COASTAL ALERT

Philippines
Senator adopts House baselines bill
Fisheries biggest gainer in terms of growth in '07
RP eyes fisheries cooperation with Palau
ADB calls for measures to enhance financing on climate change
Government to phase out incandescent bulbs to cut greenhouse gas emissions
Fishers trained in tagging of small pelagic fishes
Tuna crisis looms, industry leaders warn
Philippine strategy for Coral Triangle being drawn up  
Environment secretary on foreshore lease agreements: "Use it or lose it"
Prawn sandwich destroys Philippines fish nurseries, says expert
Stakeholders discuss remedies for negative impacts of aquaculture
Scientists find rare species of mangrove
GenSan hosts international conference on food fisheries standards
Integrated coastal management project launched in Mati
Atienza seeks police assistance to stop the slaughter of thresher shark
Former dynamite fishers' den now turtles' haven
Police seize 3 fishing boats 
22 Chinese fishers released to appease China, say militants Poaching on the rise in Mindanao
Poaching on the rise in Mindanao
Fishers buck port construction 
Aquaculture project eyed in Bais City
Environment secretary: Protect and restore wetlands of Boracay
Albay gets serious about climate change
Tourism connection? 

World
Rough sailing for fisheries subsidy talks
Map shows toll on world's oceans
Ocean advocates hopeful of WTO cut in fishing support
Report reveals 'alarming' rate of mangrove habitat loss
Environmental treaties to protect the planet need more 'bite'
Global conference on small-scale fisheries to focus on sustainable social development
Focus on social, cultural aspects of marine protected areas, says ICSF workshop 
Wind the force behind fish booms and busts -- scientists
UN maritime agency endorses campaign for fair treatment of seafarers
Biosphere reserves play major role in combating climate change ' UNESCO
Bad news for coastal ocean: Less fish out, means more nitrogen in
Climate change affecting fish stocks
100,000 tuna tagged in the Pacific
Boycott bluefin tuna, environmental group urges retailers
Scientists hope aquaculture will save bluefin tuna
Deep-sea sharks wired for sound
'Nonlinear' ecosystem response points to environmental solutions
Science solves puzzle of marine management
Mega coastal projects may have negative impact worldwide, says Netherlands expert 
EU to tighten fisheries rules
European Commission sets out position on ecosystem-based approach to fisheries
France forced to stop illegal drift net fishing
Scotland: Salmon farming is a threat to healthy wild stocks
Norway: 'Fisheries more important than oil' -- report
Norway developing eco-friendly trawl technology
Russia seeks new glory in fisheries
Illegal cod fishing in Arctic threatening fisheries: WWF
Icelanders warned not to change fish quota system
Third of North Sea should be marine reserve ' environmental group
2005 a deadly year for Caribbean coral reefs
Atlantic bluefin tuna threatened by oversized fishing fleet -- WWF
Tougher port controls to target illegal fishing in the Mediterranean
U.S.: Network of marine protected areas in the Channel Islands of California helping restore depleted ocean life ' new study
U.S.: Judge restricts Navy's use of sonar
Tiny Mexican porpoise near extinct from fish nets
Venezuela outlaws trawl fishing
Coral Triangle, Heart of Borneo Conservation Funded
Vietnam: Fishermen start year with big harvest
Rare shark species astounds Malaysian fishermen
Japan: Activists warn of Kuril Islands eco-threat
Indonesian fishers seek pass on licenses
Warming world holds new threats for Aussie wildlife
India: WTO fisheries subsidy rules worry officials
Reviving fisheries could boost Liberia's economy and health 

Resources
Guidebook to ILO Work in Fishing Convention, 2007
New guide to reducing bycatch goes online
In Dead Water: Merging of Climate Change with Pollution, Over-Harvest, and Infestations in the World's Fishing Grounds
Lumpfish caviar ' from vessel to consumer
Oyster health management manual
Establishing marine peace parks to improve international relations and conservation 
Indicators for marine protected area management
Locally-Managed Marine Areas: A guide to supporting community-based adaptive management
Encyclopedia of Life 
Online bibliography on women in fisheries 

Philippines

Senator adopts House baselines bill
Manila, 27 Mar 2008 (V. Uy/Inquirer.net) -- Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has "lifted bodily" Cebu Congressman Antonio Cuenco's baselines measure, House Bill 3216, for the Senate in a move to fast-track the country's compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Pimentel asked for the urgent approval of the measure as the deadline for the submission of a law defining the country's territory in compliance with UNCLOS provisions -- May next year -- is nearing.

The proposed baselines include the Spratlys Islands and Scarborough shoals, which are disputed by several countries, including the Philippines and China.

"We do not want to quarrel with China, just to comply with UNCLOS. This is not a battle with China, we just want to assert our jurisdiction over our territorial seas and exclusive economic zone," Pimentel said.

He added that whatever disagreement China may have with the congressional version of the Philippine baseline law should be settled before the appropriate UN agency. Full story

Fisheries biggest gainer in terms of growth in '07
THE government is pushing for environment-friendly system such as mariculture parks to help sustain the growth of the fisheries sector this year.

Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) indicated that the fisheries sector consistently is the biggest gainer in terms of growth last year. DA Secretary Arthur Yap in a statement said they targeted 5.34 million metric tons (MT) in 2007, a 10% increase from the 4.85 million MT of fisheries production in 2006.

Expansion will be towards the farming of seaweeds and other high value products such as abalone, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, and P. vannamei or Pacific white shrimp. There will also be more aggressive enforcement of anti-poaching and illegal fishing and sustained resource conservation efforts, said Yap.

The Philippines, he said was listed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as No. 8 from the previous ranking of No. 11 among the top fish-producing countries in the world. Full story

RP eyes fisheries cooperation with Palau
San Fernando City, La Union, 4 Apr 2008 (M.P. Aquino/PIA) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in an official luncheon banquet in honor of visiting Palau President Tommy Remengesau, Jr. recently, expressed her interest to engage in more economic exchanges with Palau, particularly in fisheries and aquaculture technology and development.Palau hosts 2 Filipino fishing companies.Arroyo said that the Palau President was keen on learning from the Philippine experience in aquaculture, particularly fish-cage technology, grouper (lapu-lapu) and crab culture. "We hope that we can soon forge a bilateral memorandum of understanding on fisheries cooperation so that this economic exchange will expand even more," Arroyo added. Full story

ADB calls for measures to enhance financing on climate change
Manila, (ADB) -- Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President Ursula Schaefer-Preuss called for more funding for projects that will reduce the adverse impact of climate change in the Asia-Pacific region.

Speaking in Chiba, Japan, at the fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development, Schaefer-Preuss said there should be more partnerships that can pool technical and financial resources to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and to enable those adversely affected to adapt to the challenges.

"Particularly on the adaptation side, there is a need to build up a pool of funds to reduce the financial burden of countries that may be called to accommodate large populations displaced by climate change," she said. "No single country should have to bear the burden of climate-driven refugees on its own."

Schaefer-Preuss also called for enhanced investment mechanisms to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, such as ADB's Carbon Market Initiative and its proposed Future Carbon Fund. She also stressed the need for additional market incentives other than greenhouse gas reductions, such as trading schemes for other noxious gas emissions.

The Asia and Pacific is particularly vulnerable to the growing threat of climate change. Some 1.2 billion people in the region could experience a shortage of freshwater by 2020, while crop yields in Central and South Asia could drop by half between now and 2050, she warned.

Asia's major coastal cities, including Bangkok, Jakarta, Karachi, Manila, Mumbai, and Shanghai are vulnerable to flooding and damage from unpredictable weather patterns. Within this century, residents of Tuvalu, the Maldives and costal Bangladesh may become "environmental refugees."

"The poorest people in the region will suffer first and most. Unless actions are taken now, any progress achieved meeting the Millennium Development Goals could be reversed in just the next generation -- during the lives of our children," Ms. Schaefer-Preuss said.

Developing countries in Asia currently account for 29% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, three times more than its share three decades ago. With the region's need of around $6 trillion in investments in energy by 2030, the share is expected to rise to 42%.

"Unless specific policies and actions are taken, the region will quickly become the main driver of climate change," Ms. Schaefer-Preuss warned. Full story

Government to phase out incandescent bulbs to cut greenhouse gas emissions
Manila, 5 Feb 2008 (ADB) -- In a first for Asia, the Philippines plans to phase out inefficient incandescent bulbs in favor of more energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut household energy costs.

In her closing remarks at the 2008 Philippine Energy Summit, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced the country's plans to phase out incandescent bulbs by January 2010. Australia made a similar move early last year, which was followed by Canada and other industrialized countries.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) acted as technical advisor to the Energy Summit, assisting the Department of Energy in developing plans to address climate change and reduce energy consumption.

While CFLs are more expensive to buy than incandescent bulbs, they pay for themselves in lower power bills within a year. CFLs use around 20% of the electricity used by incandescent bulbs to produce the same amount of light. Additionally, CFLs last six to ten times longer than the average incandescent bulb.

The switch to CFLs will result in household lighting costs falling by as much as 80%, and the country's annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions falling 2 million metric tons starting in 2010.

Additionally, national electricity demand is expected to fall by 2,000 megawatts, or the equivalent of electricity generated by six power plants.

Electric lighting generates emissions equal to 70% of those from all the world's passenger vehicles, and 90% of the energy consumed by each bulb generates heat, which then adds to air-conditioning costs. 

Fishers trained in tagging of small pelagic fishes
The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) have just concluded the training on tagging of small pelagic fishes on board M/V DA-BFAR and at the National Marine Fisheries Development Center in Navotas City last December 10-11, this year.

The training was conducted in collaboration with SEAFDEC's Marine Fisheries Resource Development and Management Department (MFRDMD) in Malaysia and the Training Department in Thailand.

It trained participants composed mostly of fishery technologists and fisherfolk to tag small pelagic fishes and disseminate the tagging project among the stakeholders to ensure high recapture rate of the tagged species.

The tagging of fish involves the insertion of special number-coded yellow tags at the base of the dorsal fins of individual fishes. SEAFDEC-MFRDMD Deputy Chief Osamu Abe explained the tagging will enable researchers to determine the migratory path of small pelagic fishes and lead to the development of a sound regional management plan for small pelagic fisheries in the region to ensure the sustainability of the resource.

Beginning July next year, the Philippines together with Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Kingdom of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia (Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak), and Vietnam as well as Myanmar will start collaborative research on the tagging of commercially important pelagic fisheries in the South China Sea. Researchers of the said countries will simultaneous tag five (5) commercially-important species of round scads and mackerel in the South China and Andamar Seas, respectively.

A total of 2,400 pieces of fish belonging to two species of round scad and one species of mackerel will be tagged in the waters of Manila Bay and Palawan in the Philippines. Full story

Tuna crisis looms, industry leaders warn
General Santos City, 24 Mar 2008 ((A. Zonio/Sunnex/Sun.Star) ' Tuna harvests are down, and industry leaders say they have not seen anything like the current downturn.

Marfenio Tan, president of the Socsksargen Fishing Federation and Allied Industries (SFFAI), told Sun.Star General Santos this is the hardest season for the industry yet.

"Production hit the lowest level ever. We have never experienced this before," Tan, a main industry player for more than 30 years, said.

Tan claimed fish catch has decreased by about 6-10% from January this year, and fish landings at the General Santos City Fish Port were down 19%.

More than 300 metric tons of high-grade tuna are being unloaded daily at the fish port. All fishing companies are required to unload their catch at the fish port by virtue of a memorandum of agreement between the fishing association and the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA), which runs the fish port. Some reports indicate, however, that some companies unload their catch at their own private fish ports.

Tan said the first four months of every year are generally lean months for fishing as this is the time of year when certain species of fish, particularly tuna, migrate or find a safe place to spawn. Catch normally starts to pick up in May.

But even for a lean season, recent catch has been abnormally low, said Tan.

He pointed to two reasons for the dwindling catch: First, higher water temperatures -- water temperature monitoring gadgets used by fishing vessels indicated an average increase of about one degree. Second, the ocean current is flowing in an opposite direction. Tan said the current used to flow from east to west, now it is moving in a west to east direction. Both factors affect fish behavior and the marine food chain, Tan explained.

Increasing fuel costs are exacerbating the problem. According to Tan, in the early 1970s, fishing operators spent P540 a month on 1,800 liters of fuel for one mother boat, three carrier boats and one ranger boat operating 30-100 nautical miles from the mouth of Sarangani Bay, which involves a travel time of 3-5 hours. Today they spend about Php720,000, largely because of higher fuel prices and the longer distances they have to travel to reach their fishing grounds in the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (about 37 hours away).

Tan called on the government to "strictly implement the environmental and fishery laws of the country." He said environmental destruction brought about by urban development and loss of forest cover is killing our seas and triggering abnormal weather patterns. As fish supply dwindles, demand for fish continues to increase.

BFAR must perform its mandate to regulate the number of fishing vessels in Philippine waters, Tan said. "To help sustain the industry, we in the fishing sector must avoid catching juvenile fish and help curb illegal fishing particularly in domestic waters, where we can find the fish sanctuaries," he added. Full story

Philippine strategy for Coral Triangle being drawn up
DAVAO CITY, 13 Mar 2008 -- Environment and fisheries officials have formulated during a two-day workshop here part of the Philippine strategy to manage and protect the marine resources and biodiversity of Coral Triangle, site of the richest and most abundant marine life on our planet.

The output of the Mindanao consultation will form part of the Philippine draft plan of action for the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI). The CTI will be approved by senior environment officials from six countries who will meet in Manila in May this year.  Full story

Environment secretary on foreshore lease agreements: "Use it or lose it"
22 Feb 2008 (DENR) -- Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza today strongly urged holders of foreshore lease agreements to utilize immediately the foreshore areas leased to them by the government and failure to do so will mean cancellation of the agreement.

"Use it or lose it," Atienza warned foreshore lease holders. "Use it to benefit the people and the country. Lose it if you choose to allow the foreshore to remain idle."

Foreshore lands are part of the shore which is alternately covered and uncovered by the ebb and flow of the tide.

Atienza said the principle of "use it or lose it" will soon be institutionalized by the DENR. "A forthcoming Department policy will include a proviso about the utilization and development of the foreshore area almost immediately after the approval of the agreement to benefit both the holder and the public."

The DENR chief warned holder of lease agreements that the foreshore areas they had sought should not remain idle. "The lease agreement should not only be confined in safety vaults. Unproductive foreshore areas already leased by the government can be cancelled,' Atienza said. Full story

Prawn sandwich destroys Philippines fish nurseries, says expert
She helped turn many of the world's prawn farmers into millionaires, but Jurgenne Primavera now worries that her life's work might have indirectly accelerated the destruction of fish nurseries.

The Filipina zoologist, whose research on breeding the black tiger prawn became a manual that revolutionized the aquaculture industry, pointed at 66 hectares (163 acres) of brackish water fishponds at the bottom of a windy bluff in this seaside town south of Manila.

Local conservationists have filed a landmark suit against the owner, a wealthy lawyer accused of killing off mangroves -- trees that grow on marshy coasts and serve as vital nurseries for the young of open-sea fish species.

"The law bans cutting of mangroves, but he (the fishpond owner) skirted that by building dikes that cut off the seawater, until the trees eventually died," said Jessie de los Reyes, a local marine ecology advocate. Now the community is suffering because their ground water has turned salty and their access to fishing areas has been cut," de los Reyes added. The case is pending.

Despite cheap government loans and generous land leases in the 1970s, prawn culture failed to reach its full potential in the Philippines, where the ponds turned out to be better suited for growing milkfish, said Primavera of the Philippines-based Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre.

But the industry took off elsewhere, creating new wealth for many of the pioneers who fed the world's acquired taste for prawn sandwiches. "Mangroves were cleared for prawn farming in countries that did not have a long tradition in aquaculture, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Ecuador," said Primavera.

Over the past 50 years aquaculture, or commercial fish farming, has wiped out a third of the world's mangrove forests. In some areas such as the Philippines the loss has been up to 80 percent, said Norman Duke, a University of Queensland marine biologist who is one of the world's foremost experts on mangrove forest ecosystems. "The simple story is: no mangroves, no fish," Duke said.

Subject to volatile market prices and ecosystem degradation, prawn farms last only for a few years and abandoned farms are virtual wastelands, said Nico Koedam, a University of Brussels botanist who has done extensive research in Sri Lanka, India and Kenya. Full story

Stakeholders discuss remedies for negative impacts of aquaculture
Diliman, Quezon City - Fish farmers, fisheries researchers and policy makers from both the government and the private sector met last January 31 in Quezon City to formulate strategies in mitigating the negative impact of aquaculture and assure its sustainability.

The meeting was sponsored by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture (DA-BFAR) and Philminaq, short for Mitigating Impact from Aquaculture.

Philminaq is a European Union funded project whose main objective is to enhance the capabilities of the Philippine government in monitoring, control and enforcement of aquaculture in a sustainable manner within the guidelines of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The Code intends to assists member countries to promote a safe and responsible fisheries and aquaculture.

Tasked to implement the PHILMINAQ project are DA-BFAR, UP-Marine Science Institute, Scottish Association of Marine Science and the AkvaPlan-Niva of Norway.

BFAR Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr. said that his vision for Philippine aquaculture is one that provides more food, more employment and more foreign exchange rather than an aquaculture that result to habitat destruction, pollution and farming-induced calamities such as fish kills. In no way that the environmental integrity should be compromised, he said.

"Beginning this year, the implementation of organic aquaculture will be intensified by the bureau nationwide. BFAR will introduce environment-friendly fish species like giant gourami, grass carp, bangus and new tilapia strains that will feed mostly on organic feeds such vegetable trimmings, aquatic plants like duckweed and filamentous algae. Also, organic-base fertilizers and pesticides for use in pond preparation will also be encouraged," Sarmiento said.

"Aquaculture will continue to be the main source of food fish for the Philippines and the main growth driver for the agriculture sector", Sarmiento promised.

A major highlight of the meeting was the presentation and signing of the Joint DA -- DENR -- DILG Administrative Order No 1 that gives definition and identification of the areas of cooperation and collaboration among the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the planning, management and control of aquaculture development of the country to mitigate adverse impacts on the environment.

Another highlight is the launching of the Aquaculture Guidebook for the LGUs, formulated under the Philminaq project to help LGUs address the negative environmental impacts associated with aquaculture.

The LGUs are depicted throughout the guidebook as the main player in the management and maintenance of ecological balance within their territorial jurisdiction, with national agencies providing the necessary support through policy formulation and standard setting, technical assistance and information dissemination. Source

Scientists find rare species of mangrove
Dagupan City, 14 April 2008 (Y.S. Fuertes/Inquirer.net) -- Scientists have found a rare species of mangrove in what they described as a unique environmental setting in Masinloc, Zambales.

It's a hybrid mangrove called Rhizophora x lamarckii produced by 'bakauan lalaki' (Rhizophora apiculata) and 'bakauan bato' (Rhizophora stylosa),' Severino Salmo, a mangrove researcher, told the Inquirer .

Salmo, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in marine science at the University of Queensland in Australia, said the species was so rare that there was only one tree found on Panay Island in Eastern Visayas. Full story

GenSan hosts international conference on food fisheries standards
General Santos City, 14 Apr 2008 (BSS/Sun.Star General Santos) ' This city, dubbed the "Tuna Capital of the Philippines," hosted an international conference on food fisheries standards training on April 22 to 24.

More than 60 foreign delegates and 150 Filipinos attended the training, which has traditionally been held in several countries all over the globe, organizers said.

The three-day training focused European Union regulations and standards, and also served as a venue for participants to clarify issues and problems in the implementation of food safety and quality measures for fishery products that are intended for the European market.

The event is a joint undertaking of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the European Consortium and the European Commission. -- Full story

Integrated coastal management project launched in Mati
Mati, Davao Oriental, 9 Feb 2008 (CP Mallo/Sun.Star Davao) --  The Integrated Coastal Resource Management Project (ICRMP) was launched Feb 8 in Mati, Davao Oriental. The ICRMP is a 6-year project funded by the Asian Development Bank-Global Environment Facility(ADB-GEF), aims to provide sustainable management of the different ecosystems in order to increase the income and reduce poverty among municipal fisherfolk.

The project will cover provinces and municipalities that are surrounded with marine biodiversity corridors of national and global importance as identified by the Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priorities.

The project will also be implemented in Davao Oriental covering the municipalities of Baganga, Mati, Tarragona, Manay, Cateel, Caraga, and Boston. Other project areas are Cebu and Siquijor in Central Visayas, Masbate in Bicol, Zambales in Central Luzon, and Cagayan Valley.

Lead agencies are the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR). They will work with the Department of Finance-Municipal Development Fund Office (DOF-MDFO) and local government units. Communities will also have important roles to play to carry out the four project components of ICRM.

The project aims to provide environmental, social, as well as facilities for the LGUs and coastal communities to support local government's efforts in mitigating coastal pollution and degradation of resources.

The LGU, on the other hand, will be responsible for the selection, design and implementation of the infrastructure support and facilities under the last project component. Full story 

Atienza seeks police assistance to stop the slaughter of thresher shark
18 Mar 2008 (DENR) -- Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza has sought the assistance of police authorities, the Coast Guard and the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in preventing the hunting and slaughter of thresher sharks right in the heart of the Verde Island Passage in Batangas.

In seeking their assistance, Atienza asked law enforcers to closely monitor the activities of fishermen who go after the thresher shark for its meat and fin.

Atienza said the continuous hunting of thresher sharks could lead to serious decline in the number of this species and disturb the ecological balance of the marine ecosystems, specifically Verde Passage.

"We should stop this slaughter to preserve the ecological balance of our priceless natural heritage." Full story

Former dynamite fishers' den now turtles' haven
Lucena City, 14 Feb 2008 (D. Mallari Jr./Philippine Daily Inquirer) -- Once a marine habitat ruined by destructive fishing practices, the Tayabas Bay off Quezon and Batangas provinces is now a safe haven for endangered sea turtles, locally called the "pawikan."

Its 16-kilometer coastline in Lucena City, Sariaya town and the Bondoc Peninsula in Quezon and in San Juan town in Batangas are the favorite nesting sites of the gentle creatures, according to Zenaida Bernal, community coordinator of the Tanggol Kalikasan (TK) coastal and marine program.

Last week, residents of Lucena's coastal village of Barra released into the sea more than 50 Hawksbill hatchlings. Barra used to harbor fishermen engaged in dynamite fishing. Full story

Police seize 3 fishing boats 
29 Mar 2008 (B. Garcia/Sun.Star Zamboanga) ' The Office of the City Agriculture in Zamboanga City is readying to file appropriate charges against the owners and crew of three fishing vessels arrested for violation of the city fisheries ordinance.

City Agriculturist Diosdado Palacat said the three fishing vessels were caught in the evening of March 19 near the shore of Bolong village, 33 kilometers east of the city.

Raymond Muriedas, Anastacia Demadara, and Wilfredo Evangelista, who own the fishing vessels, were reportedly found to be engaged in "hulbot-hulbot" in the area. Local fishermen of Bolon reported the incident to the authorities.

"Hulbot-hulbot" fishing uses a conical shaped net with a pair of wings, the ends are connected to two ropes with buri, plastic strips or any similar materials that serves as scaring or herding device. This device hauls the ropes through a metallic ring that is attached to a tom weight when hauled into a fishing boat.

Palacat said law prohibits "hulbot-hulbot" fishing because it destroys the coral reefs that serve as shelter and sources of food for the different species of fish.

Aside from that, the fishing vessels are unlicensed and that they have no fishing permit to fish, according to Palacat. Full story

22 Chinese fishers released to appease China, say militants
Lucena City, 17 Mar 2008 (D.T. Mallari Jr./Philippine Daily Inquirer) -- The dismissal of the case against 22 Chinese fishers caught poaching in Palawan two years ago and their subsequent release was meant to appease the Chinese government irked over the scandal and diplomatic repercussions created by the controversial Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking, a militant fisherfolk's group said Saturday.

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap expressed belief that the closure of the case was a "diplomatic goodwill" of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the Chinese government.

Hicap observed that China was now dismayed with the government's handling of the RP-China offshore seismic survey in the Spratlys Islands. Full story

Poaching on the rise in Mindanao
Davao City (M. Cayon/Business Mirror/ABS-CBN News) -- Boats deployed to marine hotspots in the country have confirmed both intrusion by big Taiwanese fishing boats and poaching by local fishermen inside protected marine areas and fish sanctuaries, according to the Department of Agriculture>-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR).

Benjo Tabios, BFAR central office assistant director, said boats guarding the eastern side of Mindanao, for instance, had occasions of near encounters with big Taiwanese fishing boats.

"Unfortunately, the Taiwanese boats often slip away from sight and cannot be chased," Tabios said, saying that the Taiwanese fishing boats usually leave a safe distance with the BFAR boats. Tabios said the BFAR boats run at fast speeds of 26 knots "but if they [Taiwanese boats] keep at least four hours of distance, it is already difficult to chase them."

Some 14 "state-of-the-art," or computer-aided boats, and about 120 other smaller boats have been deployed by the BFAR to the marine hot spots, usually with frequent reports of overfishing and dynamite and other illegal-fishing activities. The boats were purchased since six years ago, and were deployed four years ago. These are being commanded by members of the Coast Guard, he said. The government spent more than Php100 million to buy the boats.

Hotspots are usually in the border of Mindanao with Indonesia, the southern part of the Moro Gulf and in Eastern Mindanao, where, he said, the boats occasionally spotted Taiwanese fishing vessels.

He said many marine hotspots change "because poaching is also seasonal as production also changes." He added: "That's why we deploy the ships every now and then, where the need is."

The country has more than 300 fish sanctuaries and marine parks, which have become attractions for poaching due to the increasing fish population around these protected marine areas. Full story

Fishers buck port construction 
Negros Oriental, 18 Feb 2008 (R. Genove/The Visayan Daily Star) -- The Siit Fishermen's Association in Siaton, Negros Oriental, sent a petition to the Sangguniang Bayan and other government agencies, Thursday opposing the ongoing construction of a private port in the town. The fisherfolk communities said they were not consulted on the construction of the port owned by Rizaldy Lampajo, and neither was a public hearing held on it.

Association president Ernita Elloren, vice president Maximino Tapang, and officials Richard Abrasaldo, Mery Verances, Melycia Nabwa, Paulina Verbosidad, and Alfredo Siason signed the petition. The councilors said they will send copies of the petition to the office of the Environment and Natural Resources Division, and request for an immediate investigation on the issue.

Petitioners said the private port workers endanger the corals, as big rocks and soil taken from the quarry operation were dumped into the body of water. The port has a height of 60 meters, they said. Fishermen lamented that since the Siit Bay is their only source of livelihood.

Meanwhile, fishermen said Philippine Ports Authority manager Noeme Calderon has received their petition, and she immediately made an ocular inspection and investigation in the place.

They said Calderon wrote Lampajo and ordered a stop to all activities immediately to avoid penalties.

Calderon said the PPA does not tolerate the construction of private port facilities, which have not complied with Administrative Order No. 06-95, or the Liberalized Regulation of Private Ports Construction, Development and Operation. Full story

Aquaculture project eyed in Bais City
Bais City, 15 Feb 2008 (M. Aranas/The Visayan Daily Star -- The Bais City Agriculture Office will launch an aquaculture project in the second week of March this year, with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap as the guest of honor, Mayor Hector Villanueva said.

Villanueva said the project will assist giant clam and crab farming and include the distribution of fish solar drier. Full story

Environment secretary: Protect and restore wetlands of Boracay
15 Feb 2008 -- ENVIRONMENT and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza stopped the reclamation of two wetland areas on Boracay Island to prevent further environmental degradation and to conserve and protect the natural environment of the popular tourist destination.

"We should see to it that the natural wealth is adequately protected. This should be spelled out clearly in the Master Development Plan of Boracay," Atienza said.

The DENR secretary prevented the reclamation of a four-hectare wetland in barangay Yapak and another one-hectare wetland in barangay Balabag. Both were proposed to be developed for commercial activities.

Atienza likewise ordered DENR Western Visayas regional director Lormelyn Claudio to cause the cancellation of the tax declarations issued to claimants to the wetland areas. Full story

Albay gets serious about climate change
Legazpi City, 8 Apr 2008 (IRIN) - "Ask the old people here in Albay province and they will tell you, they've never experienced this magnitude of storms and typhoons before," Nong Rongasa, executive director of the Centre for Initiatives and Research on Climate Adaptation of Albay province, told IRIN. "Every week there is a climate change-related event - high tides and heavy rains."

As further evidence, Rongasa cited a combination of heavy rains, high tides and sea surge that recently flooded Lagazpi City, the provincial capital. "It's just never happened before," he said.

It was a wake-up call for Albay authorities. "Climate change is here and it is a threat to our social and economic development, making it difficult to alleviate poverty and to have sustainable development," said Rongasa. "Because of this," he said, "we immediately set about improving disaster preparedness and putting in place a formal plan to deal with climate change."

Joey Sarte Salceda, governor of Albay, told IRIN: "We are working on disaster-proof, climate-proof adaptation. Albay province is the first to launch a climate change initiative. It's called 'Albay in Action for Climate Change'."

According to Rongasa, the plan includes strengthening and improving evacuation sites, introducing climate change curricula to schools and training 720 village officials in climate change adaptation and disaster preparedness. It includes a food-for-work scheme to clear out debris and blockages from the seven major rivers and 225 creeks and tributaries that flow from the volcano to forestall flooding, said Rongasa. The plan also calls for measures to protect coastal communities, including a major mangrove restoration project. Most of the funding is to come from provincial and national coffers. Full story

Tourism connection? -- This is what remains of the wooden foot bridge that connected the mainland to Passig Islet at Bgy. Bato, Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur. The islet used to be the headquarters of the Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force. The Davao del Sur government is planning to spend Php14.5M for the development of the Passig Islet Eco-park. A concrete bridge will replace the old bridge. (Photo by H. Cafugauan/FISH Project) 

World

Rough sailing for fisheries subsidy talks
18 Jan 2008 (ICTSD) -- Divisions among WTO members marked discussions on a set of potential multilateral disciplines on fisheries subsidy spending. The talks were the first formal meeting of the Doha Round negotiating group on rules to discuss the draft consolidated text on fisheries subsidies tabled by Chair Ambassador Guillermo Valles Games (Uruguay) last November.

Particularly contentious were proposed provisions for banning certain kinds of payments and according special and differential treatment to developing countries. This was unsurprising, since the two issues have in recent months been the principal cleavage among members. India was especially vocal in arguing that the conservation requirements developing countries had to fulfill in order to make ordinarily-prohibited payments were so onerous as to render the rules useless.

Valles Games' text would ban several types of fisheries subsidy payments, particularly those that encourage overfishing through enhancing fishing capacity and creating other incentives to fish. In doing so, he appeared to be searching for an acceptable middle ground between supporters of a 'top-down' blanket ban on fisheries subsidy payments (with negotiated exceptions), and countries that want a 'bottom-up' ban only on specific kinds of subsidies.

Draft text. Full story

Map shows toll on world's oceans
Boston, 14 Feb 2008 (H. Biggs/BBC News) ' A study in Science journal says climate change, fishing, pollution and other human factors have exacted a heavy toll on almost half of the marine waters.

Only remote icy areas near the poles are relatively pristine, but they face threats as ice sheets melt, it warns.

The authors say the data is a "wake-up call" to policymakers. Lead scientist, Dr Benjamin Halpern, of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, US, said humans were having a major impact on the oceans and the marine ecosystems within them.

"In the past, many studies have shown the impact of individual activities," he said. "But here for the first time we have produced a global map of all of these different activities layered on top of each other so that we can get this big picture of the overall impact that humans are having rather than just single impacts."

Co-author Dr Mark Spalding told BBC News that the map was the first attempt to describe and quantify the combined threats facing the world's oceans from human factors, ranging from commercial shipping to over-fishing.

The findings of the study were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, US. Full story

Ocean advocates hopeful of WTO cut in fishing support
Washington, 14 Feb 2008 (M. Ryan/Reuters) -- Supporters of action to protect the world's fragile fish stocks are hoping that a recent proposal to drastically limit fishing subsidies will prevail in global trade talks.

"We are in such dire conditions," said Courtney Sakai, campaign director for Oceana, an environmental group that vocally opposed subsidies for boat-building, fuel and other activities they say have pushed fisheries close to exhaustion.

Critics of those subsidies, which total about $20 billion a year globally, hope that a long-awaited agreement in the World Trade Organization's Doha round will force countries like Japan to scale back payments.

"There really needs to be a reduction in these subsidies that encourage overfishing," Sakai said.

Ocean activists say that overfishing and habitat destruction could collapse the world's fish and seafood populations by 2048. Full story

Report reveals 'alarming' rate of mangrove habitat loss
1 Feb 2008 (J. Aldred/Guardian -- Mangrove ecosystems should be better protected, the UN's food agency has warned as it published new figures showing that 20% of the world's mangrove area has been destroyed since 1980. A study by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that the environmental and economic damages caused by the "alarming" loss of mangroves in many countries should be urgently addressed.

Countries must engage in more effective conservation and sustainable management of the world's mangroves and other wetland ecosystems, it warned, ahead of World Wetlands day tomorrow.

The world has lost around 3.6m hectares (20%) of mangroves since 1980, the report showed.

The total mangrove area has declined from 18.8m ha (46.4m acres) in 1980 to 15.2m ha (37.5m acres) in 2005. However the report did show that there has been a slowdown in the rate of mangrove loss: from some 187,000 ha destroyed annually in the 1980s to 102,000 ha a year between 2000 and 2005. This reflected an increased awareness of the value of mangrove ecosystems, the report said.

The assessment of the world's mangroves from 1980-2005 was prepared in collaboration with mangrove specialists throughout the world and was co-funded by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO).

The FAO and ITTO are currently working with the International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems and other partner organisations to produce a World Atlas of Mangroves to be published later this year. Full story

Environmental treaties to protect the planet need more 'bite'
16 Feb 2008 (MIT/ScienceDaily) -- More than 100 global environmental treaties have negotiated over the past 40 years to address pollution, fisheries management, ocean dumping and other problems. But according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professor Lawrence Susskind, an expert in resolving complex environmental disputes, few of the agreements have done more than slow the pace of ecological damage, due to lack of ratification by key countries, insufficient enforcement and inadequate financial support.

To give the pacts bite ' not just bark ' Susskind is proposing a series of reforms that include economic penalties for countries that fail to meet the treaties' targets. Susskind will outline a program to make global environmental treaties more effective and treaty-makers more accountable in a presentation Saturday, Feb. 16, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

The reforms he has in mind include engaging civil societies, not just governments, in drafting and enforcing global environmental treaties; offering incentives for countries that ratify treaties and comply with their terms; and establishing more meaningful timetables and targets, along with economic penalties.

Penalties for non-compliance with environmental treaties should hit nations hard--in their pocketbooks, says Susskind. Full story

Global conference on small-scale fisheries to focus on sustainable social development
26 Feb 2008 (FAO) -- A Global Conference on Small-scale Fisheries will be held 13-17 October 2008 in Bangkok, to address how small-scale fisheries have the potential to significantly contribute to sustainable development, in particular with respect to such key issues as poverty reduction, food and livelihood.

The conference is co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Royal Government of Thailand. It is convened in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC) and The WorldFish Center.

According to the organizers, the conference will have a broad scope, allowing for the discussion of a wide range of issues including, inter alia, wider social and economic development and human rights issues, governance, fisheries policy processes and systems, fisheries management approaches and market access aspects and means of increasing post-harvest benefits. A special focus of the conference, however, will be on the issue of securing access and user rights by small-scale fishers, indigenous peoples, and fishing communities to coastal and fishery resources that sustain their livelihoods.

The subject matter and focus of the conference is of particular importance to developing countries and stakeholders from directly concerned countries are encouraged to participate. Since management issues as well as valuable experience from different systems and approaches exist also in industrialised countries, those concerned with small-scale fisheries in the North and sub-tropics are also encouraged to participate. The organizers look forward to the participation of fish workers, fisheries managers, social scientists, government officials, representatives of professional associations, NGOs and other civil society organisations, the private sector, and international and regional development partners and agencies.

More info. Full story

Focus on social, cultural aspects of marine protected areas, says ICSF workshop 
(ICSF) -- There should be greater focus on the social and cultural aspects of protected area planning and implementation, to balance the current predominant focus on biological aspects, a workshop organized by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) has recommended.

The two-day workshop on "Social Dimensions of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)", with specific relation to fishing communities, was held in Rome, Italy, during 8-9 February, on the eve of the Second meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Protected Areas (WGPA 2) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Six country case studies -- on Brazil, India, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania and Thailand -- drawing on on-the-ground experiences of fishing communities, were presented at the workshop. A study undertaken by WALHI in Indonesia on five MPA experiences in Sulawesi and Komodo-NTT, and experiences on protected area programmes from France and Spain were shared. Inputs were also received from the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP).

Only genuine participatory processes will ensure long-term and sustainable outcomes, balancing biodiversity conservation with environmental and social justice, workshop participants noted in a statement of recommendations.

Full text of the statement of recommendations. Full story

Wind the force behind fish booms and busts -- scientists
5 Feb 2008 (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) -- The mid-20th century crash of the sardine fishery off California for decades has vexed marine ecologists searching for the root causes of large fluctuations in the sardine population. Before its collapse, the fishery was one of the world's most productive, forming the setting of John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" in Monterey, California.

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have now shed light on the puzzle by proposing a plausible mechanism behind the mystery: wind.

Writing in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Scripps researchers Ryan Rykaczewski and David Checkley propose that atmospheric wind forces can determine the availability of microscopic organisms that sardine and anchovy feed upon. When wind causes nutrient-rich waters to rise to the surface, plankton levels increase and sardine populations flourish. Conversely, sardine numbers crash when plankton become scarce as wind conditions change.

The scientists say their findings may explain the sardine and anchovy booms and busts off California's coast and could explain similar population cycles elsewhere around the world.

"This paper is the first to show a mechanistic relationship between climate variability and the sardine fishery,' said Rykaczewski, a Scripps graduate student researcher. "There have been a lot of hypotheses about climate change and sardine and anchovy fisheries, but there has been little scientific support for a mechanism connecting changes in climate to changes in these fish populations." Full story

UN maritime agency endorses campaign for fair treatment of seafarers
25 February 2008 -- The head of the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) has given his backing to a new campaign to raise the awareness of seafarers of their rights to fair treatment in the case of accidents at sea.

The campaign is spearheaded by the International Shipping Federation (ISF), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) to promote guidelines on the issue developed by the IMO and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

According to the guidelines, all necessary measures should be taken to ensure that seafarers are treated fairly when detained by public authorities in the event of a maritime accident.

The guidelines recommend steps to be taken by all those who may be involved in an incident: the port or coastal State, flag State, the seafarer's State, the owner of the ship and seafarers themselves.

They also seek to ensure that no discriminatory or retaliatory measures are taken against seafarers because of their participation in investigations. Full story

Biosphere reserves play major role in combating climate change -- UNESCO
11 February 2008 (UN News)' Biosphere reserves can spur efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change as well as encourage increased use of renewable energy, according to a recent declaration adopted by a meeting backed by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Following a week of deliberations, the more than 800 participants adopted the Madrid Declaration, which underscores the "potential for action' of reserves to tackle challenges such as the loss of traditional knowledge, cultural diversity and arable land, as well as global warming.

It also calls for the establishment of a sustainable funding mechanism to reinforce the reserves, urging collaboration between UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere programme (MAB) and the agency's other intergovernmental scientific initiatives. Source

Bad news for coastal ocean: Less fish out, means more nitrogen in
2 Feb 2008 (ScienceDaily) -- A Canada-U.S. research team has found that commercial fisheries play an unexpected role in the decline of water quality in coastal waters. In a recent issue of Nature Geoscience, Roxane Maranger and Nina Caraco explain that the collapse of the fisheries from decades of over fishing has played a significant role in disturbing the balance between nitrogen entering and leaving costal water systems.

The study, the first to examine the world's 58 coatal regions, shows how failing to maintain ecosystems in a sustainable manner has wide-ranging consequences. Using data provided by the United Nations, Maranger and Caraco found that commercial fishing has played an important, yet declining, role in removing man-made nitrogen from coastal waters.

"Fish accumulate nitrogen as biomass, and when humans move fish from the ocean to the table through commercial fisheries, they are returning part of this terrestrial nitrogen generated by humans back to the land," said Maranger, a biology professor at the Université de Montréal (Canada).

Four decades ago, commercial fishing removed the equivalent of 60 percent of the nitrogen from coastal oceans that entered as fertilizers. Today, this figure has dropped to 20 percent. "From a historical perspective, this is bad news," says Maranger. "Increased nitrogen levels in coastal ocean ecosystems throughout the world have resulted in excessive plant growth, lack of oxygen, severe reductions in water quality and in fish and other animal populations."

In order to manage coastal ecosystems in a sustainable manner, while fully understanding the impact that humans are having on the nitrogen cycle, the scientists recommend the role of commercial fisheries be reexamined. Full story

Climate change affecting fish stocks
Johannesburg, 26 Feb 2008 (IRIN) - Climate change is emerging as the latest threat to the world's fast declining fish stocks, which could affect millions of people who depend on the oceans for food and income, says a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The report, In Dead Water, says climate change may slow down the global flow of ocean currents, which flush and clean the continental shelves and are critical to maintaining water quality, nutrient cycling and the life-cycle patterns of fish and other marine life in more than 75% of the world's fishing grounds.

"In developed countries, the degradation of traditional fishing grounds will have commercial effects on the fishing industry sector and fleets," said Stefan Hain of UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre. "The effects in developing countries and SIDS [Small Island Developing States] will be more direct, i.e. on coastal communities and populations, which depend on marine resources for sustenance and livelihoods."

Fifty million people could be at risk by 2080 because of climate change and increasing coastal population densities, according to a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) policy brief on the impact of climate change on fisheries. "Projections suggest that these combined pressures could result in reef loss and a decline in fish availability for per capita consumption of approximately 15 percent by 2015."

Coastal fishing communities face a double whammy of reduced fisheries resources and increased risks of coastal flooding and storm surges, said the FAO brief, Building adaptive capacity to climate change: Policies to sustain livelihoods and fisheries. "Impacts of climate change are an additional burden to other poverty drivers, such as declining fish stocks, HIV/AIDS, lack of savings, insurance and alternative livelihoods."

The UNEP study, the first of its kind by UNEP scientists, was conducted in collaboration with universities and institutes in Europe and the United States, which found that the number of marine dead zones - oxygen deficient areas - have increased from 149 in 2003 to over 200 in 2006, mostly in coastal waters. These zones are linked with pollution and the projected growth in coastal development, and this number is expected to multiply in a few decades.

Christian Nellemann, editor-in-chief of the UNEP report, pointed out that the "impoverished will take the greatest toll both in terms of reduced food supply, but also breakdown in their economy and their primary opportunity to move out of poverty. This is an emerging catastrophe of an unprecedented scale, and the efforts in the next two decades will determine the lives of hundreds of millions for centuries ahead. Full story

100,000 tuna tagged in the Pacific
4 Apr 2008 (SPC) -- The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Pacific Tuna Tagging Programme (Phase 1) has just passed a significant milestone: 100,000 tuna tagged since the project started in Papua New Guinea late in 2006.  

The success of Phase 1 of the tagging project has been an outstanding achievement, and full credit goes to our cruise leaders Tony Lewis, Bruno Leroy and David Itano, other regular cruise participants Brian Kumasi and Thomas Usu, and others who have participated in the field operations,' says John Hampton, SPC Oceanic Fisheries Programme Manager.

The Pacific Tuna Tagging Programme (PTTP) is a large research project designed to provide new information on tuna movements, mortality and behaviour. This information will result in more accurate assessments of the status of skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks and the impacts of fishing on them. Source

Boycott bluefin tuna, environmental group urges retailers
02 Apr 2008 (FishUpdate.com)- WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, has renewed its backing for a boycott of bluefin tuna.

Given what it calls the "out-of-control" nature of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, WWF says it continues to advocate a moratorium -- and to "encourage the growing wave of responsible retailers, chefs and restaurants choosing to boycott the fish" -- until stocks are on the road to recovery.

The global conservation organization is also calling for the establishment of a sanctuary for bluefin tuna around the Balearic islands in the western Mediterranean. The Balearics were traditionally the most important breeding ground for bluefin tuna in the world, but massive overfishing in the last ten years has seen stock levels plummet to a dangerous all-time low, WWF claims.

At a meeting last week of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Tokyo -- which WWF attended as official observer -- there was a growing consensus on the need to address the Mediterranean bluefin tuna stock crisis as a matter of urgency, the conservation organisation adds.

New ICCAT Chairman, Fabio Hazin of Brazil, said in plenary: "This year is the very last chance for ICCAT - either it fixes the bluefin problem or it dies as a credible management organization." Full story

Scientists hope aquaculture will save bluefin tuna
Beijing, 18 Mar 2008 (Xinhuanet) -- Overfished to the brink of commercial collapse, the Atlantic bluefin tuna is the focus of scientists hoping to breed these huge fish in captivity, and thus reduce pressure on wild tuna.

Demand for bluefin sushi is so intense that others say the tuna will inevitably follow salmon, catfish and other smaller fish into successful commercial aquaculture.

"I think that about 10 years from now, we'll get bluefin tuna to breed via land-based hatcheries," said Yonathan Zohar, the director of the University of Maryland Center of Marine Biotechnology. "It's only a matter of time and resources."

The first problem to surmount is bluefin behavior. Bluefin can take up to 12 years to reach sexual maturity, compared to about three years for catfish, and getting them to breed outside their natural habitat is difficult. Life in a floating sea cage or giant tank apparently does not provide the right environmental cues to tell the fish to turn on those sex hormones and produce another generation.

A European Union project recently made a start at clearing these hurdles. Zohar collaborated on the paper, published in the July 2007 issue of Reviews in Fisheries Science, which used drug implants to get bluefin to produce fertilized eggs in captivity. In the future, this technique may help scientists overcome the practical and financial barriers to bluefin farming by making the tuna breed at a younger age. Full story

Deep-sea sharks wired for sound
9 Apr 2008 (CSIRO) -- Deep-sea sharks have been tagged and tracked and their habitats precisely mapped in world-first research to test the conservation value of areas closed to commercial fishing.

Last month scientists from the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship fitted acoustic tags to 50 gulper sharks, swellsharks and green eye dogfish near Port Lincoln, South Australia.

They will track the shark's movements in a closed area designed to protect the gulper shark ' a species which is severely depleted over much of its range and is nominated for protection under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The sharks will be tracked for the next three years by a network of 24 acoustic listening stations moored 100 meters off the complex and steep seabed. These listening stations were deployed with pinpoint accuracy using the precise positioning capabilities of the Marine National Facility. Four listening stations raised for an early preview have detected a flurry of activity, receiving 5700 acoustic 'pings' in five days from 42 of the sharks moving in all directions. Full story

'Nonlinear' ecosystem response points to environmental solutions
22 Jan 2008 (Oregon State University/ScienceDaily) -- The preservation of coastal ecosystem services such as clean water, storm buffers or fisheries protection does not have to be an all-or-nothing approach, a new study indicates, and a better understanding of how ecosystems actually respond to protection efforts in a "nonlinear" fashion could help lead the way out of environmental-versus-economic gridlock.

There may be much better ways to provide the majority of environmental protection needed while still maintaining natural resource-based jobs and sustainable communities, scientists from 13 universities and research institutes suggest in a January 18 article in the journal Science.

"The very concept of ecosystem-based management implies that humans are part of the equation, and their needs also have to be considered," said Lori Cramer, an associate professor of sociology at Oregon State University.

"But ecosystem concerns have too often been viewed as an all-or-none choice, and it doesn't have to be that way," Cramer said. "What we are learning is that sometimes a little environmental protection can go a long way, and leave room for practical compromises."

In their analysis, a diverse group of scientists from four nations analyzed the values and uses of mangrove forests in Thailand -- a hot spot of concern about coastal ecosystems being degraded and losing their traditional value of storm protection, wood production and fish habitat. These saltwater forests are frequently being replaced with commercial shrimp farms.

In the past, the scientists said, it was often assumed that the environment responded to protection efforts in a "linear" fashion -- in other words, protecting twice as much of a resource generated twice the amount of protection. But the new study and others like it are making it clearer that ecosystems respond in a "nonlinear" fashion -- protection of a small percentage of a resource might result in a large percentage of the maximum benefit that can be gained.

If the data are available to help quantify goods and services, researchers say, values can be attached to them and used to reach societal compromises. This might lead to most -- but not all -- of an environmental resource being protected, and some -- but not all -- of resources available for commercial use. The combined value of the ecosystem protection and commercial development may approach, or even exceed the value of a "hands-off" approach. Full story

Science solves puzzle of marine management
10 April 2008 (CSIRO) -- The Federal Minister for Industry, Innovation, Science & Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, and the Western Australian Minister for Environment, the Hon David Templeman MLA, launched the North West Shelf Joint Environmental Management Study (NWSJEMS) in Perth.

NWSJEMS project leader, Scott Condie of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), said this research was vital because coasts and oceans worldwide are being exposed to growing pressure from increasing population and industrialisation.

"Our team developed a sophisticated model that allows users to envisage different development scenarios and management options, and comprehensively evaluate their potential impacts on marine ecosystems," Condie said.

"The study found that the North West Shelf environment is in good condition, but will need to be carefully managed to cope with the current industrial expansion. NWSJEMS provides the scientific tools to enable this. The sophisticated techniques developed for this study are being further improved and can be adapted for any marine ecosystem facing pressures from potentially competing uses."

The study delivers real tools for planners to tackle the complex issue of managing the impacts of multiple human activities on the Australian marine and coastal environment so as to reap social and economic benefits, while maintaining environmental integrity,' Carr said. Full story

Mega coastal projects may have negative impact worldwide, says Netherlands expert 
16 Mar 2008 (Khaleej Times) -- A leading coastal engineering expert from the Netherlands has called for a major change in the way countries and corporations plan, execute and manage coastal development.

The effect of accelerated development of mega projects on people and environment, according to a press release, was the focus of Professor Kees d'Angremond's closing keynote speech at the international coastal and port engineering conference, PIANC-COPEDEC VII, which concluded in Dubai recently.

Prof d'Angremond gave an overview of the world's biggest and most ambitious mega projects, charting evolution in both size and technology from developments like the Suez and Panama Canals, which were completed in the mid-19th Century and the early 20th Century, respectively, through Lake Ijssel's closure and reclamation in the Netherlands (1950s and '60s), Singapore's Tuas and Changi reclamation projects (1980s), Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok island airport (1990s), culminating in the residence- and leisure-based projects today in areas like the UAE (The Palm, The World), Oman (The Pearl), Bahrain and Qatar.

Prof d'Angremond stressed on the effects these projects would have on the natural world, noting that ever-larger projects had ever-larger and more widespread impact.

However, he identified accelerated production times, rather than sheer size, as the main environmental issue. "The Suez and Panama Canals, the Ijssel reclamation, the Delta Project, they were gigantic undertakings - far larger than the mega projects of today. But the Suez Canal took 11 years to build. Including its initial failure, the Panama Canal took double that - at a cost of 27,500 lives. Ijssel reclamation took 40 years." Full story

EU to tighten fisheries rules
Brussels, 18 Feb 2008 (J. Smith/Reuters) - Europe's fisheries chief pledged on Monday to crack down on illegal fishing by tightening inspections and raising penalties for lawbreakers in a bid to preserve the EU's severely overexploited species of fish.

Speaking after an informal meeting of EU ministers, European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said existing controls were weak, inadequate and jeopardized the entire EU fisheries policy.

His remarks came just a couple of months after the EU's financial watchdog issued a report saying the European Union had no idea how many fish its fleets caught each year and was also failing to clamp down on vessels exceeding national quotas. Full story

European Commission sets out position on ecosystem-based approach to fisheries
11 Apr 2008 (EC-Fisheries) -- The European Commission has published a communication on the role of fisheries management in implementing an ecosystem approach to marine management.

In this text, the Commission outlines how the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) can help implement a more joined-up approach to protect the ecological balance of our oceans as a sustainable source of wealth and well-being for future generations. The key objectives are to minimize the impacts of fishing on the wider marine environment by reducing the overall level of fishing pressure, and to ensure that fisheries measures are used fully to support the cross-sectoral approach defined by the EU's Marine Strategy and Habitats Directives. This should ensure protection for vulnerable habitats and sensitive species, prevent disruptions to the food chain, safeguard the integrity of key ecosystem processes, and thus create a healthy marine environment which will positively support a thriving fishing industry, alongside other sustainable human activities.

The present communication forms part of the first wave of actions to be implemented under the new integrated Maritime Policy. Full story

France forced to stop illegal drift net fishing
17 Mar 2008 (C. Clover/Telegraph) -- France has been told by the European Court that it may not allow fishing with "wall of death" nets in the Mediterranean this year.

The court has refused to grant the French Government a temporary exemption to allow fishermen attempting to catch endangered bluefin tuna and swordfish to go on using drift nets that were prohibited in the EU in 2002.

The fleet of 92 vessels was discovered by the environmental group Oceana operating in the Mediterranean last year, using "wall of death" nets between three and six miles long.

Drift nets more than 1.5 miles long were banned by the UN in international waters in the early 1990s and drift nets of any length in 2002 because of global concerns about the bycatch of dolphins, turtles and sharks.

The French government, however, granted a legal exemption to its fishermen in the Mediterranean arguing that their nets did not fit the definition of drift net because they were anchored - though environmentalists reported that this was seldom the case. Full story

Scotland: Salmon farming is a threat to healthy wild stocks
(R. Edwards/Sunday Herald) -- Scotland's wild fish are increasingly being killed by lice leaking from salmon farms, new government research has revealed. But keeping them a safe distance apart has been deemed too costly and "logistically difficult" a solution.

Reports from the Scottish government's Fisheries Research Services (FRS) in Aberdeen and Pitlochry have found strong evidence that sea lice from caged salmon contaminate wild fish - and the problem seems to be getting worse.

The lice eat fish flesh, causing badly infested salmon and sea trout to die. to £30 up industry fish-farming. The problem is estimated to cost the Scottish million a year, but the impact on wild fish has been hotly disputed. Full story

Norway: 'Fisheries more important than oil' -- report
(The Barents Observer) -- The fishery industry will be the biggest growth sector in northern Norway, while the oil industry will develop more slowly than previously anticipated, a group of researchers say. They also doubt Gazprom will be able to meet its time schedules in the Shtokman project.

A new report from the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) maintains that fisheries will remain the most important industry in the Norwegian north. The forecast comes amid major focus on the oil and gas industry in the region. Full story

Norway developing eco-friendly trawl technology
7 Apr 2008 -- The Norwegian fisheries magnate Kjell Inge Røkke and the industry have spent around NOK 10 million (EUR 1.25 million) on developing "eco-friendlier trawls'. One trawler operating off the West coast of Norway and a shrimp trawler fishing in the Oslo fjord in Eastern Norway are helping to develop the new trawl technology.

Røkke is aiming to develop a trawling system that is more selective in terms of what is kept and what parts of the catch should be released unharmed through the assistance of electronic devices. Today, the global fishing fleet kills millions of tons of unwanted by-catch by emptying the trawl on the deck and throwing back the unwanted catch - often already dead - to the sea. The new technology is supposed to reduce by-catch, and then apply the system used for air pumping krill in fish and shrimp trawling.

If successfully developed, the selection process will prove valuable for bottom fish trawlers looking to automatically release small fish unharmed. Today the trawlers either discontinue fishing if they are catching too many undersized fish, or throw the by-catch back to the sea.  Full story

Russia seeks new glory in fisheries
3 Apr 2008 (Barents Observer) -- According to a proposed new federal programme on fisheries, a total of 61 billion RUB (1.65 billion EUR) will be invested in the Russian fishery sector in the period 2009-2013.

The programme is intended to increase fish catch and processing to the level of the Soviet period, head of the Russian State Committee of Fisheries, Andrey Krainy, says. Full story

Illegal cod fishing in Arctic threatening fisheries: WWF
15 Apr 2008, Geneva (AFP) - Illegal fishing of cod and pollock in the Arctic is a transnational crime that is putting the health of fisheries at risk, a report published Wednesday by conservation group WWF shows.

The illegal activity is also adding pressure on fish stocks that are already feeling the impact of climate change, said the report.

Some 70 percent of the world's white fish supply originates from the Arctic. Among these are the Russian Alaska pollock and Barents Sea cod which account for about a quarter of the world's white fish supply. Full Story  

Icelanders warned not to change fish quota system
15 Jan 2008 -- Icelanders have been warned not to tamper with the country's long standing fishing quota system in the light of a controversial ruling from the United Nations this week.

The warning was issued by Ragnar Árnason, a professor in economics at the University of Iceland who said any attempt to 'revolutionize' the way quotas are organized would be economic suicide.

He was speaking in response to a decision by the UN Human Rights Committee following an appeal by two Icelandic fishermen which declared that the Icelandic fishing quota system was unfair.

Professor �rnason said: "If we abolish the quota system, we will lose tens of billions (of Icelandic kronas) every year, which will also have a multiplicative effect throughout the economic system." Full story

Third of North Sea should be marine reserve -- environmental group
20 Mar 2008 (P Eccleston/Telegraph) -- Almost a third of the North Sea should be set aside for a network of marine reserves needed to preserve fish stocks, a new report says.

WWF - formerly the World Wildlife Fund - says the experimental reserves would also help protect the habitat on which many fish species depend.

Fisheries management schemes had failed to protect commercially important fish such as cod, haddock and plaice and there was now an urgent need for protected areas.

WWF claims that some fish had declined by as much as 90% since 1990 and the skate, once common in the North Sea, had now almost disappeared.

In the report, "A Return to Abundance: A Case for Marine Reserves in the North Sea,' WWF calls for a network of five experimental marine reserves that will improve the sustainability of fisheries, protect biodiversity, and help establish a healthy ecosystem. (Full story)

The Scottish Fishermen's Federation disagrees. The trade body said introducing marine protected areas in the North Sea on the scale proposed today by environmental organisation WWF UK would have a "devastating" impact on the livelihoods of Scottish fishermen. The move would also affect the fish supply chain to the consumer, they said. (Full story) 

2005 a deadly year for Caribbean coral reefs
Paris, 29 Jan 2008 (Agence France-Press/Inquirer.net) -- The Caribbean's fragile coral reefs were devastated in 2005 by a double whammy of record-high temperatures and 13 full-on hurricanes, according to a UN-sponsored report released Monday.

During the last 50 years many Caribbean reefs have lost up to 80 percent of their coral cover, damaging or destroying the main source of livelihood for hundreds of thousands of people, said the report, prepared by a team of scientists and experts at the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.

The study was jointly sponsored by UNESCO/ and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Coral-based ecosystems are extremely sensitive to temperature increases, which have led over the last 50 years to massive bleaching -- affecting up to 95 percent of the reefs around some islands, including the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba, and the French West Indies.

2005 was the warmest year since records were first kept in 1880, and global warming is likely to increase in years to come, climate scientists have warned. Full story

Atlantic bluefin tuna threatened by oversized fishing fleet -- WWF
Rome, 12 Mar 2008 (R. Pomeroy, C. Evans/Reuters Africa) -- There are far too many boats fishing for tuna in the Mediterranean, putting further strain on stocks of a species already threatened with extinction, environmental group WWF said in a report published on Wednesday.

The Atlantic bluefin tuna, sometimes described as "floating goldmines" due to its spectacular price tag when sold for sushi, is under threat from over-fishing and quotas set by international agreements on how many each country can land.

But in a study into the number and size of fishing vessels, WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, found there were at least one third more boats than needed to meet legal quotas.

"It is crazy," said WWF's Sergi Tudela. "The numerous new fleets are so modern and costly that fishermen are forced to fish illegally just to survive -- and worse still they are fishing themselves out of a job."

Atlantic bluefin tuna, which spawn in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean, can be worth USD10,000-15,000 each in Japan, where they are eaten raw as sushi. Full story

Tougher port controls to target illegal fishing in the Mediterranean
Rome, 7 Mar 2008 (FAO) -- The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) established by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has approved a new region-wide scheme for stronger "port State" controls targeting illegal, unreported and underreported (IUU) fishing.

Under the scheme, GFCM countries will designate ports where foreign fishing boats wishing to offload, transship or process fish, or take on fuel and supplies, must land.

Any ship not from the involved port State will be required to request access ahead of time, providing extensive information on their activities and cargo. Ships sighted as being involved IUU activities will be turned away, as will vessels blacklisted for IUU by other regional fisheries management organizations.

Additionally, fifteen percent of all foreign vessels landing in the designated ports will be subject to on-board inspections that adhere to established GFCM rules. Discovery of IUU activity will result in denial of port access, blacklisting by GFCM, and a report to the ship's home country. Full story

U.S.: Network of marine protected areas in the Channel Islands of California helping restore depleted ocean life -- new study
Oxnard, Calif., 11 Feb 2008 (PRNewswire-USNewswire) -- The network of marine protected areas (MPAs) established five years ago to preserve the natural legacy of California's Channel Islands are improving biodiversity and ocean health without significant effects on the fishing economy, according to conclusions from a five year study of these waters by biologists and economists. State, federal and university scientists presented the results of nearly two dozen research projects during a special session of the California Islands Symposium on February 7th and 8th.

"The historic effort to preserve the natural legacy of this special place five years ago is now paying tangible dividends," said Gregory Helms, program manager at Ocean Conservancy's Santa Barbara, California field office. "It's inspiring to see increases in the population and the size of spiny lobsters and other ocean life so fast, after depleting these waters for so long. Based on these early studies, the vision of restoring for our grandchildren the abundance enjoyed by our grandparents is becoming a reality."

After five years of monitoring, scientists with Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) and other institutions have found that spiny lobsters within the protected areas have grown in both size and abundance. Large, mature lobsters are essential to successful reproduction in this valuable fishery. The study's findings suggest that since lobsters in protected areas are bigger,