Saving Seafood

WAITT INSTITUTE: Top 15 Ocean Conservation Wins of 2015

The Waitt Institute is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. It was founded in 2005 by Ted Waitt (co-founder of Gateway Computers) to foster exploration and discovery. The focus of the Waitt Institute has shifted in recent years, and today its mission is “empowering communities to restore their oceans to full productivity.” To achieve this, the Waitt Institute directs its efforts toward fostering deep collaborations with local governments and communities to create comprehensive ocean zoning and management solutions.

December 23, 2015 — Overfishing, climate change, habitat destruction, and pollution remain major threats to the world’s ocean. But amidst all that there is some seriously good ocean conservation news worth celebrating. So, to continue the tradition started last year with listing 14 Ocean Conservation Wins of 2014, here’s a rundown for 2015 that will hopefully fill you with #OceanOptimism. These wins represent the diligent efforts of organizations and individuals too numerous to list, so let’s just start with a blanket shoutout to all of #TeamOcean for a great year.

#1. Over 2 million km2 of ocean was protected in big new marine reserves. Marine reserves are areas completely closed to fishing, and 2015 saw more ocean protected in a single year than ever before. Chile created Desventuradas Marine Park (297,000 km2), and Easter Island Marine Park 631,000 km2). New Zealand created Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary (620,000 km2), Palau created Palau National Marine Sanctuary (500,000 km2), the UK announced the Pitcairn Island Reserve (833,000 km2), and protected areas are in the works for Patagonia. However, there is a broad consensus that 30% of the ocean should be fully protected in reserves, and these new designations only get us up to 1% – but we’ll take it!

#2. New technology is being developed to combat illegal fishing. Designating all these new reserves means little without enforcement, and we can’t enforce unless we know what’s happening out on the water. One big tech effort launched this year is Global Fishing Watch, a partnership between Skytruth, Google, and Oceana to track fishing vessels and identify illegal fishing. Another similar program is the Pew Charitable Trust’s Virtual Watch Room. These technologies are in prototype phase and need significant improvement before they live up to expectations, but it’s a promising and exciting development.

#3. Illegal fishing boats are being chased down and caught! Sea Shepherd chased a pirate fishing boat on Interpol’s most wanted list for 10,000 miles, until the boat sank (potentially on purpose to drown the evidence of illegal fishing). Another boat was chased for four days, caught, and fined $2 million for illegally fishing in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. Blackfish and Environmental Justice Foundation have also been stepping up to make sure enforcement happens, but hopefully we can soon rely on law enforcement organizations, not environmental groups, to do this work.

Read the full story from the Waitt Institute at National Geographic

PETER BAKER: We Must Do More to Save Deep-Sea Corals

Editor’s Note: While Peter Baker’s commentary notes that New England fishery managers “have not yet put forward a plan for protection” of New England’s deep-sea corals, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has in fact been working since 2012 to extend protections to the region’s coral habitats. The Council’s effort, the Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment, is still in development, but contains protections similar to the much-lauded coral protections enacted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council through their own Deep Sea Corals Amendment.

December 8, 2015 — Less than 100 miles offshore from the heavily populated Eastern Seaboard lie submerged seascapes that look more like visions from another world than the cities and landmarks for which they are named.

Baltimore Canyon, Norfolk Canyon, Hudson Canyon, and others were carved by ancient rivers back when seas were shallow and the coastline was radically different. Now, these undersea canyons gouge into the edge of the continental shelf, plunging thousands of feet seaward to the abyss.

Scientists, exploring these places with robotic submersibles, have upended our assumptions about the deep sea. Far from a barren seafloor, these canyons teem with life—from familiar fish, squid, and crabs to some animals so bizarre that they could easily pass for creatures in a sci-fi flick. Some of the stranger sightings here include gangly crustaceans called sea spiders; the long-nosed chimera, or ghost shark; and the comical “Dumbo” octopus, which propels itself with earlike protrusions.

Most amazing, perhaps, are the living structures known as deep-sea corals that many of these animals depend upon for habitat. Unlike the familiar corals of the warm, shallow waters, these corals are adapted to the cold, dark depths where they slowly grow. Colorful bubblegum corals form bulbous ends in bright pinks, while fan corals grow in veined sheets of maroon and brown. Many deep-sea corals are centuries old, and some are among the Earth’s oldest known living animals.

Read the full commentary at the Pew Charitable Trusts

 

CHRISTIAN PUTNAM: Transparency lacking in harmful fishing restrictions

December 7, 2015 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Obama Administration are working closely with several environmental groups to “protect” vast areas of ocean off New England’s coast from the dreaded commercial and recreational fishermen.

After NOAA’s utter failure to work with the stakeholders that make up the fishing community through the National Marine Fisheries Service, rebranded NOAA Fisheries after the name became synonymous with disastrous over-regulation, it appears an even less transparent process is now underway to regulate our natural resources.

Plans have been hatched by several environmental groups that include the Conservation Law Foundation, Pew Charitable Trust, and the National Resources Defense Council to create at least one Marine National Monument in New England Waters. Potential areas include Georges Bank, east of Cape Cod, and Cashes Ledge, about 80 miles east of Gloucester.

It has been reported that direct conversations have occurred between these organizations, the administration and NOAA. The plan is to use the Antiquities Act of 1906 to allow for unilateral action by President Barack Obama to designate certain areas as national monuments from public lands to preserve their significant cultural, scientific or natural features.

Read the full opinion piece at the Scituate Mariner

Arctic Nations Seek to Prevent Exploitation of Fisheries in Opening Northern Waters

November 24, 2015 — Ruth Teichroeb, the communications officer for Oceans North: Protecting Life in the Arctic, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, sent a note this evening about new steps related to an issue I’ve covered here before – the rare and welcome proactive work by Arctic nations to ban fishing in the central Arctic Ocean ahead of the “big melt” as summer sea ice retreats more in summers in a human-heated climate.

Given how little is known about the Arctic Ocean’s ecology and dynamics, this is a vital and appropriate step.

Here’s her note about an important meeting in Washington in early December, which will likely be obscured as the climate treaty negotiations in Paris enter their final week at the same time:

The United States is hosting negotiations for an international Arctic fisheries agreement to protect the Central Arctic Ocean in Washington, D.C., on December 1 to 3. The five Arctic countries will meet for the first time with non-Arctic fishing nations to work on a binding international accord. This follows the declaration of intent signed in July by the Arctic countries.

The big question for this meeting is whether China, Japan, Korea and the European Union will attend and cooperate on a precautionary agreement to prevent overfishing given the dramatic impact of climate change in the Arctic.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Europêche hits back at Pew response

November 23, 2015 — In a further letter to Pew, Javier Garat, President of Europêche and Pim Vasser, President of EAPO, said: “It is disappointing that your response fails to address the issues that we have raised. We drew attention to the startling divergence between the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) view and Pew’s claims about fishing pressure and the state of the stocks off North Western Europe.”

Just last week an initial open letter to Pew, Europêche accused the report of making the assertion that fishing in pursuit of food and profit off North West Europe in recent decades has dramatically expanded.

Read the full story at World Fishing & Aquaculture

Fresh exchanges in international war of words over fishing

November 23, 2015 — An environmental giant has hit back after being accused of making “misleading and untrue” statements about the fishing industry in order to influence policy-makers.

Pew Charitable Trusts insists there is still a major problem with over-fishing in EU waters, pointing to recent data showing mortality rates are above the levels required by the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

But industry body Europeche, which last week published an open letter attacking Pew over a controversial report – Turning the Tide: Ending Over-fishing in North Western Europe – says the pressure group’s response has failed to address the issues it raised.

Pew’s report claimed fishing in north-west Europe had expanded rapidly in recent decades, and that calls by scientists and environmentalists to reduce it had been ignored. It also said many of the region’s fish stocks had collapsed.

Read the full story at The Press and Journal

EU fishing sector accuses Pew of knowingly publishing misinformation

November 19, 2015 — The following is an excerpt from a story originally published on November 18 by Undercurrent News:

European fisheries industry body Europeche has issued an open letter to Pew Charitable Trusts, warning that statements which are “demonstrably untrue and contrary to scientific opinion” can cause damage.

Javier Garat, Europeche president, pointed to the Pew report ‘Turning the Tide: Ending

Overfishing in North Western Europe’ as containing such misleading inofrmation.

The report makes the assertion that:

  • Fishing in recent decades, in pursuit of food and profit, off North West Europe has dramatically expanded
  • Calls by scientists and environmentalists to reduce fishing pressure have been ignored
  • Many fish stocks collapsed throughout the region
  • The reformed CFP should prove a successful first step in restoring and maintaining the health of the fisheries and fish stocks

The unambiguous view of the scientific community has been clearly stated, most recently at the State of the Stocks Seminar in Brussels, said Garat, quoting Eskild Kirkegaard, chair of the ICES advisory committee:

“Over the last ten to fifteen years, we have seen a general decline in fishing mortality in the Northeast Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. The stocks have reacted positively to the reduced exploitation and we’re observing growing trends in stock sizes for most of the commercially important stocks.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News 

European fishing body takes aim at environmental group

November 14, 2015 — A European fishing body has accused an environmental pressure group of making “misleading and untrue” statements” about the industry in an attempt to influence policy-makers.

The open letter from Europeche – whose members include the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation – is addressed to the Pew Charitable Trusts, which earlier this year published a report called Turning the Tide: Ending Over-fishing in North Western Europe.

“That report contained a number of statements which are demonstrably untrue and contrary to scientific opinion,” Europeche president Javier Garat said yesterday.

He added: “The motives for Pew to publish misleading and untrue statements remain obscure, but this is not a matter of misinterpretation of data or different opinion.

Read the full story at The Press and Journal

 

Pew Circulates Cashes Ledge Monument Petition

September 10, 2015 — The Pew Charitable Trusts is circulating a petition calling for President Obama to designate Cashes Ledge and areas of the New England Canyons and Seamounts as National Monuments. Such as designation would permanently close these areas to fishing and other commercial activity, but would also remove them from the current public management process. Several of the areas, most notably Cashes Ledge, are already off-limits to fishermen under existing habitat protections.

The text of the petition is below:

MAKE HISTORY BY ASKING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO CREATE THE FIRST MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!

The “Grand Canyons,” sea mountains, and Cashes Ledge off New England’s coast are national treasures. These precious ecosystems provide refuge for hundreds of species of rare and unique marine wildlife, including whales, seabirds, and long-living cold-water corals. These remote areas are also critical to the health of our ocean fish, which are the lifeblood of Atlantic coastal communities.

Unfortunately, these fragile undersea places are under growing threat of destruction from overfishing and industrial exploitation as the deep ocean becomes more accessible to extraction. Now is the most crucial time to protect New England’s Grand Canyons, sea mountains, and Cashes Ledge—and we need your help!

SEND A MESSAGE. OVERWHELMING PUBLIC SUPPORT IS NEEDED TO CONVINCE THE ADMINISTRATION TO FULLY PROTEC THESE SPECIAL PLACES FOREVER!

Read the petition here

Read Saving Seafood’s previous coverage of the issue:

ANALYSIS: New England Marine Monument Proposals Overlook Existing Protections, Overstep Democratic Management

A Simple Map Shows Cashes Ledge Habitat is Already Protected

 

AP: Proposal to Protect Offshore Sites Draws Support, Opposition

September 3, 2015 (AP) — Environmental advocates say the federal government should extend permanent protection to two underwater sites off the New England coast by making them national monuments.

Fishing advocacy group Saving Seafood said Wednesday it opposes more restrictions on the areas, already closed to fishing and monitored by federal regulators.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage wrote President Barack Obama last week saying he opposes the proposal, which he said would hurt the state’s economy.

Read the full story from the Associated Press