Philippines
Supreme
Court, DOJ, DENR join hands in environmental protection
Expansion of Tubbataha Reef World Heritage Site eyed
USAID funds new fisheries management project
BFAR vows to strictly enforce ban on manta ray hunting
Demand for seaweed up
Region 7 fisheries declining
Masbate City: Philippines’ first LGU-run CRM interpretive
center opens
Quezon Province: Contractor warned against illegal mining
Davao, Batangas:Thousands clean up shores
Iloilo: Three cops nabbed for illegal fishing
World
Scientists
turn spotlight on threats and opportunities of booming marine aquaria
trade
First 'World Atlas of Seagrasses' reveals vital role
of marine meadows
Oceans becoming more acidic
Campaign criticizes CITES decision on beluga caviar
US Navy agrees to limit global sonar deployment
Weather disasters caused millions in damages
US agency supports CITES queen conch conservation measures
Hong Kong's harbor threatened by land reclamation
Australia hunts suspected poaching ship
Study shows economic gains from wildlife refuges
New tagging method for white sharks
Expedition explores Bahamas depths for new drugs
Whale stranding illustrates the importance of collecting
data from stranded marine mammals
ONE EARTH ONE PEOPLE Campaign launched
Philippines
Supreme Court, DOJ, DENR join hands in environmental
protection
The Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Supreme
Court of the Philippines, and Department
of Justice signed a Memorandum of Commitment (MOC) to establish
a database of pending environment and natural resources cases and conduct
nationwide monitoring in the resolution of the cases.
Under the MOC, the three agencies will form “The Environmental Monitoring
Team” (TEAM) tasked inventory pending ENR-related cases and identify
hotspots where illegal activities frequently occur. The TEAM will prepare
a prioritized list and subject these to intensive monitoring.
Field monitoring meetings in identified hotspot areas will also be
conducted at least once every four months. This will address pending
issues that delay the case flow of ENR-related cases being monitored.
The assistance of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) will be employed
in cases where DENR personnel are subjected to harassment suits in the
performance of their duties.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) through its National Environment
Action Team as well as other government agencies and non-governmental
organizations can also be sought for assistance. Environmental lawyer
Antonio Oposa Jr. was appointed as Special Counsel to keep track of
the agreement’s implementation.
Expansion of Tubbataha Reef World Heritage Site
eyed
The Philippine government, through the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), together with Conservation
International (CI), is looking at expanding the present 33,200-hectare
protected area boundary of Tubbataha Reef World Heritage Site in Palawan,
to include the Cagayan ridge in the Sulu Sea.
Tubbataha Reef is one of 12 marine World Heritage Sites worldwide.
It is also included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International
Importance.
The widening TRWH’s borders is expected to heighten efforts in marine
biodiversity conservation.
USAID funds new fisheries management project
A 7-year project funded by the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and focused
on fisheries management will start full implementation in 2004.
The Fisheries Improved for Sustainable Harvest (FISH) project aims to
improve biological diversity and increase sustainable harvest in the
Philippine marine ecosystem. It will address watershed management, non-point
source pollution, and other factors to improve the management of fish
stocks and the marine ecosystem. Other activities will include assisting
the Government of the Philippines to improve related national policies,
and building greater public awareness and participation in sustainable
fisheries management.
The project is managed by Tetra
Tech EM Inc., a leading provider of consulting, engineering
and technical services.
BFAR vows to strictly enforce ban on manta ray
hunting
TAGBILARAN CITY-After a year-long study, the Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7 announced it will again
implement the ban on the hunting of manta rays.
Fishery Administrative Order 193 bans the taking, selling, buying and
transporting of manta rays and whale sharks.
But while BFAR 7 was conducting an assessment on the population of
manta rays in Central Visayas, it allowed accredited fishermen to catch
manta rays. The BFAR learned that several species of manta rays are
heavily hunted. –C. Fuentes, Cebu Daily News, 10.21.03
Demand for seaweed up
France, China and Korea require more seaweed from the Philippines.
Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines president Benson Dakay
said France is buying about 6,000 tons of seaweed from the Philippines
this year.
China recently started importing 10,000 to 12,000 tons while Korean
doubled imports from 1,500 to 3,000 tons of raw seaweed. –I.R..
Sino Cruz, Cebu Daily News, 10.06.03
Region 7 fisheries declining
In 1963, then President Diosdado Macapagal declared that the Philippines
can be self-sufficient in fish “if our fisheries resources are properly
developed”. Stressing the need to manage the country’s fisheries, Macapagal
declared the third week of October as Fish Conservation Week.
Today, 40 years later, the Philippine fish stock continues to decline,
threatening food security.
According to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), the
average national consumption of fish per capita in 1987 was 40 kilos.
In 1996, the figure dropped to 24 kilos per Filipino.
Although fish sufficiency level in Central Visayas is still high (36
kilos of fish per person for 2002), a fishery stock assessment by Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) of Camotes Sea, in
northeastern Cebu, reveals that populations of some fish species are
declining due to overfishing.
A study by the WorldFish Center in 1998 to 2001 revealed that, overall,
the level of fishing in the Philippines is 30 percent higher than it
should be.
The “overfished” state of the country’s fisheries emphasizes the need
for management.
Prices of fish have been on the rise since the early 1990s. More juvenile
or immature and low-value fish are caught and sold. Fish caught are
smaller and species of higher value, which used to be abundant, have
become scarce. Fishers spend more time at sea to fish and come home
with meager catch. –Liberty Pinili, CRMP
Masbate: Philippines’ first LGU-run CRM interpretive
center opens
Masbate City opened last September 30 the Philippines’ first interpretive
center dedicated to coastal management and operated by the local government.
Masbate
CRM Interpretive Center, Masbate City (A Sia, 2003)
Established by local ordinance and housed in a heritage building (ca.
1946), the Masbate CRM Interpretive Center (CRMIC) is tasked primarily
with ‘translating’ coastal resource management (CRM) to every day language,
so that it is better understood and appreciated by the general public,
who must be involved in the effort to manage and conserve the coastal
environment. Besides housing exhibits on the province’s coastal features,
coastal issues, and CRM best practices, the Center serves as the hub
for all information, education and training activities undertaken by
the city government related to CRM. It also operates the Masbate
CRM Showcase Tour, a study tour that features some of Masbate
Province’s best coastal management experiences and lessons.
During its first week of operation, the Center received more than 1,000
visitors, mostly students from local schools. With public interest running
high, exhibit viewing is currently on a “strictly by reservation only”
basis, in order to limit the number of visitors to not more than 200
daily and thus ensure the quality of visitors’ experience and learning.
The CRMIC was developed with the assistance of the Coastal
Resource Management Project (CRMP). It is open weekdays from
8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.
For more information about the CRMIC and its services, call the Masbate
City Planning and Development Office, Tel. (056) 333 5608.
Quezon Province: Contractor warned against
illegal mining
LUCENA CITY-The Quezon Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office
(Penro) warned the contractor of a Philippine Port Authority (PPA) project
to use only legally sourced sand and gravel.
The Php130-million project of the PPA involves road repair and land
reclamation in the coastal villages of Dalahican and Talao-Talao.
The Penro also reminded the PPA that both projects have yet to secure
environmental compliance certificates.
The environment office received reports that the contractor of the
projects took sand from Talao-Talao beach. –D.
Mallari Jr., Philippine
Daily Inquirer, 10.28.03
Davao, Batangas:Thousands clean up shores
Around 8,000 people cleaned up Davao’s coasts during the 18th
International Coastal Cleanup Day last September.
In Mabini, Batangas, at least 2,000 picked up a total of 63 tons of
garbage during the cleanup.
In both areas, government officials concerned raised the need to promote
awareness on garbage management and coastal resource protection to address
pollution of their beaches and seas. – Philippine
Daily Inquirer, 9.21.03, 9.22.03
Iloilo: Three cops nabbed for illegal fishing
Three policemen are being investigated after they were caught aboard
a fishing vessel that was arrested for illegal fishing off northern
Iloilo.
Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas ordered the investigation to determine higher-ranking
police officials were involved in the incident. He said the policemen
would not dare flaunt the provincial government’s aggressive campaign
against illegal fishing if they did not enjoy the protection of their
superiors.
The three policemen are now under the custody of the Regional Police
Office of Region 6. PNA in Cebu Daily News, 09.27.03
World
Scientists turn spotlight on threats and opportunities
of booming marine aquaria trade
NAIROBI/LONDON, 30 September 2003 – Over 20 million tropical fish,
including 1,471 species ranging from the sapphire devil to the copperhead
butterflyfish, are being harvested annually to supply the booming marine
aquarium trade in Europe and the United States, according to the most
comprehensive global survey ever undertaken.
A further 9 to 10 million animals, including mollusks, shrimps and
anemones, and involving some 500 species, are also being traded to supply
tanks in homes, public aquaria and dentists' surgeries.
Up to 12 million stony corals are being harvested, transported and
sold annually, estimates United
Nations Environment Programme's World
Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) report."From
Ocean to Aquarium: The Global Trade in Marine Ornamentals"
says the value of aquarium creatures in trade is worth between $200
million and $330 million annually.
Southeast Asia is shown to be the main source of the trade, but ornamental
marine species are increasingly being taken from several island nations
in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Most of the demand comes from the
United States, Europe and to a lesser extent Japan.
"For the first time we have an accurate estimate of the number
of fish, corals and other animals being taken from coral reefs and brought
to public aquariums and fish tanks in homes across Europe and the USA",
said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director.
"Collecting tropical fish brings pleasure to millions. It also
fuels an important, and mostly legitimate, industry", Toepfer continued.
"This valuable new data should enable more informed and effective
decision making at the policy, industry and consumer level. The global
trade in marine species on the one hand poses a significant risk to
valuable ecosystems like coral reefs, but on the other has great potential
as a source of desperately needed income for local fishing communities.
As a result it represents another important weapon in the war against
poverty and in helping to meet not only the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals but also the World Summit on Sustainable Development's
Plan of Implementation."
Unlike freshwater aquarium species, where 90 per cent of fish species
are currently farmed, the great majority of marine aquariums are stocked
from wild caught species. This activity, if not carried out in an appropriate
manner, can cause irreversible damage to coral reefs.
“A minority of fishermen, in countries such as Indonesia, use sodium
cyanide to capture fish,” says Colette Wabnitz, one of the report's
authors. "An almost lethal dose of the poison is squirted into
the coral reef where fish shelter. It stuns the fish to allow capture
and export, but can also kill coral and other species. The fish may
survive the export process but usually die of liver failure soon after
being purchased."
The report also highlights the economic value presented by a well-managed
aquarium marine trade. Mark Collins, UNEP-WCMC Director, says, "If
managed properly, the aquarium industry could support long-term conservation
and sustainable use of coral reefs in regions where other options for
generating revenue are limited. Some collection techniques have minimal
impact on coral and the industry as a whole is of relatively low volume
yet of very high value."
Copies of the report are available from the UNEP web site at www.unep.org
or at: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/resources/publications/UNEP_WCMC_bio_series/17.htm
First 'World Atlas of Seagrasses' reveals vital
role of marine meadows
LONDON/NAIROBI, 14 October 2003 – Manatees, dugongs and green sea
turtles are just some of the growing list of already threatened species
at risk from the destruction of ocean seagrass, a new report has revealed.
The first-ever-global survey of the underwater meadows of seagrass
that skirt the world's coasts reveals that 15 per cent of this unique
marine ecosystem has been lost in the last 10 years.
The findings give new urgency to protect and conserve these important
habitats, which are threatened by runoff of nutrients and sediments
from human activities on land, boating, land reclamation and other construction
in the coastal zone, dredge-and-fill activities and destructive fisheries
practices.
The World Atlas of Seagrasses, prepared by the United
Nations Environment Programme World
Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) provides the first
ever global estimate for seagrasses world-wide: 177,000 sq km, an area
just two thirds the size of the UK.
Seagrasses are a mixed group of true flowering plants - not seaweed
– that grow submerged in large meadows in both tropical and temperate
seas. They are a functional group of about 60 species of underwater
marine flowering plants. Thousands more associated marine plant
and animal species utilise seagrass habitat. They range from the
strap-like blades of eelgrass in the Sea of Japan, at more than 4 metres
long, to the tiny, 2-3 cm, rounded leaves of sea vine in the deep tropical
waters of Brazil.
According to the new UNEP-WCMC Atlas seagrass meadows should be considered
one of the most important shallow marine ecosystems to humans, playing
a vital role in fisheries, protecting coral reefs by binding sediments,
cleaning coastal waters and providing coastal defense from erosion.
Frederick T. Short, University of New Hampshire, USA and co-editor
of the Atlas comments: “Seagrasses are a critical and threatened
coastal habitat worldwide. Their role in the ecology of the ocean and
their importance to fisheries is increasingly recognized. The World
Atlas of Seagrasses makes available a global perspective on this
imperiled ecosystem.”
“Like coral reefs, seagrasses are at a critical juncture, heavily impacted
by human activities and climate change,” said Short. “With the
global view provided by the Atlas, our ability to preserve and restore
seagrass ecosystems is enhanced.”
The new global figure for seagrass is likely to be an under-estimate
as seagrasses off the western coasts of Africa and South America remain
unsurveyed.
For more information about the Atlas, including maps and photographs
go to http://www.unep-wcmc.org/marine/seagrassatlas/
or www.unep.org.
The World Atlas of Seagrasses is available from: http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10168.html
Oceans becoming more acidic
The world's oceans are slowly getting more acidic in response to
higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to a report
published in the journal Nature.
Authors Ken Caldeira and Michael Wickett, from the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, said the lowering of the waters' pH value is not
great at the moment but could pose a serious threat to current marine
life if it continues. Increasing use of fossil fuels means more carbon
dioxide is going into the air, and most of it will eventually be absorbed
by seawater. Once in the water, it reacts to form carbonic acid.
Combining available knowledge about the history of the oceans with
computer models of climate change, the authors predicted “amounts of
future acidity that exceed anything we saw over the last several hundred
million years, apart from perhaps after rare catastrophic events such
as asteroid impacts.” If carbon dioxide release continues unabated,
ocean pH could be reduced by as much as 0.77 units, they warned.
It is not absolutely clear what that means for marine life, however.
Most organisms live near the surface, where the greatest pH change would
be expected to occur, but deep-ocean life forms may be more sensitive
to pH changes. Coral reefs and other organisms whose skeletons or shells
contain calcium carbonate may be particularly affected, because it would
much more difficult to build reef structures in water with a lower pH.
Previously, most experts looked at ocean absorption of carbon dioxide
as a good thing because when carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere
it warms planet, and when absorbed by the ocean, it reduces the amount
of greenhouse warming. “Now, we're understanding that ocean uptake of
carbon dioxide may at best be a mixed blessing,” the authors said.
Full article::http://en-env.llnl.gov/cccm/pdf/Caldeira_Wickett_2003.pdf
The
EUCC Coastal News
Campaign criticizes CITES decision on beluga caviar
Caviar
Emptor, a partnership of environmental groups seeking to restore
the Caspian Sea's near-extinct beluga sturgeon, has challenged a trade
quota sanctioned by a United Nations body to export Caspian beluga caviar
for the remainder of 2003. The conservationists are particularly concerned
by the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat's
claims that the beluga sturgeon population is recovering. Caviar Emptor
contends that this is not consistent with the most recent data from
the region.
CITES' assertion is based on faulty methodologies for analyzing fish
abundance," said Dr. Ellen Pikitch, marine biologist and director
of ocean strategy with the Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS), one of the members of Caviar Emptor.
Pikitch's analysis of the most recent stock surveys indicates that the
beluga sturgeon population declined by an alarming 39 percent from 2001
to 2002. "The quota for beluga caviar exports should be zero. Any
number above that is unwise and unsustainable."
Caviar Emptor is urging the United States, the world's largest importer
of the delicacy, to take action to help protect beluga sturgeon. As
a result of a petition by the members of Caviar Emptor, the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed that beluga sturgeon
be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. A final decision
by the Service is more than a year overdue.
Listing of beluga sturgeon as an endangered species would halt beluga
caviar imports into the United States, which accounts for about 60%
of the world's beluga caviar imports, according to the most recent statistics.
An endangered species listing for beluga sturgeon has been supported
by more than 50 marine scientists, the Caspian range state Azerbaijan,
200 American chefs and gourmet retailers, and by nearly 3,000 individuals
from the Caspian region, Europe, Asia and North America. Seaweb
US Navy agrees to limit global sonar deployment
LOS ANGELES, 13 October 2003 – In a groundbreaking accord with conservation
and animal welfare groups, the US Navy has agreed to scale back deployment
of a dangerous new kind of high-intensity sonar system.
The National
Marine Fisheries Service last year issued a permit to the Navy
to use its Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active
(or LFA) sonar in over 75 percent of the world's oceans, but a federal
judge ruled in August that the government violated numerous federal
environmental laws in doing so, and that the system could endanger whales,
porpoises and fish. The judge ordered the parties to negotiate a stipulated
injunction. The agreement caps an eight-year battle over protection
of marine life from this potentially lethal sonar, which uses extremely
loud, low-frequency sound to detect submarines at great distances.
The Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC), The
Humane Society of the United States, Cetacean
Society International, League for Coastal Protection, Ocean
Futures Society, and Jean-Michel Cousteau sued the government
over its original permit, which would have allowed testing and training
with the system worldwide over a period of five years.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Navy will limit use of the new
sonar system to specific areas along the eastern seaboard of Asia (around
North Korea and China), including portions of the Sea of Japan, the
East and South China Seas, and the Philippine Sea. The agreement does
not allow LFA sonar in the waters off the Hawaiian Islands, where the
Navy had been permitted to use the system this year. In addition to
geographical limits, the Navy agreed to certain seasonal exclusions,
which conservationists believe will protect critical whale migrations,
and to coastal exclusions ranging from 30 to 60 nautical miles. None
of the limits apply during war or heightened threat conditions.
The LFA sonar system is capable of generating sounds up to 140 decibels
more than 300 miles away from the sonar source. Many scientists believe
that blasting such intense sounds over large expanses of the ocean could
harm entire populations of marine mammals and fish. During testing off
the California coast, noise from a single LFA system was detected across
the breadth of the North Pacific.
Saying they recognized that the proliferation of active sonar has become
a global environmental problem, the coalition of conservation and animal
welfare groups today also announced an international campaign to limit
its use. The coalition includes NRDC, International
Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Humane
Society International Ocean Futures Society and its president
Jean-Michel Cousteau.
"The agreement with the U.S. Navy is a major step toward protecting
the marine environment, but it is only the first part of what must be
a global effort," said IFAW president Frederick O'Regan. "The
increasing use of active sonar by militaries around the world threatens
the survival of numerous marine species. If ever there were a situation
to employ the 'precautionary principle,' this is it. We're calling on
the international community to begin regulating and mitigating the impact
of high intensity active sonar before it's too late."
The United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) requires States
"to assess the potential effects on the marine environment"
of systems such as high intensity active sonar, and to take all measures
"necessary to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine
environment from any source."
The danger to marine life from mid-frequency sonar, whose sound waves
do not reach as far as LFA sonar, is clearly documented. Mass stranding
and mortality events associated with its use have occurred in the Bahamas
(2000), Madeira (2000), and the Canary Islands (2002). Other cases have
occurred in Greece (1996), the U.S. Virgin Islands (1998, 1999), the
Canary Islands (1985, 1986, 1989), and, most recently, the Northwest
coast of the United States (2003).
Mid-frequency sonar systems are widely used by the U.S. and many European
nations, and low-frequency systems, such as LFA sonar, are in development
by both the U.S. and its allies, including Canada, France, Germany,
Austria, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. The British Royal Navy
alone plans to deploy at least 12 low-frequency sonar systems in the
near future.
These announcements come just days after the scientific journal Nature
reported that intense, active sonar may kill certain marine mammal species
by giving them decompression sickness or "the bends" -- the
same illness that can kill scuba divers who surface too quickly from
deep water. The international team of scientists that authored the study
said compressed nitrogen apparently formed large bubbles in the tissue
of whales exposed to intense active sonar, damaging their vital organs
and causing internal bleeding and possibly intense pain.
Weather disasters caused millions in damages
In 2002, the world experienced about 700 natural disasters-nearly
600 of which were weather-related events. Economic losses from weather
disasters worldwide approached $53 billion, a 93 percent increase over
2001. The year also set numerous local and regional records for windstorms,
rain intensities, floods, droughts, and temperatures.
Poorer nations are the most vulnerable to climate change. While the
average number of deaths per weather event has declined, the total number
of people affected is on the rise. Over the past two decades, floods
and other weather-related disasters were among factors prompting some
10 million people to migrate from Bangladesh to India.
In 2002, rains in Kenya displaced more than 150,000 people, while more
than 800,000 Chinese were affected by the most severe drought in over
a century. Erratic weather patterns are the primary cause of famine
for about 18 million Africans. – Vital Signs, Worldwatch
Institute, 10.01.03
US agency supports CITES queen conch conservation
measures
The US National
Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) announced support
of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora’s
(CITES) embargo on queen conch imports from three Caribbean
countries; Honduras, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
In an effort to support sustainable trade in queen conch, CITES has
recommended that importation of queen conch (Strombus gigas)
be suspended from these countries. CITES sent notifications to all CITES
countries recommending that they not accept shipments of queen conch
beginning September 29, 2003.
Queen conch is found throughout the wider Caribbean Region, including
Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, as well as in the Atlantic
Ocean near Bermuda. Products from conch include meat, pearls and shells.
Queen conch populations in Honduras, Haiti and the Dominican Republic
are currently being exploited at rates that may be unsustainable. In
addition, CITES has expressed concerns about the amount of illegal,
under-reported and unregulated fishing of this species. The United States
imports approximately 80 percent of the world’s trade, usually resulting
in imports of more than 1,000 metric tons of meat a year.
In 1986, the U.S. banned all harvest of its own queen conch populations
in the continental United States, and in 1992, CITES included queen
conch in CITES Appendix II. An Appendix II listing includes species
that, although currently not threatened with extinction, may become
threatened without trade controls. Permits indicating that trade is
sustainable are required for queen conch international trade.
Although the restrictions announced mainly affect commercial importers
of queen conch products, officials are warning American tourists who
visit the Caribbean that they seriously consider not purchasing queen
conch meat or souvenirs to bring back to the United States. Law enforcement
officers may inspect and confiscate queen conch meat and shells upon
return to the United States.
Hong Kong's harbor threatened by land reclamation
HONG KONG — Victoria Harbour is in danger of disappearing.
Decades of land reclamation to keep pace with breakneck development
in the former British territory have whittled the harbor down to nearly
half its size in the days when tea and opium merchants plied their trade
on wooden sailing ships. The Hong Kong government plans as much as 636
hectares (6.36 square km) more of reclamation, activists say.
The harbor has already been reduced by 3,200 hectares, said Winston
Chu, chairman of the Society for the Protection of the Harbour.
The group went to court to oppose the reclamation but the judge ruled
in favor of the project. –K. Hunt of Reuters, 10.01.03
Australia hunts suspected poaching ship
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia began the hunt for another ship suspected
of illegally fishing in its southern waters.
Authorities seized earlier an Uruguayan-flagged ship suspected of poaching
Patagonian toothfish.
Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald said the latest boat spotted in Australian
waters was thought to be the Ghanaian-flagged Alos and had been photographed
near Heard Island and McDonald Islands by Australian fishing boat Southern
Champion.
Marine conservationists have warned the toothfish could become commercially
extinct by 2007 because illegal fishing above quotas is depleting already
dwindling stocks. – Reuters, 10.08.03
Study shows economic gains from wildlife refuges
WASHINGTON — People living near the 542 wildlife refuges in the United
States also gain from the protected wildlife habitat, according to a government
study that touts the economic benefits of the refuge system.
The study by the Fish and Wildlife Service finds 35.5 million people
visited the 542 refuges in 2002, up 42 percent from 24.9 million visitors
in 1995, bringing a huge boost in spending and jobs to communities located
just outside the refuges.
Those visits fueled $809 million in spending in 2002 at locales near
public lands within the National Wildlife Refuge System, a 70 percent
increase from the $473.million spent in 1995, the study says. They also
helped create 18,728 non-federal jobs in 2002, up 84 percent from 10,169
jobs in 1995, it says. –Associated Press, 10.10.03
New tagging method for white sharks
Six white sharks have been tagged by scientists using new specially
developed tagging poles allowing them to be tagged in the water next
to the vessel. "The sharks ranged from two meters to more than
four meters," said project leader John Stevens of the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), who
is now waiting to receive signals from the electronic tags.
The sharks were tagged off the southern coast of Western Australia,
after reports of a recent stranding of sperm whales.
Two pop-off archival (PAT) tags and two satellite-tracking tags were
attached to sharks. "The tag has to stay on, delicate electronics
need to survive the rigors of being on a shark during its daily activities
and the sharks need to surface so that the tags can transmit signals,"
said Stevens.
PAT tags store information on shark movement and behavior for several
months before releasing from the shark, floating to the surface and
transmitting their information via satellite.
The satellite-tracking tag allows the shark's progress to be plotted
whenever it surfaces and successfully transmits a signal via the ARGOS
satellite system. A three-meter female white shark recently PAT-tagged
was estimated to have traveled at least 1,300 km along the southern
coast of WA between May and June.
Expedition explores Bahamas depths for new drugs
14 October 2003 – Using a deep-diving manned submersible and scuba,
a team of HARBOR BRANCH
researchers recently explored waters around the Bahamas in search of
new marine organisms that produce chemicals with potential for fighting
human diseases.
Scientists at HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) have spent
two decades searching around the globe for new marine animals that might
contain chemicals with the potential to fight cancer, Alzheimer's and
other human maladies. Much of this research has relied on the institution's
two Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles, which can take four people to a depth
of 3,000 feet and are equipped with sophisticated and unique robotic
equipment for collecting marine organisms.
This work has already led to the discovery of several chemicals that
have shown great promise for fighting cancer, infections, and other
afflictions. One, a compound called discodermolide, has proven an effective
cancer cell killer, even in tumors that are resistant to Taxol®, one
of the best treatments for breast and ovarian cancers currently available.
It is now in the first phase of human clinical trials and continues
to show great promise. Such successes are encouraging, but more treatments
are needed if the spread of pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and other
diseases are to be stopped, and so the search continues.
The Bahamas mission, aboard HARBOR BRANCH's Seward Johnson II research
vessel has the following key goals:
- To document deep-water seafloor communities using video, photographs,
and collection of archive specimens
- To collect and test chemicals produced in or by marine organisms
collected to discover if they have the potential to fight human
diseases. This process involves simple tests while on the ship that
determine if a chemical can, for instance, kill bacteria, and then
more elaborate tests back on land that indicate whether a chemical
can kill cancer cells or shows other signs of medical potential.
- To gather living specimens of sponges and tunicates for research
on ways to either farm-raise the animals that produce important
chemicals or to maintain healthy laboratory cultures of microorganisms,
which are often supported by larger animals such as sponges, that
produce important chemicals.
Go to www.at-sea.org
to read dispatches from the ship throughout the expedition from Oct.
9-24, 2003, and to learn more about the team's research.
Whale stranding illustrates the importance of collecting
data from stranded marine mammals
The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National
Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) and scientists from
various academic institutions believe they have found a new subspecies
of Bryde’s whale in North Carolina.
On March 13, 2003, a beach comber found a dead baleen whale on the
shore of Carolina Beach near Wilmington, North Carolina. During studies
of tissue samples collected, scientists determined that the animal most
likely died from starvation, as a result of line entanglement. Scientists
also determined that the whale is a member of the baleen whale family,
and has a unique genetic sequence, only seen in one other whale.
Similar to crime scene investigators, marine mammal scientists collect
biological and other data from stranded animals, in order to piece together
not only the identity and natural history of the species, but also to
identify the cause of death. Such stranding investigations ultimately
give scientists a glimpse into the type of threats facing marine species
and the overall health of the oceans.
A new federal program, funded by Congress and implemented by NOAA,
the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program,
makes this kind of work possible, by providing funds to authorized volunteers
and local communities during and after strandings.
Bryde’s whale is a baleen whale and is unique in having three longitudinal
ridges on its head. It has a prominent dorsal fin, which is relatively
tall. Bryde’s whales are typically tropical and subtropical species,
but may be found in some slightly colder waters. They feed on pelagic
schooling fish, such as anchovy and herring. Bryde’s whales are active
feeders, and can dive for 20 minutes or so. The Bryde’s whale has twin
blowholes with a low splash guard to the front. It has no teeth, but
in their place are two rows of baleen plates.
ONE EARTH ONE PEOPLE Campaign launched
WASHINGTON, DC, 02 October 2003 – The international environmental organization,
Eco-Spirit,
announced the launching of its ONE EARTH ONE PEOPLE Campaign. Eco-Spirit's
President, David Reeves, stated: “The purpose of this new campaign is
to unite all people of all faiths and spiritual beliefs, all races,
all countries, and all cultures, behind a common goal of protecting
the Earth and our environment, a goal which members of Eco-Spirit believe
is a moral imperative.”
“Eco-Spirit's ONE EARTH ONE PEOPLE Campaign seeks to promote a better
understanding of the common ground among all people, by identifying
the mutual environmental ethic that many of us share, and by educating
people around the world on that common ethic,” Reeves said. “Unfortunately,
there have been a lot of divisive forces at work recently among the
people of the world. Differences of religion, race, nationality, and
culture sometimes pull us apart. Eco-Spirit hopes with its ONE EARTH
ONE PEOPLE Campaign to emphasize our similarities, rather than our differences,
bringing humanity together, while at the same time improving global
environmental protection.”
For more information on Eco-Spirit, how to become a member, and how
to join Eco-Spirit's ONE EARTH ONE PEOPLE Campaign, visit their website
