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Sun Star Davao, 30 June 2006

SEA patrols, regularly conducted by the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard, have decreased due to high fuel costs.

Commodore Ferdinand Golez, commander of the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao, and Commodore Edmund Tan of the Philippine Coast Guard Southeastern Mindanao admitted this in Thursday's Gulf Forum at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.

Tan said that from the usual "unlimited" sea patrols they used to conduct, they are now averaging only 15 hours of patrol per month.

He said this is not just because of the high fuel prices, but can also be attributed to their limited budget.

Canada: Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council: Wild Salmon Resource Requires Increased Protection and Management, Council Says

CCN Matthers, 30 June 2006

The future of British Columbia's wild salmon and steelhead populations is at risk from urbanization, lost spawning habitat, and conditions affected by climate change, in the view of the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council.

In their annual report issued today, the Council members point out the challenges, including the changing nature of aquatic and fisheries resources because water temperatures and flow rates have become more variable. Global warming is expected to reduce spawning success in major areas such as the Fraser River, change ocean food supply, and affect survival of salmon.

The Council members note that salmon management capacity is expected to be strengthened with the implementation of the federal government's Wild Salmon Policy; an initiative that is overdue but presents a reason for optimism about the restoration of public trust and credibility in fisheries management. British Columbians have a valid expectation that wild salmon should be given greater priority in resource decisions. The Council points out that Pacific salmon and steelhead are among British Columbia's most revered symbols of nature's bounty.

The Council also emphasizes that for the Wild Salmon Policy to work as it is intended, sound adoption of conservation strategies and independent assessment of the implementation process are needed. To this end the Council has been working in particular on the Wild Salmon Policy's strategies dealing with habitat and ecosystems.

Indonesia: Indonesia offers to host summit on illegal fishing

Australian Fisheries Minister, Eric Abetz, says his Indonesian counterpart has offered to host a regional ministerial summit on illegal fishing.

During a meeting on Thursday, Senator Abetz says the pair discussed Australia's recent efforts to toughen its stance against illegal fishing.

The Indonesian minister, Freddy Numberi, was unwilling to commit to joint naval patrols.

Senator Abetz says it is important to deal with the issue at a regional level and he hopes to see representatives from the Philippines, Thailand and China at the summit.

"We have seen the advent of Chinese trawlers, not only in Australian waters, but also Indonesian waters and there is a very strong view that there are Chinese syndicates at play behind the Indonesian fishermen that are coming into our waters," he said.

Great flood disrupted ocean currents, cooled climate, finds new research

Monga Bay, 29 June 2006

Ocean circulation changes caused at the end of the past glacial period were more extensive than previously thought, according to new research scientists at the University of East Anglia and Cardiff University.

The findings, published in the June 30 issue of the journal Science, indicate that the catastrophic freshwater release from glacial lakes in North America slowed ocean circulation and cooled the climate some 8200 years ago.

According to a release from the University of East Anglia, the "research increases our understanding of the complex link between ocean circulation and climate change and highlights the sensitivity of the Atlantic overturning circulation to freshwater forcing."

United States: New Rule Protects Alaska's Coral Gardens

Forbes, 29 June 2006

Alaska's rare coral gardens will be protected under a new federal rule setting large areas of the sea floor off-limits to bottom trawling.

The new rule protects 370,000 square miles of ocean floor from bottom trawling, making it the largest protected marine habitat in the United States. The rule takes effect July 28.

Under the rule, more than 320,000 square miles in the Aleutian Islands - or an area approximately the size of Texas and Colorado combined - will be protected from bottom trawling. The other 50,000 square miles are in the Gulf of Alaska.

The ocean floor being protected includes six small areas, totaling just 126 square miles, where federal scientists in 2002 discovered coral gardens scattered along the Aleutian chain.

United States: Admiral says future sailors must be jacks-of-all-trades

Rear Adm. Michael P. Nowakowski says members of the Navy will have to have a broad range of skills.

NOAA Magazine, 28 June 2006

The complex relationships between atmospheric carbon dioxide, biological productivity and the role of the Southern Ocean in carbon sequestration have been demonstrated by scientists at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. (Click NOAA image for larger view of Southern Ocean Biogeochemical Divide, which is a region where nutrients important for plankton growth are high at the surface. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)

Ocean waters that move toward the Antarctic continent sink as their temperatures drop. Once this occurs, these waters then move northwards. New research demonstrates that water at greater depths have a significantly different impact than the high-nutrient waters that flow northwards at intermediate depths. The circulation in the regions around Antarctica where water sinks to depths greater than 1.5 km was shown to be largely responsible for controlling the air-sea balance of carbon dioxide (CO2). The circulation in the Subantarctic regions that feed water to depths between 0.5 km and 1.5 km controls biological productivity. This research builds on recent studies showing that different parts of the Southern Ocean have responded differently to climate change.

PACIFIC Islands Forum leaders under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare met in Paris yesterday at the invitation of the French president Jacques Chirac.

The invitation is part of the French government's efforts to deepen its relationship with the Pacific islands states.

This is the second meeting of Pacific Islands leaders, the first was in French Polynesia's capital Papeete with president Chirac in 2003.

During the 2003 meeting, France offered support for maritime surveillance to curb illegal fishing, not only in French territories but also in neighbouring island countries that desired their support.

During the 2003 meeting, president Chirac also offered assistance in disaster management support, making available its fleet of naval hospital vessels already in the region, to attend to disasters and emergencies in the Pacific.

Among issues being discussed in Paris are

sustainable development of resources, better targeting of French development assistance, human resource development, HIV/AIDS and other pandemics. The negotiations on the assistance would be provided through the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

NOAA, 26 June 2006

Results from the surveys were dramatic. At least six species of soft coral and one species of stony coral were observed. In some areas scientists encountered fields of erect soft corals known as "gorgonians" with individual colonies as high as three feet and in other areas isolated patches of coral colonies associated with scattered boulders. Corals observed included giant cup corals, branching soft corals such as "bubblegum coral" and the stony reef-building coral Lophelia, discovered during the earlier pilot cruise in 2004.

A Humboldt veteran's tie to the new Hawaiian Islands monument
The nation's newest national monument, a chain of islands that sweeps northwest from Hawaii, has a darker past than its azure waters and low-slung white sand beaches would reveal.

In the 1960s, Ferndale resident Jack Alderson commanded a group of light tugs that made trips to the islands that last week were declared a monument, as well as other remote atolls in the region. The boats were part of Project SHAD -- Shipboard Hazard and Defense -- experiments to test biological and chemical weapons.

Before and after those tests, which the U.S. Department of Defense now admits exposed thousands of crew members to live biological and chemical agents, Alderson's tugs brought Smithsonian Institution ornithologists to the islands. They were there to study migrating birds, information the military would use to determine if chemicals and diseases could be transported across borders and so be used as vectors by -- or against -- an enemy.

After decades of research, key questions unanswered

MANATEE - Visitors to the barrier island beaches were greeted with the stench of dying fish, burning eyes and gagging coughs from one of the worst outbreaks of red tide in years.

Scientists were under public pressure to find the cause and ways to eliminate the unwelcome vacation spoiler.

That was 1971.

Earnest research into red tide has been under way since 1948, when the toxin-emitting algae, now called Karenia brevis, was identified as the single-cell organism causing Gulf waters to become rusty brownish-red.

Since that time, researchers and the public have looked for answers, although, until the past 15 years, there has not been much funding made available to do the work.

Funding grants to study the phenomenon along the Gulf of Mexico coast were usually less than $100,000 a year.

Failing The Acid Test: Excess CO{-2} Is Poisoning The Oceans

It's often been said that if you hold a seashell to your ear you can hear the sound of the surf. Today, however, those shells also echo one of the oceans' biggest problems: They are literally dissolving in our increasingly acidic seas.

Emissions of carbon dioxide, a pollutant produced by the burning of fossil fuels and linked by science to global warming, are also altering the very chemistry of our oceans. Over the past two centuries alone, ocean chemistry has changed 100 times more rapidly than during the past 650,000 years. And if emission trends continue, our oceans will undergo a chemical transformation unlike anything that has occurred for tens of millions of years - an event that could ultimately have a devastating effect on marine biodiversity. That is, unless U.S. policy-makers act quickly to curb America's unrestrained growth in fossil fuel emissions.

Bahama Journal, 26 June 2006

Activity at the Caribbean Marine Research Center (CMRC) on Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas this summer will be minimal, and research conducted there this year will be carried on at a "very reduced level" as the center faces a funding crisis that may result in its closure.

The funding crisis emerged as a result of cuts in the US government's 2006 budget that completely eliminate federal funding for the facility.

This is bad news for The Bahamas, as the facility contributes scientific research to The Bahamas' marine and aquaculture resources and programmes. It's worse news for the Bahamian workforce at the center, most of whom were laid off when the budget cuts took effect.
The facility has been called "one of the most productive marine laboratories in the Caribbean," and a brief survey of some ongoing research projects there appears to support that contention.

Last year, Dr. Mark Hixon of Oregon State University conducted a study of marine reserves, and how they affect grouper and snapper, and Dr. Mark Steele of UCAL-Santa Barbara studied the implications for fisheries enhancement via marine protected areas.

Jakarta Post, 26 June 2006

Scientists say the government's failure to manage sea and coastal areas is leading to rampant poaching, chronic poverty among fishermen and the rapid degradation of marine resources.

Transferring sea management rights to fishermen would be the most effective way to boost their prosperity, said marine researchers who gathered Friday for the 11th Biennial Conference of the International Association of the Study of Common Property in Ubud, Bali.

Data shows some three million fishermen and about 16 million people in coastal areas across the country are living under the poverty line, with most of them earning less than US$2 per day.

"Rampant destruction of our marine resources and endless poverty among our fishermen are partly caused by the fact that the state denies their right to manage the sea," said Arief Satria of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture's Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Studies.

Peoples Daily, 26 June 2006

The 2nd France-Oceania summit opened here on Monday, with security and economic development in the Oceanian region high on the agenda.

The issues of stability, sustainable development and environmental protection in the region will also figure largely at the summit.

Leaders from France's dependencies in the South Pacific, and representatives from the European Union, the Pacific Community and the Pacific Islands Forum were also attending the summit.

The 1st France-Oceania summit was held in 2003 in French Polynesia.

BEDFORD - To a fish swimming along on its fishy business, a massive ship hitting the ocean floor is nothing but an opportunity.

Artificial reefs may be good for tourism, but they also make good fish habitats.

Glyn Sharp, a marine biologist at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, said whether artificial reefs are designed for fish or for scuba divers, it helps out the local fish population.

"You put in these habitats and it's not a matter of new fish being born, (but) you very quickly have it being utilized by existing fish populations."

Artificial reefs provide a place where the small fish can hide from the big fish.

While it's difficult to prove if artificial reefs translate to bigger fish populations overall, Sharp said there are studies that show reefs enhance production for many different species.

The only bad news is for the organisms -- like clams and worms -- living in the sediment where the ship lands.

TMC, 25 June 2006

WASHINGTON, June 25_(Kyodo) _ The United States is considering deploying the Navy's Aegis cruiser Shiloh, which is equipped with an advanced missile defense system, to areas around Japan as part of efforts to deal with North Korea's preparations to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile, U.S. government sources said Sunday.

The deployment would move up the U.S. government's original schedule of stationing the Shiloh in Japan at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in August.

Japan has already mobilized an Aegis-equipped destroyer of the Maritime Self-Defense Force amid growing worries about North Korea's preparations to test fire a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile.

The Shiloh would be deployed in two weeks at the earliest, the sources said.

In an interceptor test last Thursday off Hawaii, a Standard Missile-3 interceptor fired by the Shiloh successfully shot down a warhead separated from a ballistic missile outside the earth's atmosphere.

St. Petersburg Times, 25 june 2006

WASHINGTON - Just like last year, when they killed a plan to open much of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to energy exploration, some key members of Florida's congressional delegation are balking at a compromise on drilling.

This time, however, their protests may not matter so much.

As U.S. House leaders prepare to vote this week on a plan to allow oil and gas drilling 100 miles off the nation's shores, and closer if states permit it, lawmakers and lobbyists say winning the support of the Florida delegation is no longer crucial to passing the bill.

Instead, rising energy costs, strong lobbying by industry and labor groups, and divisions within the delegations of other coastal states, especially California, mean that the bill's sponsors are counting on broad, bipartisan support that will help them prevail even with only partial backing from Florida's 25 House members.

The Poeples Daily, 23 June 2006

Pacific Island countries will offer member countries of the European Union access to fishing rights in the region in return for investment in the industry and EU market access.

This has been revealed by Fiji's minister for foreign affairs and external trade, Kaliopate Tavola, who chaired a Pacific Ministers meeting in Nadi, Fiji, this week, according to Thursday's report from The Fiji Times, a local newspaper.

Tavola said Pacific island countries are negotiating with the EU to develop a multi-lateral fisheries partnership agreement.

He said the main focus of the agreement would be market access into the EU for the island countries.

At present, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia have bilateral fishery agreements with the EU, but Pacific Trade Ministers have agreed to maintain unity and negotiate a multi-lateral fishery agreement.

CTV.ca, 23 June 2006

HALIFAX -- A highly touted network of special marine zones is failing to protect the very species of coral and fish it was intended to shield in waters around the world, says a report to be published Friday.

An international team of scientists has found that many of the marine protected areas, created in oceans from Australia to Canada, are too small and not being enforced properly, raising concerns that fragile coral reefs are continuing their downward slide.

"Countries around the world created these things, but then they forgot that they cost money and you have to continue investing in them," said Camilo Mora, a scientist at Dalhousie University and lead author of the study that appears in Science magazine. "Clearly, lines on the map are not enough to protect the world's coral reefs."

The Daily Yomiuri, 23 June 2006

This is the 20th installment of the fifth "Planning National Strategies" series, which examines the current state of affairs facing Japan as a maritime nation.

No country may love tuna as much as Japan.

Every year, Japanese consume about 600,000 tons of the fish, more than 25 percent of the world's entire catch.

So when the tuna haul began to drastically decrease worldwide due to indiscriminate fishing, all fingers pointed here.

Tuna resources in the western Atlantic Ocean, one of Japan's major blue-fin tuna fishing areas, declined to 5,000 tons in 2001, about one-tenth of the amount about 30 years ago.

According to a Fisheries Agency survey in fiscal 2005, tuna is either "overcaught" or "caught to the limit" all over the world.

Madagascar: Malagasy corals defy bleaching, need protection

reuters, 23 Jun 2006

ANTANANARIVO, June 23 (Reuters) - A marine expedition into previously unexplored Indian Ocean waters has found that corals off Madagascar have resisted so-called "bleaching" associated with global warming, possibly because of steep drop-offs nearby.

The findings, presented at a conservation conference in the Malagasy capital, could help policy makers decide which areas to protect from illegal fishing, mining or pollution.

The survey was unveiled the day after a global study showed that less than 2 percent of the world's tropical coral reefs are properly protected.

"The expedition found healthy coral reefs that have avoided bleaching attributed to climate change found in other Indian Ocean reefs. The researchers believe cool water currents from adjacent deep ocean areas offset the warming effects of climate change," Conservation International (CI), which organised the survey, said in a statement.

Scientists say global warming linked to greenhouse gas emissions is taking a toll on coral reefs off east Africa. The reefs will likely be killed off in a few decades if sea surface temperatures continue to rise.

Italy: Greenpeace rounds up 'wall of death' fishing nets in the Mediterranean Sea

Dominican, 23 June 2006

Greenpeace activists aboard the Rainbow Warrior early this morning confronted Italian fishing pirates in the Mediterranean sea, some 65 kilometers south of the Italian island of Ponza, confiscating a section of the 8 kilometer long and 12 meter deep driftnet from the Italian vessel, which was being illegally used to catch a dwindling stock of swordfish.

A sea turtle caught up in the nets wascut loose by the activists and released back into the sea.

The fishing pirates were using a fishing practice that has long been banned by the United Nations and the European Union because it also traps and kills thousands of whales, dolphins and turtles each year in the Mediterranean.

Every night at this time of year these fishing pirates have cast enough driftnets to span the length of the Mediterranean and back again.

The Austrailian, 23 June 2006

SPAIN seized 3.5 tonnes of cocaine from a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean, one of its biggest drug seizures this year, police said

Three Spaniards and one Colombian were arrested in the dawn swoop on the British registered ship, Pieterje, 800km from the southern port city of Cadiz.

Police arrested a second Colombian in Madrid. On board, police found 100 sacks of cocaine. The haul would be worth around €140 million ($177 million) on the streets of Madrid.

US drug enforcement officials say Europe is becoming an increasingly attractive market for Colombian drug cartels.

Spanish police seized a record 50 tonnes of the drug last year, although the country, and in particular the wild Galician coast, has long been a major entry-point for drug shipments from South America.

In the international arena, China poses a challenge to the United States from a diplomatic, economic, and military standpoint. Beijing has adopted a strategy that focuses on the accumulation of strategic resources and the development of a productive capacity that attracts vast amounts of foreign capital, modernizes its industry, leaps China's technological base forward, and strengthens its military. China's diplomacy, especially around Asia, but also in Africa, Latin America, and Europe, has been a counterweight to American influence. Being a member of the Permanent Five of the United Nations Security Council gives China's economic and diplomatic efforts extra leverage.

For corporations, doing business in China means navigating the challenges posed by a climate of cronyism, nepotism, political patronage, counterfeiting, organized crime, the effect of a dominant, authoritarian political party with its own internal rules of discipline, and a legal system that depends on who you know rather than the rule of law. Sometimes, due diligence means figuring out which Communist Party official can deliver land and electrical power in return for an American college education for her son.

Singapore (AHN) - Eleven Asian countries have signed and approved an agreement to fight piracy throughout the region. It will take effect in September.

The Singapore ministry says it is "the first regional government-to-government agreement to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia."

Countries included in the move are: Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, South Korea, Vietnam, India and Sri Lanka. Brunei is in the final process of approval.

The AP reports that under the pact, the countries will gather information through a center based in Singapore.

Singapore will host the first meeting of the governing council toward at the end of this year.

AP adds that the looter-rich Strait of Malacca has been the scene of many armed robberies and ruthless attacks.

The U.S. fears the shipping lane, which is used by more than 50,000 ships a year carrying half the world's oil and a third of its commerce, could be used by terrorists linking up with pirates to blow up an oil tanker or use it as a floating bomb.

Collective air and sea patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have begun patrolling the area.

St Kitts arrest and court charges update: The ten activists and crew from the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise arrested yesterday following a peaceful protest held after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in St Kitts were released an hour ago and minor charges were handed down. Yesterdays peaceful protest was attempting to draw the world's attention to the estimated number of whales killed by Japanese whalers during the last whaling season in the so-called Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary.

Mike Townsley, Greenpeace International spokesperson and a recently released arrestee had this to say "The amount in fines we were given is nothing compared to the priceless diversity lost each year by whaling and continued ocean destruction. The irony is the St Kitts Government is open to 'vote-buying' as they received US$ 5,359,094 from Japan as aid for their marine industry days after last years IWC meeting. It is no longer acceptable for nations of the world to hide behind the IWC and pay lip service to this once a year event. "

The Star, 21 June 2006

SINGAPORE (AP) - A regional agreement to combat piracy in Asian waters - including the busy Strait of Malacca - will take effect in September, Singapore's foreign affairs ministry said Wednesday.

Singapore has signed and ratified the agreement with 10 countries, giving it enough signatories for the deal to take effect on Sept. 4, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said it was "the first regional government-to-government agreement to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia.''

The pact has been ratified by Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, South Korea, Vietnam, India and Sri Lanka, while Brunei is in the process of final approval, the statement said.

Under the pact, the countries would share information through a center to be based in Singapore.

The city-state will also host the first meeting of the governing council toward the end of this year, the statement said.

The pirate-infested Strait of Malacca - which lies between the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Malaysia and Singapore - has been the scene of many armed robberies and ruthless attacks.

Some nations fear the shipping lane, which is used by more than 50,000 ships a year carrying half the world's oil and a third of its commerce, could be used by terrorists linking up with pirates to blow up an oil tanker or use it as a floating bomb.

The Virginia-class sub USS Texas was turned over to the Navy following completion of sea trials off the coast of Virginia.

Texas is the second boat in the nuclear-powered Virginia class and the first sub added to the fleet since the namesake USS Virginia in 1996. Formal commissioning will take place Sept. 9 in Galveston, Texas.

"Today is a proud moment for the shipbuilders of Newport News," said Becky Stewart, vice president for the submarine program at Northrop Grumman. "The Texas is a testament to their hard work, dedication and professional commitment."

The Virginia-class is the first attack sub designed for the post-Cold War world. Its main attributes include a variety of weapons and a quiet design that is particularly useful in shallower coastal waters.

The Navy plans to acquire 30 Virginia-class subs in the coming years.

Sydney Morning Herald, 21 June 2006

Japan's big win at the whaling commission was handed to it by non-whaling nations, writes Andrew Darby from St Kitts and Nevis.

THE image flickered across a screen at the International Whaling Commission meeting almost too quickly to catch. Could it be…? Early in the post-lunch session, Japan was dashing through a Powerpoint show of its Antarctic whaling. As hundreds of delegates settled their stomachs, graphs and dot points blinked out of the projector.

Then there it was. A sleek hill of whale, silver belly and grey back, with little helmeted men clambering over it. They looked like Lilliputians with a marine Gulliver. It was a fin whale, harpooned by the Japanese.

The fin whale, the second-largest animal in existence after the blue whale, are built like trains - up to 27 metres long, and able to propel their 127-tonne bodies as fast as 25 knots. "They are a fast-moving, wide-ranging animal of the deeper seas," says Mark Simmons, the science director for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. "They have evolved to travel far, and go for a long time without food. And they are very hard to actually see."

The Daily Times, 21 June 2006

A 109-pound cobia, caught on June 10 by Joseph F. Berberich, is pending certification by the VSWFT as the new Virginia state record fish. The potential record-setting catch was made at York Spit on a live eel.

Chincoteague - The weather played havoc with the flounder fishermen over the weekend, as winds made it difficult to get a decent drift. Some keeper-sized flatfish were caught at Four Mouths and Queen Sound, despite the poor conditions. Recreational crabbers are reporting good catches of nice jimmy crabs. Over on the Assateague Island surf, persistent anglers are catching a few striped bass to 36 inches but most settle for a mixture of surf perch and sea mullet plus the occasional bluefish. Weather permitting, the inshore wrecks are producing a mixture of black sea bass and tautog.

ABC News, 21 June 2006

University of Maine Scientists Catch Nearly a Dozen Endangered Shortnose Sturgeon

University of Maine scientists have caught nearly a dozen endangered shortnose sturgeon in the Penobscot River in the past week, representing the first confirmed sightings of the fish in the river since 1978.

Eleven fish were caught in a gill net and released in waters off Winterport downriver from Bangor. Five of the 11 fish were implanted with transmitters to allow researchers to track their movements in the river.

Michael Kinnison, a University of Maine biological sciences professor, said the discovery suggests that the river may be on the rebound after suffering from loss of fishing habitat and poor water quality conditions over the past century.

Realclimate, 20 June 2006

Filed under:

• Climate Science
• Arctic and Antarctic
• Oceans

Firstly, where is this new data from? The ERS-2 satellite has a 'radar altimeter' similar to that flown on the TOPEX/ POSEIDON (and now JASON) satellites and it works by beaming down a radar pulse and seeing how long it takes to come back. These techniques are remarkably accurate (down to a few cm's and can give accuracy in trends to a few tenths of mm per year averaged over large areas). However the Arctic and Antarctic present special problems due to the poorer coverage near the pole (nothing above 82ºN for instance) and, of course, the presence of sea ice. The 'sea level' being talked about is that of the water in between the ice floes, and so the data must be very carefully sorted to yield only the open water values (i.e. where there is no floating ice). This clearly removes the majority of the data and must make any Arctic-wide estimates much more uncertain than the global numbers outside of the polar regions). There is also the possibilty that the analysis has still not removed all sources of contamination in the trend - there may be a seasonal bias (since open water has increased more in summer than winter) or the thinning of the ice cover means that any residual ice contamination could make it look incorrectly like 'sea' levels were falling. These issues will obviously be considered in greater depth in any actual publication.

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Today, NOAA released a report on the status of U.S. marine fisheries for 2005. The government report shows both progress in rebuilding overfished species and response of fisheries managers to slow fishing rates for species that were found in 2005 to have above-target harvests. Each year, NOAA announces the state of U.S. fisheries to inform Congress and the American public of the agency's progress in restoring fish stocks to sustainable population levels. The annual report tracks both population levels and harvest rates for species caught in federal marine waters, between three and 200 miles off U.S. coasts.

Daily Yomiuri, 20 June 2006

Akihiro Ishihara / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

The Japan Coast Guard will soon request that Jakarta cooperate in the investigation of an attack on a Japanese shipping company's Panama-registered cargo vessel by pirates in March off Indonesia.

It will be the first time that the JCG has exercised investigative right on a crime committed outside the country. The investigative right was stipulated anew in the revised Penal Code in 2003.

According to the JCG, on March 21, six men armed with swords attacked the 79,855-ton cargo vessel Martha Verity as it was cruising the Gerasa Straits in Indonesian territorial waters.

They tied up four crew members, including the Japanese captain, with rope, and stole about 4,000 dollars worth of currencies before fleeing. The swords reportedly were of a kind that are often used in Indonesia.

Acting swiftly, the JCG began questioning the captain and other crew members on March 31, the day after the Martha Verity arrived in Oita Port in Oita Prefecture.

Estremar SA, an Argentine company formerly known as ASC South America SA, last week pleaded guilty to violating federal anti-fish and wildlife trafficking law by importing and attempting to sell Patagonian toothfish, often marketed by the trade name Chilean seabass, without the documentation required to show it was legally harvested.

Specifically, Estremar admitted that in March 2002, it knowingly imported into the United States and attempted to sell over 30,000 pounds of Patagonian toothfish.

The company admitted that it reasonably should have known that the toothfish had been harvested and transported in violation of federal law because the amount imported was in excess of the amount it could legally import with the documentation accompanying the shipment.

After accepting the plea US Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings immediately sentenced Estremar to the terms of its plea agreement with the United States.

Roanoke Times, 20 June 2006

President Bush's new monument boosts his environmental record but doesn't repair it.

President Bush has demonstrated little interest in the great outdoors except where his friends want to exploit the public's precious natural resources. At least he had not until last week, when he designated a massive national monument in the Pacific Ocean.

The 3 million acres of coral and ocean around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is a worthy addition to the nation's protected lands, but whether the decision marks a newly kindled presidential passion for pristine wilderness remains to be seen.

Bush's order preserves a stunning gift for the future. The monument will protect about 7,000 species that live in its waters, prohibiting nearly all fishing there.

Americans will not measure its value in terms of visitors per year. It will be a locus of biodiversity seen by few. Its worth will lie in the knowledge that unspoiled places exist and that the nation preserves them.

Carol Williams

The International Whaling Commission narrowly voted that a 20-year ban on commercial whale hunting no longer was necessary because marine mammals have recovered from near extinction.

The 33-32 vote at Frigate Bay, St Kitts and Nevis, gave Japan a symbolic victory in its campaign to resume whaling and signaled a power shift within the commission but did not jeopardize the ban, which can be overturned only by a 75 percent vote from among the 70 member nations. Environmentalists and other observers called such a scenario unlikely.

The so-called St Kitts and Nevis Declaration also expressed the deeply divided group's "commitment to normalizing the functions of the IWC" - a reference to Japan's desire to return to the IWC's original role as a whalers' club with only modest responsibility to manage whale populations.

The vote demonstrated that Japan and its pro-whaling allies Norway and Iceland have finally acquired control of the IWC by enticing small Caribbean, Pacific and African countries - some of them landlocked and most of them with no interest in whaling - with lavish aid and assistance in developing fisheries.

Chronical Herald, 20 June 2006

Frigates will soon get mid-life refits, says top sailorBy CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter

Canada can expect less out of its navy in the near future, according to the country's top sailor.

The lowered expectations come courtesy of the $1.7-billion mid-life refit of the navy's Halifax-class frigates. The bulk of it is expected to take place between 2009 and 2017.

"There will be a decline in capability early in the next decade as we begin the transformation," Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson, chief of Maritime staff, told about 150 people Friday at a maritime security conference in Halifax.

"It's a necessary step."

The first of the 12 frigates, HMCS Halifax, was commissioned in 1992 and the last, HMCS Ottawa, in 1996.

The "modernization" project has to go ahead so the ships can "remain the workhorse of the Canadian fleet," Vice-Admiral Robertson said.

Santa Cruz Sentinel, 20 June 2006

A 14-foot Pacific sleeper shark, estimated at 1,500 pounds, washed ashore at New Brighton State Beach on Monday, only the second of its kind to reach local shores in more than a decade.

Researchers hoped the dead shark could reveal more about this elusive and little-understood species. But the carcass, which had been rotting at sea for days, provided few insights.

"This is a very valuable specimen, unfortunately we weren't able to get to it when it was in a pristine condition," said Sean Van Sommeran, executive director of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz.

Rangers spotted the carcass in the surf as many as six days ago. Rangers and researchers were able to maneuver the shark to shore Monday, said Sommeran. He and other volunteers performed a necropsy at noon before the tide came in.

Sydney Morning Herald, 19 June 2006

Beautiful corals dotted throughout the Great Barrier Reef could be killed off by seaweed and algae within decades, an expert has warned.

Associate Professor John Pandolfi, of the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS), said damaged reefs in the Caribbean were a "warning bell" for the Australian natural wonder.

Research by the Brisbane-based professor and the University of Queensland shows the coral reefs off Barbados in the Caribbean have changed dramatically - suffering more damage in the past 30 years than at any other time over the past 220,000 years because of human activity.

World Peace Herald, June 19 2006

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Diplomatic broadsides explode regularly over these emerald waters sprinkled with myriad islands. Political initiatives follow periods of tension, only to return to the perpetual stalemate in relations between Greece and Turkey.

The issue is the Aegean Sea, which the poet Homer described as "calm as a slumbering babe" -- today a magnet for tourism, a series of pastel-colored vistas illustrating perhaps the closest image to paradise.

But for Greece and Turkey, uneasy partners and rivals in the Aegean, paradise is full of traps. The breathtaking views are marred by disputes over the continental shelf, the width of territorial waters, control of the sea and air space -- in short, possession of more than a thousand islands between the Greek and Turkish mainlands.

The Hindu, 19 June 2006

CHENNAI: A programme on bioresources was conducted for students at Shri M.V. Arunachalam Technology Resource Centre, Vadakkambadi, near Chennai.

The valedictory function of the 30-day vacation training programme was celebrated on June 10. K. Venkataraman, member secretary, National Biodiversity Authority, spoke on the importance of preserving the ecosystem. He released two books, Technology Manual and Resource Manual, which were distributed to the students.

Mr. Venkataraman said that diversity was much greater in the sea than on land or freshwater in the higher taxonomic levels.

"The marine ecosystem is dominated by different plants and animals, thus forming a variety of ecosystem types, including highly productive salt marsh and mangrove ecosystems, sea grass, reefs dominated by marine algae and invertebrates, sponges, bryozoan beds, and shelly mud habitats," he said.

Gulf News, 19 June 2006

Abu Dhabi: President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in his capacity as the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, has issued an Emiri Decree declaring a group of islands off the Western Region as a Marine Protected Area.

The group of islands consist of Upper Al Yasat, Lower Al Yasat, Esam and Karsha, covering a total area of 482sq km declared a no-take zone a Marine Protected Area (MPA) where catching or removal of organisms are prohibited.

The decree also stated that the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) would be the managing authority for the MPA, with the responsibility of overseeing and implementing laws and regulations within the Marine Protected Area.

Bankok Post 19 June 2006

Ballast water discharged from cargo vessels is a cause for alarm as it could carry biological threats from one body of water to another, the Marine Department says. Preecha Phetwong, the deputy director-general, expressed concern at a recent seminar.
He said water is often taken into the hull to help stabilise the ship and pumped out at the end of the journey.

Marine life could be taken in along with the water and later be dumped into a new environment, where it could prove harmful to indigenous species and the eco-system.
Sub-Lt Preecha urged state and private agencies to urgently consider the problem. His department would also push for Thailand to become a signatory to the convention on ballast water management.

The convention is aimed at reducing the amount of ballast water to stave off any ramifications to the marine eco-system, the economy and human health.

BBC, 19 June 2006

In quite a few Western households, these are the whale images we are most familiar with; here, it is unthinkable that in the cold Antarctic Ocean it is in any way acceptable for the metal boats of Japan to skewer these creatures to death.

So if the rich West cares so much, how did it allow the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to reach a position where, for the first time in 20 years, it has endorsed the idea of commercial whaling?

Peoples Daily, 18 June 2006

The French Meteo is providing necessary equipment for the three tsunami warning centers to be based in Dar es Salaam, Mombassa and Tamatave respectively.

Source: Xinhua

Environmental News Service, 18 June 2006

FRIGATE BAY, St. Kitts, June 18, 2006 (ENS) - The pro-conservation coalition has won all the major votes at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual meeting here, defeating pro-whaling efforts by Japan and its allies to increase whaling. But the votes were so close in the 70 member commission that neither side can claim permanent victory.

In the first vote, Japan proposed that the agenda be amended so that there could be no discussion in the IWC with regards to small cetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises. The proposal failed, with 30 votes for, 32 votes against, and one abstention.

Japan's perennial proposal that all votes of the IWC should be taken by secret ballots also failed, with 30 for, 33 against, and one abstention.

On the third vote, Japan proposed that the IWC allow their small coastal communities to kill minke whales. The proposal failed with 30 for, 31 against, and four abstentions. As an amendment to the IWC Schedule, Japan needed a vote of 75 percent of the IWC members to prevail.

The four countries that abstained from the vote - China, Kirbati, South Korea, and the Solomon Islands - have voted in favor of Japan's positions in the past.

Washington post 18 June 2006

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- A team of scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks have received more than $1 million in federal grant money to study how sea ice affects the movement of water in the Arctic Ocean.

The study, to start next summer, will focus on how storm systems stir up ice on the upper ocean, drawing water from the warmer middle layers of the Arctic Ocean to the surface.

Taipei Times 17 June 2006

Our planet's climate is changing and some fear disaster. But we are still in control of our fate, at least for now

Strange days have reached Ny-Alesund, Europe's most northerly research station. Perched at the very edge of the continent, in Svalbard, Norway, a mere 1,000km from the North Pole, the center's international scientists have been experiencing weather that is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

The archipelago was balmy and calm at the end of April, when it should should still have been gripped by ice and screaming winds. In May, Vigdis Tverberg of the Norwegian Polar Institute, reported that waters in the Kongsfjorden -- the long strip of water that pokes eastwards into mainland Svalbard at Ny-Alesund -- were now 2oC warmer than they used to be a few years ago.

Urgent action needed to conserve deep seas and open oceans: joint UN report

UN News Centre, 16 June 2006

Swift and wide ranging actions are needed to conserve the world's entire marine environment amid fears that humankind's exploitation of the deep seas and open oceans is rapidly passing the point of no return, according to a United Nations-backed report issued today that calls for urgent measures to conserve areas where more than 90 per cent of the planet's living biomass lives.

The new study, 'Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas', which was issued jointly by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), argues that the many lessons learnt on conserving coastal waters should be adapted and applied right across the marine world, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.