COASTAL ALERT

Philippines
Senate approves Japan-Philippine economic agreement amid protests
RP biggest victim of climate change--Filipino NASA physicist
Fisheries up 2.74% in 2nd quarter
Fisheries bureau scales down growth projections
Gov’t agrees to pay tuna industry’s WCPFC dues
Experts say RP facing fish shortage
Agri dept issues new rules on small tuna fishing, trading  
RP, Timor Leste jointly pursuing 6 fisheries concerns
RP, 7 other Asian countries tag small pelagics for better management  
DA says shrimp production to double in 5 years  
RP needs EEZ to feed 135M population by 2025 - BFAR
Gov’t eyes subsidies to fishing industry
RP lags in fisheries export to Europe
Gov't allows direct oil import by tuna companies
General Santos could face sudden tuna glut
500 marine protected areas established in RP, says agriculture official
DENR pins hope on law students to send environmental criminals to jail
Fisheries bureau taps Landbank to finance seaweed farmers
Philippine coral reef showcased in new US exhibit
Bluefin tuna farming nixed
Davao Region: Marine fish catch down, officials bank on aquaculture to boost production
Fisheries bureau sets up more mariculture farms
Cebu: Imported shrimp seized in Liloan
Zamboanga Peninsula: Municipal fisheries up in 2nd quarter
Romblon: Fishing ban at San Fernando lifted
BFAR clears sugar firm from fishkill
Prosecutor clears 14 Vietnamese fishermen of poaching, illegal entry
5 fishers making explosives die in blast
Guimaras vows to protect coastal resources
Cavite waters off Manila Bay now 94% clear of illegal fishpens – DENR
Davao fisherman faces raps for killing dolphin
BFAR hunts dolphin killers in Aurora province

World
USD50 billion lost by marine fishing each year
Countries agree on guidelines for protecting deep-sea species and habitats
'Dead zones' multiply along world's coasts
Sea's acidity rising 100 times faster than in past, UNESCO Says
Fish farming may struggle to keep up with global demand, report finds
Conservation congress kicks off with dire warning on biodiversity
Climate change to deplete fisheries' production: FAO
Overfishing, not climate change, is greatest danger to world's oceans
Greenpeace launches online blacklist of vessels involved in illegal fishing
'Catch shares' could rescue failing fisheries, protect the ocean
"Best hope at sustainable fisheries" short-changed by conservation efforts, say Canadian researchers
Climate change, overfishing, pollution threatening East Asia's Coral Triangle
One-third of reef-building corals face elevated extinction risk from climate change and local impacts
A recipe for saving the world's oceans from an extinction crisis
Turtles threatened by development and harmful fishing, warns UN agency
UN agency urges global fishing industries to combat seabird killings
MSC bares new fishery assessment methodology
Mobile fish farms could soon navigate the oceans
Live fish caught at record depth
Seafood exports from India slide on power cuts, ice shortage
Fisheries dept offers RM15 for return of tagged fish
Fishing federation is Japan’s first eco-certified fishery
Malaysia: Special route for Sepanggar fishermen soon
Sri Lanka to issue traceable IDs to fishermen
Vietnam’s Fisheries gets bio-tech boost
Hong Kong considers ban on fishing trawlers: report
Australian scientists classify over 100 new sharks and rays
Explorers find hundreds of undescribed corals, other species on familiar Australian reefs
Climate change threat to Australian fisheries
Samoa is first FFA nation to plan fisheries legislation modernization
EU agrees on 600m euro for fishing industry
EU to overhaul fisheries policy
Iceland trawler numbers fall
Spain, Japan back bluefin tuna ban
US requires ships to cut speed in waters used by right whales
Fishing among America's most dangerous jobs
Canadian shrimp fisheries certified green
Guinea-Bissau: Fishermen turn to trafficking as fish profits drop
Tanzanian government bans prawn fishing in Indian Ocean
Namibia declares first marine reserve

Resources
Global Analysis of Protected Areas
Human dimensions of the ecosystem approach to fisheries 
New Google tool reveals marine protected areas
WildCam Belize
ReefBase call for coral bleaching data

Philippines

Senate approves Japan-Philippine economic agreement amid protests
The Philippine Senate approved last October 8 a trade pact with Japan which critics say puts the Philippines at a gross disadvantage.

Even as government officials sought to allay fears that the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) would eventually allow Japanese fishing companies to operate in Philippine waters, the fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) launched a signature drive asking Senate to recall its ratification.

Pamalakaya said it expects to gather the support of fishedfolk activists from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Canada, Uganda, Ghana, Martinique, Mauritania, Italy, The Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Guadalupe, Kenya, Spain, Chile, Honduras, United Kingdom, Tanzania, France, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Senegal and the United States.

Kilusang Mangingisda, a coalition of 14 fishers federation in the country, said the deal would lead to Japanese deep-sea fishing fleets operating in the country's major fishing grounds and spell "the doom of the local fisheries industry."

Government officials refuted the groups’ allegations. “There's nothing in the JPEPA that confers fishing rights on Japanese vessels [in our waters]," said fisheries bureau chief Malcolm Sarmiento. “The agreement only allows Japanese vessels to bring goods coming from the Japanese factories into the Philippines.”

If Japanese fishing firms want to operate in the Philippines, they would have to seek government clearance and abide by Philippine laws, he added. Sources: GMANews.tv, Sun.Star

RP biggest victim of climate change--Filipino NASA physicist
Manila, 12 Sep 2008 (TJ Burgonio/Philippine Daily Inquirer) —The Philippines is very vulnerable to climate change and its diverse species will be the first to be wiped out if the temperature warms up, a US-based Filipino physicist said.

“The Philippines is not emitting a lot of carbon dioxide, but it's going to be the biggest victim of climate change,” Dr. Josefino Comiso said in a briefing organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Comiso, a senior scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) who has made studies on climate change, said the country is very vulnerable to a warming climate because it is home to a high diversity of species.

“A lot of these species are very vulnerable to even a slight change in temperature,” he later told reporters. “If you change the temperature by even a fraction of a degree to 1 degree, a lot of species could disappear.”

He explained: “In the Philippines, there's more diversity. If you lose 10% of them, we're talking of thousands of species.”

Comiso, a contributing author to the report on climate change of Nobel winner Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, said the country's coral reefs, home to algae and hundreds of species of fish, are under immediate threat from a warming of ocean temperature, and bleaching.

Comiso also echoed observations by climate experts that the Philippines was vulnerable to a rise in sea level and stronger storms as an offshoot of global warming.

“We've been having longer and heavier rainfall in the previous years. That may be associated with global warming as well because we know that SST (sea surface temperature) has been on the rise,” he said.

“If you have a warmer ocean, you get more evaporation. You also get stronger typhoons in the process,” he added. Full story

Fisheries up 2.74% in 2nd quarter
2 Oct 2008 (DA-BFAR) – Municipal fisheries and aquaculture recorded output gains during the April-June period, expanding 3.98% and 2.63%, respectively, the fisheries bureau said in a report to the Department of Agriculture.

Overall growth of the fisheries sector was however dragged down to 2.74% by a 2.73% decline in commercial fisheries, due largely to high fuel prices and bad weather conditions. Fuel accounts for 60% to 70% of production costs in commercial fishing.

Municipal fisheries, which contributed about 31.48 % to the total fisheries yield, produced 15,027 metric tons (MT) more this year compared to the same quarter last year, Sarmiento said.  

Production in marine municipal fisheries went up by 3.34 % or 11,381 MT while yields in inland municipal fisheries went up by 9.69 % or 3,646 metric tons.

Aquaculture production, which made up 41.35% of total fisheries yields, increased by 13,206 MT during the second quarter compared to the same period last year. About 64.44% of the total production was seaweeds and 35.56 % were finfishes and shellfishes. Full story

Fisheries bureau scales down growth projections
19 Aug 2008 (AR Remo/Philippine Daily Inquirer) Growth in fisheries output this year is expected to slow down to 7%, as against an earlier government estimate of 11%, because of high fuel prices, a senior official said.

The government had projected the fisheries sector to post record production of 5.7 million MT this year, but given the current conditions the output might barely hit five million metric tons, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. said.

“We were hoping the capture fisheries sub-sector — both commercial and municipal fisheries — would post the biggest gains in the first half but that didn’t happen,” Sarmiento said.

In the first half of the year, the growth in fish production slowed down to 2.74% from last year’s 7.22%. Commercial and municipal fisheries posted minimal gains of 1.28 percent and 1.18 percent, respectively, while aquaculture grew by 4.11 percent.

Sarmiento said the capture fisheries sub-sector was hit not only by typhoons, but also by high fuel prices. He said fuel accounts for 60-70 percent of the industry’s operating cost.

Sarmiento said the bureau remained confident the aquaculture sub-sector would meet its original growth target of 12%. Full story

Gov’t agrees to pay tuna industry’s WCPFC dues
General Santos City, 04 Sep 2008 (Mindanao Times) – The government agreed to underwrite the annual dues that the tuna industry is supposed to pay for its membership in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

The total past and overdue account of the Philippines reportedly amounted to P7 million.

Domingo Teng, president of the South Cotabato Boat Owners and Tuna Association, said the Philippines had been prevented from fully participating in policy discussions due to its failure to pay the annual dues.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said the Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), has assumed the payment of required WCPFC fees which the government reportedly thought should be covered by the private sector.

The WCPFC has both binding and non-binding powers over its 26 member countries and eight participating territories in the Western and Central Pacific Region.

The governing body defines regulations in managing international fishing grounds in the region.

Among the measures adopted by the commission was the identification and subsequent authorization of fishing vessels operating in the area.

The Philippines is also committed, under another WCPFC measure, to the conservation and management of Bigeye and Yellowfin tuna in the Central and Western Pacific Region.

The Philippines is the world’s second biggest producer of canned tuna and is ranked third in total volume of tuna catch. The country produces over 400,000 metric tons of fresh, canned and processed tuna every year, generating more than $280 million in annual export revenues. Full story

Experts say RP facing fish shortage
29 Sep 2008 (HD Tacio/Sun.Star) -- The Philippines risks having a fish shortage in a few years amid rapid population growth, declining fish production, and global warming. Estimates show that if current trends continue, only 10 kilograms of fish will be available per Filipino per year by 2010, as opposed to 28.5 kilograms per year in 2003.

"Without any change in fish consumption and no active human population management program, domestic demand for fish will reach 3.2 billion kilograms by 2020, given the projected population growth rate of the country," said the Philippine Environment Monitor published by the World Bank.

If increased demand is met solely by marine capture fisheries, such increased pressure on the fisheries sector could lead to an eventual collapse of fisheries and the fishing industry, which employs more than one million people (about five percent of the national labor force).

"All fisheries are showing decline in total catch and per unit effort (total number of fish caught per unit of time) despite increasing effort," the World Bank report noted. "Fish are harvested at a level 30-50% higher than theie natural production capacity."

But even if the government can check the current population growth, there's one problem that cannot be solved by the country alone: global warming.

"We still have enough fish now but with global warming we may have problems in the next five to ten years unless we do something about it," warns Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, the executive director of the Laguna-based Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD).

A recent report released by the United Nations suggests, "At least three quarters of the globe's key fishing grounds may become seriously impacted by changes in circulation as a result of the ocean's natural pumping systems fading and falling.” Full story

Agri dept issues new rules on small tuna fishing, trading   
The Department of Agriculture (DA) released a new set of rules regulating the fishing and trading of small tuna to better conserve tuna stocks in the country.

The new directive makes it unlawful for any person, association, cooperative, partnership or corporation to operate tuna purse seine nets with mesh sizes smaller than 3.5 inches or 8.89 cm at the bag or bunt portion in catching tuna. “Small tuna” refers to young tuna that weigh less than 500 grams apiece, and include Yellowfin, Bigeye tuna, and Skipjack tuna.

Under Fisheries Administrative Order 226, it is unlawful to trade small tuna caught beyond the by catch ceiling of 10%.

In issuing the FAO, agriculture secretary Arthur Yap noted the harvest of small tuna has caused alarm and “grave concern” because it affects the replenishment of tuna stocks as significant numbers are caught before reaching maturity. He said that the commercial fisheries sector in the Philippines is now showing the strains of reduced catch as purse-seine nets contribute to the harvest of small tuna.

Fisheries bureau director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. said  FAO 226 was issued in compliance with the conservation measures for juvenile tuna -- particularly Bigeye and Yellowfin—  adopted by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, of which the Philippines is a member-country.

Violators of the new fishing and trading rules will be fined Php2,000 to Php20,000, or face imprisonment of six months to two years, or both penalties.  The DA will also cancel the licenses or permits of fishing companies found guilty of violating FAO 226 provisions.

Operators are given a grace period of three years from the effectivity of the order to change or replace their nets gradually. The FAO states, “The compliance of the nets to the legal mesh size should start in the first year of the grace period  where 10% of the total number of purse-seine catchers should phase out the illegal mesh size; on the second year it will be 20%, and on the third year will be 70%.”

The Davao Gulf, Moro Gulf, Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea are known tuna breeding grounds, Full story

RP, Timor Leste jointly pursuing 6 fisheries concerns
13 Aug 2008 -- The Philippines and Timor Leste have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on fish processing development, environmental protection, and four other fisheries-related concerns.

The MOA, which was one of three bilateral agreements sealed at the Palace last Tuesday, aims to grant access licenses to each other’s fishing vessels and promote cooperation between the two countries on the sustainable development of their respective marine and fisheries sectors. The two countries agreed to promote cooperation in the following areas: postharvest, fish processing development and marketing; coastal management and development; marine fisheries conservation; combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices; and environmental protection.

The DA has been exploring the possibility of negotiating with other states like Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Palau, Micronesia and Kiribati for fishing access agreements to make up for potential losses to the domestic fisheries sector by new restrictions imposed by Indonesia to fish in their waters.
Full story

RP, 7 other Asian countries tag small pelagics for better management  
26 July 2008 (DA) -- The Philippines and 7 of its Asian neighbours will begin this month tagging five commercially- important fish species like galunggong (roundscad) and hasa-hasa (Indo-Pacific mackerel) in the South China Sea and Andaman Seas under a three-year collaborative research on the migration patterns of small pelagic fishes in these waters. 

The Philippines is undertaking the tagging project in partnership with Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia , Thailand , Indonesia , Malaysia (Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak), Vietnam and Myanmar .

“The tagging of fish involves the insertion of special number-coded yellow tags at the base of the dorsal fins of individual fishes,” said fisheries bureau director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. “The fishes are released back into the sea and their tags will hopefully be returned to the nearest fishery agency by the fishermen who catch them.”

The project is designed to allow researchers determine the migratory path of these species, and develop a regional management plan for the sustainability of small pelagic fisheries in the region, said Sarmiento.

Local fishermen who turn over such yellow tags will be given tokens by the BFAR – a T-shirt, a cap and the equivalent $5 per tag.  Finders are required to turn over the frozen fish to the nearest BFAR Office with the following information: 1) tag number; 2) species and size of fish; 3) place and date caught; and 4) his/her name, address and contact number. If the fish is no longer fit for freezing, the tag must be submitted to BFAR together with the above information.

“Also, to ensure uniformity in measurement, the fish’ fork length is required. This is taken from the tip of the fish mouth to the tip of the caudal peduncle,” Sarmiento said.

The fish sample could be sent directly to Ronnie Romero, Technical Country Coordinator, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, 940 Quezon Ave. , Quezon City , tel. no. (02) 372-6570, mobile no.  0920-4858769 or turned over to the nearest BFAR regional office.

Galunggong, alumahan (Indian mackerel) and hasa-hasa, along with tunsoy (Indo-Pacific herring), tawilis (sardine) and matangbaka (Yellowband scad), constitute about 50% of the Philippines’ total marine catch. These commercially important small pelagic are heavily exploited in the Philippines and other countries bordering the South China Sea. In the Philippines, a total of 2,400 pieces of fish belonging to two species of roundscad and one species of mackerel will be tagged in the waters of Manila Bay and Palawan this year. Full story

DA says shrimp production to double in 5 years  
9 Jul 2008 (DA) -- Department of Agriculture (DA) officials is projecting a doubling in five years of Philippine shrimp production with the large-scale production of Peneaus vannamei or Pacific white shrimp.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said the move by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap last year to lift the ban on the importation and culture of Pacific white shrimp into the country could spell the speedy rebound of the country’s shrimp industry, once a top producer of shrimp for the world market.

“Because vannamei matures faster, requires less production inputs and has strong resistance to diseases, it is projected that the country will be able to achieve an unprecedented shrimp production volume in excess of 100,000 metric tons (MT) in five years,” said Paras.

He said this volume is more than double the current production of some 30,000 MT of white shrimps and 24,000 MT of prawns annually.

The DA banned the entry of P. vannamei into the country in 2001 to protect the local black tiger prawn from the dreaded Taura virus that had nearly wiped out shrimp farms in Japan , Taiwan and Thailand. The ban was lifted in January last year following field verification trials and positive reports on the successful conduct of experimental breeding and grow-out of P. vannamei by BFAR.

The importation and culture of Pacific white shrimp is strictly monitored by BFAR and the Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), to ensure that only good-quality and pathogen-free broodstocks are produced in the country. 

The Philippines, which previously ranked No. 3 as the world’s top shrimp exporter, slid to 10th place in 2003, after being overtaken by the likes of Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam,  and Bangladesh.  The other big producers are Thailand, China, India, Indonesia and Ecuador. Full story

RP needs EEZ to feed 135M population by 2025 - BFAR
Manila, 11 Aug 2008 (GMANews TV) -- The Philippines will have to exploit its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to feed its burgeoning population, which the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) projected to hit 135 million by 2025.

In order to do that, it will have to draw up its archipelagic baselines and firm up its territorial limits by law, a matter that is still pending in Congress.

EEZ technically extends to the disputed islets and outcrops in the Spratlys, long the fishing ground of Chinese fleets.

BFAR's strategic plan, the Comprehensive National Fisheries Industry Development Plan (CNFIDP), has projected the demand for fish to rise to 4.2 million MT for the years preceding 2025.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) over the weekend said it is targeting to produce 5.7 million MT from fisheries next year, nearly half of it from aquaculture, the rest from municipal and commercial fisheries.

Fish and other marine products comprise 12.3 percent of the total food intake of Filipinos and cover half of the total animal protein intake of the entire population.

Fish production actually grew significantly between 1997 and 2006, but a considerable portion of it was made up of a non-food product, seaweed; food items comprise only 67% of total marine harvest.

BFAR is also alarmed by the increase in the number of small-scale fishermen, from only 400,000 in the 1970s to 1,781,020 in 2002, a quadrupling of the people competing for shallow coastal waters that harbor the largest schools of fish. The number of commercial fishing vessels in deeper waters also tripled from 3,232 in 1980 to 9,656 in 2002, leading to excessive fishing. Full story

Gov’t eyes subsidies to fishing industry
Manila, 5 Aug 2008 (L Dalangin-Fernandez/Inquirer.net -- The government is considering subsidies to help the fishing industry cope with escalating fuel prices. One of the immediate interventions being considered is a Php5-per-liter subsidy on oil. The government is also studying the possibility of providing a loans for the conversion of boat engines to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Canning and fishing companies in Mindanao began folding up when fuel costs more than doubled from P22 to P55 per liter. Even large firms such as Permex, Mega Fishing, Universal Canning Corp., Maxwell Food Corp., and Espa Foods have begun halting operations and retrenching workers.

Mindanao produces 80 percent of the country’s production of canned sardines. Full story

RP lags in fisheries export to Europe
General Santos City, 17 July 2008 (RS Sarmiento, Business World in GMANews TV)— The Philippines placed fifth among Southeast Asian countries exporting fish products to the European Union last year. This relatively weak export performance was blamed on local producers’ failure to comply with the food safety standards of the 27-nation grouping.

Alistair MacDonald, head of European Commission to the Philippines, placed the country’s fisheries export at 126 million euro in 2007, behind Malaysia 130 million euro), Indonesia (208 million euro), Thailand (627 million euro) and the top exporter, Vietnam (650 million euro).

"Given the size of the EU market and our strong demand for fisheries products, there certainly exist important opportunities to export to the EU market. But compliance with our SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary] requirements is essential for success," MacDonald said. Romer S. Sarmiento, Full story

Gov't allows direct oil import by tuna companies
General Santos City, 9 Sep 2008 – To help the tuna industry weather high fuel costs, the government has allowed fishing operators to import their own fuel requirements, senior agriculture and fisheries officials revealed Monday at the opening of the 10th National Tuna Congress.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel M. Paras said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has “started the process of identifying fishing companies and industry associations interested to take advantage of this opportunity.”

Marfenio Y. Tan, chair of the tuna congress, said the tuna fishing industry is the biggest consumer of fuel products in this part of the country, which has a requirement of 20 million liters a month.

"As much as 70% of the cost of a regular fishing expedition is fuel consumption," said Tan.

Paras said the government is also working out a scheme with major oil company Petron for possible discounts to fishing operators. Full story

General Santos could face sudden tuna glut
General Santos City, 5 Sep 2008 (Business World in GMANews TV)— Long worried about dwindling tuna supplies from local fishermen, the tuna processing industry here is now looking at a possible oversupply, as foreign fishing vessels are expected to unload their catch in this city’s newly expanded wharves, a fisheries official said in an interview Thursday on the sidelines of the 10th National Tuna Congress.

Miguel B. Lamberte, Jr., local manager of the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, which manages the fish port complex, cited the completion of two wharves at the complex measuring a total of 430 meters that can accommodate 7,000 gross metric ton vessels. The newly constructed wharves have docking capability of nine meters deep, he added.

"At the moment, we have five foreign fishing companies unloading their tuna catch at our port. We are talking with more foreign fishing firms for them to prefer GenSan as a landing destination," he said.

Foreign fishing vessels enjoy a shorter turnaround time if they landed their catch at GenSan than if they brought it to Thailand. From international fishing grounds, it takes only six days for carrier vessels to reach this city, compared with 15 days to Thailand, Lamberte said.

But an oversupply of tuna could happen if the existing cold storage facilities in the city are not expanded, Lamberte warned, urging canneries and other investors to position themselves to take advantage of emerging opportunities for business expansion by building additional cold storage facilities.

The combined holding capacity of the cold storage facilities in the city is currently about 50,000 metric tons. Lamberte estimated that if more foreign fishing vessels used GenSan as unloading point, the city will need an additional cold storage capacity of 30,000 MT-50,000 MT. Full story

500 marine protected areas established in RP, says agriculture official
1 Jul 2008 – The government has so far developed 500 marine-protected areas (MPAs) through local government initiatives, agriculture secretary Arthur Yap told a recent international gathering of leaders and environmental protection advocates in Washington DC.

Yap noted the Arroyo administration also continues to develop programs on good governance in the areas of fisheries resource management, coastal resource management, sustainable fisheries and assistance to coastal municipalities along the South China Sea.

The government has managed to do this, he said, through financing partnerships with the Asian Development Bank, the Spanish government, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Global Environment Facility and the UN Environment Program. The World Wildlife Fund, the Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy have also been active partners of the Philippines in helping preserve its marine resources, Yap said. 

He told participants at the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Stakeholders Luncheon that “the Philippines’ locally managed MPAs provide small fisherfolk with sustainable means of livelihood, as these areas provide a spill-over effect and replenish municipal waters where local communities can fish.”

The CTI is a worldwide grouping of leaders and movers advocating the preservation of the Coral Triangle, a 5.7 million square kilometer area in the Indo-Pacific Ocean that contains 67% of the world’s marine resources and spans the waters of the Philippines and five other countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

“To date, over 500 MPAs all over the Philippines have been established through local community initiatives and the entire Philippine coastline — that  is from the coast up to 15 km from shore—are  locally managed marine areas exclusively for artisanal (small-scale commercial) fishing activity,” Yap said. 

He noted that the Philippines has been globally recognized as having contributed in the evolution and development of coastal resource management, with its Tubbataha Reef — the only UNESCO world heritage site in Southeast Asian seas — as well as other MPAs serving as virtual laboratories where various concepts and ideas to conserve and develop marine resources are tried, analyzed, modified and eventually carried out. 

Yap said, however, that despite the strides made by the Philippines in terms of conservation of marine resources through these MPAs, it is still crucial that such micro-dots of biodiversity be linked into ecologically connected networks “to have a measureable sustainable impact on the coral reef ecosystem as well as on fish biomass, the major source of protein for close to 40 million of our people.”

“Left alone as local initiatives, lacking an ecologically linked network, the MPAs will have little macro impact,” Yap said.

It is for this reason that the Philippinesvalues the efforts of the prime movers within the CTI in establishing ecologically linked multiple-use protected areas, he said. Full story

DENR pins hope on law students to send environmental criminals to jail
Oct 2008 -- Law schools in the provinces may soon become the source of the country’s best environmental lawyers because their students will be tapped and get substantive training in prosecuting cases filed at the country’s 117 green courts.

Environment and natural resources undersecretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering said the recruitment of law students to assist in prosecuting environmental criminals is now underway through the Alliance of Law Students of the Philippines (ALSP).

The enlistment of law students to get involved in the trial of environmental cases is in line with environment secretary Lito Atienza’s agenda to sharpen the prosecutorial edge of cases filed against violators who will be tried in the 117 green courts.

“At least 20 percent of the yearly bar passers going to environmental lawyering would make a big difference,” Sering said.

Sering is batting for the inclusion of environmental law as a mandatory subject instead of an elective in law schools’ syllabi. Full story

Fisheries bureau taps Landbank to finance seaweed farmers
8 Oct 2008 (JGRS/Sun.Star) -- The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) in Southern Mindanao has coordinated with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to provide financial assistance to potential seaweed growers in Davao Region.

George Campeon, BFAR-Southern Mindanao regional director, said LBP provides the financial assistance, while the BFAR supplies the inputs and technical trainings, and “consolidators” – some established members of the seaweed industry that are involved in the program -- will assure the market for farmers.

"With the program, the production of seaweed seedlings will be ensured. Farmers will first produce the seedlings," Campeon said, noting that seaweed seedlings also command high prices.

Seedlings sell at Php20-23 per kg, and dried seaweeds go for Php80 per kg..

Campeon said the LBP will be giving out loans up to hpP100,000. Full story

Philippine coral reef showcased in new US exhibit
The new building of the California Academy of Sciences has the world’s deepest living coral reef display.

The building, which opened last September at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, houses the Philippine Coral Reef Exhibit, showcasing a variety of soft and hard corals, mangrove trees, rays, black-tipped reef sharks and more than 4,000 reef fishes native to the Philippines in a 212,000- gallon aquarium tank. The exhibit also features interactive displays and in-tank diver presentations.

The Academy is partnering with PUSOD, a nongovernmental organization based in both the Philippines and Berkeley, California, to support scientific, educational and conservation efforts for Philippine coral reefs.

For more information, go to PUSOD or the California Academy of Sciences

Bluefin tuna farming nixed
10 Oct 2008 (BSS/Sun.Star) – The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is considering the possibility of promoting and funding bluefin tuna sea ranching research in the hope of producing tuna fishers instead of hunters.

However, the proposal received a lukewarm response from local government and tuna industry leaders in General Santos City.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel M. Paras said the government is looking at implementing a bluefin tuna management program, possibly with help from the Spanish government.

Industry leader Marfenio Y. Tan said tuna farming may not be suitable in the Philippines. "It is very expensive, and our waters are not suited for tuna culture," said Tan, who owns a purse seine fleet.

Blue-fin, a high-value tuna species, has been successfully farmed in Italy, Algeria, Croatia, France, Libya, Morocco and Spain. But the practice is essentially a grow-out operation involving the use of wild stock, which the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a cause for concern.

"Bluefin tuna also prefers cooler water," said South Cotabato Representative Darlene R. Antonino-Custodio.

Tuna fishers in the Philippines catch mostly the less expensive yellowfin tuna, which has yet to be successfully farmed. Full story

Davao Region: Marine fish catch down, officials bank on aquaculture to boost production
26 Sep 2008 (JB Escovilla/Mindanao Times) -- The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the Davao Region is relying on aquaculture production to boost the area’s fish consumption needs after noting a 12 percent decline in marine catch for the first semester this year.

Fisheries bureau regional director George Campeon said he is not worried about the slowdown in marine catch since the region’s production volume in aquaculture more than made up for the decline, allowing agency to hit its target of a 10% increase this year.

The region yielded 33,000 metric tons in total fish volume from January to June this year as against 28,000 metric tons for the same period last year, keeping the region on track to surpassing last year’s production of 67,000 metric tons.

The region hit a growth rate of 19% in aquaculture last year, the highest in the country. This year, production was further boosted by the establishment of more than 250 new fish cages in the region. The fisheries bureau plans to develop another 200 hectares in Pantukan, Compostela Valley and 400 hectares in Mati, Davao Oriental as mariculture parks. Full story

Fisheries bureau sets up more mariculture farms
Manila, 18 Aug 2008 (Business World in GMANews TV -- Three new mariculture parks will start operating in Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao and Davao Region next month, a fisheries official said Sunday.

Mariculture parks are caged areas used to breed high-value fish like milkfish, siganids, groupers and red snappers.

The parks, located in San Juanico Strait in Tacloban City, Balingasag in Cagayan de Oro City and Panabo City in Davao del Norte, will occupy 200 hectares. Sixty hectares are reserved for small fishers and the remainder is open to investors, Sarmiento said.

The fish cages will "be rented out to the fisherfolk,” with the 3-month rental fee of Php10,000 payable upon harvest, said Sarmiento.

BFAR has put up five mariculture parks since January, mostly in Mindanao, and plans to build five more until the end of the year. Full story

Cebu: Imported shrimp seized in Liloan
13 Jul 2008 (H Quiñanola/Cebu Daily News) -- MORE than 13 million Pacific white shrimps were seized by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Central Visayas (BFAR-7) personnel from two hatchery operators based in Liloan town, Cebu City last June 26.

BFAR-7 Assistant Regional Director Allan Poquita said they filed a complaint against hatchery operators Lin Chia and Elnes Bellocalio before the provincial prosecutor's office in relation to the incident.

Poquita said the two owned the Samaryan Hatchery in Barangay Catarman where they bred more than 13 million illegally imported penneus vannamei or Pacific white shrimp.

He said the Pacific white shrimps were illegally imported because Chia and Bellocalio could not present any proof of acquisition showing the species were obtained from local sources. The Samaryan Hatchery farm was also not accredited by the fisheries bureau.

The importation of Pacific white shrimp is allowed under Philippine law, but the law requires inspection of the stocks by BFAR personnel to ensure it is disease-free and of superior quality. Full story

Zamboanga Peninsula: Municipal fisheries up in 2nd quarter
15 Sep 2008 (B. Garcia/Sun.Star)– Municipal fisheries production in the Zamboanga provinces increased by 5.52% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) data showed that all three provinces contributed to the increase, with Zamboanga City posting the highest gain of 38.43%. The increase was attributed to big harvests of pelagic fishes like anchovies, Yellowfin tuna, and Big-eyed tuna.

Production in Zamboanga del Sur was also up by a hefty 30.23%, due to an increase in the number of small fishing boats that operated in the second quarter.

Zamboanga Sibugay contributed 4.35%, with bigger catches of anchovies and roundscad than in the same period last year.

Only Zamboanga del Norte registered a drop in production (minus 27.80%), attributed mainly to bad weather.

Bad weather, as well as high fuel prices, was also blamed for the 16.75% decline in the region’s overall commercial fisheries production, with only Zamboanga del Sur recording an increase of 24.94%. The increase posted in Zamboanga del Sur may however be partly due to the unloading in the province of some fishing boats from Zamboanga Sibugay. Full story

Romblon: Fishing ban at San Fernando lifted
14 Oct 2008 (DA-BFAR/The Philippine Star) – The fisheries bureau has officially lifted the fishing ban on the waters of San Fernando in Romblon effective October 13, 2008, following reports of the successful retrieval of endsulfan and other hazardous chemicals inside the sunken M/V Princess of the Stars.

Fisheries bureau director Malcolm I. Sarmiento Jr. said the lifting of the ban was based on laboratory findings showing no detectable endofulfan residue in samples of fish and sediments collected in the area right after the last drum of endosulfan was removed from the wreck.

BFAR imposed the temporary fishing ban in the waters of San Fernando in Sibuyan Island last July following reports that the ill-fated passenger ship, which capsized in stormy waters in June, contained about 10 metric tons of the highly toxic endosulfan and several containers of other hazardous substances in its cargo hull.

Authorities are maintaining security within a one-km radius of the 23,000 GT vessel. Fishers are not allowed to come close to the ship for safety reasons, and “because they could disrupt the ongoing salvage operation,” said a Coast Guard official.

According to the Coast Guard, 32 people survived the tragedy, more than 200 people died and about 500 others were still missing. Full story: BFAR; The Philippine Star

BFAR clears sugar firm from fishkill
Bacolod City, 17 Oct 2008 (NL Guadalquiver/PNA in Balita) — The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) in Western Visayas has cleared a sugar milling firm of allegations that its effluents caused the massive fishkill in Himamaylan City in southern Negros Occidental province.

Drusila Esther Bayate, BFAR regional director, said that based on her office’s investigation, the fishkill that started on Sept. 29 could not have been caused by effluents from the Binalbagan-Isabela Sugar because no fishkill incident was reported in the portion of the river near the sugar mill.

Water analyses also did not indicate contamination, she said. Nitrate, nitrite and nitrogen levels were within acceptable limits, she noted. Instead the investigation indicated the proliferation of fish pens in the area as the probable cause. Full story

Prosecutor clears 14 Vietnamese fishermen of poaching, illegal entry
Puerto Princesa City, 29 Sep 2008 (A Villanueva Jr./Balita -- Fourteen Vietnamese fishermen apprehended here by authorities last May were acquitted of poaching and illegal entry charges.

The provincial prosecutor office granted the Vietnamese fishermen’s motion to quash the case for violation of Section 87 (poaching) of Republic Act 8550 and illegal entry.

The prosecutor’s office gave weight to the claims of the Vietnamese that they ran out of supplies and were forced to enter the country’s territorial waters when apprehended.

The fishermen are still detained at the city jail, waiting for repatriation assistance from the Vietnamese government. Full story

5 fishers making explosives die in blast
Lucena City, 28 Sep 2008 (D Mallari Jr./Philippine Daily Inquirer) -- Five fishermen died after the improvised explosives they were making for illegal fishing exploded in Balud town in Masbate province Saturday afternoon, police said in a belated report Sunday.

Police said that at around 4:30 p.m., the five were manufacturing homemade bombs, which they intended to use for illegal fishing operations when the bombs exploded.

Police had yet to determine exactly what triggered the explosion. Full story

Guimaras vows to protect coastal resources
Jordan, Guimaras, 19 Aug 2008 (NP Burgos Jr./Philippine Daily Inquirer) —The provincial government of Guimaras has committed to pursue a coastal management program to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.

Guimaras launched its Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) program on Monday with the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA).

The province’s interest in ICM was triggered by an oil spill in 2006 which exposed problems related to a lack of preparedness and inter-agency coordination in responding to the sea disaster.

The ICM program aims to help promote policy and functional integration as well as help the local government to develop policies, strategies and action plans to address issues that affect its sustainable coastal development, including natural and man-made hazards prevention and management. Full story

Cavite waters off Manila Bay now 94% clear of illegal fishpens – DENR
21 Sep 2008 (DENR) – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has clearned 241 of the 250 illegally built fishpens and fish cages in the portion of Manila Bay along the Cavite coastline, environment secretary Lito Atienza revealed.

The DENR is set to demolish fisheries structures in Las Piñas and Parañaque. Parañaque and Las Piñas are two of Metro Manila’s cities on the east side of the Bay area. The Bay is bounded by Cavite in the south, Bulacan and Pampanga in the north, and Bataan in the west. Full story

Davao fisherman faces raps for killing dolphin
Davao City, 20 Sep 2008 (E Regalado) – Southern Mindanao fisheries officials are set to file charges against a fisherman who caught a dolphin in the Davao Gulf last Wednesday, slaughtered it and sold its meat to his neighbors at Php40 per kilo.

The fisherman, Jun Retaga, a resident of Barangay 31-D here, said the dolphin was trapped in his net while he was fishing in the Davao Gulf Wednesday night. An ABS-CBN TV crew, however, chanced upon Retaga and his neighbors slaughtering the dolphin and selling its meat to residents in the area.

The fisherman will be charged under Fisheries Administrative Order No. 185 Series of 1992 which prohibits the catching, selling, buying, possessing and transporting marine mammals. FAO 185 also makes it unlawful to wound or kill dolphins in the course of catching other species of fish.

Violators of FAO 185 face a fine from Php500 to Php5,000, or imprisonment, at the court’s discretion. Full story

BFAR hunts dolphin killers in Aurora province
Manila, 17 Sep 2008 (GMANews TV)-- The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is now hunting down a gang behind the slaughtering of dolphins off Baler town in Aurora province, a radio report said Wednesday.

Radio dzRH reported that the remains of the dolphins were found off Reserva village in Baler town in Aurora. Only the heads, bones and tails were found. Full story

World

USD50 billion lost by marine fishing each year
Rome/Washington, 9 Oct 2008 -- Economic losses in marine fisheries resulting from poor management, inefficiencies, and overfishing add up to a staggering US$50 billion per year, according to a new World Bank-Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report released today. Over the last three decades, these losses total over USD2 trillion, a figure roughly equivalent to the GDP of Italy.

But The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform, a joint study by the two agencies, also argues that well-managed marine fisheries could turn most of these losses into sustainable economic benefits for millions of fishers and coastal communities.

“Sustainable fisheries require political will to replace incentives for overfishing with incentives for responsible stewardship,” said Kieran Kelleher, Fisheries Team Leader for the World Bank. “It is not just about boats and fish. This report provides decision makers with the economic arguments for the reforms needed.”

Strengthened fishing rights can provide fishers and fishing communities with incentives to fish in an economically efficient and socially responsible manner. Phasing out subsidies that enhance redundant fishing capacity and harvesting effort will improve efficiency. Greater transparency in allocation of fish resources and greater public accountability for fisheries management and health of fish stocks will help eco-labeling initiatives to certify sustainable fisheries.

According to the report the bulk of losses occur in two main ways.

First, depleted fish stocks mean that there are fewer fish to catch, and therefore the cost of finding and catching them is greater than it might be. Second, fleet overcapacity means that the economic benefits of fishing are dissipated due to redundant investment and operating costs.

The report stresses that figure of USD50 billion represents a conservative estimate – it excludes losses to recreational fisheries and marine tourism as well as losses due to illegal fishing. Full story

Countries agree on guidelines for protecting deep-sea species and habitats
Rome, 3 Sep 2008 – After two years of preparation and negotiation, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) members have adopted international guidelines aimed at limiting the impact of fishing on fragile deep sea fish species and habitats.

The guidelines provide a framework that fishing nations should use when operating in high-seas areas outside of national jurisdictions, where many deep sea fisheries (DSF) are located.

Stating that all fishing activity in deep sea areas should be “rigorously managed,” they lay out measures to be taken to identify and protect vulnerable ecosystems and provide guidance on the sustainable use of marine living resources in deep-sea areas.

Additional recommendations include:

• Fishing nations should assess the deep-sea fishing being undertaken by their fleets in order to determine if any significant adverse impacts are involved;

• Deep sea fishing activity should cease in any area where significant adverse impacts to vulnerable marine ecosystems are thought to be taking place;

• Where DSF can be undertaken responsibly, more appropriate fishing methods should be used to reduce impacts on non-target species.

The guidelines also outline steps for improving information on the location and status of vulnerable marine ecosystems and deep sea fisheries. Full story

'Dead zones' multiply along world's coasts
Washington, DC, 26 Aug 2008 (V LaCapra/Voice of America)-- "Dead zones" are multiplying along the world's coasts. There are now more than 400 areas where the bottom waters have too little oxygen to support life. Scientists say these polluted regions pose the single greatest threat to coastal ecosystems.

When nitrogen from agricultural fertilizers and from the burning of fossil fuels gets into coastal waters, it stimulates the growth of algae. When these plants die, they sink to the ocean floor, and are consumed by bacteria and other organisms. The process uses up oxygen, which is normally replenished by water circulating down from the surface.

But marine scientist Robert Diaz says that doesn't happen if the surface and bottom waters can't mix. "It can be hotter water on top, cooler water on the bottom, or it can be fresher water on top, more salty water on the bottom." When coastal water becomes stratified in this way, respiration by bacteria and other bottom-dwelling organisms deplete the oxygen in the bottom layer of water, creating areas known as "dead zones."

This loss of oxygen has major implications for marine life. Off the northwestern coast of the United States, for example, a dead zone is killing fish and other marine life in an area of over 3,000 square kilometers.

Diaz says that the world's largest dead zone is in the Baltic Sea. "At one time it was estimated at over 100,000 square kilometers, but it's reduced down now to somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000."

Globally, Diaz estimates that these oxygen-depleted areas add up to more than a quarter million square kilometers – an area about the size of Britain or Laos.

Prior to the 1960s, scientists had identified fewer than 50 dead zones worldwide. Since then, that number has roughly doubled every decade. Diaz says that now, "we have well over 400 documented areas around the globe that have some form of low oxygen that is related to human activity."

Diaz expects that even more nutrients will enter coastal waters over the next 50 years, continuing the trend of increasing dead zones around the world. He believes this trend will not end until we can control the amount of nutrients getting into our rivers, estuaries, and seas.

But if we can reduce the amount of nutrient pollution, Diaz says, we can bring the dead zones back to life. He says the best example is the Black Sea. In the 1970s and 1980s, fertilizer runoff from agriculture reduced oxygen levels in the Black Sea over an area of 40,000 square kilometers.

"But with the collapse of the Soviet Union," explains Diaz, "subsidies were eliminated to a lot of the farmers in the area." The amount of nitrogen and phosphorus going into the Black Sea declined dramatically, with equally dramatic results. "Over a period of 3 years the Black Sea went from a 40,000 square kilometer dead zone, to zero."

Up until now, the vast majority of coastal dead zones have been found in the northern hemisphere, where most of the world's population – and aquatic research – is concentrated.

But Diaz fears that tropical regions – whose coastal waters are naturally low in nutrients and oxygen – could be among the most sensitive to the effects of human development. Diaz says that in the tropics, it doesn't take much to upset the balance. "You just add a little bit of nutrients, and you can completely disrupt the way the system works, and create these dead zones." 

Diaz's analysis of global "dead zones" is published in the journal Science. Full story

Sea's acidity rising 100 times faster than in past, UNESCO Says
16 Oct 2008 (J van Loon/Bloomberg) -- The world's oceans are absorbing carbon dioxide and becoming more acidic at a rate 100 times faster than in the past, putting fisheries at risk as well as the people whose livelihoods depend on them, the United Nations said.

“Our oceans are sick,” said James Orr, who chaired a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting last week in Monaco. ``Decision-makers need to sit up and take notice.''

As carbon dioxide, which is emitted from burning fossil fuels, dissolves in the sea, the water becomes more acidic, making it more difficult for corals and other marine life to build shell material. Full story

Fish farming may struggle to keep up with global demand, report finds
6 Oct 2008 – The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today expressed concerns that the aquaculture industry may struggle to meet future world demand for fish as a rising global population consumes more and more fish and small farmers in poor countries face difficulties in exporting their produce.

The aquaculture sector – otherwise known as fish farming – will need to produce 80.5 million tons per year just to maintain current per capita fish consumption, according to a press release issued by FAO today.

In 2006, the sector produced 51.7 million tons, or nearly half of the estimated 100 million fish consumed worldwide.

The need for more fish from aquaculture has been heightened, the agency noted, because so-called traditional capture fisheries from the world’s seas, lakes and rivers have reached a plateau in terms of production.

“The question remains whether the aquaculture sector can grow fast enough to sustain projected demand for fish while ensuring consumer protection, maintain environmental integrity, and achieving social responsibility,” a report by FAO states.

In addition, the rapid growth of the aquaculture sector is suggested to be slowing, with previous yearly growth rates of over 10 per cent from 1985 to 1995 declining to 7 per cent in the following decade. Full story

Conservation congress kicks off with dire warning on biodiversity
Barcelona, Spain, 5 Oct 2008 (AFP) — The world must act quickly if it is to stop an unprecedented die-off of the Earth's animal and plant life that could have dire consequences for humans as well, top conservationists warned on Sunday.

"There is a clear sense of urgency," Valli Moosa, president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a former environment minister from South Africa, told the opening session of the World Conservation Congress here.

"We must push our conservation movement to step up to the 21st century challenges, and meet the twin menace of climate change and the degradation of ecosystems," he said at the opening ceremony.

The congress, held every four years, will release an update on Monday of the benchmark "Red List", deemed the global standard for conservation monitoring.

The 2007 edition already shows more than a third of 41,000 species surveyed are facing extinction: a quarter of all mammals, one out of eight birds, one out of three amphibians, and 70 percent of plants.

The new biodiversity "bible" -- compiled from the work of 1,800 scientists -- is even grimmer, say researchers who took part in the effort. Full story

Climate change to deplete fisheries' production: FAO
New Delhi, 25 Aug 2008 (S Sud/Business Standard) -- Global warming and the consequent changes in climatic patterns will have strong impact on fisheries with far-reaching consequences for food and livelihood security of a sizeable section of the population.

Some of the impacts are already being felt as reflected by changes in the distribution of fish species in oceans. While the stocks of warmer water species are expanding, those of the colder ones are contracting.

In addition, the rising acidity (salinity) levels in the seas as a result of the climate change are believed to have negative effect on many coral reefs and calcium-bearing organisms.

These findings were revealed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in a recent scientific symposium on climate change and marine fisheries held at its headquarters in Rome. The event was aimed at discussing the challenges that climate change posed to marine fisheries and the millions of people who depend on it for food and income.

The global food body has noted that the wild capture fisheries are fundamentally different from other food production systems in its linkages and responses to climate change and in the food security outcomes that result from them.

Unlike most terrestrial animals that constitute the livestock sector, aquatic animal species used for human consumption are ‘poikilothermic’, meaning their body temperatures vary according to ambient temperatures.

Any change in habitat temperatures (warming or cooling of sea waters in which they live) significantly influence their metabolism, growth rate, productivity, seasonal reproduction, and susceptibility to diseases and toxins, the report points out.

With global warming, the waters of oceans are also warming up, with considerable variations in different geographical regions and at different times. “This is likely to also result in significant changes in fisheries’ production in different seas. The impact would, of course, vary in different regions. For communities that heavily rely on fisheries, any decrease in the local availability or quality of fish for food or increase in their livelihoods’ instability will pose even more serious problems,” FAO cautions. The countries with limited ability to adapt to the changes, even if located in low-risk areas, are equally vulnerable. Full story

Overfishing, not climate change, is greatest danger to world's oceans
9 Oct 2008 (L Gray) – The biggest current threat to marine life is not climate change but over fishing and mankind's demand for water, experts have warned.

A study, drawing on the expertise of more than 100 top aquatic ecologists, looked at the world's water-based ecosystems, including lakes, rivers, tropical waters and Arctic seas.

The state of the world's oceans has been of much concern recently, particularly the affect of increasing temperatures on marine life as global warming takes hole.

However the research, led by Professor Nicholas Polunin of Newcastle University, found man's serious impact on aquatic life will happen long before climate change takes full effect.

He said: "Across the 21 different ecosystems we have looked at, direct human actions have long been exceeding - and will long continue to exceed - the effects of climate change in almost every case. That is not to say that climate change isn't happening or is unimportant... But the demise of fish stocks through fishing and decline of rivers through excessive off-take are just two dramatic examples of how people are directly changing aquatic ecosystems and threatening the natural services that they deliver."

He urged the science community not to overplay the effect of global warming, in comparison to the direct effect mankind has had on the natural world.

"Climate change has got people thinking about the future at all levels and the next step in our ecological planning of the planet's water resources needs to be more comprehensive, encompassing growing human consumption, its causes and consequences." Full story

Greenpeace launches online blacklist of vessels involved in illegal fishing
2 Oct 2008 (BYMNews) – Greenpeace today launched an online database of fishing vessels involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and the companies that own them. The global environmental organization launched its ‘IUU blacklist’ as the West and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meets in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, to discuss increased regulation of tuna fishing in the Pacific where IUU fishing of the regional tuna stocks is rife.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing – often referred to as “pirate fishing” – has become a global scourge. It is a multi-billion dollar business that affects many communities, especially from developing countries such as those in the Pacific that can least afford to be robbed of their livelihoods and sustenance. It leaves the marine environment bruised and battered, undermining food security and attempts at sustainable management.

The Greenpeace IUU blacklist is the first one-stop independent record of fishing vessels, support vessels and companies involved in pirate fishing. Published by Greenpeace International, it includes independent observations from the legal fishing industry, government authorities, and first-hand evidence from Greenpeace and other NGOs who have recorded the activities of these vessels and companies at sea and in ports around the world.

The new Greenpeace database supplements the IUU database launched in 2007, which contained only those pirate fishing vessels officially blacklisted by regional fisheries management organizations and governments.

Greenpeace is urging all retailers and seafood traders to ensure they do not purchase pirate caught fish and, as a first step, to ensure that they do not trade with companies listed as operators of pirate vessels. Full story

'Catch shares' could rescue failing fisheries, protect the ocean
22 Sep 2008 (ScienceDaily) — A study published in the September 19 issue of Science shows that an innovative yet contentious fisheries management strategy called "catch shares" can reverse fisheries collapse. Where traditional "open access" fisheries have converted to catch shares, both fishermen and the oceans have benefited.

Catch shares are common in New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, and increasingly the US and Canada. They guarantee each shareholder a fixed portion of a fishery's total allowable catch, which is set each year by scientists. Much like stock shares in a corporation, these shares can be bought and sold. Each share becomes more valuable when the fish population – and thus the total allowable catch – increases. With catch shares, every shareholder has a financial stake in the long-term health of the fishery.

The results of the study are striking: while nearly a third of open-access fisheries have collapsed, the number is only half that for fisheries managed under catch share systems. Furthermore, the authors show that catch shares reverse the overall downward trajectory for fisheries worldwide, and that this beneficial effect strengthens over time.

"Under open access, you have a free-for-all race-to-fish, which ultimately leads to collapse," says lead author Christopher Costello, an economist at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "But when you allocate shares of the catch, then there is an incentive to protect the stock—which reduces collapse. We saw this across the globe. It's human nature." Full story

"Best hope at sustainable fisheries" short-changed by conservation efforts, say Canadian researchers
25 Aug 2008 (UBC) -- Small-scale fisheries produce as much annual catch for human consumption and use less than one-eighth the fuel as their industrial counterparts, but they are dealt a double-whammy by well-intentioned ecolabelling initiatives and ill-conceived fuel subsidies, according to a University of British Columbia study.

Small-scale fisheries are characterized as fishers operating in boats 15 m or shorter. “They are our best hope at sustainable fisheries,” says Daniel Pauly, Director of the UBC Fisheries Centre and co-author of a study published in the current issue of the journal Conservation Biology.

The study shows the amount of subsides large-scale, industrial fisheries receive versus small-scale, coastal fisheries. For instance, the average large-scale fisherman receives nearly 200 times the fuel subsidy that the average small-scale fisherman receives. “This is because small-scale fisheries employ more than 12 million people world-wide, compared to half a million in the industrial sector,” says Jennifer Jacquet, study co-author and a PhD Candidate in the UBC Fisheries Centre. “And because small-scale fisheries use less fuel to catch fish.”

“Small-scale fisheries use fishing gear that are more selective and far less destructive to deep sea environments,” says Jacquet. “As a result they discard very little unwanted fish and almost all of their catch is used for human consumption.”

Large-scale fisheries, on the other hand, typically do not target species for direct human consumption and discard an estimated 8-20 million tons of unwanted dead fish each year and reduces another 35 million tons of their annual catch to fishmeal.

Over the past decade, market-based sustainable seafood initiatives such as eco-labeling have been the predominant strategy for curtailing demand of dwindling fish stocks. The U.S. conservation community alone invested $37 million between 1999 and 2004 to promote certification and “wallet cards” to encourage consumers to purchase seafood caught using sustainable practices.

“For the amount of resources invested, we haven’t seen significant decrease in demand for species for which the global stocks are on the edge of collapse,” says Pauly. “Market-based initiatives, while well-intentioned, unduly discriminate against small-scale fishers for their lack of resources to provide data for certification.”

Furthermore, small fishers simply can’t compete on the open market with large fleets. Rashid Sumaila, also of the UBC Fisheries Centre, estimates that governments worldwide subsidize USD30-34 billion a year in fishing operations, of which USD25-27 billion go to large-scale fleets. “It’s an unfair disadvantage that in any other industry would have had people up in arms,” says Jacquet. “But small-scale fishers are often in developing countries and have very little political influence.”

Pauly and Jaquet say eliminating government subsidies is the most effective strategy towards significantly reducing pressure on vulnerable global fish stocks. “Without subsidies, most large-scale fishing operations will be economically unviable,” says Jacquet. “Small-scale fishers will have a better chance of thriving in local markets, and global fish stocks will have an opportunity to rebound.” Source

Climate change, overfishing, pollution threatening East Asia's Coral Triangle
18 Aug 2008 (IRIN) – In the Indo-Pacific area, a 5.7mn sq km triangle contains over one-third of all known coral species on earth, over half the world's coral reefs, over 3,000 fish species, the greatest extent of mangrove forests of any region in the world, and the spawning ground for the largest tuna fishery in the world. This area is known as the Coral Triangle and has been dubbed the "Amazon of the Seas".

Shared by six countries - the Philippines, Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), Indonesia (central and eastern), Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands - it is the epicenter of marine life abundance and diversity on the planet. However, like most of the world's natural resources, it is now at grave risk. Climate change, overfishing and pollution are threatening the Coral Triangle.

As it stands, biomass for some of the key commercial fish species are already down by about 90 percent from their levels 40 years ago, according to the the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), which was initiated by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in August 2007. Almost 90 percent of the coral reefs in the region are considered "at risk" of being destroyed. "In Indonesia alone, only 6 percent of the coral reefs remain in top condition," said Eko Rudianto, overall coordinator for the CTI.

Saving the "Amazon of the Seas" is not just for posterity. According to CTI, around 120 million people living in the area depend daily on the Coral Triangle's marine resources, including those in the multi-billion dollar tuna industry and the tourism sector.

Millions more people also benefit. For instance, Rudianto explained to IRIN, tuna spawned in the Coral Triangle eventually migrate and are caught by fishermen from neighboring countries.

The World Resources Institute puts the total annual value of near-shore habitats within the coral triangle at USD2.3 billion. "We have to stop the rate of destruction," Rudianto said. "We need better management."

As the Coral Triangle and the threats to it are regional in nature, a regional approach is required. A number of similar initiatives between two or more countries in the region already exist, but Rudianto explained that CTI is broader in its coverage and approach, making it easier to garner support.

In December 2007, four months after CTI was first proposed, senior officials from the six countries met in Bali to initiate the process of developing a plan of action, the final draft of which will be presented to a second meeting in Manila later this year. The official CTI Plan of Action is expected to be formally adopted during the World Oceans Conference in Manado, Sulawesi, in May 2009. Source

One-third of reef-building corals face elevated extinction risk from climate change and local impacts
14 Jul 2008 (ODU) -- A third of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction, according to the first-ever comprehensive global assessment to determine their conservation status.  The study findings were published in Science Express in its 10 July 2008 issue

Leading coral experts joined forces with the Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) - a joint initiative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Conservation International (CI) - to apply the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria to this important group of marine species.

"The results of this study are very disconcerting," stated Kent Carpenter, lead author of the Science article, GMSA Director, IUCN Species Programme.  "When corals die off, so do the other plants and animals that depend on coral reefs for food and shelter, and this can lead to the collapse of entire ecosystems."

Researchers identified the main threats to corals as climate change and localized stresses resulting from destructive fishing, declining water quality from pollution, and the degradation of coastal habitats. Climate change causes rising water temperatures and more intense solar radiation, which lead to coral bleaching and disease often resulting in mass coral mortality.

The 39 scientists who co-authored this study agree that if rising sea surface temperatures continue to cause increased frequency of bleaching and disease events, many corals may not have enough time to replenish themselves and this could lead to extinctions.

"These results show that as a group, reef-building corals are more at risk of extinction than all terrestrial groups, apart from amphibians, and are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change," said Roger McManus, CI's vice president for marine programs. "The loss of the corals will have profound implications for millions of people who depend on coral reefs for their livelihoods." 

Staghorn (Acroporid) corals face the highest risk of extinction, with 52% of species listed in a threatened category. The Caribbean region has the highest number of highly threatened corals (Endangered and Critically Endangered), including the iconic elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) which is listed as Critically Endangered. The high biodiversity "Coral Triangle" in the western Pacific's Indo-Malay-Philippine Archipelago has the highest proportions of Vulnerable and Near-Threatened species in the Indo-Pacific, largely resulting from the high concentration of people living in many parts of the region.

Corals from the genera Favia and Porites were found to be the least threatened due to their relatively higher resistance to bleaching and disease.  In addition, 141 species lacked sufficient information to be fully assessed and were therefore listed as Data Deficient. However, researchers believe that many of these species would have been listed as threatened if more information were available.

The results emphasize the widespread plight of coral reefs and the urgent need to enact conservation measures.  "We either reduce our carbon dioxide emission now or many corals will be lost forever," says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General. "Improving water quality, global education and the adequate funding of local conservation practices also are essential to protect the foundation of beautiful and valuable coral reef ecosystems."

Coral experts participated in three workshops to analyze data on 845 reef-building coral species, including population range and size, life history traits, susceptibility to threats, and estimates of regional coral cover loss.  

The results of the coral species assessment will be placed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in October 2008. Full story

A recipe for saving the world's oceans from an extinction crisis
13 Aug 2008 (STRI) -- Simply enforcing fisheries regulations would go a long way to preventing species extinctions.

Jeremy Jackson, senior scientist emeritus of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, asserts in the Aug. 12 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that the following steps, if taken immediately, could reverse the demise of the oceans: Establish marine reserves, enforce fishing regulations, implement aquaculture, remove subsidies on fertilizer use, muster human ingenuity to limit fossil fuel consumption, buy time by establishing local conservation measures.

In 2001, Jackson and 18 co-authors published a landmark paper in the journal Science, "Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal Ecosystems," in which they made the case that, environments that we perceive as relatively pristine have, in fact, been radically altered by centuries of human exploitation.

In this article, "Ecological Extinciton and Evolution in the Brave New Ocean," Jackson reviews a series of studies that bolster initial observations that exploitation and pollution of estuaries and coastal seas, coral reef ecosystems, continental margins and the open ocean continue unabated.

He predicts that overfishing will lead to extinction of edible species and have an indirect effect on other levels of the food chain. Larger dead zones and toxic algal blooms may merge along the coastal zones of all of the continents. Disease outbreaks will increase. Vertical mixing of ocean waters may be inhibited resulting in disrupted nutrient cycles. Full story

Turtles threatened by development and harmful fishing, warns UN agency
20 Aug 2008 – Marine turtle populations in the Indian Ocean region and Southeast Asia are under threat from coastal tourism, and commercial and illegal fishing practices, the United Nations environment agency reported today ahead of a meeting in Bali to sign a conservation agreement.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported mixed results in the attempt to protect IOSEA marine turtles, according to a press release.

While South Africa’s Loggerhead turtle population has grown in the past 40 years, with the number of nests rising from 250 to 1,750, the numbers in eastern Australia and Madagascar have suffered a serious decline.

“Participating countries have made progress in many areas, but there is still room for improvement… only a few are carrying the burden of supporting international coordination efforts,” said Douglas Hyke, coordinator of the agreement’s activities for UNEP in Bangkok.

Although the most common threat to marine turtles are their natural predators, incidental capture in coastal harvesting, unsustainable egg collection, poaching and a resurgence in destructive fisheries, such as the use of dynamite and poison, contribute to their decline significantly.

“Coastal development – especially for tourist facilities – has been proceeding very fast in much of the Indian Ocean region,” said the chairman for the program’s Advisory Committee Jack Frazier.

“The chances for negative impacts on nesting beaches, as well as on inshore foraging and resting areas for turtles have increased, and are continuing to increase dramatically,” he added.

Delegations from more than 30 countries at the Bali conference will review the implementation of a conservation and management plan giving particular attention to coastal development issues and fisheries interaction with marine turtles. Full story

UN agency urges global fishing industries to combat seabird killings
23 Sep 2008 (UN News) -- Following the success of strategies to protect seabirds from longline fishing activities, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has today urged regions using other industrial fishing techniques, such as trawl nets and gillnets, to implement safeguards in areas where seabirds are at greatest risk.

The threat of fishing on populations of already endangered seabirds – including albatrosses, of which 18 of the 22 species are listed as endangered – can be curbed by joint action, FAO has suggested.

“With industry and government working as partners, the impacts of fishing can be greatly reduced,” said Francis Chopin, a senior fishery officer with FAO.

The practice of longline fishing, which involves boats trailing long lines bearing as many as 2,500 baited hooks, threatens seabirds that follow the vessel and dive for the bait, and in the absence of safeguards become hooked.

In case of trawling, the trailing of cone-shaped nets behind boats, large birds such as petrels and albatrosses are unable to manoeuvre out of the way of the fishing wires, while with the use of gillnets diving birds can become entangled in the long line of netting following the vessel.

Statistics reported to FAO have indicated a significant decrease in collateral damage to seabirds worldwide in areas where safeguards to lessen the impact of longline fishing have been implemented. The number of birds killed as a result of Chilean longline fishing dropped from 1,600 in 2002 to zero in 2006, while the number in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica was reported to have fallen from 6,500 in 1996 to zero last year.

The 10 countries currently implementing, or in advanced stages of preparing, strategies to lessen the impact of fishing on seabirds are South Africa, Australia, Chile, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Uruguay, Argentina, Namibia and the United States. Full story

MSC bares new fishery assessment methodology
United Kingdom, 23 Jul 2008 (The FishSite) -- After two years of scientific collaboration and consultation, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has announced the launch of its new Fishery Assessment Methodology designed to improve the quality and consistency of fisheries assessments, without either raising or lowering the ‘bar’ against which the performance of a fishery is assessed.

They say that the new Fishery Assessment Methodology is an addition to the existing MSC Fishery Certification Methodology (which defines the process for assessments), and will strengthen the assessment process at the heart of the world’s most trusted and credible seafood certification program.

The release of this new Methodology will mean a change in the process by which fisheries are assessed. In the past, independent certifiers were required to create an assessment tree for each individual fishery entering assessment. The new Fishery Assessment Methodology now provides a default assessment tree that will be used as the basis for all new assessments; every fishery will now know ahead exactly what will be asked of them in order to meet the MSC standard. In addition, the new assessment tree is supported by comprehensive guidance that clearly outlines to certifiers exactly how the MSC standard should be interpreted. Full story

Mobile fish farms could soon navigate the oceans
4 Sep 20008 (D Robson/NewScientist.com) -- Swimming cages may soon shepherd farmed fish about the ocean, giving them a more natural environment and reducing their impact on natural ecosystems. The first tests of the wandering cages have just taken place in Puerto Rico.

Fish farms in the open ocean offer an alternative to conventional fishing, which is on track to wipe out all commercial stocks by 2050. But there are concerns that installing large, static farms could damage local ecosystems.

"Depending on the size of the stock, large residues of fish faeces could catch under the cages and degrade the seabed," says Cliff Goudey from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Anchoring cages against the battering of storms would also be a challenge.

So Goudey came up with the idea of wandering cages. These wouldn't stay in any one place long enough to damage local wildlife, and could drift with storm waves to avoid feeling their full force.

He recently tested the first self-propelled cage at a sea farm in Culebra, Puerto Rico. Existing near-shore farm cages are moved only occasionally, using large tugboats. Full story

Live fish caught at record depth
31 Jul 2008 (A Lever/BBC News) -- A live deep-sea fish has been caught at a record depth of 2,300m on the hot vents of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Three shrimp species were also pulled to the surface, researchers report in the journal Deep-Sea Research.

Scientists have engineered a new device that allows recovery of live animals under their natural pressure at greater depths than previously achieved.

"Pressurized recovery has been around for the past 30 years, but this is the deepest fish-capture under pressure - the previous record was 1,400m. This is also the first time pressurized capture has occurred at a hydrothermal vent," said Dr Bruce Shillito, marine biologist at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. Full story

Seafood exports from India slide on power cuts, ice shortage
3 Sep 2008 (G Joseph/Business Standard) – The seafood business in the south Indian State of Kerala has fallen on bad times owing to frequent power cuts and acute shortage of ice blocks. The 25% power cut imposed on processing units in the state has heavily affected the working of the seafood export houses in Aroor-Chandiroor of Alappuzha district, Fort Kochi, Munambam area of Ernakulam district and Neendakara in Kollam district.

This has led to a sharp dip in the prices of almost all varieties of seafood in the last 8-10 weeks. The price of squid, a popular item in the global market, has dropped to Rs 40-60 (US$).9 - 1.3) a kg from Rs 140-160 ($3.1 - 3.6) a few weeks ago. There is poor demand for erstwhile popular items such as Indian sardine and mackerel. In the last week, many fishing boats were forced to destroy catches due to low prices and demand.

The price fall has discouraged many country boats and motor boats from venturing into the sea as the returns would not even meet the costs. The shortage of ice has also hit the prices of items such as mackerel and oil sardine, the so-called poor man’s fish, as their shelf life is shorter. Full story

Fisheries dept offers RM15 for return of tagged fish
Kuala Lumpur, 13 Oct 2008 (The New Straits Times) -- The Department of Fisheries (DOF) has given new meaning to the term, 'fishing for money'.

All an angler or fisherman — who catches small pelagic fish displaying yellow tags on their fins — needs to do is to return the fish to any local DOF office.

The department will pay a RM15 'reward' for each fish.

The tagged fish is either of the Kembong (mackerel) or Selayang (Japanese scad) species.

Southeast Asia Fisheries Research and Development (SEAFDEC) and Marine Fisheries Resources Development and Management Department (MFRDMD) project coordinator Abu Talib Ahmad said the move will help them study the migration routes of pelagic fish species in the South China Sea and the Andaman Sea.

He said the numbered tags are unique and will give them information on the size of the fish and its species and the location they migrate to.

Besides Malaysia, other SEAFDEC member countries such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were also carrying out tagging and releasing pelagic fish. Full story

Fishing federation is Japan’s first eco-certified fishery
Kyoto, 9 Oct 2008 (Daily Yomiuri Online) --A fishing federation in Kyoto Prefecture has become the first domestic fishery to be certified with an international environmental standard for sustainable fishing.

The Kyoto Danish Seine Fishing Federation (KDSFF)'s fishing of snow crab and flathead flounder was certified as sustainable last month by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a British non-profit organization.

The KDSFF has had self-imposed regulations in place since the 1970s to replenish its once dwindling fish stocks. The federation has taken measures such as using special nets that do not haul in small fish and has established protected areas of ocean.

The federation's annual catch of snow crab fell to 58 tons in 1980, but by the early 1990s stocks were rising again, and between 2005 and 2007, its average annual catch was 119 tons. Full story

Malaysia: Special route for Sepanggar fishermen soon
Kota Kinabalu, 30 Sep 2008 -- A special route will be established soon for local fishermen living along Sepanggar Bay in Malaysia to access the open sea so that they do not encroach into the shipping lanes of Sabah Port Sdn Bhd.

Industrial Development Assistant Minister Jainab Ahmad said she hoped to resolve the fishermen's plight at a meeting between Sabah Port, Sepanggar Naval Base and City Hall.

It was learned that fishermen there have been in a dilemma since the company disallowed them from using their lanes.

On the other hand, if they misjudged their navigation, they risked encroaching into the Naval Base sea routes.

There was a suggestion that wooden poles be erected to establish the route for the fishermen so that they don't trespass into the Sabah Port and Naval Base lanes.

Jainab said she would discuss with the relevant parties on how best to solve the fishermen's woes. Full story

Sri Lanka to issue traceable IDs to fishermen
6 Oct 2008 -- The government of Sri Lanka has announced plans for a program to issue electronic identification cards to around 250,000 fishermen working the oceans surrounding the island nation. The ID cards will incorporate RFID technology, enabling the Sri Lankan navy to locate fisherman at sea.

In addition to the tracking capabilities created by the new ID system, the cards will use a biometric certification process centered around fingerprints, and will be used to create a national database of fishermen operating in Sri Lankan waters. Full story

Vietnam’s Fisheries gets bio-tech boost
Hanoi, 4 Oct 2008 (To Nhu/VNS) — The Government has approved a US$51.6 million bio-technology plan aimed at getting the fisheries sector up to ASEAN standards, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Viet Thang.

Domestic and foreign enterprises were being encouraged to join the move, he said. The ministry would co-ordinate with relevant sectors to build a legal corridor and study international laws to protect domestic bio-tech products.

With more than 40 projects, the bio-tech plan is expected to meet 30% of demand for disease-resistant fisheries breeds including prawn, tra catfish, green-clawed prawn, African carp, crab and red snappers by 2010; 70 per cent by 2015; and 100 per cent by 2020. Full story

Hong Kong considers ban on fishing trawlers: report
Hong Kong, 4 Sep 2008 (AFP) — Hong Kong is considering banning fishing trawlers in its waters to save fish stocks, a report said Thursday. The drastic proposal comes as annual catches were estimated to be 30% above sustainable levels, the South China Morning Post said, citing a consultation paper from the Food and Health bureau.

"Most Hong Kong waters are fish spawning and nursery grounds," said the consultation document, which will be released by the bureau's committee on sustainable fisheries next week. "The indiscriminate trawling activity will lead to catches of infant fish that lack... economic value and seriously disrupt reproduction capacity."

Under the proposals, the government could buy out some of the 550 fishing trawlers operating in Hong Kong waters. Full story

Australian scientists classify over 100 new sharks and rays
18 Sep 2008 (CSIRO) -- Australian scientists have completed an ambitious 18-month project to name and describe more than 100 new species of sharks and rays.

Conducted by scientists working under the auspices of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)’s Wealth From Oceans National Research Flagship, the project named a third of Australia’s – and about a tenth of the world’s – shark and ray species.

Team leader, CSIRO’s Dr Peter Last, says analysis of DNA sequences was used to clarify the identity of closely related species.

“Additional taxonomic information like this is critical to managing sharks and rays, which reproduce relatively slowly and are extremely vulnerable to over-fishing and other human impacts,” he says. “Their populations are also sensitive to small-scale events and can be an indicator of environmental change.” Full story

Explorers find hundreds of undescribed corals, other species on familiar Australian reefs
Hundreds of new kinds of animal species surprised international researchers systematically exploring waters off two islands on the Great Barrier Reef and a reef off northwestern Australia -- waters long familiar to divers.

The expeditions, affiliated with the global Census of Marine Life, help mark the International Year of the Reef and included the first systematic scientific inventory of spectacular soft corals, named octocorals for the eight tentacles that fringe each polyp.

The explorers released some initial results and stunning images from their landmark four-year effort to record the diversity of life in and around Australia’s renowned reefs.

As well, the researchers deployed new methods designed to help standardize measurement of the health, diversity and biological makeup of coral reefs worldwide and enhance comparisons.

The Census of Marine Life (www.coml.org) is a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in the oceans – past, present, and future. The network will release the first Census of Marine Life in 2010. Full story

Climate change threat to Australian fisheries
6 Oct 2008 -- Projected changes in temperature, ocean currents, rainfall and extreme weather events due to climate change are likely to significantly influence fish stocks and marine ecosystems, a new report shows.

Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, released the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s (CSIRO) Implications of Climate Change for Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture report in Sydney today.

The report is a preliminary assessment of the challenges posed by climate change to Australias $2.1 billion commercial fishing and aquaculture industry, Senator Wong said.

The report finds climate change is likely to affect not only the fishing industry itself, but also the regional and coastal communities the industry supports.

It finds climate change impacts will vary by region and that many impacts are expected to be negative, with some data suggesting that effects may have already occurred.

But the report finds there may be new opportunities for some wild fisheries where tropical species shift southward.

Report findings of the potential impact of climate change on Australian fisheries include:

• Spread of the long-spined sea urchin south along the east coast of Tasmania, with serious implications for the Tasmanian rock lobster and abalone fisheries which together were worth over $150 million in 2004-05.

• Considerable impacts on northern Australian prawn fisheries (worth $73 million in 2004-05).

• Impacts on coral reefs, such as an increased incidence of coral bleaching, which will have flow-on effects for fisheries based on reef-associated species, such as coral trout and red emperor.

• Adverse impacts on catches of barramundi, prawns and mud crabs in the northern fisheries through changes in rainfall patterns.

The report is available from www.climatechange.gov.au/impacts. Full story

Samoa is first FFA nation to plan fisheries legislation modernization
24 Jul 2008 (Pacific Islands FFA) -- The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Secretariat of the South Pacific Community (SPC) coordinated legal consultations in Apia last week to review Samoa's fisheries legislation. Samoa is the first of FFA/SPC countries to undertake a consultative process to modernize their fisheries legislation with the assistance of FFA and SPC, working together for the first time to set a benchmark for fisheries law.

FFA and SPC drafted the new legislation following some initial consultations with government and a further consultation with stakeholders including the Department of the Attorney General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, industry and non-government organizations last year.

Created in 1988, Samoa's fisheries Act needed modernization to better address new developments, reflect national priorities and enable the country to meet its regional and international obligations. The new legislation will cover coastal, aquaculture and oceanic fisheries in the one Act and be accompanied by a set of regulations (to be launched at the same time as the Act is approved). Full story

EU agrees on 600m euro for fishing industry
16 Jul 2008 (RTE News)-- EU fisheries ministers have agreed to provide an extra 600m euro for the European industry in 2009.

The agreement was made to ease a crisis in the sector caused by fleet overcapacity and rising fuel prices.

The Federation of Irish Fishermen, which had previously called for the immediate implementation of the measures, said it was regrettable that the funding would not happen until 2009. Full story

EU to overhaul fisheries policy
17 Sep 2008 (BBC News) – The European Commission has announced a full review of the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy, saying the current regime fails to protect fish stocks. The commission says that fishermen who obey the fishing rules are being penalized by the irresponsible behavior of others who flout them.

The EU wants to cut the size of fleets and the time fishermen spend at sea. The commission says there are still too many vessels chasing too few fish, and that ecological sustainability must take precedence over economic or social factors. In other words, just because a community has traditionally depended on fishing does not mean it can continue to do so.

The Common Fisheries Policy was established in 1983 and last reformed in 2002. It sets quotas for catches and is aimed at curbing harmful practices such as "discards" -- when trawlers throw organisms back into the sea. Overfishing is the main threat to the future of fish stocks, and the current policy rewards narrow-minded and short-term decision-making, the commission says. In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were assessed as being in a state of collapse, defined as a decline to less than 10% of their original yield. Full story

Iceland trawler numbers fall
10 Sep 2008 (FishUpdate.com) – As Iceland's new fishing quota year gets under way, it is revealed that the number of large and medium sized trawlers has fallen considerably in the past few months.

The country now has a fleet of 709 vessels licensed to fish, 58 fewer than this time last year. The fleet size is still quite large for a country with a population of around 320,000 people.

Almost half the fleet consists of ocean-going vessels, with the remainder operating in home waters. There are also a large number of open boats not included in this figure, which work very close inshore.

The reason behind the big reduction is the huge cut in cod quotas over 12 months ago, which fell by some 60,000 tons.

This has resulted in mergers and forced some companies to trim their costs by laying up or selling uneconomic vessels. Full story

Spain, Japan back bluefin tuna ban
Barcelona, Spain, 13 Oct 2008 -- Key fishing state Spain and key tuna market Japan joined with a majority of other countries to back closing the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna fishery until it can be brought under control and establishing protected areas in the main breeding grounds.

The surprise vote tonight, by government and NGO members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, also calls for catch quotas to be nearly halved in line with scientific advice and for permanent fishing bans for May and June covering the entire spawning season.

“We didn't know this would pass, let alone pass so overwhelmingly,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries in WWF’s Mediterranean office. “Common sense is now promising to bring an end to the real shame in the international system of fisheries management. The message that we need to close the fishery now or have few fish and no fishery into the future is now coming from scientists, from consumers, from communities and from countries.” Full story

US requires ships to cut speed in waters used by right whales
Atlanta, 9 Oct 2008 (R Brown) — The United States federal government has reduced the speed at which large commercial ships may travel in coastal waters populated by right whales, an endangered species.

The National Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday approved a long-debated proposal to keep ships below 10 knots in specified coastal regions. The ruling, which takes effect in two months, applies to ships of 65 feet or longer in patches of ocean within 20 miles of the Atlantic coastline from Massachusetts to Florida.

Fewer than 400 right whales now exist, scientists estimate. For centuries, their lumbering pace and huge size made right whales easy prey for whaling ships. To prevent their extinction, hunting them became illegal in 1935.

One or two right whales die each year after being hit by ships, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Full story

Fishing among America's most dangerous jobs
20 Aug 2008 (L Christie/CNN) -- Fishing, flying and logging were the three most dangerous jobs in America in 2007. These occupations reported higher death rates than any others, according to a report out Wednesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Fishing was the most dangerous occupation for the third year in a row. There were 111.8 fatalities for every 100,000 fishermen during the year. Fishermen labor in all sorts of weather, often in small boats on the open water where they can be swept overboard and drown. And they also handle heavy power equipment, such as winches and hoists that can inflict terrible injuries. Full story

Canadian shrimp fisheries certified green
Fredericton, Canada, 25 Sep 2008 (New Brunswick Business Journal) - Most of the shrimp fishery in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence earned important international recognition this week when it was certified as a well-managed and sustainable fishery.

The announcement is expected to help boost New Brunswick's shrimp export industry.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for being a sustainable and well-managed wild-capture fishery was granted in Seattle, Wash., this week after extensive evaluation and means the shrimp referred to as "northern prawn" can be exported with the coveted blue eco-label.

The remaining quarter of the fishery is undergoing final assessment for its MSC certification.

The MSC is an international non-profit organization set up to promote solutions for problems related to over fishing. Certification is the culmination of a three-year joint effort between primary partners in the fishery, including harvesters, processors, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and provincial partners. Full story

Guinea-Bissau: Fishermen turn to trafficking as fish profits drop
Bubaque, 29 July (IRIN) - As the profits to be made from fishing diminish with rising fuel costs and poor management of the sector, fishermen are increasingly turning to drug and people trafficking to boost their meager incomes, fishermen in Bissau and the Bijagos islands told IRIN.

"Fishermen get involved [in drug trafficking] because they can earn more money from illegal activities," said Mody Ndiaye, special adviser at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Guinea Bissau.

According to Ndiaye, large boats head from Latin America to the Bijagos islands, an archipelago of 90 islands 60 km off the coast from the capital, where they divide up their large hauls into many smaller fishing boats which proceed along the coast to unload their cargo in the Gambia, Senegal and Guinea-Conakry.

Guinea-Bissau has increasingly become a transit hub for organized criminal networks trafficking drugs from Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil through West Africa to Europe.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates several hundred kg of cocaine go through the country each week, while according to 2004 figures from the International Office of Migration, one million West and Central Africans head clandestinely to Europe every year.

While fishermen stand to earn several thousand or more dollars to transport people and drugs, the income from fishing is inconsistent. Before setting out to sea fishermen must fork out up to USD336 for the two tons of ice needed for a short trip, USD86 for the required 60 liters of fuel which must be procured on the black market, as well as boat hire charges. If their catch is not good or much of it goes unsold as is "often the case," they may even run at a loss, "which happens more and more regularly," said Dieng.

For those who traffic, it's a different story. "If you want fast money and are willing to take the risk, that's the only way to get it," said Dieng.

The UNODC is starting to work with the government to help it build up its security and justice system so that the authorities have a better chance of catching and punishing traffickers. Some security forces patrol the seas for cargo, but they are few and far between and according to a fisherman on the island of Bubaque in the Bijagos, trafficking around the islands is on the increase. Full story

Tanzanian government bans prawn fishing in Indian Ocean
13 Aug 2008 (This Day) -- Tanzania has banned prawn trawlers from operating off the coast of the Indian Ocean in the wake of a drastic decrease in the level of fish stocks in the country.

According to the Minister for Livestock Development and Fisheries, John Magufuli, the ban covers bottom-trawling operations being carried out by a number of large fishing vessels off the coast.

Making the announcement in Parliament yesterday, Magufuli said the move follows research findings that show a considerable drop in the numbers of prawns in the country’s Indian Ocean territorial waters.

He also said the government has discovered that big fishing companies licensed to fish under the Exclusive Economic Zone are stealing fish from the said waters.

’’These companies steal our fish and get off without paying any taxes. They have turned our territorial seas into their personal farms,’’ Magufuli said. Full story

Namibia declares first marine reserve
15 Sep 2008 (The Namibian) – Namibia’s Ministry of Fisheries is to declare a protected marine reserve, 400 km long and 30 km wide, south of Walvis Bay.

The protected area, between Meob Bay and Chamais Bay, will include most of the offshore islands, such as Hollamsbird, Mercury, Ichaboe, Seal, Penguin, Halifax, Possession, Pomona, Plumpudding and Sinclair islands, as well as islets and rocks within two to three nautical miles offshore.

Cabinet approved a submission in this regard by Fisheries Minister Abraham Iyambo's during its meeting on September 2, according to a press release from the Ministry of Information.

"A project team has been working on stakeholder consultations, zonation and management recommendations in the proposed area since 2005 and the Fisheries Management Committee approved the process and scientific justifications for the Marine Protected Area towards the end of 2007," the statement said. Full story

Resources 

Global Analysis of Protected Areas
The World’s Protected Areas provides the most detailed assessment ever of the worldwide distribution and conservation status of protected areas, capturing the the input of more than 100 experts from around the world on one of the most potent tools available for nature conservation: protected areas. The book examines the relationship between people and protected areas, investigates threats and opportunities, cites the history of protected areas, provides expert conservation advice and celebrates the success of protected areas around the world.

With more than 114,000 sites, protected areas cover 19 million km², equivalent to 12.9 percent of the Earth’s land surface. This is a larger area than all of the world’s croplands combined and 18 times larger than the combined area of the world’s urban landscapes. Protected areas have been established in every country and territory on earth as a means to protect nature as well as the species and livelihoods that rely on a particular ecosystem. Protected areas also safeguard water supplies, prevent erosion, replenish fish-stocks, offer places of solace and recreation, and store a treasure-trove of genetic diversity for future pharmaceuticals and crops.

At 352 pages, The World’s Protected Areas: status, values and prospects in the 21st century contains 110 colour illustrations, 165 line illustrations and 39 colour maps. It is available from the University of California Press, tel + 510-642-4562

Human dimensions of the ecosystem approach to fisheries 
This document aims to provide a better understanding of the role of the economic, institutional and sociocultural components within the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) process and to examine some potential methods and approaches that may facilitate the adoption of EAF management. It explores both the human context for the ecosystem approach to fisheries and the human dimensions involved in implementing the EAF. For the former, the report provides background material that is essential to understand prior to embarking on EAF initiatives, including an understanding of key concepts and issues, the valuation of aquatic ecosystems socially, culturally and economically, and the many policy, legal, institutional, social and economic considerations relevant to EAF.

With respect to facilitating EAF implementation, the report deals with a series of specific aspects: (1) determining the boundaries, scale and scope of the EAF; (2) assessing the various benefits and costs involved, seen from social, economic, ecological and management perspectives; (3) utilizing appropriate decision-making tools in EAF; (4) creating and/or adopting internal incentives and institutional arrangements to promote, facilitate and fund the adoption of EAF management; and (5) finding suitable external (non-fisheries) approaches for financing EAF implementation.

The report can be downloaded here

New Google tool reveals marine protected areas
Conservationists working with Google Inc. have unveiled a tool that lets people view protected marine areas with the click of a mouse — a bid to harness the Internet's top search engine to raise awareness of endangered ocean habitats. The feature on Google Earth displays icons indicating sensitive areas of the world's oceans, from the waters off the Galapagos Islands to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. A click on them brings up photos and/or video of the sites and marine life there, as well as text explaining the sites, how they are managed and local maritime lore.

Google Earth is the platform for the new tool and helped develop it with the IUCN and the World Commission on Protected Areas. Around 4,500 spots scattered around the world's oceans have been designated as marine protected areas, which means activities such as commercial or recreational fishing are restricted or outright banned to protect dwindling stocks of fish and other marine species. Not all of them are featured on the Google tool, but its creators say it is nonetheless a groundbreaking way to get people all over the world interested in the environment.

WildCam Belize
National Geographic has launched a live, continuous underwater video feed of a coral reef, off Belize in Central America, WildCam Belize Reef.

National Geographic has been attaching cameras to land animals like lions and sea creatures like turtles for years and sharing the footage, but this project is believed to be the first such experiment that provides a live, nonstop feed, said Torre Stockard of National Geographic's remote imaging department.

ReefBase call for coral bleaching data
One of the ReefBase's main focuses is to maintain a global repository of coral bleaching data to support coral reef monitoring and related research. There is an urgent need to obtain a more complete information and data on coral bleaching as the phenomenon continues to emerge as one of the most significant and widespread threat to coral reefs around the world.

The gathering of coral bleaching information is a key action to the scientific understanding and the prediction of the fate of coral reefs, and subsequently to develop feasible and effective management strategies.

If you have any information on bleaching events, please submit a bleaching report to ReefBase. Other data relating to coral bleaching can also be submitted in the form of publication references, photos and maps. These data will then be synthesized and integrated into graphs and ReefGIS maps.

ReefBase also provide a global protocol for assessment and monitoring of coral bleaching developed by the WorldFish Center and WWF.

Another alternative method for assessing the level of bleaching is to use specially prepared color cards called the CoralWatch Do It Yourself Coral Health Monitoring Kit developed by the University of Queensland.

The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund have established a working group that work with MPA practitioners around the world to evaluate the vulnerability of existing coral reef MPAs to conditions that cause coral bleaching and death, and to recommend application of the new knowledge to management approaches. Responses to the Bleaching Resilience Questionnaire will allow the testing of a range of hypotheses that various environmental factors actually confer bleaching resistance and recovery.