to government” collaborative effort among United Nations member-countries to manage and oversee the allocation of fish resources in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. It is an offshoot of a multilateral high-level conference (MHLC) convened by the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency in 1994 among 27 countries that have a stake in the fish resources. Participating countries are Australia, Canada, China, Cook Island, the European Commission, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Chinese Taipei, Tonga, Tuvalu, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna. The conference aimed to reconcile the interests of the coastal states and the fishing states in the region, and formulate conservation measures to ensure there is a sustainable supply of tuna in the Pacific. Most of the migratory fish stocks pass near the territories of the coastal states, such as the Pacific island nations, but the fishing industries are largely East Asian, European and North American. The western and central Pacific is said to be “the world’s last great tuna resource.” Also on the agenda was the selection of the location of the headquarters of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission that may be set up in early 2004. Micronesia was chosen from among six countries, including the Philippines, which expressed their intent to host the headquarters. GEM, Philippine Star, 11.17.02 Bighead carp now dominant species in Laguna de
Bay Carp production in the lake increased considerably over the last five years – from 2,500 tons in 1997 to 18,945 tons in 2001 – while milkfish production decreased from 15,325 tons in 1999 to 2,159 tons in 2001. Carp has long been a secondary species in milkfish pens, where they may be stocked at low numbers. For a long time, its culture did not catch growers’ interest because of lack of consumer acceptability. Demand, however, appears to have grown, as shown by the increased production of bighead carp fingerlings by private hatcheries. RA Fernandez in Philippine Star, 11.17.02 New tilapia strains, food fish introduced The tilapia strains are products of genetic enhancement studies and crossbreeding undertaken at the BFAR research centers in Munoz, Nueva Ecija and Dagupan City. Excel tilapia, a freshwater tilapia, is said to be larger and tastier and grows faster than the ordinary tilapia. The Molobicus tilapia, on the other hand, is a saltwater strain that can withstand 26-35 ppt salinity. It is intended as a component of environment-friendly prawn farming. In combination with probiotics, Molobicus tilapia prevents the occurrence of fish diseases and viral problems by producing green water. It also helps control Hydrilla spp, a major pest in extensive prawn farming. Silver perch, considered a high-end aquaculture commodity in Australia and the United States, was imported into the country for studies in 1999. The BFAR research center in Dagupan City reported that its silver perch breeding and larval rearing experiments have been a success, the first among countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. PNA in The Freeman, 11.02.02 Lapu-lapu City wants desalination plant to operate
soon More marine sanctuaries established The three islets, which are located near Malapascua Island, Daanbantayan, Cebu in central Visayas, are Monad Shoal, Isla de Gato and Lapus-lapus, known as breeding grounds for sea snakes and sharks. The municipal government said the declaration is intended to ensure the conservation of marine life around the islets, but also to ensure sustainable development for tourism in the area. The municipality plans to regulate the use of these islets by charging visitor fees and imposing penalties on violators. Meanwhile Masbate City launched last October its own marine sanctuary near Buntod Reef. The sanctuary, the first in the city, is intended primarily as a fisheries management and conservation measure to improve productivity in the surrounding fishery areas. With report from GM Rubio in Cebu Daily News, 11.11.02 El Nino will not affect fisheries, says fisheries
bureau The Bureau said it has drawn up contingency plans for inland fisheries to offset losses from the effects of El Nino on coastal fisheries. Seaweed production will also be affected, even as the government’s guarantee fund has set aside Php50 million in financial assistance for seaweed farmers. With the Philippine seaweed industry enjoying an annual growth rate of 5-8%, the country remains the world’s No.1 seaweed producer and the fourth largest producer of carrageenan. The fisheries sector grew by 5.5% in 2001.Production, including aquaculture and marine catch, grew from 2.7 million in 1994-1997 to 2.8 million tons in 1999, and 3 million tons in 2001. BFAR said production during the first semester of 2002 was 1.7 million tons. BFAR Congressman wants Kalayaan declared a protected
area Bacalio said the proposed bill will also serve as a major legislative step to assert the Philippine jurisdiction over the Kalayaan Islands Group. JDT in Manila Bulletin, 10.27.02 World Fish prices seen rising sharply in real terms by
2020 Fish is the primary source of animal protein for roughly one sixth of the world’s people and contributed about 7% of the world’s total food supply. As wild fishery resources decline, it will have significant impacts on food security, nutrition and income levels in developing countries as fish become more scarce and expensive over the next two decades. The economists project that, using the most likely assumptions, fish production will increase at an annual rate of 0.4% less than global population through 2020, causing prices to rise 4 to 16% in real terms (after inflation), depending on the species. Using other assumptions that include a major downturn (1% per year) in the wild fish harvest from open waters (capture fisheries) and static growth projections for farmed fish (aquaculture), prices would rise 26% to 70%. "Fish is the fastest growing source of food in the developing world yet demand greatly exceeds supply and the problem is growing," said Dr. Meryl Williams, Director-General of the Malaysia-based WorldFish Centre. "Almost three-quarters of the 130 million tons extracted in 2000 came from fish stocks already depleted, over-fished or fully exploited. Many of these stressed fish stocks will not be able to produce even at current levels, let alone cope with the increase in demand that results from 90 million more mouths to feed every year." She added: “To understand the difference in access to fish between the rich and the poor, consider this: A person on the poverty line (US$1 /day) in a developing country would have to work for two days to pay for a kilogram of local fish such as tilapia, carp or milkfish, whereas the average person in the developed world would need to work for less than an hour to earn enough for a kilogram of salmon or trout.” Spurred by both a growth in population and in the worldwide appetite for seafood, the world’s average per capita consumption of fish has almost doubled in less than 50 years, according to the analysis, released as leading experts and decision makers arrive in Penang for the Fish for All Summit last Nov. 3, hosted by the WorldFish Centre. In coming years, the Centre says some species will disappear from markets, the quality of seafood caught will decline, and conflicts among and within countries will increase. In the likeliest forecast scenario, global production of food fish will rise 1.5% annually through 2020. Two-thirds of this growth will come from aquaculture, which is expected to make up 41% of total food fish production in 2020 (up from 31% in 1996-98). Most growth will occur in developing countries, which will account for 79% of global food fish production in 2020. (They presently account for 65% of global food fish production.) China’s share of world production will continue to expand, while that of Japan, the European Union, and former USSR will continue to contract. Growing domestic demand will dampen fish exports from developing countries; only Latin America will export a significant share (35%) of production. Aquaculture growth trends projected to 2020 are almost twice as high as for capture fisheries in most of the world. While China’s share of food fish production from aquaculture is expected to increase from 59 to 66%, other developing countries’ share of production from aquaculture will increase from 17 to 27%, a larger relative change. “The recent World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg set the goal of restoring depleted world fisheries by 2015,” Williams said. “The Fish For All Summit in Penang marks the start of the route for reaching that target. The problems are multiplying, and the time has come for an informed, inclusive, public dialog. The world lacks a neutral forum in which to air dilemmas over different values. The Fish For All initiative will help establish sustainable environmental practices along the world’s rivers and coastlines, and in its lakes, seas and oceans.” The Summit discussed the following concerns:
CITES conference ends with strong decisions on
wildlife conservation Among the high-profile decisions taken here was the listing of mahogany - which produces extremely valuable timber - on CITES' Appendix II. This listing requires each of the mahogany range states to ensure that all exports are sustainable and covered by CITES export permits. "It is highly significant that after 10 years of discussion, the Parties to CITES have agreed to regulate the trade in Latin American mahogany," said Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General of CITES, whose secretariat is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme. "The well-tested control measures developed under CITES will prove invaluable for discouraging illegal trade. This decision will also benefit local and indigenous communities who have lost out to the illegal traders." Another critical decision reached in the final hours of the meeting was to list the whale shark and the basking shark on Appendix II. This is widely considered a landmark agreement as CITES has not traditionally played an important role in global fisheries. The whale shark is the largest fish in the world, measuring up to 20 meters in length and weighing up to 34 tons. The listing proposal cited the species' declining numbers and the role of continued international trade in whale shark meat, fins, and liver oil. The basking shark is highly migratory and is hunted for its meat and fins. Large numbers are also caught and killed accidentally as by-catch. In reintroducing the whale shark issue, the Philippines noted that whale shark populations declined drastically around the world between 1994 and 2000, including by 60-70% in the Philippines, by 48% in India, and by as much as 99% in South Africa. This species is currently only protected in isolated parts of its range, including, Australia, Belize, Honduras, India, Maldives, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States. The conference also added 26 species of Asian turtles to Appendix II. Many turtles from South, Southeast and East Asia are traded in significant quantities for regional food markets, Asian traditional medicines and international pet markets. Their numbers have been dwindling in recent years, and the newly listed species are vulnerable or endangered throughout their ranges. There is extensive evidence of illegal trade, but turtles are also harvested for subsistence consumption. Habitat loss is another major threat to their survival. The trade in seahorses will also now be regulated for the first time. Seahorse populations seem to have declined dramatically over recent years owing to commercial trade, by-catch in fisheries, coastal development, destructive fishing practices and pollution. To meet the growing demand for traditional medicines, aquarium pets, souvenirs and curios, at least 20 million seahorses were captured annually from the wild in the early 1990s, and the trade is estimated to be growing by 8-10% per year. All 32 seahorse species will now be listed in Appendix II. Three rare birds from Central and South America -- the yellow-naped parrot, the yellow-headed parrot and the blue-headed macaw -- have been transferred from Appendix II Appendix I. This means that no commercial trade will be permitted. This stricter regulation reflects concerns that the birds' numbers have continued to decline in recent years due to trade and habitat loss. A number of threatened species in Madagascar - one of the world's most species-rich countries - will also receive stronger protection. They are the flat-tailed tortoise, various chameleons, a burrowing frog, and the Madagascan orchid. The meeting also agreed to set a zero quota for commercial trade in the Black Sea population of bottlenose dolphins, which was already listed on Appendix II. These dolphins have declined greatly in recent years due to hunting, pollution and other stresses. Building on an earlier consensus among most African elephant range states, CITES also agreed on a rigorous regime for controlling any eventual trade in ivory stockpiles. It conditionally accepted proposals from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa that they be allowed to make one-off sales of 20, 10 and 30 tons, respectively, of ivory. The ivory is held in existing legal stocks that have been collected from elephants that died of natural causes or as a result of government-regulated problem-animal control. The agreement requires any future one-off sales to be supervised through a strict control system. The sales cannot occur before May 2004 to provide time for baseline data to be gathered on population and poaching levels and for the CITES Secretariat to confirm whether any potential importing countries can effectively regulate their domestic ivory markets and are thus eligible for importing the ivory. The aim of these controls is to prevent any illegal ivory from entering into legal markets and to discourage an upsurge in poaching. Another protection built into the system is that trade can be suspended if the CITES Secretariat and Standing Committee find either an exporting or an importing country to be in non-compliance. In addition, trade can be stopped if there is evidence that trade negatively affects elephant populations in other regions of Africa. Two monitoring systems that have been established to track the illegal killing of elephants (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants, or MIKE) and illegal sales of ivory (Elephant Trade Information System, or ETIS) will be critical to ensuring that countries relying on tourism are not harmed by ivory sales from countries that also rely on trade. Still other decisions seek to strengthen domestic conservation of threatened or endangered species already controlled by CITES, including bears, the tiger, sturgeon, and the Tibetan antelope. The 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention was held from 4 - 15 November. It was attended by some 1,200 participants from 141 governments as well as numerous observer organizations. COP 13 will be held at the end of 2004 or in the first half of 2005 in Thailand. Japan fails to get CITES nod on minke whale trade SANTIAGO, Chile, 15 November 2002 -- Parties to the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) made a strong statement today against commercial whaling, voting overwhelmingly against a second attempt by Japan to downlist one population of the minke whale from Appendix I to Appendix II for which trade would have then been allowed. Japan had amended its earlier proposal to pertain to one stock of minke whales, the Okhotsk Sea - West Pacific stock, known as minke "O" stock. The amended proposal received 53 votes for and 66 votes against, failing to earn the two-thirds vote required. International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Stronger action against organized wildlife criminals
sought Profits from the illegal harvesting, smuggling and sale of tiger skins, bear gall bladders, ivory, rare orchids and other wildlife products are now only exceeded by those of trafficking in narcotics and weapons. This illegal trade risks pushing species that are already highly endangered over the edge. "In addition to threatening the survival of many plant and animal species, criminal gangs are also exploiting local hunters and fishermen in some of the world's poorest regions," said Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). "While these hard-pressed workers scour the wilderness to earn small amounts of money to feed their families, the crime syndicates that control the poaching and smuggling reap enormous profits. Policy makers and the heads of Customs and police agencies need to confront the fact that the profits from organized wildlife crime can even exceed those of narcotics or arms," he said. Government officials and experts attending the CITES conference in Santiago, Chile, discussed how to strengthen global cooperation on gathering intelligence about these criminal organizations and then targeting them for successful prosecution. Discussions addressed corruption, inter-agency cooperation at the national and international levels, the deployment of specialized enforcement units, penalties for offenders, forensic science, the fraudulent use of CITES permits and certificates, and techniques that can be used to combat smugglers. State of globe's coral reefs chronicled on new
ReefBase site The majority of bleaching records have come from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia with others from reefs in countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Palau, Maldives, Tanzania, Seychelles, Belize, Ecuador and off the Florida coast of the United States. The findings, released by the WorldFish Centre, the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), have come from a new global coral reef information system called ReefBase, which contains data on bleaching events dating back to 1963. ReefBase has been set up by the WorldFish Center as part of ICRAN, a global network of more than 10 international agencies aimed at boosting the fortunes of coral reefs by developing sustainable ways of managing them. ICRAN is funded through UNEP by the United Nations Foundation. Dr Meryl Williams, Director General of the WorldFish Centre, said: "Twenty countries in all the major oceans have so far this year documented over 430 cases of bleaching. This makes 2002 the second worst year for the phenomenon after the major bleaching events of 1998, which were linked with the very strong El Nino, climatic event, of that year. While the impacts are much less than in 1998, we are very concerned at what the short- and long-term impacts are going to be on the reefs themselves and the people who depend on them. A lot will hinge on how well the reefs recover from these latest events and if further bleaching events occur over the coming years". Coral bleaching occurs when stressful conditions such as high temperatures cause corals to expel the microscopic algae that live in their tissues. The algae provide essential food energy for corals. Dr Jamie Oliver, project leader of ReefBase and chair of the ICRAN Steering Committee whose Board of Directors is meeting in Washington DC tomorrow, said, "Reliable and publicly available information on the frequency, intensity and location of coral bleaching is vital for informed debate about the causes and consequences of these events. Such information is also crucial for making the sound decisions needed to protect and conserve reef systems." ReefBase currently holds over 3,800 records going back to 1963 which include information on the severity of bleaching. This is important in order to distinguish between low-level bleaching, which has probably always occurred on coral reefs, and recurrent, massive bleaching of entire reefs, which may be a new phenomenon related to climate change. Said Oliver, "The database shows an increase in the frequency and intensity of bleaching, as well as a rise in the number of countries affected. While some of this may be due to increased awareness of the problem, the phenomenon has been well known among divers and scientists for many years, so the trend is almost certainly real. It is too early to determine what level of mortality will occur as a result of the current bleaching, but based on previous events we can expect a significant number of reefs to suffer loss of corals which could take many years to replace.” Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef system in the world, was severely affected, with 2002 being the worst bleaching event on record. ReefBase is also working closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States to match bleaching events with global sea surface temperatures. It is planned to create automatically updated maps displaying bleaching events with NOAA's Index of Temperature Anomalies. Dr Alan Strong, Team Leader in NOAA's Oceanic Research and Applications Division and Coordinator of NOAA's C Reef Watch Program, said, "We have found a strong correlation between our Degree Heating Week index and coral bleaching events and can often provide real-time predictions of bleaching for some areas such as observed late this summer in the most north-western Hawaiian Islands, at Midway and most certainly at Howland and Baker Islands near the Equator." Scientists, marine park managers and other experts are being urged to provide data on bleaching, coral mortality and recovery to ReefBase. "That way we can provide people with information on how well coral reefs are recovering or adapting to climate change. At present the signs are not good, but we need to make sure that any conclusions are based on a comprehensive analysis of all the available data. ReefBase is a key instrument for achieving this goal", said Oliver. Natural disasters in 2002 to cost over $70 billion Typhoon Rusa, which hit the Republic of Korea in late August and early September, downed 24,000 power lines, destroyed 645 ships, resulted in the deaths of 300,000 livestock and cost $6.6 billion, the report says. Meanwhile, insured losses are running at an estimated $9 billion over the same period. For example, the August floods in Europe, the worst in 150 years, flooded buildings, swept away cars, damaged railway, power and communications lines and killed more than 100 people. Insured losses are to date estimated at between $2 and $5 billion. The findings, announced at the 8th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in New Delhi, India, have come from experts at Munich Re. The re-insurance company, a member of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Finance Initiative, has since the 1970s been compiling annual records on natural catastrophes and their costs. Thomas Loster, a member of the team, said: "There have been over 500 major natural disasters already this year, killing thousands of people, making hundreds of thousands homeless and affecting millions. Many of the atmospheric events we have recorded were extreme." "Rain intensities reached unique values, marking all-time records in the statistics of the meteorologists and climate scientists. There have been, for example, the floods in Chile, Jamaica, Nepal, Spain and France and the summer floods in Germany where annual precipitation averages were reached in the course of only one or two days. We have, once more, strong indications that global warming is increasing and will thus have serious affects on societies and economies alike", he said. The Munich Re report, part of its "Topics" series, says there have been an estimated 526 significant natural disasters in the first nine months of 2002 with the highest in Asia, 195; followed by the Americas, 149; Europe, 99; Australasia, 45, and Africa, 38. Over 9,400 people have been killed as a result, with the vast majority, over 8,000, in Asia. Economic losses are estimated at $56.4 billion with Europe suffering the most. Europe's economic losses for the first nine months of the year from natural disasters are so far estimated to be almost $33 billion followed by Asia, $14.8 billion, and North America, $7.7 billion. Insured losses have so far cost the industry $9 billion with insured losses in Europe the highest at over $6 billion. The report underscores the high level of rain-related natural catastrophes. One third of the 526 natural catastrophes in 2002 were floods. In total, there were more windstorm-related natural disasters. But floods killed more people and cost far more than windstorms, earthquakes or other natural catastrophes. The report estimates that 42 per cent of fatalities; 66 per cent of the economic losses and 64 per cent of insured losses were due to floods. Windstorms, including hurricanes and tornadoes, accounted for 13 per cent of fatalities, 23 per cent of economic losses and 34 per cent of insured losses. UN declares International Day for Preventing Exploitation
of Environment in Time of War Though mankind has always counted its war casualties in terms of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained the unpublicized victim of war. Environmental damage includes polluted air, water and land; unregulated plunder of natural resources by belligerents; and the negative impact of mass population movements on water, biodiversity and other ecosystems services. In many cases, the effects are only reversible in the long term. United Nations Member States saw the need to monitor and assess damage to the environment following armed conflict and in 1999, requested the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its sister agency, UN-Habitat,to establish the UNEP/Habitat Balkans Task Force to collect information and analyze the consequences for the environment and human settlements of military actions in the Balkans region. Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, said, "We have the Geneva Conventions, which are aimed at safeguarding the rights of prisoners of war and civilians. But we also need safeguards for the environment during times of war and in the aftermath of conflict. Unless the Earth's life support systems are given priority, then the chances of returning stability and prosperity to a country scarred and damaged by war will prove elusive, aggravating the already difficult work of peace-keepers, and aid and humanitarian agencies that are called in to repair damaged communities long after the combatants have gone.” Trade policies cannot work on their own – WTO head Said Supachai, “To ensure that trade works for growth and development, trade policy and trade priority areas of action need to be critically anchored either in overall national development plans and/or in strategies for poverty reduction. In the absence of the effective integration of trade into development planning and strategies for poverty reduction, trade cannot work for development. Trade should be mainstreamed into development plans and strategies for poverty reduction because it is part of a pro-poor, pro-growth and pro-development strategy. Country ownership is essential. Coordination amongst bilateral donors, within and between multilateral and regional agencies, and partnerships between the government and private sector require improvements.” International commission acts to control rogue
fishing, extends marlin protection "On the whole, we were disappointed by the outcome of this ICCAT meeting," said Dr. William T. Hogarth, chief US ICCAT Commissioner and director of the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries). "The total allowable catch for eastern bluefin tuna is way too high, and the total swordfish allowances for the north and south Atlantic Ocean will put significant pressure on the small swordfish that are a high proportion of the stock." Hogarth added that there are some good items in the ICCAT package. "There is increased protection for small bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. Members also committed to work on integrating bluefin tuna management in the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean and consider the mixing status between east and west bluefin tuna populations. This action will lead to a re-examination of the arbitrarily set dividing line that separates the two fishery management areas. In addition, ICCAT has adopted far- reaching measures to control IUU fishing and address chartering of foreign fishing vessels by developing coastal countries. ICCAT also ensured that virtually all of the countries fishing in the Atlantic are now under its management structure by applying the new allocation criteria. Those agreements are going to make future management more effective." ICCAT also extended Phase 1 of its rebuilding plan for white marlin and blue marlin through 2005. This action maintains the requirement to release all live marlins that are caught incidentally by purse seine and longline vessels. ICCAT provides management recommendations to countries for the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean. For western bluefin tuna, ICCAT increased the total allowable catch (TAC) from 2500 metric tons to 2700 metric tons, and provided a special allowance for U.S. and Canadian by-catch taken by swordfish long-line vessels in the middle of the North Atlantic ocean. ICCAT also adopted a plan to maintain a list of large-scale vessels authorized to fish for ICCAT species. This action should help eliminate fishing by vessels operating illegally and not reporting their catches. Processes and procedures for developing a list of IUU vessels were also developed. Vessels that are not on the authorized vessel list, or that are on the IUU list, will not be allowed to land their catches in the ports of ICCAT countries or to export those catches to ICCAT members. In addition, ICCAT adopted a binding recommendation to improve data collection and enforcement. Simpler rules set for clean bathing water across
European Union The new proposal is intended to deliver three clear benefits: improved health standards, more efficient management including the active involvement of the public, and allowing Member States greater flexibility in the way they implement the Directive. Compared with the current Directive, the proposed standards are expected to reduce by a factor of two to three the risk of contracting gastro-enteritis and respiratory diseases as a result of bathing. This new proposal puts the emphasis on the proactive management of beaches, not just the regular monitoring of water quality. It also aims at making more use of modern communication methods such as the Internet to inform the public about the quality of bathing waters. Coastal Guide News Scientific advice recommends moratorium on EU cod fisheriesA number of cod fisheries should be closed in European Union waters, according to the latest scientific advice from the independent International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Scientists have for several years been warning about the growing depletion of a number of fish stocks, in particular cod. Commenting on the alarming new advice, Franz Fischler, EU Commissioner responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, said, "I don't want to say 'I told you so'. But it is galling, after repeatedly warning of the dire consequences of inaction, to see our worst fears realized and to be now faced with recommendations for a moratorium on some cod fisheries. It is clear that in the absence of effective conservation and control measures these stocks are being persistently overfished. Previous data were distorted by misreporting of catches and illegal landings. We now have to recognize that the state of these stocks has never been worse". The advice from ICES is to close all fisheries catching cod either as a target species or as by-catch in the Eastern Channel, Skagerrak, North Sea, Irish Sea and west of Scotland. As cod is caught along with a number of other species, this would mean a moratorium on most demersal fisheries in the areas concerned. Such measures would affect haddock, whiting and probably Nephrops fisheries. The advice on cod and other fish stocks in the northeast Atlantic is available on the ICES website The current state of cod stocks is due to too much fishing over a number of years and inefficient control by Member States. Cod catches have been higher than those reported and cod have also been discarded. The numbers of young fish joining the stock has been very low in recent years, mostly due to the fact that there are few adult fish left to spawn eggs. In addition, emergency and technical measures established in 2001 have not been as effective as expected in protecting cod. Proposed long-term recovery measures to help rebuild cod and hake stocks threatened with collapse have not been adopted yet. Australia faces dilemma on population and environment
issues “In choosing what Australia's population should be in the future we can't rely on technology alone in the decision making process," said CSIRO researcher, Barney Foran, co-author of a ground breaking report, Future Dilemmas: Options to 2050 for Australia's population, Technology, Resources and Environment. "We believe that we have at last begun to get a handle on the extremely complex relationships inherent in Australia's economy and ecology, and we have created a tool which will be useful to successive generations of governments and planners," he said. In 1999, the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) commissioned the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) to study the environmental impacts of different levels of population growth. “The team used the best information available and the most sophisticated computer modeling to build up three alternative possibilities. The first 'low' scenario looks at the consequences of a zero net immigration rate, and a population of 20 million by 2050," Foran said. "The 'medium' scenario gives a population of 25 million, and the 'high' results in a population of 32 million by 2050." Foran said sustainability for Australia needs more than simply attempting to manage future levels of immigration and population. "We'll have to take a long hard look at our infrastructure, lifestyle, energy usage, international trade, and technology. The real challenge in the population and resources debate is how we reduce the volume of energy and materials we consume, while still maintaining our standard of living.” Foran is optimistic about Australia's immediate future, but cautions that direct population effects will be significant in several major areas including fisheries resources, stocks of oil, and air quality. "All three scenarios show continued growth in a range of key sectors of the economy until at least 2020," he said. "This gives us a window of opportunity, in which we can ensure that we will be able to meet the standards of innovation and efficiency which are necessary for a sustainable future.” He noted that the problem of an aging population does need to be addressed, but that it is a matter more of dependency than age. He recommended five issues be considered in the national debate:
Copies of the report are available at the CSIRO website Florida Keys coral reefs declared a “Sensitive
Sea Area” Starting December 1, ships greater than 50 meters (164 feet) in length transiting the zone will be held to internationally accepted and enforceable rules. The rules direct ship captains to avoid certain areas within the zone altogether and abide by three no-anchoring areas within the zone. All nautical charts produced worldwide will now show the Florida Particularly Sensitive Sea Area and address these protective measures. More than 40 percent of the world's commerce passes through the Florida Straits each year. Ten large ship groundings have occurred in the zone since 1984 and coral damage by rogue anchoring by large ships or freighters has occurred 17 times since 1997. "This rare international form of protection now awarded to fragile Florida Keys coral reefs is an example of how federal resource managers can work closely with industry to protect vulnerable natural resources while simultaneously supporting shipping and economic growth. Both ship trade and the tourism tied to the Keys coral reefs have vital economic significance to the state and region," said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Samuel W. Bodman. "This protective status makes the international shipping community aware of the coral reefs and increases compliance with domestic measures already in place to protect the area, while not hindering trade and commerce." NOAA and the US delegation worked on behalf of the State of Florida to submit a proposal to the IMO to designate the marine area that stretches from Biscayne National Park to the Tortugas and encompasses all of NOAA's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The IMO is a United Nations Specialized Agency that is responsible for issues relating to international shipping. To gain approval for a protected sea area, a nation must identify maritime-interest compliance measures with which the IMO can direct ships to comply. For the Florida Keys' Particularly Sensitive Sea Area these measures are four "areas to be avoided" that prevent large ships from traveling too close to the coral reef. This amendment to the northernmost area to be avoided was developed in response to comments by mariners operating in the area because of the risk of collisions that could result in devastating pollution to the reefs. The four other particularly sensitive sea areas are the Great Barrier Reef, Australia; the Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago, Cuba; Malpelo Island, Colombia; and the Wadden Sea proposed by Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany. Coastal Barriers Act saves US taxpayers $1.3 Billion Signed into law by President Reagan, the Act imposes no regulations on how individuals may develop their land, but it halted federal spending for roads, wastewater systems, potable water supplies and disaster relief in high-risk coastal areas. The Act also halted federally-guaranteed, low-cost flood insurance on designated units of the coastal barriers resources system, which includes areas on the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts and some in the Great Lakes. The report notes that the Act is complemented and made to work even better when state and local governments add their own layers of protection. Texas, for example, prohibits State-backed windstorm insurance on designated coastal barriers, and on Dauphin Island in Alabama, the State's coastal construction control line coincides with Federal boundaries. In 1982, the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System included some 590,000 acres of undeveloped coastal barrier habitat along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The "undeveloped" provision of the law was an important underpinning, designed to help steer new construction away from risky and environmentally sensitive places with economic disincentives. The law was also designed to avoid injury to existing communities. In 1990, Congress amended the Act to include areas around the Great Lakes, in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, raising the area covered to more than 1.3 million acres. Aside from the $1.3 billion in Federal dollars already estimated to have been saved, the report estimated that $200 million in disaster relief funds could be saved by 2050. For the complete coastal barriers report, go to the FWS site Long-line fishing banned off US Pacific Coast Full story: http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2002/2002-10-31-06.asp Support builds for protection of beluga sturgeon In a separate development on the international level, the United Nations' agency responsible for regulating global trade in endangered species froze exports of beluga caviar from the Caspian Sea until further notice for the second time in little over a year. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species cited the lack of effective coordinated management of beluga sturgeon catches and exports. Noting similar problems last year, CITES suspended trade in beluga sturgeon from the Caspian Sea in July 2001, but allowed it to resume in March of this year. "While the most recent suspension of trade may offer temporary relief for beluga sturgeon, a US Endangered Species listing would help provide the long-term protection necessary to bring this species back from the brink of extinction," said Lisa Speer, senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "The beluga sturgeon population has plunged more than 90 percent in the past 20 years, and is now well beyond threatened status. Trade of its eggs is not sustainable now or in the foreseeable future." If approved, an endangered species listing would prohibit all importation of beluga caviar into the United States, the world's largest beluga caviar importer. The US Fish & Wildlife Service issued its proposal on July 31, 2002, in response to a lawsuit filed in 2002 by NRDC to compel the Service to act on a petition to protect beluga sturgeon filed in 2000. The petition was put forth by Caviar Emptor, a coalition of conservation organizations NRDC, the Wildlife Conservation Society and SeaWeb. Supporting this important measure to protect beluga sturgeon is the government of Azerbaijan, one of five nations bordering the Caspian Sea that is home to most of the world's remaining beluga sturgeon. In a letter to the Service, Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Gussein Bagirov stated, "catch of beluga in the Caspian Sea has significantly dropped during the last decades," and that "continued fishing pressure on these populations is not affordable." Bagirov's letter recommended that "at this stage it would make much sense if the allocated quota were used for reproduction purposes rather than for commercial catch." Seaweb Costa Rica passes law to protect sea turtles The law provides that a person who kills, hunts, captures, slaughters, traffics in or trades sea turtles will be punished with a prison term. It prohibits keeping sea turtles for commercial purposes, or trading sea turtle products and sub-products. The law also requires all Costa Rican and foreign shrimping vessels that operate in the territorial waters and exclusive economic zone of Costa Rica to use turtle-excluder devices (TEDs). Carribean Conservation Corporation Puerto Rico aquaculture projects aim to be environmentally,
economically friendly Two cages were stocked in August, one with 12,000 cobia (the first time this has ever been done for this species) and the other with 4,000 mutton snapper. The fish grew to three times their original size in just two weeks. Currently, only five percent of Puerto Rico's seafood supply comes from aquaculture fisheries. Inshore aquaculture projects are subject to domestic and industrial runoff, and its own wastes can impact the local environment. Offshore, limited technology previously prevented deployments from being harmed by ocean elements. The new cage technology, developed by Ocean Spar, can resist the elements and is cleaner for the environment. In addition to monitoring the caged fish and their development, future studies will include environmental monitoring and determining the cage's social impact on the area. If successful, the aquaculture project should pave the way for clean, economical fisheries operations in the Caribbean. National Sea Grant College Program FAO guides Namibia's efforts to manage stocks sustainably,
share proceeds equitably The creation of the Namibian fisheries sector is a success story par excellence. Today, it is considered a model of rigorous management of one of the world's richest fishing grounds, which is still recovering from severe overfishing in the 1970s and 1980s. But it is also a story of government determination to make sure the bounty would be shared among as many citizens as possible, from illiterate villagers to middle managers to a new cadre of fisheries inspectors and patrol officers to businessmen and civil servants. The proof -- 14 000 new jobs and US$354 million contributed to export earnings in 2000 -- means a lot to a small African country of 1.7 million people. It also means a lot to the families of the Namibian employees, whose remittances support whole villages in the populous north of the country. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has worked with Namibia every step of the way by providing a special advisor to the Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources, who heads a ministry that didn't even exist before independence in 1990. The advisor guides the government in myriad ways: structuring the ministry, right down to writing job descriptions for senior posts; implementing the fisheries master plan; drafting legislation; and monitoring whether Namibia is fulfilling international fishing treaty obligations. "FAO was chosen because of its credibility, breadth of expertise and neutrality," says the Minister, Dr Abraham Iyambo. "We could have gone to a big fishing nation [for an advisor], but nations can change government. They are less reliable. The United Nations is always going to be there." Soon after independence, with support from Norway, the government produced a White Paper, a master plan for the fisheries sector that covered the development of a national fishing and processing industry. It addressed such detailed issues as sustainable stock management; job and business-ownership preference for Namibians, especially indigenous Namibians; modern monitoring and surveillance; research capacity; and a global profile for Namibia as a leading fishing nation. Iyambo says the government rigorously followed the White Paper because "it is important for investors. Is their money safe? You don't want to tell people this is policy today, and tomorrow you tell them it has changed." While deregulation has been the fashion in many sectors worldwide -- for example, transportation and energy – over the past two decades, fishing companies in Namibia have been strong supporters of a tightly regulated industry, and they are willing to pay for it. The largest fishing company in Namibia is NovaNam Ltd., with 51 percent of voting equity owned by Namibian financial institutions, Namibian private investors and company staff and with operations in Lüderitz and Walvis Bay, the country's only other fishing port. A member of the Pescanova Group, the leading branded fish and seafood products company in Spain, NovaNam's huge Lüderitz waterfront plant employs 1 950 staff and is capable of processing more than 100 tonnes of fish a day, serviced by 19 fishing vessels. "There are other rich fishing grounds in the world, but the resource management is here in Namibia," notes Miguel Angel Tordesillas, NovaNam's Group Senior General Manager. "The government introduced a scientific and political framework that was a pragmatic, sensible model. We were the first new investment to come back. Our confidence has been vindicated 150 percent -- we're continuing to invest and expand." Applications of ‘ocean’s living light’ studied Few oceanic phenomena are more beautiful or surreal than the cosmic light shows put on by the ocean's ubiquitous bioluminescent sea creatures. The shows are seen from the surface, where a swimming dolphin or turbulence from a moving ship can excite living trails of light, to the darkest depths, where bioluminescent creatures constantly create ever-changing constellations of light. The military has long been interested in studying bioluminescence because, when excited by ships and submarines, those light shows can give away vessels' positions, jeopardizing them and their crews. By the same token, bioluminescence can help the military spot and track enemy vessels. Indeed, in 1918, it was bioluminescence that gave away the position of the last German U-boat sunk during World War I. While bioluminescence is extremely common in all ocean waters, it is also variable. At certain times there might be few or no bioluminescent organisms to give off light in the wake of a ship or submarine. If the Navy could reliably predict such events it could, for instance, increase the safety of covert missions. Though progress has been made, such a feat has proven difficult because the vast soup of sea creatures involved remains poorly understood. Better understanding of bioluminescence could also lead to its use as a sensitive detection tool for anti-submarine and countermine warfare HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution, a non-profit research organization, is development the first ever equipment that will allow measurement of the amount of bioluminescent light in a given area while simultaneously identifying who is making the light. With it data can be produced that could vastly improve the Navy's ability to forecast the level of bioluminescence to expect at a specific location and time, and its ability to use bioluminescence as a detection tool, while also shedding light on a number of other important research pursuits. Beyond Navy applications, a better understanding of bioluminescence is intimately tied to a better understanding of the oceans. It can help researchers to better understand and track the planet's most massive migration – the daily movement of a colossal and varied mass of sea creatures inhabiting the depths up to the surface for night feeding when they are not as likely to be seen and eaten. Study of the migration has been severely hampered by the general difficulty of doing research in the ocean's largely unexplored and unexamined mid-waters. Other potential applications include helping researchers determine the geographical boundaries of blooms of toxic algae such as red tides and assessments of the population size of food sources for important commercial fisheries. Because bioluminescence can diminish in response to the presence of toxic chemicals, the phenomenon could also be used as an indicator of water quality once better understood. Sea Grant researchers find new method for detecting skin diseases in fishWASHINGTON, DC, 20 November 2002 — North Carolina Sea Grant researchers have discovered that a fluorescent dye can be used to assess the health of fish. The scientists found that fluorescein, a nontoxic dye that glows in the dark, can be used to detect the presence of skin diseases in all types of fish, including rainbow trout, channel catfish, goldfish and hybrid striped bass. "Fluorescein has the potential to be an inexpensive, safe and highly sensitive way of detecting skin damage in fish," says Ed Noga, professor at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. "Skin infections are the most common maladies affecting both cultured and wild fish. Some type of skin damage affects virtually every fish population at one time or another. This test can be used by anyone who works with fish, including the aquaculture industry, aquariums and pet stores." This is the first time that researchers have used fluorescein for detecting skin ulceration in fish. Currently, the dye is commonly used to detect ophthalmic lesions, such as cornea ulceration in humans and animals. It also has been used as a trace in clinical studies of ocular blood flow or angiography. The use of this test would be particularly important for the aquaculture industry where fish are reared under very high stocking densities, offering potential for disease outbreaks. In North Carolina alone, aquaculture enterprises were estimated to be worth nearly $21 million in 2001, and nationally aquaculture's economic impact is currently estimated at $5.6 billion annually. The study is appearing in the November issue of Veterinary Pathology. National Sea Grant College Program Recent ReleasesIdentifying the problem: A new guide to help
law enforcers check trade in traditional Asian medicines "Although the guide cannot replace the need for an expert in every case, it certainly can assist in flagging potential problem shipments that may need more detailed inspection and allow other shipments to be cleared more quickly," said Crawford Allan, one of the authors. Enforcement officers inspecting shipments or domestic sales have an unenviable task when checking for components listed in the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES). Dried seeds, herbs and packets of traditional medicines may include parts and derivatives of species regulated or prohibited in trade. Typically these include tiger bone, rhino horn, bear bile or musk. How enforcers determine whether these are regulated items that may require CITES papers remains a perennial challenge. With the Traditional Asian Medicine Identification Guide for Law Enforcers, officers now have access to 430 full color images of traditional Asian medicines that claim to contain species that are controlled in international trade. Available in searchable CD-ROM and print copies, each medicine 'profile' includes a written description explaining the alleged contents of the medicine. The medicines are indexed by key identifiers that are easy to recognize by the law enforcers. There is also an explanation of how to 'read' the packaging and identify controlled species from the ingredients list. In hard-copy form, the guide is loose-leaf (170 pages) – allowing for easier revision, addition of the enforcer's own notes, and photocopying for wider and cheaper distribution. The main audience for the guide is law enforcers based in countries outside of Asia who may have to deal with inspecting imports or domestic sale of traditional Asian medicines. The guide is available only in English, however the format allows for easy translation into other languages for greater utility. The CDs are available free of charge for law enforcers upon request from the CITES Secretariat: Ger van Vliet Breaking New Ground: Mining, Minerals and Sustainable
Development Drawing on the project's two-year process of consultation and research, Breaking New Ground describes the minerals sector and its relationship with concepts of sustainable development, and offers an Agenda for Change for immediate and future actions. The report is based on four regional processes, activities in 16 countries and over 200 pieces of commissioned research contained in an accompanying CD-ROM. To order, visit www.earthprint.com or click here to go directly to the report Guide to skills and knowledge required for protected
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