Maritime Issues : General

Campaigners today breathed a sigh of relief as pro-whaling nations led by Japan failed to gain a majority on the opening day of the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) annual meeting, in St Kitts.

Greenpeace announced their plans to return to the Southern Ocean this year to oppose Japan's continued 'scientific hunt' which will target 935 minke whales and ten endangered fin whales, warning that there is no time for complacency.

For years Japan has been trying to overturn the 1986 IWC moratorium on commercial whaling. Through an aggressive vote buying strategy, offering development assistance in exchange for pro-whaling votes, Japan has come veryclose to achieving a pro-whaling majority. Having failed to win the majority atlast years meeting, one of the Japanese delegation made their intentions clear: "The reversal of history, the turning point is soon to come."

The UN has warned the world's governments that humankind's exploitation of the sea could be passing the point of no return.

A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) found that more than half of the world's fish stocks are being exploited to their full extent, with nearly a quarter suffering from over-fishing.

Meanwhile, pollution, litter and deep sea drilling are all reaching into the depths of a marine environment hitherto preserved from the hand of man.

The nation's newest national monument covers an archipelago stretching 1,400 miles long and 100 miles wide in the Pacific Ocean. It's home to more than 7,000 species, at least a fourth of them found nowhere else.

"To put this area in context, this national monument is more than 100 times larger than Yosemite National Park," Bush said. "It's larger than 46 of our 50 states, and more than seven times larger than all our national marine sanctuaries combined. This is a big deal."

South Korea/Japan: S.Koreainsists research in disputed waters despite Japan's opposition

South Korean government said on Wednesday that it will conduct a maritime research plan in disputed waters in the East Sea next month despite Japan's warning against it.

"Japan has no right to request a halt to the plan as we conduct research in our maritime territory," South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters.

Ban's remarks was a response to Japan's request that South Korean government cancel its plan to conduct research on ocean currents in the waters near the disputed islets of Dokdo, which Japan also claims sovereignty and calls "Takeshima".

KUSHIMOTOCHO, Wakayama--Just beneath the waves, bluefin tuna dart across netted pens off Oshima island in Kushimotocho, Wakayama Prefecture. The fish, which hatched in June 2002 from eggs laid by farmed tuna, are the world's first to have been spawned in captivity and grown to maturity.

The project is led by Prof. Hidemi Kumai, who heads the Kinki University Fisheries Laboratory.

Since the 1970s, climate change has doubled the growing season in some places and raised state temperatures 6 degrees in the winter and 3.5 on average annually since 1950, says Juday, a professor at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. Drought is stressing and killing spruce, aspen and birch trees.

Alaska has emerged as the poster state for global warming, the climate effect attributed to higher concentrations of "greenhouse" gases - mostly carbon dioxide created by burning fossil fuels - that capture the sun's heat in the atmosphere.

Canada: Arctic expedition will investigate alien-like glacier Unusual sulfur spring on Ellesmere Island

A scientific expedition to a remote glacier field in Canada's High Arctic may help researchers unlock the secrets about the beginning of life and provide insights for future exploration of our solar system.

A team assembled by the University of Calgary's Arctic Institute of North America plans to spend two weeks studying a sulfur-spewing spring on the surface of an ice field not far from the North Pole this summer, after it was discovered by Institute Executive Director Dr. Benoit Beauchamp during his travels in the area. Beauchamp, U of C adjunct professor Dr. Steve Grasby from the Geological Survey of Canada, and two graduate students will conduct the first extensive study of the spring after initial tests showed the geological oddity is home to a unique form of bacteria that has adapted to thrive in a cold and sulfur-rich environment.

More than 130 experts from over 20 countries opened a United Nations-sponsored workshop in Bangkok to push ahead with a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean that could save scores of thousands of lives in a reoccurrence of the catastrophe which killed more than 200,000 people in a dozen countries in 2004.

“The Indian Ocean Tsunami was probably the loudest wake up call in the recent history about the need to strengthen early warning capabilities and to reduce risk and vulnerability globally,” UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Margareta Wahlström told the opening session of the three-day meeting.

A combination of new satellite-derived datasets is providing an exciting opportunity to peer through the sea-ice cover to study circulation patterns in the Arctic Ocean (Forsberg et al., 2006). A better understanding of what's going on beneath the ice will, in turn, lead to a more accurate interpretation of sea-ice thickness data from CryoSat-2.

The new estimates of Arctic Ocean mean dynamic topography have been compiled through a combination of satellite altimetry data from ERS, Envisat and ICESat, and a revised geoid model based on surface, submarine, airborne and satellite gravity field data from the US-German GRACE mission.

POLAR bears in the southern Beaufort Sea - part of the Arctic Ocean - may be turning to cannibalism because longer seasons without ice keep them from getting to their natural food, a study by American and Canadian scientists has found.

The study reviewed three examples of polar bears preying on each other from January to April 2004 north of Alaska and western Canada, including the first-ever reported killing of a female in a den shortly after it gave birth.

Polar bears feed primarily on ringed seals and use sea ice for feeding, mating and giving birth.

Ensuring sustainable fisheries is challenging enough as it is, but on factoring in these clandestine activities which compete with legitimate ones, we realise what an enormous scourge of high seas fisheries they are. These activities have very serious economic consequences for all our fleets but even more importantly, they jeopardise international efforts made by us all to manage fish stocks in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Let us quickly remind ourselves how far we have progressed in our approach over the last few years. In 2001, in the FAO, we adopted as a voluntary instrument the International Plan of Action. Its main objective is to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing by providing all States with comprehensive, effective and transparent measures by which to act. One way of achieving this objective is to work through appropriate regional fisheries management organisations.

"Scientists have an independent obligation to respect and present the truth as they see it," Al Gore sensibly asserts in his film "An Inconvenient Truth", showing at Cumberland 4 Cinemas in Toronto since Jun 2. With that outlook in mind, what do world climate experts actually think about the science of his movie?

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."

A whirlwind of emotion centers around a complex new management scheme called Gulf of Alaska rationalization, which aims to divide up catches of 27 different types of groundfish among all users, based on their historical participation in the fisheries. By design, the plan is supposed to end the "race for fish," improve conservation, reduce waste, and provide more economic stability for harvesters, processors and communities.

But a "rationalized" program that began last year for Bering Sea crab resulted in lost jobs for more than 1,000 skippers and crew, a fishing fleet that dwindled from 250 to about 70 boats, and guaranteed quotas for processors that meant fishermen lost the right to sell their catch to whomever they choose. The majority of Kodiak's fishermen fear a repeat with Gulf ratz, and most vehemently oppose the plan. More than 100 of them wasted no time in giving the Council impassioned four minute earfuls, while two armed police officers stood close watch over the packed meeting room. Here is a sampler:

Japan and South Korea began talks Monday aimed at setting the boundaries of their exclusive economic zones in the sea around rocky islets at the center of a recent diplomatic row.

The two-day talks, their first on the topic in six years, are expected to involve tough negotiations as both sides plan to use the islands -- called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean -- that lie halfway between the two countries as a base point for claiming exclusive economic zones.

Kyodo News agency quoted unnamed sources as saying Seoul pushed for a more extensive exclusive economic zone than it had claimed in previous talks. The report said Tokyo rejected Seoul's claim.

WASHINGTON--Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens presented Congress with the Bush administration's proposed new system for issuing offshore fish-farming permits Thursday, but he also signaled immediately that he wants states to have the option of prohibiting such industry within 200 miles of their shorelines.

"The state has no say about what goes on in federal waters under the current legislation," Stevens said at a same-day hearing on the bill that featured verbal sparring between fish-farming advocates and opponents.

Stevens, the committee chairman, sponsored the administration bill. In a Senate floor statement Thursday, though, he said he has proposed an amendment to give states the veto power.

THERE is no danger of Fiji's tuna stocks being depleted, says Fisheries Minister Ilaitia Tuisese.

This is contrary to popular belief held by industry stakeholders and environment groups.

Mr Tuisese, whose ministry includes policing and ensuring sustainability of Fiji's marine resources, said in Fiji's case there was no need to worry about tuna stocks depleting because there was enough supply for the markets and for future generations.

Southeast Asia's return to prosperity since the financial crisis of 1997 has brought a region-wide splurge on new weapons. Most Southeast Asian countries are, indeed, now busily modernizing their armed forces. So far, most have done so without compromising their autonomy in security matters. But with China's military build-up causing nervousness everywhere, many governments in the region are starting to work with outside powers.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has perhaps been the most assertive. In addition to becoming more active in world diplomacy, Yudhoyono will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this month to discuss buying Russia's newest fighter jets. Indonesia is seeking to form an air-defense squadron of 12 jets, with eight Russian fighters to complement the two Russian Su-27SKs and Su-30MKMs that it has already bought.

The seventh meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (Consultative Process or UNICPOLOS) opens today at UN headquarters in New York, and will continue until 16 June 2006. During the week, delegates will convene in plenary sessions to: exchange views on areas of concern and actions needed, including on issues discussed at previous meetings; discuss cooperation and coordination on oceans issues, especially as they relate to ecosystem approaches and oceans; and identify issues that could benefit from attention in future work of the General Assembly on oceans and the law of the sea. A discussion panel will be held to consider ecosystem approaches and oceans. The recommendations stemming from the meeting will be forwarded to the General Assembly at its 61st session for consideration under its agenda item entitled “Oceans and the law of the sea.”

CURWOOD: If you're fond of eating clams and oysters, you probably don't like the paralytic shellfish poisoning that's caused by Red Tide, a seasonal bloom of algae. Along the Eastern seaboard of the US, the Alexandrium Fundyense algae is the culprit, and can cost shell-fishermen millions in lost revenue. But it might not for long. Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute are developing possible solutions to kill off future red tides. Living on Earth's Ashley Ahearn reports.

AHEARN: In warm, sunny summer waters off the East Coast, life is good for the Alexandrium Algae. The single celled organisms float near the surface, photosynthesizing and multiplying like there's no tomorrow. But there's one critter that can take all the fun out of being a free swimming Alexandrium.

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. -- Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn announced the opening of a small inshore cod fishery for the northeast coast of Newfoundland Thursday.

Hearn, who made the announcement at a wharf in Petty Harbour, near St. John's, said the commerical fishery is a one-year pilot project.

It's the first time in three years there has been a commercial cod fishery in the region.

The inshore fishery for waters within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) of shore will allow for a total catch of 2,300 tonnes. There are 2,300 fishermen involved.

The South Korean Navy Friday launched its first, 1,800-ton class, state-of-the-art submarine equipped with advanced missile systems, a Navy spokesman said.

Named after the country’s first Chief of Naval Operations, the late Adm. Sohn Won-il, the 214-Type submarine will play a key role in securing sea lanes for transporting energy supplies and other goods, as well as extending the Navy’s operation range, Commander Jung Sung-yup told The Korea Times.

"The launch of the 214-Type submarine will give our naval capability a great boost and help safeguard our maritime interests," Jung said, adding the Sohn Won-il submarine’s operation will have a combat radius reaching Guam.

You may not think of the ocean when you do these things. Thank a mostly blue planet that you can. From the Iraqi desert to the San Francisco Bay, our air, food and climate are the gifts of an oceanic life-support system reaching across every political boundary.

A Rocky Mountain senator once famously noted "the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment." Ecological thinkers understand that the engine of this global economy runs on salt water.

Canada: Small cod fishery reopens off Newfoundland, but conservation concerns linger

PETTY HARBOUR, N.L. (CP) - Fishermen in eastern and northern Newfoundland will be allowed to reel in their most coveted catch for the first time in three years, despite concerns that the decision to reopen the northern cod fishery is based on faulty science.

A small-scale, inshore commercial fishery for northern cod, as well as a limited recreational fishery, will resume this year, federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn announced Thursday.

Swedish drilling vessel, Vidar Viking, led the Arctic Coring Expedition, when scientists set out to retrieve subseafloor sediment records to support their investigations into climate change. Click here for more information.

A group of ocean-drilling research scientists that explored the Arctic Ocean subseafloor in Fall 2004 have released new findings in a report to be published in Nature on June 1. The report, supported by Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) research operations, contains analyses of subseafloor sediment samples gathered from 430 meters beneath the Arctic Ocean, near the North Pole. To recover the sediments that yielded the prehistoric climate records, the research team needed to manage three ice-breakers, one of which was equipped with a drill rig. The sediment records were recovered from the Lomonsov Ridge, in water about 1000 meters deep.

With little fanfare, an off-Island development company has filed plans to build an underwater tidal energy farm in Vineyard Sound. Representatives of Massachusetts Tidal Energy Company (MATidal), based in Washington, D.C., say their installation could potentially supply power to thousands of New England homes.

MATidal submitted a preliminary permit application on April 12 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). If approved, the proposal calls for the installation of one or more clusters of underwater turbines, referred to in the application as "tidal in-stream energy conversion devices." The device is much like an aboveground wind turbine, but submerged to harvest power from the flow of the tide.

“[W]e don’t have enough information about the oceans’ impact on our economy,” William M. Daley, Secretary of Commerce said back in 1998. “A complete and accurate assessment of the ocean bounty has never been done, and I think this has been a serious handicap in our decision making over the past number of years. We need such information to make decisions on how to responsibly use our ocean resources. And we need it to protect the marine environment. We need it if we’re going to give the public a better understanding of how the oceans directly affect us.”

VANCOUVER -- Shemya Island, on the far western edge of Alaska, is about the last place you'd expect to find Canadian law-enforcement agents. But dozens of Canadian fisheries and military officials are working from the desolate Aleutian island this week as Canada takes its yearly turn at being beat cop on the high seas.

Not so long ago, Shemya was on the edge of the world's last true wild west. For decades, within the millions of square kilometres between the Aleutians and Japan, as many as 700 boats plundered the lawless North Pacific, fishing for salmon with driftnets.

Soviet Uniton: Oil-slick action starts off Pacific coast as poachers sink ship

VLADIVOSTOK, June 8 (RIA Novosti) - Efforts are being made to contain an oil spill off the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula after poachers scuttled their vessel in a bid to escape action from coast guards, emergency services said Thursday.

The spill, covering an area of roughly 20,000 square meters, is floating north toward Russia's coast at a speed of 0.6 mph, a spokesman said.

The crew of the Priozerny trawler, which was allegedly poaching crabs in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia's Far East, scuttled the vessel Tuesday by opening hatches and switching off the engines after a chase involving helicopters and patrol ships. Authorities boarded the ship as it was sinking and confiscated a large illegal haul of crabs.

NEW DELHI: India and Malaysia discussed on Wednesday an offer from New Delhi to help patrol the Strait of Malacca, the main ship passageway between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Nairobi - In what could turn out to be master-stroke for peace, the Government has banned Somali warlords from entering this country. This bold move should help curtail the deadly activities of the warmongers and their close associates.

In the past three weeks alone, some 350 civilians have been killed in fighting for the control of Mogadishu between two rival groups. The travel ban is an interesting development because it is well-documented that most of the warlords, who have parcelled out Somalia into little fiefdoms, sometimes stay in Kenya for long periods.

NewZealand: Tsunami sirens to get second test run on Saturday

Bay of Plenty Times, 8 June 2006

The Bay's tsunami sirens warning system is to get a "truer test" of its capabilities with a two-minute continuous burst at noon this Saturday.

Western Bay emergency management chief Barry Low said the longer blast will be a more accurate test to see whether the sirens can be heard from much further away than they were during the 10 to 15-second burst on May 18. It will also help identify any gaps in coverage.

On May 18 the sirens sounded at fire stations throughout the Western Bay of Plenty, yet many people along the coastline failed to hear it and complained they were disappointed by the test.

By the time this little halibut that could had finned its way from Homer, Alaska, to Gold Beach, Ore. -- a distance of more than 1,600 miles -- it had outgrown that "chicken'' nickname hung on the smallest of the largest flatfish in the Pacific.

A five pounder when first caught, tagged and released in Cook Inlet on April 23, 2003, this halibut was up to about 15 pounds when caught again recently by an angler on a charter boat off the Oregon coast.