EnvironmentNews

Most-Fished Shark in the World Denied Protection

By MarEx 2018-12-15 15:34:56

A U.N. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) meeting last week failed to agree protections for the blue shark - the most heavily fished shark in the world. A majority of countries attending the CMS Sharks Memorandum of Understanding (CMS Sharks MOU), at a meeting in Monaco last week, wanted to work together to conserve the blue shark. However, Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and South Africa all spoke out against the proposal, and so the species was...

Response Continues for Spill Near Port Sulphur, Louisiana

By MarEx 2018-12-14 10:59:03

The wellhead at the source of the spill in Rattlesnake Bayou, Louisiana has been brought under control, but cleanup teams and response boats are still working to remove pollution from the waterway. “It’s a big spill,” said Patrick Harvey, emergency response director for Plaquemines Parish, speaking to local media. "Hopefully, the impact is not as bad as it was originally thought to be and, hopefully, they can get it cleaned up in a short period of time."

Captain Sentenced to Twenty Years for Possession of Shark Fins

By MarEx 2018-12-12 20:52:05

The owner and captain of the Malaysian-flagged fishing vessel Buah Naga 1 has pleaded guilty to the charge of Unlawful Possession of Shark Fins in a plea agreement with Tanzanian Prosecutors. The vessel was arrested by Tanzanian law enforcement agents as part of Operation Jodari, a joint partnership between Sea Shepherd, Fish-i Africa and the government of Tanzania, to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. When the Buah Naga 1 was first boarded on January 25, inspectors discovered that the...

Study: Fisheries Compete with Shrinking Seabird Population for Food

By MarEx 2018-12-12 18:19:29

A pioneering study by French, Scottish and Canadian researchers has found that industrial fisheries are competing with seabirds for seafood resources, and that a corresponding decline in available food may be a contributing factor in the birds' plummeting population numbers. The new report was published in the latest edition of Cell Press' Current Biology, and it finds that seabird fish consuption decreased by nearly 20 percent between two twenty-year periods, from 1970-89 and 1990-2010. Between the same time periods, global...

Bering Sea has Record Low Winter Ice

By MarEx 2018-12-11 18:07:05

NOAA has released its annual report card on the Arctic, highlighting that the region experienced the second-warmest air temperatures ever recorded; the second-lowest overall sea-ice coverage; the lowest recorded winter ice in the Bering Sea and earlier plankton blooms due to early melting of sea ice in the Bering Sea. Declining Arctic sea ice: The 2018 Arctic Report Card found the Arctic region had the second-lowest overall sea-ice coverage on record. The...

Greenpeace Releases Southeast Asia Tuna Cannery Rankings

By MarEx 2018-12-08 19:14:39

Greenpeace Southeast Asia has released its latest tuna cannery ranking evaluating 23 canneries and brands from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia based on their policies on sustainability, transparency and equitability. In the Sea to Can: 2018 Southeast Asia Canned Tuna Ranking Report, only five canneries were identified as overall green performers: Alliance Select Foods International (Philippines), PT International Alliance FoodsIndonesia (Indonesia), PT Samudra Mandiri Sentosa (Indonesia), PT Sinar Pure Foods International (Indonesia) and Tops Supermarket (Thailand). Tuna continues to be...

EJF: Fishing Crews Admit Illegal Shark, Dolphin and Turtle Killing

By MarEx 2018-12-05 17:40:23

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has claimed that dolphins are being harpooned and butchered for use as bait to catch sharks, thousands of sharks have been stripped of their fins and thrown back into the sea to drown and turtles have been killed and discarded during Taiwanese fishing activities. In a new investigation, EJF spoke to Indonesian crew members from five longline vessels fishing in waters around the world, from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans –...

Wärtsilä Introduces Lifeboat for Buildings

By MarEx 2018-12-04 18:08:45

The technology group Wärtsilä has launched a lifeboat for buildings, not a real product, to draw attention to rising sea levels caused by climate change. The lifeboat was designed by Wärtsilä Ship Design and is powered by 100 renewables renewables, like synthetic renewable fuels and solar energy. “This hypothetical lifeboat is a way for Wärtsilä to amplify the critical need to move climate change discourse to action. In fact, the concept is not as unimaginable as we first think. The...

The Steve Irwin's smoke stacks billow steam after water canon attack photo credit: Eliza Muirhead / Sea Shepherd Australia

Sea Shepherd to Retire Flagship M/Y Steve Irwin

By MarEx 2018-12-02 18:23:30

Sea Shepherd’s flagship vessel the M/Y Steve Irwin is to be recycled. The vessel conducted nine Antarctic whale defense campaigns in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, helping save over 6,000 whales from the Japanese whaling fleet. The vessel also conducted campaigns involving protecting pilot whales in the Faeroes, blue fin tuna in the Mediterranean, humpback whales off Australia's Kimberley coast, protesting oil and gas exploration in the Great Australian Bight, protesting coal shipments through...

Alvin Submersible Makes 5,000th Dive

By MarEx 2018-11-28 17:26:45

In November 2018, the research submersible Alvin made it's 5,000th dive. It has seen over 50 years of service to the ocean science and engineering community. Alvin, the only deep-diving research submersible capable of carrying humans to the seafloor in the U.S., made the milestone dive during an expedition to the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California. Officially commissioned June 5, 1964, the Navy-owned and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)-operated sub has been through a series of upgrades and advances...