January Jones, best known for her role on the hit series Mad Men, had teamed up with Oceana to promote a campaign to protect sharks. The actress is working with the org as a spokesperson to help pass The Shark Conservation Act in Congress — which would implement stronger protection for sharks by requiring that sharks be landed whole with the fins still attached to the bodies. The Federal legislation would also allow the U.S. to take action against countries whose shark finning requirements are not consistent with those in the United States. Read the complete story at Ecorazzi.
NOAA boat strikes whale off Scituate
A federal research vessel, heading back to port Sunday afternoon, hit a right whale near Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
Along with the North Pacific right whale, North Atlantic right whales are the most critically endangered of the great whales and one of the world’s most endangered mammals. Scientists estimate their population has stagnated for more than 25 years at barely over 300 individuals, despite highly restrictive regulations to help the whales recover.
The Auk, a 50-foot National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel working for the Stellwagen sanctuary, was traveling at about 22 mph when it hit the whale at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, NOAA spokesman David Miller said.
Georgia Aquarium Opens Dolphin Conservation Field Station at Marineland
Georgia Aquarium’s Dolphin Conservation Field Station (GAI-DCFS) opened today in Marineland, FL just outside St. Augustine, FL, with a ceremonial ribbon cutting by Georgia Aquarium benefactor, Bernie Marcus and Marineland of Florida owner, Jim Jacoby.
The conservation field station includes research and veterinary facilities, quarantine pools for rehabilitating rescued animals, both land and water animal rescue vehicles and housing for researchers and staff. The team will conduct research, and it will also fill a need for rescue and rehabilitation of stranded animals in Georgia and northeast Florida. After a successful rescue and rehabilitation, animals deemed releasable by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will be reintroduced into their respective habitats. Animals deemed by NMFS to be unfit for release will be provided a home selected by NMFS.
“We welcome Georgia Aquarium’s Dolphin Conservation Field Station to the Southeast U.S. Marine Mammal Stranding Network,” said Blair Mase-Guthrie, NOAA Fisheries’ southeast stranding network coordinator. “We look forward to collaborating with their experts on marine mammal strandings and appreciate their willingness to participate in the program.
Compromise Agreement to Save Endangered Sea Turtles
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council voted in favor of a compromise agreement this morning put together in recent days by Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, and the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Bottom Longline Fishing fleet aimed at reducing the often times fatal interactions between threatened loggerhead sea turtles and commercial fishing gear. With this agreement, the fishermen will be able to continue fishing, but areas of the Gulf where the majority of the interactions have taken place will now be off-limits to the fleet.
"Fishermen do not want to kill threatened sea turtles. And no one wants to see fishermen be put out of business. This agreement signifies a willingness for different interest groups to come together to find solutions that consider the best interests of both the turtles and the fishing fleet," explained Vicki Cornish, Ocean Conservancy’s vice president of marine wildlife conservation. "The agreement approved today not only helps to forge a way forward on what has been a very contentious issue, but also lays a solid foundation for our groups to work together in the future for better fisheries, safer and better gear to protect turtles, and a healthier Gulf of Mexico."
"A more extensive closure would have resulted in permanent damage to the commercial fleet. Our industry is already looking at an emergency closure this summer, and we would not have been able to sustain another blow like that. We need partners that will help find lasting solutions," said Bobby Spaeth, Executive Director of the Southern Offshore Fishing Association. "Both Ocean Conservancy and Oceana were willing to work with us to help solve this problem. When the opportunity to partner with groups that do not often see eye-to-eye comes along and it works this well, it makes a powerful point in itself."
Could wolffish become another impossible stock rebuilding task for NMFS as mandated by national fishery policy’s unrealistic language — as well as another sure bet campaign for a green group?
The National Marine Fisheries Service’s announcement at the New England Fisheries Management Council meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., that a petition brought by the Conservation Law Foundation and fellow environmentalists Les Watling and Erica Fuller to add ocean catfish — or wolffish — to its threatened or endangered species list "may be warranted," drew chuckles from many fishermen in the audience.
Could this wolffish fuss become another impossible stock rebuilding task for NMFS as mandated by national fishery policy’s unrealistic language — as well as another sure bet campaign for a green group?
Fishermen look to NOAA in dogfish fight
East Coast fishermen are making their strongest case yet against federal protections for the fish everyone loves to hate.
Surging populations of spiny dogfish, the small pack-feeding sharks with seemingly bottomless stomachs, have prompted a group of recreational and commercial fishing interests to call on America’s new chief ocean regulator to take steps to beat back the unpopular species.
In a letter to Jane Lubchenco, the recently appointed director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Fishermen Organized for Responsible Dogfish Management describe dogfish as a perfect example of how attempts to rebuild all fish species equally has caused dire consequences for the valuable fish marine economies rely on.
Forty percent of global fisheries catch wasted or unmanaged – WWF
Nearly half of the world’s recorded fish catch is unused, wasted or not accounted for, according to estimates in a new scientific paper co-authored by WWF, the global conservation organization.
The paper, Defining and estimating global marine fisheries bycatch, estimates that each year at least 38 million tonnes of fish, constituting at least 40% of what is taken from our oceans by fishing activities, is unmanaged or unused and should be considered bycatch.
“The health of our oceans cannot be restored and fisheries sustainably managed if 40% of the global fishing catch is unused or unmanaged,” says James P. Leape, Director General, WWF International.
Stimulus money will help clean up New Bedford Harbor
Millions of dollars in federal stimulus money will be invested in a massive cleanup of polluted New Bedford Harbor, home of one of New England’s oldest and largest Superfund sites, federal officials announced today.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson came to the Whaling City to unveil the award of at least $25 million, and perhaps as much as $35 million — the single largest portion of the $600 million in stimulus money designated for cleanups nationwide. Four other New England properties in Mansfield, Lowell, Kingston, N.H. and Strafford, Vt. also received millions in funding.
“Today we are finally back on the road to get our harbor back,’’ boomed Sen. Edward Kennedy via telephone at a press conference that included Jackson, Governor Deval Patrick and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank. Kennedy has been a champion of the harbor and pushed hard for the stimulus funds, designed to help jumpstart the ailing economy, to be sent to New Bedford.
Oceana Supports Fishery Council Vote Maintaining Protections for Endangered and Threatened Sea Turtles, Fish and Other Ocean Wildlife
New swordfish fishery will be prevented from opening on the high seas of the Pacific
The federal Pacific Fishery Management Council voted on Saturday, April 4 to maintain a standing prohibition on a West Coast-based high seas longline fishery. The vote will prevent the opening of a new swordfish fishery that would threaten migrating loggerhead sea turtles and other marine wildlife on the high seas of the North Pacific Ocean.
"We are proud of the Council for its decision to not add an additional threat to already struggling ocean wildlife," said Ben Enticknap, Pacific Project Manager of Oceana.
The National Marine Fisheries Service had proposed to open this fishery that would target swordfish on the high seas of the North Pacific Ocean more than 200 miles off the coast of California and Oregon. A West Coast-based high seas longline fishery operated for more than a decade until a court ruling in 2001 closed much of the high seas fishing area to protect threatened loggerhead sea turtles migrating between nesting beaches in Japan and foraging grounds in Baja California. Longline gear used to target swordfish off California, within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (out to 200 miles from shore) has been prohibited since at least 1977 due to environmental concerns.
"This decision by the federal fishery Council demonstrates responsibility for the conservation of critically endangered leatherback sea turtles, loggerhead sea turtles, dolphins, whales, and in avoiding the bycatch of sharks and other fish" added Enticknap, "all of which were at risk by the proposed swordfish longline fishery."
Pew Statement on the National Marine Fisheries Service Final Interim Rule for Groundfish Management During the 2009 Fishing Year
Peter Baker, manager of Pew Environment Group’s New England Fisheries campaign, stated: "The National Marine Fisheries Service rule on managing groundfish, which was announced today, is a step forward toward achieving the necessary transformation of the New England fishery to a catch-based management system using sectors in 2010."
"This Final Interim Rule signals a needed commitment to working with the council, the fishing industry and conservation interests to end overfishing, rebuild depleted fish stocks and promote a sustainable, more profitable fishing industry in New England. While the current situation offers few easy answers, this rule moves the industry away from the failed days-at-sea management system toward a sector management system with science-based annual catch limits and accountability through monitoring."