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topic: Marine Protected Areas
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Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation
- The 9th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) took place in Athens from April 15-17.
- Government, NGO and philanthropic delegates made 469 new commitments worth more than $11.3 billion to help protect the oceans, which was lower than in previous years.
- While some conference hosts and attendees celebrated the many successes of the OOC, there was also a shared concern that decision-makers aren’t moving fast enough to secure a sustainable future for the global ocean.
It will take 880 years to achieve UN ocean conservation goals, at this rate (commentary)
- Indigenous conservationist Angelo Villagomez will speak at the Our Ocean conference, one of the largest and highest profile conferences of its kind, this week in Athens, Greece.
- He plans to say that ocean conservation has lost momentum toward protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030 and that a lot more needs to be done to address the human dimensions of conservation, including guaranteeing access rights, equity, and justice.
- “At this rate, raising the area of global ocean protection from 8% to 30% will take an additional 880 years,” he argues in a new op-ed.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Rewilding program ships eggs around the world to restore Raja Ampat zebra sharks
- A rewilding project aimed at saving endangered zebra sharks (Stegostoma tigrinum is sending eggs from aquarium sharks more than 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) away to nurseries in Raja Ampat.
- After hatching, the young sharks are kept in tanks until they are strong enough to release into the wild.
- Researchers hope to release 500 zebra sharks into the wild within 10 years in an effort to support a large, genetically diverse breeding population.
- A survey estimated the zebra shark had a population of 20 spread throughout the Raja Ampat archipelago, making the animal functionally extinct in the region.
Putting a value on Indonesia’s marine resources: Interview with Annisya Rosdiana & Heidi Retnoningtyas
- A group of experts led by Annisya Rosdiana from the Fisheries Resource Center of Indonesia (FRCI) is designing Indonesia’s ocean account to determine the exact abundance of the country’s maritime and fisheries resources.
- This initiative, begun in 2021, is part of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries’ efforts to improve sustainable marine management.
- Indonesia’s ocean account is also part of the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP), which aims to establish globally accepted ocean accounting methods.
- The initiative faces challenges due to data deficiencies, lack of coordination among government agencies, and weak enforcement of fisheries policies on the ground.
Indonesia unveils plan to launch a satellite network for maritime monitoring
- Indonesia plans to launch a satellite constellation starting in July to monitor its marine and fisheries resources more effectively.
- This constellation of 20 nanosatellites aims to actively manage conservation efforts and ensure economic benefits from marine resources.
- The satellites will feature radio frequency, imaging and vessel-tracking equipment, allowing officials “to know every condition in Indonesia from one [data] center.”
- Challenges such as budget cuts and low compliance among fishing companies underscore the need for technological solutions to protect Indonesia’s vast marine areas.
Should all marine reserves ban fishing? Not necessarily, new study shows
- A new study examined the performances of two types of marine protected areas: no-take MPAs, where all fishing activity is banned, and multiple-use MPAs, which allow certain forms of fishing.
- It found that no-take MPAs increased fish biomass by 58.2%, and multiple-use MPAs increased by 12.6% compared to zones without any form of protection; the study also found that both types of MPAs were more than 97% likely to improve fish populations.
- The authors suggest that multiple-use MPAs can provide “a viable and potentially equitable pathway to advance local and global conservation” when adequately designed and managed.
- However, an expert not involved in the study suggests that MPAs with full protection are more urgently needed to protect marine ecosystems like coral reefs.
Can ecotourism protect Raja Ampat, the ‘Crown Jewel’ of New Guinea?
- The world’s most biodiverse marine environment, Raja Ampat in Indonesia, is often seen as a conservation success story.
- With more than 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles) of marine protected areas, the archipelago is famous for its government-supported conservation efforts, ecotourism, sapphire-blue waters, and stunning geography.
- On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, host Mike DiGirolamo travels to several islands in the area to speak with local communities about the benefits and challenges of ecotourism and to catch a glimpse of some amazing endemic species.
New environmental rules for Chile’s protected areas rile the salmon industry
- A law that came into force in Chile last year has upset the salmon industry for imposing new requirements for salmon farms located in protected areas.
- The industry says the new rules threaten jobs and cause uncertainty in an industry that contributes 2% of Chile’s GDP.
- The salmon industry currently has 71 applications for concessions within protected areas, most of which wouldn’t meet the conditions laid out in the new rules.
- Conservation experts say the salmon industry’s reaction to this attempt at regulation is “unfortunate,” especially given its history of environmental harm.
EU parliament expresses disapproval of Norway’s deep-sea mining plans
- On Feb. 7, members of the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution that raises concerns about Norway’s intentions to begin deep-sea mining activities.
- Although the resolution doesn’t hold any legal power, experts say it sends a strong signal to Norway that it doesn’t have the European support it may be relying on.
- Norway’s foreign ministry said that it has taken note of the resolution, adding that, like its European partners, it is committed to “sustainable ocean management.”
- In January, Norway voted to allow deep-sea mining exploration to commence in its waters.
Cambodia sea turtle nests spark hope amid coastal development & species decline
- Conservationists in Cambodia have found nine sea turtle nests on a remote island off the country’s southwest coast, sparking hopes for the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas).
- It’s the first time sea turtle nests have been spotted in the country in a decade of species decline.
- Two nests have been excavated to assess hatching success; conservationists estimate the nests could hold as many as 1,000 eggs.
- Globally, sea turtle populations are declining, largely due to hunting for food and the animals’ shells, used in jewelry; other threats to sea turtles include tourism development, pollution and climate change.
Palau is the first nation to ratify treaty to protect high seas
- Palau has become the first nation to ratify the high seas treaty, which seeks to protect and manage ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction.
- At least two other nations, Chile and the Maldives, appear to be on the cusp of ratifying the treaty.
- A total of 60 nations must ratify the treaty for it to take effect.
First ever U.S. Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area declared in California
- The Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Resighini Rancheria, and Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community designated the first ever Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area (IMSA) in the U.S. along the northern California coast.
- The tribes plan to steward nearly 700 mi2 (1,800 km2) of their ancestral ocean and coastal territories from the California-Oregon border to Little River near the town of Trinidad, California.
- As sovereign nations, the tribes say they’re not seeking state or federal agencies’ permission to assert tribally led stewardship rights and responsibilities; rather, they want to establish cooperative relationships recognizing their inherent Indigenous governance authority.
- The tribes aim to restore traditional ecological knowledge and management practices that sustained the area’s natural abundance before colonial disruption.
Kenyan villagers show how to harvest more octopus by fishing less
- Residents of Munje, a fishing village south of the Kenyan port of Mombasa, have established an octopus closure to ensure sustainable fishing.
- Octopus catches in the reefs just offshore had been declining as larger numbers of fishers, often using damaging techniques, hunted this profitable species.
- Previous attempts to regulate the octopus fishery had failed, but the village’s beach management unit enlisted support from an NGO to replicate successful strategies from elsewhere.
- Clearer communication and patient consensus-building have secured buy-in from the community, and the village is anticipating a second successful harvest period in February.
2023’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from six international research and conservation institutions share their list of the top ocean news stories from 2023.
- Hopeful developments this past year include a monumental global treaty to protect biodiversity on the high seas and the regulation of international trade in 97 species of sharks and rays under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- At the same time, 2023 was the hottest year on record, with widespread bleaching of corals in the Caribbean and Great Barrier Reef, and many more hot years forecast as humanity’s emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming continue.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Vast new MPAs are PNG’s first to be co-managed by Indigenous communities
- On Nov. 12, the government of Papua New Guinea declared two large new marine protected areas totaling more than 16,000 square kilometers (6,200 square miles) that reportedly triple the country’s marine area under protection.
- The announcement capped a six-year effort led by U.S.-based NGO Wildlife Conservation Society to consult with local communities about how to set up the MPAs to curtail the harvest of threatened species and restore the health of fisheries that people have depended on for generations.
- The NGO called the announcement “one of the first and most ambitious community-led MPA wins” since countries agreed last year to protect 30% of land and sea area by 2030 under the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity.
- However, some observers note the potential problems that could arise from foreign-led conservation in an area experiencing poverty, conflict, and minimal government support, and there is widespread agreement that the MPAs’ success will depend on securing financing for enforcement.
Philippines oil spill may reverberate long after cleanup declared complete
- On March 1, the MT Princess Empress oil tanker sank in the Philippines, carrying 900,000 liters (237,754 gallons) of industrial fuel oil. A huge oil slick polluted local waters and prompted authorities to impose a ban on fishing that sent local communities into a tailspin.
- The wreck occurred in the Verde Island Passage, between the Philippines’ main islands of Luzon and Mindoro, an area with the highest concentration of marine biodiversity in the world.
- The spill cleanup activities are now finished, and life is returning to normal in many places. However, experts say the effects of the oil spill on the ecosystem could linger over the long term.
- The spill has reinvigorated calls for the Philippine Legislature to pass a law declaring the entire Verde Island Passage a marine protected area.
Dominica set to open world’s first reserve centered around sperm whales
- The tiny island nation of Dominica has announced that it will create a 788-square-kilometer (304-square-mile) reserve to protect endangered sperm whales.
- Most of the sperm whales that live off the coast of Dominica are part of the Eastern Caribbean Clan, which currently has a population of fewer than 300 individuals.
- Sperm whales in this region are threatened by fishing gear entanglement, pollution, boat strikes, and even tourism.
- The new reserve aims to protect whales by restricting activities such as fishing, vessel traffic and tourism, while not entirely banning them.
Not MPAs but OECMs: Can a new designation help conserve the ocean?
- To meet the landmark commitment struck last year to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, the world’s nations will have to designate many new and large marine protected areas. But there’s also a different, less familiar option for meeting that target: “other effective area-based conservation measures,” or OECMs, areas that are not necessarily designed to protect biodiversity — they just happen to do so.
- Countries are now working to identify areas that meet the criteria and register them as OECMs, including in Africa where a recent webinar highlighted the promises and pitfalls of this relatively new conservation designation.
- Conservationists say OECMs could bring many positives, including the development, recognition or financing of de facto conservation areas led by local communities or Indigenous peoples.
- However, they also warn of the dangers of “bluewashing” or creating so-called paper OECMs that fail to deliver real conservation benefits in the rush to meet the 2030 deadline.
Amid record melting, countries fail again to protect Antarctic waters
- The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the intergovernmental body charged with protecting marine life and managing fisheries in the Southern Ocean, met from Oct. 16-27 in Hobart, Australia, with 26 member countries and the European Union participating.
- For the seventh year in a row, the CCAMLR declined to establish new marine protected areas (MPAs) around Antarctica, despite having committed to creating “a representative network of MPAs” in 2009.
- Scientists, conservationists and some governments have been pushing for greater protections, concerned that the melting ice in Antarctica has reached alarming levels, jeopardizing some key populations of penguins, krill, whales, seals and other marine animals.
- The stalemate came even as a new threat to wildlife emerged in the region: the discovery last week that a virulent form of avian flu had reached Antarctic bird colonies.
Can blue bonds boost investment in ocean conservation? (commentary)
- Although they’re new vs. green bonds, the blue bond market is poised to take off as governments, companies, and investors begin to realize the importance of the blue economy and the relationship between climate change and the oceans.
- The Republic of Seychelles issued the first blue bond in 2018, with funds dedicated to expanding marine protected areas and improving fisheries governance. To date, only 25 other blue bonds have been issued.
- “The future of the blue bond market hinges on aligning financial incentives with environmental objectives, fostering innovation, and building a robust infrastructure that inspires trust and commitment from a diverse set of stakeholders,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
New Caledonia expands strictly protected coverage of its swath of the Pacific
- New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific, recently announced that it would highly protect 10% of its economic exclusive zone (EEZ).
- These new highly protected areas will be off-limits to industrial activities such as fishing, drilling and mining.
- A decade ago, New Caledonia designated its entire EEZ as a marine protected area, the Natural Park of the Coral Sea, but industrial activities were permitted across 97.6% of that area at the time.
With record ocean temps, is the Great Barrier Reef facing catastrophe?
- The inaugural international edition of the famed South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and conference took place from October 15-22, 2023 in Sydney and Mongabay spoke with some of the most interesting presenters there.
- On this edition of the Mongabay Newscast, multiple guests working in coral reef conservation, kelp reforestation and sustainable agriculture detail their projects and challenges they’re tackling.
- Like the catastrophic Great Barrier Reef bleaching event of 2016, if the current conditions line up just right, “we could lose a huge part of the reef by February,” says guest Dean Miller of the Forever Reef Project, which is now racing to add the final coral specimens to its “biobank.”
- Guests also include John “Charlie” Veron from the Forever Reef Project, Mic Black from Rainstick, and Adriana Vergés from the Kelp Forest Alliance.
South Africa’s penguins heading toward extinction; will no-fishing zones help?
- With just 10,000 breeding pairs left, the endangered African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) could be extinct in the wild by 2035 if the current rate of population decline continues.
- To protect the bird’s food supply and slow its population collapse, South Africa is throwing a protective no-fishing cordon around its main breeding colonies for a period of 10 years.
- But the devil is in the details, and conservationists say the cordons are too small to ensure the penguins get enough fish.
- Negotiations over whether to adjust the cordons are continuing in advance of an early 2024 deadline.
For Indonesia’s Kei islanders, a marine protected area makes perfect sense
- Fishing communities in Indonesia’s Kei Islands support the idea of a marine protected area to safeguard their main source of livelihood from unsustainable fishing and climate change impacts.
- That’s the finding of a new study by local researchers, who found that the majority of respondents said they were also willing to contribute a token annual payment for the upkeep of such an MPA.
- The researchers have proposed the MPA to the local government and council, and say they hope that if it’s accepted, it could serve as a template for other MPAs in the region.
- The waters around the Kei Islands are blessed with some of the richest fish stocks in Indonesia, but destructive fishing practices and the impacts of climate change are threatening the age-old fishing tradition here.
Indonesian village forms coast guard to protect octopus in Mentawai Islands
- An island community in Indonesia’s Mentawai archipelago has responded to dwindling octopus stocks with a seasonal fishing closure to enable recovery.
- Global demand for octopus is expected to outpace supply over the medium term, implying higher dockside prices for many artisanal fishers, if stocks can be managed sustainably.
- Maintenance of local fishing grounds also offers crucial nutritional benefits for remote coastal communities in the Mentawais, where rates of child stunting exceed Indonesia’s national average.
As climate change hits the Turkish coast, more marine reserves are needed (commentary)
- The Mediterranean Sea’s marine life is facing many threats, not least of which is the rapidly rising water temperatures.
- The sea is warming faster than the global average, and with that warmth comes unwelcome tropical visitors like lionfish, which prey on native marine biodiversity, spurring conservationists to focus fishing pressure on these voracious predators, but that’s not all they’re doing.
- “We believe the expansion of the marine protected area network is now an essential next step, and we are working with the Turkish government to make this happen,” one such conservationist writes in a new op-ed.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Seventy-plus nations sign historic high seas treaty, paving way for ratification
- As of Sept. 22, 76 nations and the European Union had signed the high seas treaty while gathered at the 78th U.N. General Assembly in New York.
- After signing the treaty, each nation must ratify it. Then, once 60 nations have ratified the treaty, it will come into force after 120 days.
- The high seas encompass two-thirds of the world’s oceans, but only 1% currently has protected status.
Skepticism as Cambodia expands protected areas by more than a million hectares
- Cambodia expanded the coverage of its protected areas by 1.06 million hectares (2.62 million acres) in July and August, a flurry of subdecrees shows.
- However, civil society groups have expressed skepticism about the lack of consultation involved in the process and the ability of authorities to police this much larger area, given the ineffective enforcement of existing protected areas.
- Much of the newly protected land appears to be corridors neighboring existing protected areas, where homes and farms are already established.
- This has raised concerns about a surge in conflicts over land and access to natural resources, particularly affecting Indigenous communities.
Study: Protecting marine life is a big benefit to local communities, too
- A new study of the Mesoamerican Reef in the Caribbean found that marine protected areas (MPAs) are not only beneficial for conservation but can also lift up the socioeconomic status of the local and Indigenous communities that live near them.
- Led by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the study used data from the Healthy Reef Initiative and USAID to analyze social and economic factors like income, food security and the rates of stunted growth connected to chronic malnutrition in children.
- One reason that MPAs benefit local and Indigenous communities is that no-take zones reach their carrying capacity as fish populations grow and recover, creating “spillover” into waters without fishing restrictions.
‘Mud, muck and death’: Cambodia’s plan to obstruct trawlers and revive local fishing
- On Cambodia’s coast, a local NGO is building concrete underwater structures in an effort to deter destructive illegal trawlers that kill most everything in the habitat.
- The structures also serve as artificial reefs that provide small nurseries for fish, sponges, grasses and other species.
- An ambitious government plan will erect the structures near 25 fishing communities along the country’s coastline in a bid to revive Cambodia’s nearshore marine fisheries, besieged by years of destructive illegal fishing and increasing development.
- If successful, the plan could bring an influx of funding to fishing communities hit hard by the destruction of marine habitats and loss of income that have forced many to leave in search of other work.
Airport proposal for Malaysian island doesn’t fly with conservationists
- A proposal to build an international airport on Tioman Island in Malaysia would destroy coral reefs in the heart of one of the country’s most biodiverse marine parks and have wide-ranging impacts on local communities and biodiversity.
- Plans for the airport were rejected by authorities in 2018 due to the scale of the environmental impacts it would cause, but government officials are again considering an environmental impact assessment for the development.
- Many of the island’s 3,000 residents have been left in the dark about the plans, which could wipe out livelihoods in two of the island’s seven villages.
- Critics of the project recommend authorities focus on upgrading an existing airstrip on the island to accept larger aircraft and in the meantime invest in sustainable, meaningful, nature-based tourism.
How to ‘flip’ a paper park: Success in the North Sea carries lessons
- A recent study found that 27% of surveyed marine protected areas (MPAs) were likely “paper parks” that fail to confer real ecological protection.
- There are different kinds of paper parks, including those with overly permissive rules and those where the rules are not followed or enforced.
- Discussions among conservationists have turned to how to “flip” paper parks to make them more effective. This can require changing park rules, often only through sustained pressure on governments, or improvements in MPA management, which can be costly.
- It’s a crucial time for figuring out how to make MPAs more effective; in December, nearly 200 countries signed a landmark agreement to conserve 30% of Earth’s land and sea by 2030, committing to more than triple MPA coverage within seven years.
Study finds locally managed marine areas in Fiji yield mixed results
- A study found that Fijian communities engaged in the country’s locally managed marine areas network, known as FLMMA, exhibited strengths in the mechanisms believed to advance conservation efforts, such as community participation in decision-making and financial support.
- However, it also found that FLMMA villages didn’t necessarily experience improved economic well-being, wealth, food security or even better ecological outcomes for marine resources.
- The authors say they hope the results will encourage practitioners to reassess community-based marine management projects to understand how they can be modified for success.
- Fiji has one of the most extensive LMMA networks in the world, collectively covering more than 10,000 square kilometers across the country’s territory.
Tangled in marine debris, skate egg cases dry up and die on Peruvian beaches
- A new study has found that shorttail fanskate populations may be being affected by plastic pollution.
- The skates mistake abandoned fishing nets and other debris for seaweed and attach their eggs to them, unaware that the debris could wash up on the shore where the eggs will dry out.
- Shorttail fanskates (Sympterygia brevicaudata) are considered near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Illegal fishing for fish meal widespread in Ecuador marine reserve
- Industrial fishing is prohibited in the coastal waters of the Cantagallo-Machalilla Marine Reserve in Ecuador’s Manabí province, which is home to numerous threatened species.
- Yet between November 2020 and March 2022, more than half of the government alerts for unauthorized fishing in Manabí province occurred within the marine reserve, according to a Mongabay analysis.
- Local residents say industrial ships enter the reserve’s waters to illegally harvest small pelagic fish like anchovies and sardines for processing into fish meal, despite a government order prohibiting this practice. They say the fish are dwindling, reducing food for people and wildlife alike.
- Created in 2015, the marine reserve’s management plan is still considered a draft, leaving the reserve without the management mechanisms needed to control the illegal fishing.
License to Log: Cambodian military facilitates logging on Koh Kong Krao and across the Cardamoms
- Cambodia’s largest island, Koh Kong Krao, off its southwest coast, is covered in largely untouched old-growth forest, but recent satellite imagery shows deforestation is spreading.
- Much of the forest cover loss is in areas tightly controlled by Marine Brigade 2, a navy unit stationed on the island that has historically been accused of facilitating the illicit timber trade.
- Residents of the island said the navy controls almost every aspect of life there, with provincial officials afraid to intervene or investigate the military’s actions on Koh Kong Krao.
- Cambodia’s military has long been a key factor in illegal logging across the country, and reporters found evidence of its continued involvement in logging across the Cardamoms.
New index identifies marine reserves that are protected in theory only
- Marine protected area (MPA) status doesn’t guarantee that conservation efforts are effective, according to new research that looks at the de facto situation of preserved areas around the world.
- A third of the MPAs analyzed appear likely to be protected only on paper, most of them in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Oceania, and the Indian Ocean.
- Researchers created a Paper Park Index (PPI) based on interviews with local stakeholders and their perceptions of fishing levels within MPAs, with the PPI showing the difference between the theoretical goals of the MPAs and the reality on the water.
- The new methodology could help provide more realistic information about the effectiveness of MPAs and support further conservation efforts, the study suggests.
Study: Indonesia’s extensive network of marine reserves are poorly managed
- Indonesia has put nearly a tenth of its waters under some form of protection, and intends to expand this to nearly a third by 2045.
- However, a study has found that none of Indonesia’s existing marine protected areas demonstrates effective and sustainable management, and that the government is off-pace to reach its 30% target by 2045.
- Key challenges in the effective management shortcomings, the study says, are lack of funding and poor financial planning for the MPAs.
- Indonesia is home to some of the most diverse marine life on the planet, which plays an important role in the domestic and global supply of seafood.
It’s time to embrace community-led conservation vs. the colonial kind (commentary)
- Conservation NGOs often enter countries like Fiji and advise local and Indigenous communities on how to protect their land and sea territories, or worse, acquire land and preclude the traditional residents from it.
- More NGOs are embracing community-led conservation, though, and we must embrace this, a new op-ed by a former Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji argues.
- “Fiji does not need new ideas on how to protect their ‘iqoliqoli’ (marine areas). Instead, Fiji has a lot to teach the rest of the world,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Ecuador to boost protection of Galápagos in biggest debt-for-nature deal ever
- Ecuador has launched a debt-for-nature deal that will wipe out some $1 billion in interest payments in exchange for boosting its protection of the waters around the Galápagos Islands.
- Much of the funding will focus on managing the newly established Hermandad Marine Reserve, the existing Galápagos Marine Reserve, and sustainable fishing and climate resilience efforts.
- The deal would also finance an endowment to generate ongoing funding for marine conservation in the Galápagos Islands.
- This is the world’s largest debt-for-nature deal to date.
Hawaiian communities restore Indigenous conservation, from mountains to sea
- In Hawai’i, an Indigenous stewardship and conservation system known as ahupua’a is slowly being revived on a mountain-to-sea scale in partnership with U.S. government agencies.
- Three Indigenous communities that have successfully reintroduced the ahupua’a system are seeing some conservation successes, such as a 310% increase in the biomass of surgeonfish and an increase in the Bluespine unicornfish (Naso unicornis) population.
- The inclusion of Indigenous Hawaiian conservation, social and spiritual values, like Aloha kekahi i kekahi, have been key to building these conservation areas and forming better working relations with the government.
Colombia: Scientists explore remote seamounts to protect hammerhead sharks
- Since 2000, the Malpelo and Other Marine Ecosystems Foundation has conducted 40 expeditions on and around Malpelo Island, a rocky outpost about 500 kilometers (310 miles) off Colombia’s Pacific coast.
- These expeditions have allowed the foundation to gather information about the area’s population of scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) and to discover this critically endangered species’ breeding areas.
- They’ve also influenced the expansion of the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary and UNESCO’s declaration of it as a World Heritage Site.
- Malpelo Foundation researchers hope their new expeditions to the area’s seamounts, which form a vital corridor for migratory species, will inform the ongoing fight against illegal fishing that threatens the hammerheads and other marine fauna.
Home to rare corals, a Chilean fjord declines in spite of protection
- The Comau Fjord, in the Chilean region of Patagonia, is one of the only sites in the world where the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus lives just 5 meters (16 feet) below the sea surface.
- The easy access to these animals, which elsewhere live at extreme depths, motivated a group of scientists to study them.
- Their research brought new information to light about the corals’ biology and also revealed that the Comau Fjord is at serious risk.
Norway proposes opening Germany-sized area of its continental shelf to deep-sea mining
- Norway has proposed opening up a Germany-sized part of the Norwegian Sea to deep-sea mining.
- The area holds considerable quantities of minerals needed for renewable energy technologies, such as magnesium, cobalt, copper, nickel and rare-earth metals.
- The Norwegian government and industries say they will take a precautionary approach to this deep-sea mining.
- However, critics say plans should be progressing more slowly to properly assess the marine environment and the possible impacts of mining, and the Norwegian government received numerous responses during a public consultation period arguing that the country should not mine its deep sea.
Maps of sharks’ journeys show marine protected areas alone won’t save them
- A team of scientists has monitored the movement of 47 silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) tagged with satellite trackers in the Galápagos Marine Reserve off Ecuador.
- They observed that the sharks travel longer distances than previously known and spend long periods of time in unprotected areas that have a high degree of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
- This leaves them vulnerable to fishing pressure, the researchers say. Silky sharks are the second most commonly sold species in the international shark fin trade.
- Although governments are expanding and connecting protected areas in the region, experts say better management of the oceans and of fishing is needed to save threatened shark species from extinction.
New MPA Tic-Toc Golfo Corcovado a safe haven for blue whales in Chile
- Chile declared some 100,000 hectares (247,100 acres) in the Gulf of Corcovado in Northern Patagonia a marine protected area, the highest category of protection.
- The area is an important feeding and breeding ground for endangered blue whales as well as home to numerous other marine mammal species.
- However, it represents only a small fraction of the blue whales’ range, so scientists say additional conservation efforts must continue.
As U.N. members clinch historic high seas biodiversity treaty, what’s in it?
- On March 4, U.N. member states reached a landmark agreement on a legally binding treaty aimed at protecting the international waters of Earth’s oceans.
- The deal, more than 15 years in the making, was finalized after talks overran their two-week schedule into a final, grueling 36-hour negotiation marathon.
- Delegates reached consensus on multiple thorny matters, including a framework for establishing and maintaining a network of marine protected areas on the high seas and mechanisms to share benefits from high seas resources fairly among nations.
- For the new high seas treaty to be implemented, delegates must officially adopt the treaty text at an unscheduled next meeting, and then a minimum of 60 states must ratify it, a process that could take months or years.
Panama ocean conference draws $20 billion, marine biodiversity commitments
- The eighth annual Our Ocean Conference took place in Panama March 2-3.
- Participants made 341 commitments worth nearly $20 billion, including funding for expanding and improving marine protected areas and biodiversity corridors.
- One key announcement came from Panama, which said it would protect more than 54% of its marine region.
Machine learning makes long-term, expansive reef monitoring possible
- Conservationists can now monitor climate impacts to expansive marine ecosystems over extended periods of time, a task that used to be impossible, using a tool developed by scientists in the U.S.
- The machine learning tool, called Delta Maps, provides a new way to assess which reefs might be best suited for survival, and which play a key role in delivering larvae to others, and therefore should be targeted for preservation efforts, according to the scientists.
- The scientists used the tool to examine the impacts of climate change on connectivity and biodiversity in the Pacific Ocean’s Coral Triangle, the planet’s most diverse and biologically complex marine ecosystem.
- The authors also noted that the Coral Triangle had more opportunities for rebuilding biodiversity, thanks to the region’s dynamic climate component, than anywhere else on the planet.
Fishing communities create marine refuges to protect Chile’s biodiversity
- In Chile’s Valparaíso region, artisanal fishers have created grassroots marine reserves to protect marine biodiversity.
- The areas are small, some of them just 15 hectares (37 acres) in size, but they provide a haven for marine creatures to grow and reproduce.
- This growth can contribute to regenerating coastal biodiversity, making the region more resilient to climate change, while the fisherfolk can benefit from a greater availability of resources in the long term.
Indonesia opens its ‘ocean account’ for sustainable marine management
- The Indonesian government is designing a new scheme to measure over time the benefits provided by the country’s marine and coastal ecosystems for sustainable ocean management.
- The ocean accounting system will become the standard indicator for the government in policymaking and zoning when it comes to the country’s fisheries, conservation areas, and marine essential ecosystems such as seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and coral reefs.
- Indonesia’s ocean account initiative is also part of an international collaboration under the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP), which aims to “develop globally recognized and standardized methods for ocean accounting by 2023.”
- Indonesia has partnered with another GOAP member, Norway, on long-term technical cooperation on ocean accounting.
More than half of reef sharks and rays threatened with extinction, study shows
- More than half of known species of coral reef sharks and rays are already threatened with extinction, mostly because of overfishing, according to new research.
- The researchers reported that population trends were declining for 94 coral reef shark and ray species; of the two groups, rays were more threatened than sharks.
- Reef sharks and rays are typically caught for human consumption, and to a lesser extent for use in apparel or accessories, in aquarium displays, as food for domestic animals, and in traditional medicine.
- The study calls for urgent urgent measures to improve regional fisheries and marine protected areas management.
More marine protected areas planned for Indonesia’s Maluku after 2022 spree
- The Maluku Islands in Indonesia will protect more swaths of their seas this year, following from the designation of five marine protected areas in 2022 alone.
- The new protected areas will cover the waters around the western island of Buru, where fishing activity will be limited to traditional fishers using sustainable gear.
- Indonesia currently has 284,000 square kilometers (110,000 square miles) of marine area under protection, roughly two-thirds of its target of protecting 10% of its waters.
- The Maluku Islands sit within the Pacific Coral Triangle, an area renowned for its richness of corals and reef fish.
Indonesian ‘island auction’ to go ahead despite concerns over permits
- Shares of a private company with the rights to develop tourism facilities within a marine reserve in Indonesia have reappeared for auction later this month despite the government’s plan to annul an agreement with the firm.
- The government plans to revoke developer PT LII’s 2015 memorandum of understanding with local authorities, including the rights to develop the Widi Islands for 35 years with a possible extension of another 20 years.
- The company’s plan has met mounting concerns in Indonesia, with experts saying it would be essentially selling the islands off to foreigners and cutting off local fishing communities from a key source of livelihood.
- The Widi Islands are also part of a marine reserve in the Pacific Coral Triangle, a region that’s home to the highest diversity of corals and reef fishes in the world.
2022’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2022.
- Hopeful developments this past year include the launch of negotiations on the world’s first legally binding international treaty to curb plastic pollution, a multilateral agreement to ban harmful fisheries subsidies and a massive expansion of global shark protections.
- At the same time, the climate crises in the ocean continued to worsen, with a number of record-breaking marine heat waves and an accelerated thinning of ice sheets that could severely exacerbate sea level rise, underscoring the need for urgent ocean-climate actions.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
California’s network of marine protected areas must be strengthened and expanded (commentary)
- During December 2022, California is holding its first 10-year review of its marine protected areas network, to be used to inform the network’s future.
- Previously, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out a goal to protect 30% of the state’s land, water, and sea space over the decade.
- “As state regulators take account of the progress it has made of protecting marine ecosystems and wildlife, California should expand and strengthen upon its MPA success stories to ensure 30% of its state waters are fully protected by 2030,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Strong marine protected areas credited with manta ray surge in Indonesia
- Manta ray populations are thriving in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago, a new population assessment shows, highlighting the importance of marine protected areas to the species’ conservation.
- The study showed that reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) populations saw up to 10.7% compound annual increase from 2009-2019 in the region, even as global ray and shark populations undergo a sweeping decline.
- The study authors attribute this to well-planned and -implemented conservation measures by Indonesian authorities, conservation groups and local communities.
- The finding chimes with the discovery earlier this year that manta ray populations are also flourishing in Komodo National Park, another tightly regulated protected area in Indonesia.
Island shopping: Cambodian officials buy up the Cardamoms’ coast
- A buying spree by Cambodia’s wealthy and politically connected elites has put the fate of a string of small islands in the balance, affecting the livelihoods of local fishers.
- Resort developments threaten the Koh S’dach archipelago’s seagrass and coral ecosystems, which harbor rare and threatened marine life.
- Local fishers have also found themselves locked out of their traditional fishing grounds by the developers, leading to a loss of earnings.
- This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow.
Indonesian authorities nip island auction in marine reserve in the bud
- Indonesian officials have sought to neuter an apparent bid to auction off private tourism enclaves to foreign investors in a marine reserve in the country’s east.
- Shares of Bali-based developer PT Leadership Islands Indonesia (LII) had been up for bidding via Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions in New York from Dec. 8-14, but the deputy environment minister said this had now been annulled.
- LII holds the rights to develop tourism facilities in the Widi Islands, but not to sell off individual islands to foreign investors, which is against Indonesian law.
- The Widi Islands are part of a marine reserve in the Pacific Coral Triangle, and while most of the islands are uninhabited, they hold high social, cultural and livelihood importance for local fishing communities.
Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?
- The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is expected to go extinct in the wild in just over a decade, largely due to a lack of sardines, their main food.
- A colony in South Africa’s busy Algoa Bay is suffering a population crash that researchers say coincides with the introduction of ship-to-ship refueling services that have made the bay one of the noisiest in the world.
- They say theirs is the first study showing a correlation between underwater noise pollution and a seabird collapse.
- Current studies are investigating whether the ship noise is interfering with the penguins’ foraging behavior and their ability to find fish.
After 14 years of advocacy, the DRC president finally signs new Indigenous peoples law (commentary)
- On Wednesday, the president of the DRC, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi, signed and promulgated the new law on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Indigenous Pygmy Peoples.
- For the country’s Indigenous pygmy people, this is the first time that they are legally recognized as a distinct people with rights and access to free, prior and informed consent before the government and industries can exploit their land.
- But not everything will change in the blink of an eye and implementation of the law will take time, says Patrick Saidi, one of the Indigenous coordinators that worked to get the protections enshrined into law.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Breeding success raises hopes for future of endangered African penguin
- Two African penguin chicks have hatched at a nature reserve in South Africa where conservationists have been working for years to entice the endangered birds to breed.
- The colony was abandoned more than 10 years ago after a caracal killed a number of penguins.
- The recent hatching comes at a time when survival prospects for Africa’s only resident penguin species look grim, due mainly to declining food stocks.
- But encouraging new colonies at sites close to abundant food sources could help to bring the species back from the brink.
Negotiations to conserve Antarctic Ocean end in stalemate on many issues
- The 41st annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the intergovernmental body charged with conserving marine life in the Southern Ocean and managing fisheries there, ended Nov. 4 with little progress made on several key issues.
- In 2009 CCAMLR committed to creating a network of marine protected areas to preserve Antarctic ecosystems. It established one that year and another in 2016, but since then China and Russia have repeatedly blocked the creation of additional protected areas, as well as other conservation-related measures.
- The commission also failed to reach the consensus required to enact new regulations for the krill and toothfish fisheries, or to protect a vast nesting area for icefish discovered earlier this year.
- CCAMLR members did agree to designate eight new vulnerable marine ecosystems, areas home to slow-growing organisms such as corals, sponges, brittle stars and feather stars that are now permanently protected from bottom fishing.
Small island, big ocean: Niue makes its entire EEZ a marine park
- In April, Niue, a small island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, designated its entire exclusive economic zone — an area about the size of Vietnam — as a multiple-use marine park called Niue Nukutuluea.
- Forty percent of the park is a no-take marine protected area; a smaller slice is managed by local villages. And about 56% of the park is a general-use zone where commercial fishing and other activities, including possibly deep-sea mining, could take place.
- The country has developed an unusual mechanism to fund the park, and is gathering support to confront the perennial challenge of monitoring and compliance in technologically advanced ways.
Why fish are disappearing from Amazonian waters
- From the coastline to freshwater streams, people living in Amazonia say industrial fishing, deforestation, hydroelectric dams and climate change have reduced fish populations.
- Industrial fishing is one of the main explanations for the low numbers. Fishermen report that large boats are trawling with nets up to 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) in length that do not allow fish to reach the shore.
- Other challenges local fishers are facing have to do with the effects of climate change on rivers and mangroves, including increased temperature and lower pH and oxygen levels in the water, which make it harder for species to survive.
- Hydroelectric dams are a threat to inland Amazonian fish species because they interrupt migratory flow, leading to genetically compromised populations; this phenomenon has been seen in the Xingu River, which, dammed by the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, is suffering from falling fish reproduction rates.
To protect the Southern Ocean, leaders must act now (commentary)
- This week in Australia, global leaders have the opportunity to protect Antarctica’s vast and biodiversity rich Southern Ocean at the annual Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting.
- Emperor penguins, orcas, crabeater seals, albatross, and krill are among the species that call this region home, but the latter is a key one that plays a huge role in the health of Antarctica, since it underpins the food web.
- The commercial krill fishery produces fishmeal for pets, people and aquaculture and has become concentrated in recent years, with most of the catch taken from small, nearshore areas where wildlife feed: “We need Southern Ocean MPAs and well-designed fishery measures to effectively conserve fish populations, habitats and wildlife,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
To boost fish catches, try banning fishing, new study shows
- A new study has found that the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawai‘i, the world’s largest contiguous marine protected area, increased the catch rates of yellowfin and bigeye tunas in nearby fisheries due to a “spillover effect.”
- Between 2016 and 2019, catches of yellowfin tuna increased 54% in waters near the MPA, and catch rates for bigeye tuna rose by 12%.
- Another study found that MPAs not only increase the catches for fisheries, but also yield other benefits, like the enhancement of carbon sequestration and biodiversity.
- However, both studies suggest that the best results come from fully protected MPAs that don’t allow fishing, and that underprotected MPAs yield “little to no social or ecological benefits.”
As Indonesia protects more marine areas, top priority is management: experts
- As Indonesia aims to protect more of its seas, scientists say in a new paper that effective management of these marine areas must be the government’s top priority in a world faced with global climate change and biodiversity crises.
- The researchers say that marine protected areas must protect the natural resources, provide long-term benefit to local people, and be equipped with a zoning system, monitoring, surveillance, adequate staff capacity, facilities, and self-financing.
- The Indonesian government has pledged to secure 10% of the country’s territorial waters towards biodiversity protection and sustainable use by the end of this decade, and triple the size by 2045.
- The move is part of the country’s contribution to the global “30 by 30” conservation goal, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s seas and lands by 2030.
Podcast: ‘Destructive & flawed’: Claire Nouvian on bottom trawling’s many impacts
- Goldman Environmental Prize winner Claire Nouvian joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the many impacts of bottom trawling and a historic policy shift by the European Commission to rein in the practice.
- This kind of fishing is known for damaging deep-water coral reef ecosystems and marine biodiversity, and for having a heavy carbon footprint.
- Nouvian discusses the successful activism of her organization that won an EU-wide ban on bottom trawling below 800 meters (875 yards) after seven years of grassroots organizing. She also discusses what individuals can do if they want to support more sustainable fishing practices.
Indonesia to update conservation efforts for aquarium favorite cardinalfish
- Indonesia’s fisheries ministry says it is working on a new conservation road map for Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), a popular species in the aquarium trade globally that is found only in the waters around the country’s Banggai Archipelago.
- The fish is caught in large numbers — an estimated 500,000 to 900,000 individuals annually — and is exported mainly to the United States and Europe.
- The updated conservation plan will evaluate the previous five-year plan for the cardinalfish, and use this to inform the national strategy for the next five years, the ministry said.
- The cardinalfish’s habitat, the Banggai Archipelago, is considered to be in the heart of the Pacific Coral Triangle, which is home to the highest diversity of corals and reef fishes anywhere on the planet.
Future reefs: A manifesto to save the world’s coral gardens (commentary)
- Coral reefs cover less than 3% of the ocean but contain a quarter of all marine life. Next to tropical rainforests, they are the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth.
- Fifty of the world’s leading scientists recently laid out a roadmap to save the world’s coral reefs.
- With urgent climate action and by following this roadmap, these oases of beauty may retain critical marine biodiversity and provide a lifeline for coastal communities into the next century and beyond, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
‘Mind-blowing’ marine heat waves put Mediterranean ecosystems at grave risk
- A recent study reveals the widespread effects of climate change-driven marine heat waves on the ecological communities of the Mediterranean Sea.
- Rises in sea surface temperatures as high as 5° Celsius (9° Fahrenheit) above normal have caused die-offs in 50 different taxonomic groups of animals from around the Mediterranean Basin.
- These far-reaching impacts of the warming sea could devastate the fisheries on which many of the Mediterranean region’s 400 million people rely.
- Researchers advocate bolstering and expanding marine protected areas. Although they can’t hold back the warmer waters that have proven deadly to the sea’s rich biodiversity, these sanctuaries can help ensure that these species don’t have to cope simultaneously with other pressures, such as overfishing or pollution.
Maldives shark-fishing ban tested by ebbing support from small-scale fishers
- A 2010 blanket ban on shark fishing in the Maldives doesn’t enjoy support from artisanal reef fishers, a new study suggests.
- Many fishers blamed sharks for stealing their catches, eating into their earnings, and damaging their fishing equipment — problems they perceive have worsened since the creation of a shark sanctuary.
- These negative perceptions could result in lower compliance with fishing restrictions and undermine efforts to revive shark populations in Maldivian waters.
- Pole-and-line skipjack tuna fishers reported the greatest support for the shark fishing ban because sharks corral tuna to the ocean surface, making them easier to catch.
Delegates come close, but fail again to clinch high seas protection treaty
- At the close of two weeks of negotiations on Aug. 26 in New York, delegates from around the world had failed to net consensus on a high-stakes, legally binding treaty to conserve biodiversity on the high seas.
- These areas beyond national jurisdictions comprise two-thirds of the global ocean and are a vast, resource-rich global commons. Yet there is no comprehensive, agreed-upon framework governing resource extraction or conservation there.
- Top sticking points included fair access to marine resources for all and how to establish marine protected areas on the high seas.
- The meeting was the fifth of four planned diplomatic sessions that began in 2017 following more than 10 years of discussion. It ended with a commitment to reconvene before the year is over.
Indonesia announces plan to protect 10% of its seas by 2030, and 30% by 2045
- Indonesia will expand its marine protected area coverage to 325,000 square kilometers (125,000 square miles) by the end of this decade, or 10% of its total territorial waters, the fisheries ministry says.
- From 2030 to 2045, the government plans to triple that coverage to 975,000 km2 (376,000 mi2).
- An oceans conservation activist has welcomed the plan, but says the government needs to be able to square it with a recently announced fisheries management policy that critics say threatens the sustainability of fish stocks.
- The activist also emphasized the need to ensure the quality of the protection rather than the quantity.
Climate change and overfishing threaten once ‘endless’ Antarctic krill
- Antarctic krill are one of the most abundant species in the world in terms of biomass, but scientists and conservationists are concerned about the future of the species due to overfishing, climate change impacts and other human activities.
- Krill fishing has increased year over year as demand rises for the tiny crustaceans, which are used as feed additives for global aquaculture and processed for krill oil.
- Experts have called on the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the group responsible for protecting krill, to update its rules to better protect krill; others are calling for a moratorium on krill fishing.
- Antarctic krill play a critical role in maintaining the health of our planet by storing carbon and providing food for numerous species.
‘We’ve got to help the oceans to help us’: Q&A with deep-sea explorer Dawn Wright
- On July 12, oceanographer and geographer Dawn Wright descended 10,919 meters (35,823 feet) below the surface of the ocean to the deepest known part of the planet, Challenger Deep, alongside deep-sea explorer Victor Vescovo.
- Wright was the first Black person to make the voyage to Challenger Deep, where she and Vescovo documented several findings, including the discovery of a beer bottle on the seabed.
- The goal of the expedition was to test out a side-scan sonar designed to go down to 11,000 m (nearly 36,100 ft) that can take detailed images of the seafloor, which was successfully achieved.
- Mongabay’s Elizabeth Claire Alberts spoke to Wright before and after her expedition to learn more about the voyage’s personal significance to Wright, the challenges in venturing this far down into the ocean, and the significance of understanding more about the deep-sea.
Where do the guitarfish go? Scientists and fishers team up to find out
- In late March and early April of this year, a team of researchers and local fishers caught, sampled and released more than 50 sharks and rays in the Bijagós Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau, including several threatened species.
- A first for conservation, researchers tagged members of a critically endangered ray species, the blackchin guitarfish (Glaucostegus cemiculus), with satellite transmitters.
- Team leader Guido Leurs says the research will provide crucial information for policymakers to better protect sharks and rays in Guinea-Bissau.
- Fisheries management within the archipelago, which spans 12,950 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) and 88 islands, is a challenge for the West African nation.
U.N. Ocean Conference ends with promises. Is a sea change coming?
- The second United Nations Oceans Conference took place from June 27 to July 1 in Lisbon, focusing on the protection of life under water, as dictated by U.N. Sustainable Development Goal No. 14.
- The conference was originally meant to have taken place in 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- While nations, NGOs and other entities made hundreds of conservation commitments, including pledges to expand marine protected areas, end destructive fishing practices, and fund conservation efforts, experts say there is still a lot of work to be done to protect our oceans.
- Coalitions of small-scale fishers and Indigenous peoples also voiced their concerns about being excluded from important conservation dialogues.
A year before deep-sea mining could begin, calls for a moratorium build
- At the U.N. Ocean Conference taking place this week in Lisbon, momentum has been building in support of a moratorium on deep-sea mining, an activity projected to have far-reaching consequences for marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and global fisheries.
- The Pacific island nation of Palau launched an alliance of countries that support a moratorium, which Fiji and Samoa subsequently joined.
- A global network of parliamentarians has also banded together to support a moratorium and to look for a legal way to enforce it.
- As things stand, deep-sea mining could begin a year from now, with the International Seabed Authority, the body tasked with regulating the activity, drawing up the rules that would allow mining to commence.
Ray care center: Indonesia’s Raja Ampat a key nursery for young reef mantas
- Scientists have published new evidence confirming that Wayag Lagoon in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago is a globally rare nursery for juvenile reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi).
- Visual observations from 2013 to 2021 show that juvenile reef manta rays are repeatedly encountered in the small, shallow and sheltered lagoon, without the presence of adult individuals; the young rays spend months at a time inside the lagoon, never venturing out.
- The findings have prompted marine authorities in Indonesia to start revising the management of the lagoon to safeguard the manta nursery zone, with regulations being drawn up to limit disturbances to the young rays.
- Both oceanic and reef manta rays are protected species under Indonesian law, which prohibits their catch and the trade of any of their body parts.
‘Tendrils of hope’ for the ocean: Q&A with conservationist Charles Clover
- The latest book by Charles Clover, “Rewilding the Sea,” published by Penguin Random House UK, tells stories of what can happen when governments, scientists, conservationists and fishers work together to protect and restore the ocean, generating hope for the future.
- While the term “rewilding” usually refers to restoration efforts that take place on land, Clover argues that the sea can also be rewilded through the reinstatement of ecosystems as well as by simply allowing nature to repair itself.
- He further argues that rewilding can be achieved through new approaches to fisheries management, the creation of marine protected areas, and the protection of parts of the ocean known to sequester carbon.
- While the book acknowledges that the oceans are facing a tremendous number of pressures due to human activities, Clover calls the destruction of ocean life the “world’s largest solvable problem.”
First Nation reclaims territory by declaring Indigenous protected area in Canada
- The Mamalilikulla First Nation has declared part of its traditional territory on British Columbia’s Central Coast that it lost to colonialism to be an Indigenous protected and conserved area (IPCA).
- The Nation views the declaration to be a step toward sovereignty and is seeking “co-governance” with Canadian federal and provincial governments; the latter typically talk of “co-management,” which would retain settler authority.
- Canada and British Columbia have their own policies for protecting nature, but some conservationists and Indigenous groups argue that Indigenous peoples are better at sustainable management. The area of the IPCA has been degraded by logging and fishing.
- The Mamalilikulla have a plan to restore the land and sea and are calling for a five-year moratorium on logging and immediate protection of a marine area called Hoeya Sill, home to rare corals and sponges.
Community participation trumps penalties in protecting seascapes, study suggests
- Giving Indigenous peoples and local communities a say in the design and management of marine protected areas boosts conservation outcomes, a new study indicates.
- The study focused on the governance of four MPAs in Indonesia’s Bird’s Head Seascape and found that fish biomass tended to be higher in areas where these communities are more involved in decision-making and had more local management rights.
For 20 years, Comoros had only 1 national park. It’s now creating 5 more
- Comoros, an archipelagic nation in the western Indian Ocean, is dramatically expanding its network of protected areas (PAs) from one to six, including three new marine protected areas (MPAs).
- The idea is to replicate the co-management approach at Mohéli National Park, the country’s first and currently only national park, created in 2001 as an MPA.
- However, Comoros’s experience with Mohéli provided no clear blueprint for supporting communities whose traditional rights are curtailed because of the protected areas, or for sustainably funding for such a vast PA network.
For reef mantas, Indonesia’s Komodo National Park is a ray of hope
- A new study has found that Komodo National Park in Indonesia has an aggregation of 1,085 reef manta rays, currently classified as a vulnerable species.
- Experts say that locations such as Komodo will play an important role in safeguarding the species from extinction.
- Manta rays are under pressure from fishing activity, including targeted fishing and bycatch.
- However, experts say the species is also impacted by tourism and the changing dynamics of the ocean.
For more fish and healthier coral in Bali, focus on communities and connectivity: Study
- A new review highlights improvements that can be made to the conservation of Bali’s coral reefs, which face multiple local stressors alongside warming waters and coral bleaching.
- While there are more coral-focused conservation initiatives in Bali than elsewhere in Indonesia, not all of them are successful, the authors say, leaving much room for improvement, particularly regarding design and management of protected areas.
- The authors recommend a more coordinated approach to marine protected area management to create networks that effectively safeguard mobile species, like turtles, sharks, rays and other fish.
- The review warns that despite the successes of local initiatives, climate change remains the biggest threat to coral reefs in Bali and around the world.
Scaling Palauan tradition to regional fisheries: Q&A with Noah Idechong
- After training as a traditional hunter and fisherman in his village in Palau as a boy, Noah Idechong has since become a “bit of a legend” in Pacific marine conservation.
- He has been a government official, an activist, a politician, a legislator, and the founder of a domestic conservation NGO. Currently, he’s the executive director for Micronesia and Polynesia at the international conservation NGO The Nature Conservancy.
- In all of these roles, Idechong has focused on one main thing: championing the traditional systems the communities of Palau employ to protect and conserve the archipelago’s rich marine biodiversity and domestic fisheries.
- Today, he’s applying that ethos at a regional scale as he helps build more sustainable regional tuna fisheries that benefit the Pacific island nations in whose waters the tuna swim, rather than foreign fishing enterprises.
Boats behaving badly: New report analyzes China’s own fisheries data
- China’s distant-water fishing fleet, which operates on the high seas and in other countries’ waters, is far bigger and catches far more seafood than those of other nations.
- As a result, and also because of numerous high-profile cases of illegal behavior, the Chinese fleet receives intense scrutiny from international NGOs and the media.
- A new report, based mainly on data China released since enacting transparency measures in 2017 as well as a database of global fisheries violations and crew interviews, identified hundreds of fisheries offenses committed by the fleet between 2015 and 2019, and details a range of human rights abuses and environmentally destructive fishing practices.
- However, some experts say that although the Chinese fleet is by far the biggest, vessel for vessel its behavior isn’t all that different from other fleets, and that all share responsibility to reform.
Oceans conference comes up with $16b in pledges to safeguard marine health
- The seventh Our Ocean Conference took place in the Pacific island nation of Palau on April 13 and 14.
- Representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society groups and philanthropic organizations made 410 commitments worth more than $16 billion toward improving the health, productivity and protection of the world’s oceans.
- Discussions focused around the importance of ocean-based climate solutions and the linkage between healthy oceans and healthy communities.
- The setting in a small island developing state lent the event a unique perspective, underscoring the crucial role and leadership of Indigenous peoples and local communities in tacking the climate change and ocean crises.
Sharing a marine reserve with fishers: Q&A with Belize Fisheries’ Adriel Castañeda
- In Belize, the coral atoll Glover’s Reef is an important conservation site, home to hundreds of species of marine life — and traditionally been a popular spot for local fishermen.
- The marine protected area has a multi-use zone that allows fishermen to work in the area while protecting biodiversity.
- Nevertheless, some shark populations have declined in recent years despite careful management by the Belize fisheries department and NGOs.
- Adriel Castañeda, an officer with the Belize Fisheries Department and coordinator for the ecosystem-based management unit, spoke with Mongabay about the challenges of preserving the reef while upholding the customs of local communities.
NGOs block gillnet fishing across 100,000 sq km of Great Barrier Reef
- In an effort to protect dugongs and other threatened species, WWF-Australia bought a commercial gillnet fishing license for a swath of ocean in the northern Great Barrier Reef, to establish a de-facto marine sanctuary spanning more than 100,000 km2 (38,600 mi2).
- Dugongs, turtles, dolphins and other marine animals are easily caught in gillnets, and experts say many fatalities go unreported.
- The newly protected region is an important feeding ground for dugongs, supporting a local population of about 7,000, experts say.
- WWF-Australia says it hopes the Australian and Queensland state governments will establish more permanent protections for dugongs on the Great Barrier Reef, and that Traditional Owners can use the area for sustainable fishing and tourism.
Oil spill contaminates wildlife, beaches and protected areas in Peru
- On Jan. 15, a refinery owned by Spanish oil company Repsol spilled nearly 12,000 barrels of oil into the sea off Lima, Peru, as it was pumping the oil from a tanker.
- Experts have questioned why the refinery of La Pampilla was operating that day, when there were unusually high waves caused by the Tonga volcano eruption and tsunami.
- Peru’s Environmental Evaluation and Enforcement Agency (OEFA) has fined Repsol for similar spills on at least three prior occasions, and this time the company could be hit with more than $37 million in fines.
- The spill has spread beyond the Lima coast and out toward islands that are part of a network of protected nature reserves, posing serious threats to marine life and to artisanal fishermen.
The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching — once again — and over a larger area
- The Great Barrier Reef is currently experiencing its sixth mass bleaching event, and the fourth event of this kind to happen in the past six years.
- Based on aerial surveys that were concluded this week, bleaching has affected all parts of the Great Barrier Reef, with the most severe bleaching occurring between Cooktown, Queensland, and the Whitsunday Islands.
- Sea surface temperatures around the Great Barrier Reef have been higher than normal, despite the region going through a La Niña climate pattern, which usually brings cooler, stormier weather.
- Climate change remains the biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs around the world, experts say.
Fourth round of U.N. talks fail to finalize a treaty to manage the high seas
- U.N. member states met this month in New York to hash out a treaty governing the sustainable management of the high seas, resource-rich international waters that span about two-thirds of the ocean.
- Hopes were high that after 10 years of discussion and three previous negotiating sessions, delegates to the meeting would finalize a legally binding treaty.
- Talks ended March 18 with no deal, amid a failure to reach consensus on several key points, including how to establish marine protected areas on the high seas.
- A movement to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 depends on the swift completion of a high seas treaty, and observers say a deal remains within reach by the end of the year.
‘Small-scale fishers have a Ph.D. in the ocean’: Q&A with Vatosoa Rakotondrazafy
- Traditional fishers along Madagascar’s coastline are grappling with falling fish stocks, cyclones, and competition from industrial trawlers, mostly owned by foreigners.
- In an attempt to better manage the country’s marine wealth and secure local fishers’ rights, communities banded together to form Mihari, a network of locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) that leans heavily on traditional ocean knowledge.
- As Mihari’s national coordinator for six years Vatosoa Rakotondrazafy supported a campaign to reserve fishing areas for small scale fishers and helped create a space for women to fully participate in decision-making.
- She spoke with Mongabay recently about the challenges facing fishing communities, their depth of marine knowledge, and the prospects for securing their fishing rights.
Can we save coral reefs? | Problem Solved
- Since the 1950s the world has lost half of its coral reef ecosystems.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that with 1.5°C (2.7°F) of warming above pre-industrial levels we could lose up to 90% of the world’s coral reefs.
- This amount of warming could happen in as little as six years.
- Experts say there’s still time to save coral reefs, but it’ll require swiftly addressing the three largest impacts to reefs: land-based pollution, overfishing and, most importantly, climate change.
To save the oceans, we need MPAs that emphasize actual protection of marine ecosystems (commentary)
- Saving the ocean is possible but it requires getting serious about stopping its destruction, not everywhere, but especially in designated places called marine protected areas, a new op-ed argues.
- But for MPAs to work, “protected” has to mean what it says. There should be no halfway measures, no empty promises, no conservation that happens only on paper.
- There have been several opportunities in recent months to take action on such measures, including at the current UN Environment Assembly, which ends on March 2.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Four new MPAs in Maluku boost Indonesia’s bid to protect its seas
- Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries designated four new marine protected areas in the country’s east in January.
- The new conservation areas are in the waters surrounding the islands of Tanimbar, Damer, Mdona Hiera, Lakor, Moa, Letti and the Romang in Maluku province.
- The newly designated MPAs are home to threatened and protected species, including the green turtle, the scalloped hammerhead shark, and an abundance of coral reefs and other marine ecosystems.
- The four new MPAs bring the Indonesian government two-thirds of the way toward its goal of ensuring “effective management” of 10% of national waters by 2030.
Afro-Colombian community safeguards pristine oceans with new protected area
- The newly designated Isla Ají marine protected area covers over a total of 24,600 hectares (60,800 acres) of coastal, terrestrial and marine ecosystems on Colombia’s Pacific coast.
- The Naya River Delta, where the protected area is located, is home to a variety of diverse ecosystems, from tropical forests to beaches, mudflats to mangrove forests.
- The new marine protected area contributes to Colombia’s goal of conserving 30% of its surface by 2030, part of a larger global commitment made by around 70 countries to promote biodiversity through the creation of protected areas.
- Many of the communities near Isla Ají hope to transition to ecotourism to fulfill their conservation goals, but investment is still in its early stages.
Belize shows how fishers and researchers can collaborate to protect sharks
- A new study found that Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) experienced a decline between 2009 and 2019 at Glovers Reef Marine Reserve, a marine protected area off the coast of Belize.
- The researchers theorized that the decline had to do with legal shark fishing that had been permitted on the edges of the MPA since 2016.
- The researchers worked with government officials and the fishing community to implement no-take zones that extended 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) around Glover’s Reef Atoll, as well as around two other sites: Lighthouse Reef Atoll and Turneffe Atoll.
- While it’s too early to tell if the new restrictions are having a positive impact, experts say they’re hopeful that Caribbean reef sharks will bounce back.
Jordan scrambles to save rare Red Sea corals that can withstand climate change
- In Jordan, researchers, activists and fishers are hopeful that their coral reefs — and the life they support — can survive climate change.
- Corals in this northern part of the Red Sea have been shown to be far more resilient to warming ocean temperatures than corals elsewhere.
- Even though they cover only 0.2% of the ocean floor, coral reefs support about 25% of all marine life.
‘There’s not much hope’: Mediterranean corals collapse under relentless heat
- In 2003, a marine heat wave devastated coral reef communities in the Mediterranean Sea, including the reefs in the Scandola Marine Reserve, a protected region off the coast of Corsica.
- More than 15 years later, the coral reef communities in Scandola still have not recovered.
- Researchers determined that persistent marine heat waves, which are now happening every year in the Mediterranean, are preventing Scandola’s slow-growing coral reefs from recuperating.
- Human-induced climate change is the culprit; persistent rising temperatures in the ocean have normalized marine heat waves, not only in the Mediterranean, but in the global oceans.
Gulf of Thailand oil pipeline leak threatens reef-rich marine park
- An oil spill in the Gulf of Thailand that began in late January threatens to impact coral reefs, seagrass beds and local livelihoods in a nearby marine park.
- The spill, reported late on Jan. 25, originated from an underwater pipeline owned and operated by Thailand-based Star Petroleum Refining PLC, which said between 20,000 and 50,000 liters (5,300-13,200 gallons) of oil leaked into the ocean.
- Cleanup efforts are underway to deal with the crude oil slick at sea and along beaches on the mainland where parts of the slick have washed up.
- More than 200 oil spills have occurred in Thailand’s waters over the last century; environmental groups have called on Thailand’s government to transition the country away from fossil fuels, and on the oil and gas industry to better implement preventative measures to avoid future disasters.
Ecuador to announce creation of Hermandad Marine Reserve off Galapagos (commentary)
- “Ecuador is proud to announce the creation of the Hermandad Marine Reserve in the coming days,” the country’s president announces in a statement shared with Mongabay.
- Safeguarding the critical migration routes of vital species like whale sharks and sea turtles will result in healthier and more abundant populations, he says.
- Covering an additional 60,000 square kilometers near the Galapagos, in addition to the existing 138,000 square kilometers, the new reserve will ensure a safe pathway for creatures traveling to and from Costa Rica’s Cocos Island.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
‘Great Blue Wall’ aims to ward off looming threats to western Indian Ocean
- Ten nations in the western Indian Ocean committed this November to create a network of marine conservation areas to hasten progress toward the goal of protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030.
- Less than 10% of the marine expanse in this region currently enjoys protection, and a recent assessment highlighted the price of failure: all the coral reefs are at high risk of collapse in the next 50 years.
- The focus of these efforts won’t just be coral reefs, but also mangroves and seagrass meadows, a lesser-known underwater ecosystem critical for carbon sequestration and oceanic biodiversity.
- Even as overfishing and warming take a toll on marine health, threats from oil and gas extraction are intensifying in this corner of the Indian Ocean.
2021’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2021.
- Hopeful developments this year included big investments pledged for ocean conservation, baby steps toward the reduction of marine plastic pollution, and the description of two new whale species, Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) and Ramari’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon eueu).
- At the same time, rising ocean temperatures, a byproduct of climate change, had profound effects on marine species up and down the food chain, and action on key measures to maintain ocean resilience in the face of multiple threats hung in the balance.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Galápagos census looks at impacts on turtles during and after COVID lockdown
- The suspension of tourism activities around the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic gave researchers the chance to answer an important question: What impact does tourism have on wildlife populations?
- In Ecuador’s famed Galápagos Islands, researchers have for more than a year now been carrying out a turtle census on Tortuga Bay, a beach popular with tourists, but which was off-limits during lockdown.
- With tourists now returning, the researchers have been able to record tangible changes in the number and behavior of the turtles on the beach, although a full analysis is only expected to begin in December.
Countries fail to agree on Antarctic conservation measures for fifth straight year
- Members of the multilateral body responsible for Antarctic marine conservation failed to agree on new measures to protect the Southern Ocean from overfishing.
- China and Russia blocked all proposals to establish new marine protected areas.
- This story was originally published by the Environmental Reporting Collective.
From the ocean floor, a startup livestreams the rise of coral cities
- A Portuguese company that was forged in Southeast Asia is building an underwater city for coral in Sultan Iskandar Marine Park, Malaysia, made from food waste such as rice husks.
- It is also building a pilot project ultimately leading to a 72 km2 (28 mi2) engineered reef off Comporta, Portugal, which will cost approximately $226-556 million.
- Each stackable underwater city contains a Bluboxx, a console fitted with sensors to measure the salinity, temperature and acidity of the sea, with the data then livestreamed to scientists and shared with governments.
- If no action is taken to protect coral reefs, it is believed that 90% will be extinct by 2050, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Green light for mining project raises red flags for Chile penguin reserve
- A mining and port project that could threaten penguins and other marine species has been approved near Chile’s Humboldt Archipelago.
- The approval has sparked widespread criticism from the scientific community, civil society, government officials and politicians, who say it ignores conservation science and prioritizes business interests.
- Politicians and conservationists from civil society organizations say they will go to court to try to stop the project.
New protections announced for Galápagos Islands and beyond at COP26
- Ecuador’s president announced on Nov. 1 an expansion of the existing Galápagos Islands marine reserve to encompass an additional 60,000 square kilometers (23,200 square miles).
- The majority of the addition would be established across the Cocos Ridge, which is an important migration route for species like hammerhead sharks and leatherback turtles.
- The following day, the presidents of Ecuador, Panama, Colombia and Costa Rica also announced that the four countries intended to create a large marine corridor between their four countries by extending and joining their current marine protected areas.
- Experts say that the new Galápagos marine reserve, in conjunction with the larger corridor, would help protect a range of migratory species.
Local communities saved Cabo Pulmo with a national park. Then came the tourists.
- A well-known conservation success story in Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, involves a local community that lobbied the government to establish a marine park and no-take zone that would save its coral reefs.
- Decades later, the area is now an extremely popular vacation destination, with more tourists entering the area than the local community can handle.
- Residents feel overwhelmed by the growth and popularity of the area. They are calling for new regulations to be put in place.
Marine experts flag new Peru marine reserve that allows industrial fishing
- Experts say the establishment of a new marine protected area off Peru that allows large-scale fishing and the capture of deep-sea cod will damage the biodiversity inside the reserve.
- Nazca Ridge National Reserve is the first fully marine protected area in Peru, covering 62,392 square kilometers (24,089 square miles) of the ocean.
- Its establishment in June increased the proportion of the country’s territorial waters under some sort of protection from less than 1% to nearly 8%.
New research hopes to shine a light on wedgefish, the ‘pangolin of the ocean’
- Wedgefish, a type of ray, are some of the least-known and most endangered fish in the ocean.
- A new research project in Mozambique is employing two types of tags, acoustic and satellite, to better understand two of these critically endangered species.
- Researchers aim to uncover the species’ range and habitat requirements to preserve them from extinction.
- Wedgefish are heavily targeted by the shark-fin trade, and their populations have declined precipitously throughout much of their range.
Scientists, communities battle against Philippine land reclamation project
- A land reclamation project in the central Philippines spanning 174 hectares (430 acres) faces strong opposition from various organizations and civil society groups.
- The $456 million “smart city” project is a joint venture between Dumaguete City and E.M. Cuerpo, a local construction firm.
- While the project promises economic benefits, critics say these will be negated by its environmental impact, which includes covering 85% of Dumaguete City’s coastline and burying four marine protected areas.
- Critics also say the project has ignored the public consultation process, a requirement for a venture of this scale in the Philippines.
Podcast: What can seashells tell us about the health of the oceans?
- On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we discuss what seashells can tell us about the state of the world’s oceans, and we hear about the challenges facing the Philippines’ marine protected area system.
- Environmental journalist Cynthia Barnett joins us to discuss her newly released book, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans. She tells us about the many ways humans have prized seashells for years, using them as money, jewelry, and art, and how seashells can help us examine the challenges marine environments are facing today.
- We’re also joined by Mongabay staff writer Leilani Chavez, who tells us about the incredible marine biodiversity found in Philippines waters and why there’s a movement amongst scientists and conservationists to expand marine conservation efforts beyond the Philippines’ extensive coral reef systems.
Protecting Colombia’s shark paradise: Q&A with Sandra Bessudo
- 500 kilometers off the Pacific coast of Colombia lies Malpelo Island, a barren rock that marks the center of the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary World Heritage Site and is renowned for its biodiversity, especially its shark population.
- It was Malpelo’s world-class diving that first brought French-Colombian marine naturalist Sandra Bessudo to the island. Moved by its biodiversity as well as the threats from overfishing and damaging tourism practices, Bessudo went on to become Malpelo’s best-known advocate, founding the Malpelo Foundation and successfully pushing for the island’s listing as a World Heritage Site in 2006.
- Bessudo has also produced dozens of publications and documentaries, served as Colombia’s environment minister and a presidential advisor, and influenced conservation policy through her marine research.
- Bessudo spoke about her marine conservation efforts, the challenges facing oceans, and other topics during a recent interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.
‘Mismanaged to death’: Mexico opens up sole vaquita habitat to fishing
- The Mexican government has eradicated a “no tolerance” zone in the Upper Gulf of California meant to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise.
- The former refuge will now be open for fishing and there will be minimal monitoring and enforcement of illegal activity, experts say.
- Conservationists say this move will certainly lead to the extinction of the vaquita, whose numbers have recently dwindled down to about nine.
With growing pressures, can the Philippines sustain its marine reserves?
- The Philippines pioneered a community-based approach to marine protected area management in 1974, which balanced conservation and community livelihood. This became the blueprint of the more than 1,500 marine reserves in the country today.
- While the government depends on its MPA system in protecting its seascapes and meeting its international commitments, research suggest only a third of the country’s MPAs are well-managed and only protect around 1% of the country’s coral reefs.
- With management and resource challenges, these MPAs are threatened by overfishing and illegal fishing practices as well as the worsening impacts of climate change.
- Experts say strengthening the country’s larger MPA systems, synchronizing conservation with fisheries management policies, adapting newer models, and creating a network of MPAs may help the country buffer the impacts of climate change on its rich marine resources.
Decades of research back the value of marine reserves to Kenya’s fisheries
- A 24-year study conducted by Tim McClanahan looked at two different interventions to address unsustainable fishing practices in artisanal fisheries along Kenya’s coast: gear restrictions, and a marine reserve that prohibited all fishing activities.
- It found both methods showed an increase of catch per unit effort (CPUE), which indirectly measures the number of target species that were caught.
- Landing sites adjacent to the marine reserve maintained steady total yields, while the gear-restricted sites declined over the study period.
- While marine reserves were shown to generate more long-term benefits, outside experts say they are not always an ideal solution and that other approaches may be more appropriate in managing fisheries.
Scientists call for solving climate and biodiversity crises together
- A new report from United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) highlights the importance of confronting climate change and biodiversity loss together.
- Global climate change and the unprecedented loss of species currently underway result from a similar suite of human-driven causes, the report’s authors write.
- As a result, solutions that take both issues into account have the best chance of success, they conclude.
Conservation solutions in paradise: Jamaica’s Oracabessa Bay Fishing Sanctuary
- A group of local fishermen and tourism industry stakeholders established a fishing sanctuary several years ago in Oracabessa Bay in response to a decline in vital Jamaican coastal life like coral and herbivorous fish.
- Surveys indicate an increase in reef health due to the efforts despite challenges, and the conservation model is set to be replicated at multiple other sites in Jamaica.
Protected areas now cover nearly 17% of Earth’s surface: U.N. report
- A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature reveals that countries are closing in on the target set in 2010 of protecting or conserving 17% of the Earth’s surface.
- Since 2010, the area of the marine environment that’s under protection has more than tripled, although global coverage is less than 8%, falling short of the 10% goal set in Aichi Target 11.
- While there has been some success, international leaders agree there should be more focus on quality as well as quantity in designating protected and conservation areas.
- As the U.N. Biodiversity Conference scheduled for October 2021 in Kunming, China, approaches, the report calls for a stronger emphasis on the contributions of Indigenous and local communities, while also ensuring that the world’s poorest don’t shoulder an outsize burden from these efforts.
Chile’s marine protected areas aren’t safe from its salmon farms
- Mongabay has mapped out the salmon-farming concessions off Chile’s coast and how they overlap with its patchwork of marine protected areas.
- In Chile’s four southernmost regions, five protected areas have salmon-farming concessions within them, with one having more than 300. This threatens the unique ecosystems of Patagonia.
- The 416 concessions that lie inside marine protected areas belong to 32 companies, the top three of which control more than a third of the concessions.
- In 2012, the Comau Fjord witnessed a massive coral die-off that researchers linked to a combination of natural volcanic activity and water oxygen depletion caused by salmon farming.
Study confirms sightings of endangered blue whale in Philippine waters
- For years, a group of scientists have been tracking a mysterious whale that they initially labeled as belonging to another blue whale subspecies.
- Their decade-long efforts resulted in a new study that confirms the species as an endangered pygmy blue whale — an animal last recorded in Philippine waters in the 19th century.
- Researchers call the pygmy blue whale “Bughaw,” a Filipino word for the color blue.
- They say Bughaw’s presence could help establish Philippine waters as part of the extended migration path of the Indo-Australian population of pygmy blue whales.
New Australian marine parks protect area twice Great Barrier Reef’s size
- The Australian government has moved to create two new marine protected areas that cover an expanse of ocean twice the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
- The two parks will be established around Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean to the northwest of continental Australia.
- The new parks, which cover to 740,000 square kilometers (286,000 square miles) of ocean, raise the protected share of Australia’s oceans from 37% to 45%.
- The decision was immediately welcomed by conservation groups.
“How do we manage fisheries in the midst of climate change?” Q&A with EDF’s Eric Schwaab
- The world’s oceans are the ultimate global commons, and as such, profits have been realized privately, but costs are borne by the public, with often the most marginalized and disadvantaged facing the greatest burdens.
- Eric Schwaab, who current serves as the Senior Vice President of Ecosystems and Oceans at Environmental Defense Fund, says there are solutions to the ocean challenges we’ve created.
- “What gives me hope is the combination of awareness, commitment and ingenuity coming from many different parts of the world,” Schwaab told Mongabay during a recent interview. “Despite all our environmental and geopolitical challenges, the oceans are providing solutions.”
- Schwaab spoke about how to increase the resilience of fisheries to climate change; U.S. oceans policy, including what the country has gotten right and wrong; and more in a recent interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.
Countries can transform the climate crisis with ocean-based action (commentary)
- Protecting coastal “blue carbon” ecosystems like mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes is 10 times more effective at sequestering carbon per area than terrestrial forests, and is just one ocean-based solution that can help mitigate climate change.
- But lacking such action, an IPCC report estimated that climate-induced declines in ocean health will cost the global economy $428 billion by 2050 and $1.979 trillion by 2100.
- As world leaders meet at the upcoming Leaders Summit on Climate, Chile calls for countries to advocate for the adoption of new international objectives on biodiversity, such as protecting 30% of the global ocean by 2030.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Sharks on a knife’s edge as Maldives mulls lifting 10-year fishing ban
- Eleven years ago, the Maldives created a 90,000-square-kilometer (34,750-square-mile) sanctuary that banned shark fishing, but fisheries minister Zaha Waheed said recently that the government may be planning to lift the ban.
- Conservationists say reopening shark fisheries in the Maldives would have devastating effects on shark populations and adversely affect tourism, which brings millions of dollars into the country each year.
- There are unofficial reports the Maldivian government will not be lifting the shark fishing ban, possibly in response to the local and international outcry.
- But a local expert says there are still grounds for concern if long-line fisheries are allowed to operate in the shark sanctuary, or if a legislative loophole is introduced that would allow shark fishing to recommence in some capacity.
Ocean protection scheme can yield ‘triple benefits’ study says
- A new study suggests that carefully planned marine protected areas could yield triple benefits for the ocean, helping to maintain biodiversity, while also increasing fish yields and maximizing the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon in seafloor sediment.
- This study is one of the first to quantify the carbon footprint of ocean trawling, which it equates to the yearly emissions of the global aviation industry.
- The researchers suggest that the planning tools in this study could help inform discussions about how to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, a goal that is expected to be adopted by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity later this year.
- Other proposals for how to achieve 30% protection by 2030 have mostly focused on the high seas, but this plan takes all parts of the ocean into consideration.
Study calls for a marine reserve in a $500m fishing hotspot in Indonesia
- A new study proposes establishing a marine protected area in Indonesia’s Java Sea-Makassar Strait region, one of the top fishing grounds in the country.
- The study found that much of the commercially valuable snapper and grouper species caught in these shallow waters are juveniles, which compromises the sustainability of the species’ populations and of the $500 million fishery itself.
- Another expert says imposing an MPA in this key fishing area would be a bureaucratic challenge, and instead suggests introducing an annual close season, similar to the one for yellowfin tuna in Indonesia’s Banda Sea.
- The study authors have also called for a change in consumer behavior, noting that the desire for snappers that fit on a plate is what drives the fishing of juveniles.
Amid South China Sea dispute, Philippines’ Palawan is besieged by political split
- The Philippine province of Palawan is set to decide on a law that will divide the province into three: Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur.
- Palawan stands on the Philippines’ western border and is the country’s sentinel in the maritime dispute in the South China Sea.
- Anti-division groups have raised concerns that the split will weaken the implementation and management of environmental programs Palawan has been known for, and in the process, endanger the province’s already threatened ecology.
- Palawan’s marine ecosystems have been under constant threat from illegal fishing and poaching by foreign vessels encroaching on its waters.
Rewilding public lands in Patagonia and beyond: Q&A with Kris Tompkins
- In the early 1990s, Kris and Doug Tompkins began buying up vast amounts of land in Chile and Argentina and setting it aside for conservation.
- Since the early 2000s, their non-profit Tompkins Conservation has donated over 800,000 hectares (2 million acres) of wilderness in Chile and Argentina, which spurred the permanent protection of nearly 6 million hectares (15 million acres) and the establishment of 13 new national parks.
- The Tompkins had performed “a kind of capitalist jujitsu move” as Kris Tompkins put it in her 2020 TED talk: “We deployed private wealth from our business lives and deployed it to protect nature from being devoured by the hand of the global economy.”
- Kris Tompkins spoke about her organization’s conservation work, rewilding, and the costs of our current industrial model during a February 2021 conversation with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.
Illegal fishing: The great threat to Latin America’s marine sanctuaries
- An investigative collaboration by Mongabay Latam, Ciper in Chile, Cuestión Pública in Colombia, and El Universo in Ecuador looked at illegal fishing and the threats it poses to Latin America’s marine sanctuaries.
- The investigation revealed suspected illegal fishing activities in marine protected areas in those three Latin American countries as well as Mexico.
- Many Latin American marine protected areas do not have enough surveillance or budget to prevent these crimes, and in some cases lack even a management plan defining a monitoring strategy.
- It is in this context that foreign fleets, particularly from China, including boats with a history of illegal fishing, also cross marine sanctuaries during their journeys.
How technology can help us achieve at least 30% ocean protection (commentary)
- A growing number of countries are pledging to protect and conserve at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030.
- Securing such a vast area requires new cutting-edge technology to monitor illegal activities and movements of species. Luckily, this field has been developing fast with new inventions and tech collaborations.
- The goal can be achieved by combining data from a range of sources, connecting the data to existing systems that rangers use, and engaging the people, communities, and sectors that work closely with the sea.
- This article is a commentary and the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Declaring key ocean habitats off-limits to human activities protects biodiversity and guards against climate change (commentary)
- Oceans around the world face a litany of threats, from climate change to overfishing to pollution and more.
- Marine protected areas (MPAs), when well-sited, well-managed and durable, provide ocean ecosystems with the capacity to restore damaged marine populations, protect endangered species and recover faster from climate-caused disasters.
- MPA policies need to be implemented more widely, writes Kelsey Lamp from Environment America’s ocean campaigns, starting by protecting 30% of our oceans with MPAs by 2030.
- This article is a commentary and the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Activists make the case that bigger is better to protect Galápagos reserve
- A group of scientists, conservationists and NGOs are campaigning to expand the current Galápagos Marine Reserve to protect an additional 445,953 square kilometers (172,183 square miles) in the exclusive economic zone of the Galápagos Islands.
- According to a scientific proposal, the marine reserve expansion would help protect threatened migratory species, deter unsustainable and illegal fishing practices, and even bolster the legal Ecuadoran fishing industries.
- While the proposal has garnered both national and international support, Ecuador’s fishing sector is largely opposed to the expansion of the reserve.
Seeking a sanctuary for Peru’s sea life: Q&A with Yuri Hooker
- More than 1,000 species of fish, 1,018 mollusks and crustaceans and 215 echinoderms are known to live in Peruvian waters, and many species remain to be discovered and cataloged.
- Yet despite its rich biodiversity, Peru has no marine protected areas.
- Nearly 10 years ago, a movement began to urge the government to declare one in the tropical north of the country, home to more than 70% of Peru’s fish and invertebrate species.
- Mongabay spoke to Yuri Hooker, a marine scientist who has been pushing for the creation of the Grau Tropical Marine National Reserve.
Sustainable financing is pivotal for marine conservation beyond 2030 pledges (commentary)
- In this commentary, Simon Cripps, the Executive Director for the Global Marine Program at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), argues that one of the biggest challenges in getting political will for protecting 30 percent of the oceans in MPAs by 2030 and maintaining it thereafter is financial.
- Government currently funds marine conservation costs in developed countries, but developing countries with fewer resources rely more on development aid, philanthropic foundations, and NGOs to fill the financial gaps.
- The author argues that conservationists “must look to solving the economic questions in innovative new ways.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
2020’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2020.
- Hopeful developments this year included some long-overdue attention to Black and other underrepresented groups in marine science; new technologies to prevent deadly ship-whale collisions and track “dark” vessels at sea remotely; and surprising discoveries in the deep sea.
- At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more trash than ever being dumped in the sea, and stalled international negotiations aimed at protecting waters off Antarctica and in the high seas. 2020 also brought the first modern-day marine fish extinction.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Countries fall short of U.N. pledge to protect 10% of the ocean by 2020
- A decade ago, the international community pledged to protect 10% of the ocean by the end of 2020, under the auspices of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity.
- Despite adding new marine protected areas quickly, the international community is falling well short of that goal: only about 7.5% of the oceans is now protected, according to a generous assessment.
- Even proponents of marine protected areas acknowledge they are not always as effective as they could be.
- Conservationists are now pressing for the adoption of a more ambitious new international goal: protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030.
Layers of regulations to protect European seas ‘not working,’ audit finds
- A recent report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) found that the European Union (EU) was not doing enough to protect and restore its oceans, despite having various policies in place to support conservation efforts.
- In particular, the ECA report found that only 1% of more than 3,000 marine protected areas (MPAs) in EU waters provided full protection to marine habitats, and that the MPAs generally failed to protect biodiversity.
- The report also found that sustainable fishing and environmental standard targets were not being met, some policies were out of date, and that EU funding was not being adequately utilized for conservation efforts.
- A recent report by the NGO Oceana on trawling activities in sensitive marine habitats in the Mediterranean provides further evidence that EU policies are not doing enough to protect its seas.
Could China become a partner in Galapagos marine conservation? Yolanda Kakabadse thinks so
- Yolanda Kakabadse has been an environmental leader since the late 1970s; first heading up small Ecuadorian NGOs before eventually rising to senior ranks at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She was Ecuador’s Minister of Environment from 1998 to 2000.
- In those roles, Kakabadse became used to making arguments that bring stakeholders with divergent views together around common interests. She’s currently trying to engage the Chinese government as a potential conservation partner in the Galapagos, where a Chinese fleet has been accused of unsustainable fishing practices.
- In a November 2020 interview with Mongabay, Kakabadse talked about her approaches to finding common ground, changes she’s observed in the conservation sector over the course of her career, and the opportunity to shift toward more equitable and sustainable economic models in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Frustration as Antarctic conservation summit fails to declare marine sanctuaries
- A proposition to establish three new marine protected areas (MPAs) in East Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea was not approved at a recent meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which was held online in the last week of October.
- Conservation experts who attended the meeting reported there was limited time for negotiations, and that discussions focused more on fishing renewal authorizations and the issue of a Russian vessel suspected of illegally fishing, rather than the MPA designations and climate change action.
- On the other hand, many delegates signed a pledge of support for the formation of the three MPAs, and the Weddel Sea MPA and East Antarctica MPA gained new co-sponsors.
On a Philippine island, Indigenous women get their say on marine conservation
- The Philippines’ fisheries space has traditionally been dominated by men, but an Indigenous community in the western province of Palawan is allowing women to manage critical marine habitats.
- Fifteen women from the Indigenous Tagbanwa group in the municipality of Calawit have been given ownership of more than 130 hectares (320 acres) of ancestral waters where they harvest cachipay, a type of oyster.
- They receive training in resource management and conservation enterprise to help them take an even more proactive role in greater fisheries management, not just on a municipal level, but on a national scale.
‘No other choice’: Groups push to protect vast swaths of Antarctic seas
- A coalition of conservation groups is advocating for the establishment of three new marine protected areas (MPAs) in East Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea, which would encompass 4 million square kilometers (1.5 million square miles) of the Southern Ocean, or 1% of the global ocean.
- These proposals will be discussed at an upcoming meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which is due to take place online because of the pandemic.
- Conservationists anticipate that China and Russia may not support these MPA proposals due to fishing interests in the region, although they are optimistic that the MPAs will eventually be approved.
We’re not protecting enough of the right areas to save biodiversity: Study
- In 2010, the member nations of the U.N.’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 195 countries plus the EU, agreed that at least 17% of global land and 10% of the ocean needed to be protected by 2020.
- A new global review finds that many countries have fallen short of these targets, and the expansion of protected areas over the past 10 years has not successfully covered priority areas such as biodiversity hotspots and areas providing ecosystem services.
- The research team overlaid maps of protected areas, threatened species, productive fisheries, and carbon services, and found that 78% of known threatened species do not have adequate protection.
- Adequate protection of the world’s biodiversity will require conservation areas in the right places, the involvement of Indigenous peoples and local communities in decision-making and management, ecologically connectivity between protected areas, and much more financing.
Video: In this Philippine community, women guard a marine protected area
- Women in the central Philippines have banded together to protect their marine sanctuaries from poachers and illegal fishers.
- Armed with only paddles and kayaks, these women willingly risk their lives to manage their marine protected area.
- Philippine waters are teeming with rich coral reefs and fish diversity and abundance, but protecting the seascape is challenging due to illegal fishing and climate change.
Flip-flops, fishing gear pile up at Aldabra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- More than 370,000 flip-flops from all over the world are piling up on the Aldabra coral atoll In Seychelles, one of the remotest corners of the planet and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to a new study.
- The second-largest atoll in the world, with a vast lagoon enclosed by raised coral atolls, Aldabra is home to the India Ocean’s last giant tortoises and only flightless bird species, among other rare and threatened wildlife.
- The authors of the new paper estimate that plastic garbage from fishing vessels accounts for more than 80% of the trash on the atoll by weight.
- They calculate that recovering the plastic trash on Aldabra could cost as much as $7.3 million, a large price to pay for a small island nation like Seychelles.
Past illegal activity dogs Chinese fleet that fished squid near Galapagos
- For about four years, a Chinese fishing fleet has been repeating a route from the South Atlantic, off Argentina, to the Eastern Pacific, passing by Chile and Peru en route to the outskirts of the Galápagos Islands.
- The fleet caused an international stir in August, as some 260 vessels swarmed just outside the waters of the Galápagos Islands, renowned for their unique biodiversity.
- While the Chinese government maintains that the fleet was operating legally in international waters, some vessels have a history of operating outside the law.
- For example, a vessel that was pursued by the Argentine Navy for illegally fishing in that country’s waters in April of this year was part of the fleet fishing on the limits of the Galápagos.
Birthday party on ship may have led to oil spill in Mauritius, Panama regulator says
- A Japanese ship that ran aground on a coral reef off Mauritius may have changed course to get a mobile data signal for a birthday celebration on board, according to investigators from Panama, the country under whose flag the vessel was sailing.
- The M.V. Wakashio crashed into the coral reef barrier on July 25 and leaked almost 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil into Mauritian waters.
- The vessel’s captain was taken into custody on Aug. 18 for endangering safe navigation as Mauritian authorities said the ship failed to respond to several calls from the Mauritian Coast Guard.
- Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), the Japanese company operating the ship, has pledged 1 billion yen ($9.5 million) for environmental preservation efforts and to shore up local fisheries.
Manila’s new white sand coast is a threat to marine life, groups say
- The Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources has come under fire from green groups and government officials after dumping dolomite sand, typically used in construction, on the shores of Manila Bay as part of a beautification project.
- Critics say the 389 million peso ($8 million) project has overlooked public consultations and is missing environmental assessments and certificates, which means its true impact on Manila Bay’s marine life remains unclear.
- A fisherfolk group says the project is a land reclamation bid posing as rehabilitation, joining several other land reclamation projects along Manila Bay that have already been flagged for social and environmental impacts.
- Lawyers say the move violates numerous environmental laws and circumvents a Supreme Court ruling that mandates government agencies to rehabilitate, preserve, restore and maintain the waters of the bay.
Belize takes ocean action with expanded marine reserve and ban on gill nets
- In August 2020, the Belizean government enacted two conservation efforts — the expansion of the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve to be seven times its original size, and a plan to phase out gillnet fishing by 2022.
- The Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve contains the ecologically important Corona Reef, which has been threatened by transboundary illegal fishing in the past.
- The marine reserve expansion has helped Belize meet its international commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 11, which calls for nations to protect at least 10% of their marine environments by 2020.
- In order to bring gillnet fishing to an end, the Belizean government will help fishers transition to more sustainable livelihoods.
Mauritius’s plan to dump part of wrecked ship sparks controversy
- A Japanese-owned ship crashed on the coral reef barrier of Mauritius on July 25, leaking about 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil since then.
- On Aug. 15, the wreaked ship broke into two, leaving Mauritius with another problem: deciding what to do with the wreck.
- The government’s plan to sink the severed bow of the ship 13 kilometers (8 miles) east of the island, in open waters 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) deep, has sparked controversy.
- Experts disagree on the potential dangers of sinking the ship’s bow but are worried that the oil already spilled will pose a long-term threat to fragile ecosystems like coral reefs and mangrove forests.
China issues new sustainability rules for its notorious fishing fleet
- China has made the first major revisions to regulations governing its distant-water fishing fleet in 17 years.
- The new rules aim to curb illegal activity, increase transparency and improve sustainability in commercial fishing.
- As dominant nation in the global fishing industry, yet ranked worst for fishing offenses, China could have a huge positive impact through the new rules — if it enforces them, experts say.
Sharks are ‘functionally extinct’ in many global reef systems, study finds
- A new study surveyed 371 coral reefs in 58 countries, and found sharks were virtually absent from 20% of the surveyed reefs, indicating that they were functionally extinct from these ecosystems.
- The research team collected 15,165 hours of video via baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS), and used this data to analyze shark abundance on global reef systems.
- The absence of sharks was usually connected to poor governance of nearby human settlements, including unregulated and destructive fisheries.
- While sharks were missing from many reefs around the world, other locations boasted healthy shark populations due to rigorous conservation efforts.
Expand conserved areas to boost global economy ravaged by COVID-19: Report
- Protecting 30% of the world’s lands and oceans would cost $140 billion annually, with the target reachable by 2030, according to a report by an international team of scientists and economists released this month.
- Dramatically increasing protected areas would provide a buffer between human and wildlife communities, helping prevent pandemics such as COVID-19, while also greatly boosting economic growth and sustainability.
- The benefits of implementing the 30% conservation goal outweigh the costs by a five-to-one ratio, according to this first economic analysis of the U.N. protected areas target.
- Some countries have already met this goal, including Bolivia, Germany, Namibia, Poland, Tanzania, Venezuela and Zambia, but Brazil, home to the world’s largest remaining rainforest, is slipping on its previous conservation commitments.
Cook Islands to grant seabed mining exploration licenses within a year
- The Cook Islands government will allow miners to prospect for minerals on its seabed within the coming financial year.
- Officials justify the decision partly on the need to ease the country’s economic dependence on tourism, which has taken a hit from coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
- Scientists, environmental advocates and civil society organizations have expressed alarm at the plan and warned of potentially disastrous ecosystem impacts that could also hurt local fisheries.
- The Cook Islands in 2017 designated its entire exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of nearly 2 million square kilometers (772,000 square miles) as a mixed-use marine protected area, but advocates are concerned that seabed mining could contravene the objectives of the park.
Scientists agree on the need to protect 30% of the seas. But which 30%?
- Scientists recommend protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 to safeguard biodiversity, avoid fishery collapse and build ocean resistance to climate change.
- In 2018 and 2019, representatives from the United Nations were negotiating a high seas treaty to meet this goal through a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) throughout the open ocean, but the meeting meant to finalize the treaty in March was delayed due to COVID-19.
- Two reports were presented to show how to practically protect 30% of the ocean: one from a group of researchers from University of Oxford, the University of York and Greenpeace, and the other from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and other universities and institutions.
- The two reports used different methodologies and had slightly different results, but they also showed considerable overlap in their recommendations of safeguarding certain areas of biological and ecological importance.
Caught on camera: Rare finless porpoises sighted in Hong Kong waters
- Video of the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise, a rare and elusive species, was recently captured by drone off the coast of South Lantau Island in Hong Kong.
- A 2002 study estimated there to be about 220 finless porpoises left in the Hong Kong area, while more recent reports give a slightly higher number.
- In 2019 alone, there were at least 42 strandings of finless porpoises in Hong Kong, which has raised concerns about the current population in that region.
- The finless porpoise has a large range across Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East, but the elusive nature of the species makes it hard to survey.
Lockdown allowed illegal fishing to spike in Philippines, satellite data suggest
- Satellite data indicate a spike in the number of commercial fishing vessels operating in waters within 15 kilometers (9 miles) of the Philippine coast — a zone that’s off-limits for commercial fishing.
- The increase coincided with the peak fishing season and the imposition of a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when marine patrols were reduced.
- Known as municipal waters, this coastal band is restricted to small-scale fishing, in order to protect the coral reefs and marine habitats that thrive there.
- Legislation mandating the use of the tracking devices on commercial fishing boats has been on the books since 2015, but the implementation continues to be delayed amid opposition from the industry.
Mug shots and public pics join the dots of whale sharks’ Southeast Asian trips
- A study blending old and new techniques has recorded young whale sharks returning to the same spot in the Philippines after visiting Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Scientists recorded the second-biggest aggregation of whale sharks in the Philippines in Honda Bay in the province of Palawan.
- Compared to other whale shark groups in the Philippines, the one in Honda Bay is made up mostly of juvenile males that feed on small fish and krill.
- The discovery underscores the need for stronger collaboration between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, all part of the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape Project under the Coral Triangle Initiative.
Evidence that fish flourish in a community-managed marine area offers hope
- New research from Madagascar offers a glimmer of hope that locally managed marine areas (LMMAs), an alternative to conventional government-managed marine protected areas (MPAs), could help secure the richness of the seas.
- A study done in-house by Blue Ventures, a nonprofit that co-manages the Velondriake LMMA with local communities, found that the fish biomass was almost two times more in no-take zones than sites where fishing was allowed after six years.
- However, fish targeted by fishers did not increase in amount, which some experts point out would indicate that the LMMA is actually not effective.
- Study authors say local communities are able to enforce restrictions because they feel a sense of ownership, which is essential for a conservation project in poorer countries to succeed.
Pandemic lockdown gives Philippine province time to rethink planned split-up
- The coronavirus pandemic has halted a planned vote on whether to split up the biodiverse province of Palawan into three smaller ones.
- Those in support of the proposal say breaking up the country’s biggest province into more manageable constituencies will allow officials to better address poverty and development issues.
- But critics say it will exacerbate bureaucratic bloat, allow the ruling elites to grab more power, and harm both the management of natural resources and welfare of indigenous peoples.
- They say the argument that the province is too big to properly manage is flawed, given how officials have largely been able to execute pandemic responses, and that the real issue is political will.
No tourism income, but this Philippine community still guards its environment
- Communities in the biodiversity haven of Palawan in the Philippines earn millions in tourism-related services annually, but the industry has been paralyzed due to a lockdown aimed at suppressing the spread of COVID-19.
- The lockdown, in effect since March 17, has forced close tourist sites in the province, which has affected thousands of families dependent on tourism.
- Despite this, these communities continue to look after their protected areas, making sure that illegal logging and fishing activities do not proliferate during the lockdown period.
- Owing to proper handling of finances, these community organizations can sustain themselves and the areas they look after for a year, but interventions and support are necessary to keep these areas protected in the long run.
Ocean optimism: Study says we can restore marine health
- A new study finds that it’s possible to repair the world’s oceans to a substantial level in three decades, as long as appropriate measures are taken to protect vulnerable marine species and habitats, rebuild damaged ecosystems, and alleviate the pressures of climate change.
- Several models of success are used to demonstrate that repairing the oceans is a realistic goal, including the positive impacts of wildlife trade and hunting regulations to protect endangered species and critical habitats.
- The biggest challenge in reinstating global ocean health is mitigating the effects of climate change, the authors say.
Seychelles extends protection to marine area twice the size of Great Britain
- The archipelago in the Indian Ocean has committed to protecting 400,000 sq km (154,000 sq miles) of marine area, about 30% of its waters.
- Conservationists say it is a step in the right direction, but the bigger challenge will be for the government to effectively manage the vast network of marine protected areas (MPAs).
- A ‘debt-for-nature’ deal allowed the country to restructure its sovereign debt and leverage $21.6 million to fund the creation of the MPAs and adaptation to climate change.
- Seychelles hosts giant tortoises, nesting sites for turtles, and fragile coral reef ecosystems that the new MPAs aim to protect.
Chilean authorities eye controversial Cruz Grande port project
- The marine conservation NGO Oceana has requested that the environmental permit for the Cruz Grande port project in Chile be revoked for not complying with a deadline for starting work on-site.
- The project may also be damaging threatened plants at the project site, violating the terms of the permit.
- Scientists say that the Cruz Grande port project has an inadequate environmental baseline development analysis.
- Therefore, the port is endangering one of the most biodiverse marine protected areas in the country.
Madagascar off pace to meet Aichi targets, which is bad news for the world
- The unique biodiversity of the world’s oldest island, including its 110 lemur species, remains as imperiled as ever.
- Though the country has tripled the terrestrial area under protection since 2003, the quality of the protection is inadequate.
- Madagascar is lagging in the creation of marine protected areas with less than 1% of its total marine area of 1.2 million km2 (433,000 mi2) currently safeguarded under national law.
- Tourism could boost conservation efforts in important biodiversity areas, but it calls for greater investment from the government and private players.
East Africa’s reefs being fished at unsustainable rates, study finds
- A new study shows that fish stocks in coral reefs along the coast of East Africa have been fished to worryingly low levels, with 70% below sustainable levels.
- The findings are a best-case scenario; computer models suggest stocks could be much lower.
- The study’s author calls for more careful regulation of fisheries in East Africa to allow stocks to recover — contrary to the current push for expansion of the fisheries sector.
The ‘blue acceleration’: Study shows humans’ surging incursions into the sea
- Population growth and demand for diminishing terrestrial resources are placing increasing pressure on the ocean.
- A new study highlights a sharp uptick in marine activity and defines the “blue acceleration” as the unprecedented rush for food, material and space taking place in the ocean.
- “[T]he ocean is not only crucial for sustaining global development trajectories but is being fundamentally changed in the process,” the study authors write.
Managing fisheries helps stocks recover — most of the time
- A recent study, representing 49% of the fish landed between 1990 and 2016, reveals that, on average, fish stocks are healthy where intensive fisheries management is implemented.
- The research demonstrates that managing fish populations with robust scientific data has helped turn the tide against overfishing in places around the world where it is practiced.
- But disagreements between scientists exist over whether other strategies, such as marine protected areas, should complement fisheries management in an effort to protect life in the world’s oceans.
Dorsal de Nasca: Peru pledges to create a huge new marine reserve
- In October, Peru’s environment minister pledged to make a proposed 50,000-square-kilometer (19,300-square-mile) marine protected area a reality by 2021.
- The proposed protected area, called the Dorsal de Nasca National Reserve, comprises part of a range of 93 submarine mountains that harbor more than 1,100 species, many of them endemic.
- If it is approved, it will bring the proportion of the country’s territorial waters that are protected from just 0.48% to 6.5%.
- While supporting the new proposed reserve, marine experts continue to push for the establishment of the Grau Tropical Marine Reserve in the country’s north, over pushback from the oil and gas industry.
Any illegal fishing going on around here? Ask an albatross
- Albatrosses fitted with tiny radar-detecting trackers can help spot fishing vessels that have gone “dark” by turning off their AIS onboard tracking systems, a new study has found.
- Over a six-month period, 169 wandering and Amsterdam albatrosses fitted with GPS trackers covered more than 47 million square kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean, detecting radar signals from 353 different boats in the process.
- In international waters, 37% of the boats had no AIS signal, a clue they could be engaged in illegal activity; within countries’ exclusive economic zones, nearly 26% of the boats were without an AIS signal.
- The findings suggest the seabirds could be deployed to patrol the ocean for vessels operating illegally, complementing a growing body of detection methods.
Key cetacean site in Philippines sees drop in dolphin, whale sightings
- A recent survey has confirmed a declining trend in sightings of dolphins and whales in the Tañon Strait in the central Philippines, a waterway declared an Important Marine Mammal Area by the IUCN.
- The strait is a migratory route for at least 11 cetacean species, including the vulnerable Gray’s spinner dolphin and the endangered false killer whale, but four surveys carried out since 1999 have shown a sharp decline in population and species sightings.
- One bright spot in the latest survey was the sighting of rose-bellied dwarf spinner dolphins, only the second time that the species has ever been spotted in Philippine waters.
- The strait is one of the country’s busiest sea lanes, encountering heavy fishing and tourism activities, which researchers say may be a factor for the downward trend. They call for further collaboration to enact stringent measures on fishing and tourism activities to protect the area.
Science-backed policy boosts critically endangered Nassau grouper
- A study, published Jan. 6, has found that the population of Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) around Little Cayman Island more than tripled between 2003 and 2015.
- The researchers attribute the rebound to a scientific monitoring effort by NGOs and universities as well as the Cayman Islands government response to the data.
- The government has closed the fishery and instituted size and catch limits to protect the critically endangered species.
2019’s top 10 ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2019.
- Hopeful developments included progress toward an international treaty to protect biodiversity on the high seas and a rebound in the western South Atlantic humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) to nearly its pre-whaling population size.
- Meanwhile, research documenting rapidly unfurling effects of climate change in the ocean painted a dire picture of the present and future ocean. These include accelerating sea level rise, more severe marine heatwaves and more frequent coral bleaching events.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Vanishing sea ice in the Arctic could shake up seabird migrations
- Researchers have developed a framework to aid in understanding the changes to seabird migration that could result from the loss of Arctic sea ice due to climate change.
- The team found that one species, the little auk, would expend about half as much energy by shifting its migration from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific, rather than their traditional migration or if they just stayed put in the high Arctic.
- The team also mined the scientific literature and found 29 bird species with the potential for a similar shift in their migratory routes.
Nearly extinct vaquita mothers with calves spotted in recent expeditions
- The latest expeditions in the Gulf of California, Mexico, to survey the vaquita, the world’s smallest cetacean, have yielded sightings of both vaquita mothers and calves. This, researchers say, indicates that the mammals are still reproducing despite threats.
- In a survey carried out between August and September, researchers spotted what they say were likely six distinct individual vaquitas.
- During a subsequent expedition in October, researchers say they spotted vaquitas several times, including six different vaquitas in two groups, and three pairs of mothers and calves.
- This news is hopeful, but the mammal’s future is still perilous due to the continued use of illegal fishing nets in its habitat, experts say.
In Indonesian waters, filter feeders can ingest dozens to hundreds of microplastic particles every hour
- Researchers looked at plastic pollution in three coastal feeding grounds in Indonesia that are frequented by manta rays (Mobula alfredi) and whale sharks (Rhincodon typus): Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area, Komodo National Park, and Pantai Bentar, East Java.
- After estimating the amount of microplastic particles that are present in the waters of their three study areas, the researchers were then able to determine how much of that plastic might find its way into the digestive tracts of reef manta rays and whale sharks.
- They found that reef manta rays may eat up to 63 pieces of plastic per hour when feeding in Nusa Penida and Komodo National Park, while whale sharks could be consuming up to 137 pieces per hour during seasonal aggregations in Java.
Can a national management plan halt Madagascar’s shark decline?
- Sharks once were plentiful in Madagascar’s waters, but a spike in demand for shark fins dating to the 1980s has led to heavy exploitation and a reduction in the fishes’ abundance and size.
- Madagascar has no national laws that specifically protect sharks. In June, though, the country released a new national plan for the sustainable management of sharks and rays.
- The plan calls for a shark trade surveillance program, a crackdown on illegal industrial fishing, more “no-take” zones, and a concerted effort to collect better data.
- Conservationists welcomed the plan as an important step — provided the country can enforce its provisions.
’Rampant’ fishing continues as vaquita numbers dwindle
- An expedition surveying the Gulf of California for the critically endangered vaquita porpoise has reported seeing more than 70 fishing boats in a protected refuge.
- Vaquita numbers have been decimated in the past decade as a result of gillnet fishing for another critically endgangered species, the totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder can fetch more than $20,000 per kilogram ($9,000 per pound) in Asian markets.
- Local fishing organizations in the region say that the government has stopped compensating them after a gillnet ban, aimed at protecting the vaquita from extinction, went into effect in 2015.
Commitments worth $63 billion pledged for ocean protection
- The sixth annual Our Ocean conference took place in Oslo, Norway, on Oct. 23 and 24.
- Governments, businesses, organizations and research institutions made 370 commitments toward improving marine health and productivity that were worth more than $63 billion.
- The commitments, a considerable boost from the $10 billion committed last year, reflect a new level of urgency around ocean protection as its role in mitigating climate change becomes ever clearer.
- Focus areas of the conference included building the sustainability of the global fishing industry and reducing plastic pollution.
Study finds massive reorganization of life across Earth’s ecosystems
- A new study pulls together data from 239 studies that looked at more than 50,000 biodiversity time series.
- The research reveals that almost 30 percent of all species are being swapped out for other species every 10 years.
- The scientists found that the reorganization and loss of species are happening much more quickly in some environments than in others, a finding that could help inform future conservation.
Cook Islands MPA leader fired after supporting seabed mining freeze
- Last month the Cook Islands government dismissed the director of the world’s biggest mixed-use marine protected area (MPA), which is called Marae Moana.
- Jacqueline Evans, a marine scientist, had played a key leadership role in the seven-year campaign to establish Marae Moana and served as its director since the MPA was enshrined into law in 2017.
- Her firing came after she expressed support for a 10-year moratorium on seabed mining across the Pacific Ocean. Seabed mining has been a sticking point throughout the history of Marae Moana, with some environmentalists hoping to prohibit it outright and other parties wanting to explore it as a potential source of revenue.
- Evans was a 2019 winner of the prestigious international Goldman Prize for grassroots environmentalists in recognition of her work to make Marae Moana a reality.
Give it back to the gods: Reviving Māori tradition to protect marine life
- Ra’ui is an ancient Polynesian form of resource management in which traditional leaders close designated areas to the harvest of key species.
- While the power of ra’ui remains strong in the outer Cook Islands, where local tradition often trumps national decree, the system fell into disuse on the largest and most populous island of Rarotonga half a century ago.
- There, traditional leaders briefly and successfully revived the ra’ui system two decades ago, only for it to falter again in recent years.
- Today, traditional leaders in the Cook Islands are cautiously optimistic that the country’s 2017 decision to designate its entire marine territory as a mixed-use protected area will help reinvigorate ra’ui across Rarotonga.
Paradise, polluted: Cook Islands tries to clean up its tourism sector
- Tourism accounts for almost 70 percent of the Cook Islands’ economy, but the industry is proving extremely damaging to its delicately balanced island ecosystem, and is contributing to islanders’ detachment from traditional ways of life.
- Now, though, some tourism players, activists and government officials are pushing the industry to change tack in hopes it can start to sustain the island’s people and culture while protecting its ecology, too.
- Tourism operators are being asked to live up to the sustainability street cred that the country’s 2017 decision to designate its entire exclusive economic zone as a multiple-use marine protected area has granted it on the international stage.
Will a massive marine protected area safeguard Cook Islands’ ocean?
- In 2017, the Cook Islands government passed the Marae Moana Act, which designated the country’s entire exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as a multiple-use marine protected area (MPA).
- Spanning almost 2 million square kilometers (772,000 square miles) — an area roughly the size of Mexico — the MPA is the biggest of its kind in the world.
- Now, as bureaucrats, NGOs and traditional leaders get to grips with implementing Marae Moana, many stakeholders are wondering what the act will mean in practice and whether it can meaningfully change the way the ocean is managed.
Massive protected area around ‘Atlantic Galapagos’ one step closer to becoming reality
- Bringing the protection of the “Atlantic Galapagos” one step closer to becoming a reality, the Governor of St. Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha, Philip Rushbrook, designated a large-sale Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the waters around Ascension Island last month.
- The MPA will cover the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Ascension Island, a UK Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic. That means that an area of more than 440,000 square kilometers or 170,000 square miles will be included in the Ascension Island MPA, making it one of the largest in the world.
- While legislation and a management plan won’t be finalized until long-term funding has been secured for the MPA, it has been proposed that commercial fishing and mineral extraction be prohibited altogether within the waters around Ascension Island, which has been described as a “miniature Galapagos Islands” because of its rich biodiversity.
Stunning new wrasse species underlines need to protect deeper-lying reefs
- A new species of wrasse discovered in mesophotic reefs off the coast of Zanzibar, Tanzania, underlines how little is known about marine environments.
- Deeper-lying reefs are just as threatened by climate change and other human impacts as shallow reefs and need greater protection.
- Mesophotic reefs could be an important and under-recognised source of fish larvae that supports coastal fisheries.
Reef fish are faring fine in eastern Indonesia, study suggests
- A new study examines the health of reef fish populations in the lesser Sunda-Banda seascape, a part of the Coral Triangle, which overlaps with Indonesian waters in the western Pacific.
- In remote areas far from large human populations, reef fish are generally doing well, the researchers found.
- The researchers propose turning one area in Southwest Maluku, Indonesia, into a marine protected area.
A Philippine community that once ate giant clams now works to protect them
- The island of Samal in the southern Philippines is home to one of 40 sites around the country where giant clams (Tridacna spp.) are nurtured as part of a conservation program.
- For the local community, giant clams had long been a source of food, so there was initially some resistance to the program when it started in 2001.
- Today, the clam sanctuary has grown into an ecotourism venture that generates revenue for the community and employs local seniors, particularly women.
- However, the mollusks are threatened by rising ocean temperatures, declining salinity and other human-driven factors, leaving their fate — and that of the community that has come to depend on them — in the balance.
Information is key – but lacking for sharks and rays in the Western Indian Ocean (commentary)
- Due to overexploitation, at least 27 percent of the 222 different shark and ray species found in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) are considered threatened, meaning that they are classified as either Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. These species face a high risk of extinction and need urgent conservation intervention.
- Although the majority of sharks and rays pose no threat to humans, we pose a major threat to them, primarily through fisheries. Shark fisheries have existed for many decades, although historically they were primarily caught as unwanted bycatch. However, they are now increasingly being targeted due to the high demand for meat for local consumption and export, and for their fins for the global shark (and ray) fin trade.
- Ensuring that sharks and rays are sustainably managed is important not only because they provide an important source of food and income for many coastal communities, but also because they serve an important function in maintaining balanced and healthy ecosystems through their roles as apex and meso predators, and as food for other, larger marine species. However, information needed to sustainably manage shark and ray populations is sorely lacking in the WIO.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Ocean currents spin a web of interconnected fisheries around the world
- Most marine catches are made within a given country’s territorial waters, but the fish most likely originated in spawning grounds in another country’s jurisdiction, a new study shows.
- The modeling of catch, spawning and ocean current data shows that the dispersal of baby fish caught by ocean currents creates an interconnection between global marine fisheries.
- The finding highlights the need for greater international cooperation in protecting marine ecosystems everywhere, as an estimated $10 billion worth of fish spawn in one country and are caught in another every year.
Altered fish communities persist long after reefs bleach, study finds
- In a new study, bleached reefs in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Seychelles had fewer predators like snappers and groupers and more plant-eating fish such as parrotfish and rabbitfish.
- The researchers found that this change in the composition of fish species persisted for more than a decade and a half after bleaching occurred in 1998.
- Scientists expect bleaching events to occur more frequently as a result of climate change, making it likely that these shifts in fish communities will become permanent.
Brazil green-lights oil prospecting near important marine park
- In April, the president of Brazil’s environmental regulatory agency authorized the auction of seven offshore oil blocks located in highly sensitive marine regions.
- In doing so, he ignored technical recommendations made by his own environmental team — a first in the team’s 11-year history.
- The environmental team argued that if there were to be an oil spill, the contamination could affect the coasts of two Brazilian states, including the Abrolhos Marine National Park, which is considered the most biodiverse area in the South Atlantic.
- More broadly, the Brazilian Congress is also considering a bill that would profoundly change the way environmental authorizations are issued, abolishing the need for licenses for most farming and infrastructure activities and accelerating the procedure for other ventures.
Study suggests MPAs and fisheries closures can benefit highly migratory marine species
- Conventional wisdom holds that marine protected areas don’t offer much in the way of protections to highly migratory species of marine life, given that those species are unaware of the imaginary borders humans draw on maps to delineate such areas.
- New research finds that, to the contrary, large MPAs can confer benefits on migratory marine species — but only when they are carefully designed, strictly enforced, and integrated with sustainable fisheries management.
- The study, published last month in the journal Marine Policy, explores whether or not there are any benefits of “targeted spatial protection” measures, including large-scale fisheries closures and marine protected areas (MPAs), for highly migratory species like billfishes (such as swordfish and marlins), pelagic sharks (such as blue, great white, mako, silky, and thresher sharks), and tuna — and highlights ways that spatial protection for migratory pelagic species can be improved.
The health of penguin chicks points scientists to changes in the ocean
- A recent closure of commercial fishing around South Africa’s Robben Island gave scientists the chance to understand how fluctuations in prey fish populations affect endangered African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) absent pressure from humans.
- The researchers found that the more fish were available, the better the condition of the penguin chicks that rely on their parents for food.
- This link between prey abundance in the sea and the condition of penguin chicks on land could serve as an indicator of changes in the ecosystem.
’Unprecedented’ loss of biodiversity threatens humanity, report finds
- The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released a summary of far-reaching research on the threats to biodiversity on May 6.
- The findings are dire, indicating that around 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.
- The full 1,500-page report, to be released later this year, raises concerns about the impacts of collapsing biodiversity on human well-being.
Radio drama encourages Belizean fishers to follow the rules
- The Belizean radio show “Punta Fuego” teaches local fishing communities about fishing regulations.
- Listeners can phone in to the show’s “Talking Fuego” segment and interact with hosts and conservation experts.
- The show aims to earn fishers’ support for the expansion of “replenishment zones.” In April, the government approved these new strictly protected areas to give marine species a break from fishing pressure.
- Critics say the show doesn’t address a wider problem: fishers won’t follow regulations that the government does not enforce, even if they understand the purpose.
Building the world’s biggest MPA: Q&A with Goldman winner Jacqueline Evans
- In July 2017, the South Pacific nation of the Cook Islands made a bold bid to convert its entire territorial waters, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), into a mixed-use marine protected area.
- Called Marae Moana, or “sacred ocean,” the MPA spans almost 2 million square kilometers (772,200 square miles), making it the biggest in the world, although only parts of it are strictly protected from fishing and other extractive activities.
- Jacqueline Evans, a marine conservationist, was the driving force behind the MPA.
- This week, Evans was awarded a prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her work on Marae Moana.
Meet the winners of the 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize
- This year is the 30th anniversary of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.
- Also called the Green Nobel Prize, the annual award honors grassroots environmental heroes from six continental regions: Europe, Asia, North America, Central and South America, Africa, and islands and island nations.
- This year’s winners are Alfred Brownell from Liberia, Bayarjargal Agvaantseren from Mongolia, Ana Colovic Lesoska from North Macedonia, Jacqueline Evans from the Cook Islands, Alberto Curamil from Chile, and Linda Garcia from the United States.
Weak governance undermines South America’s ocean ecosystems
- Illegal fishing, overfishing and pollution are common problems in the waters of South America.
- For instance, Ecuadoran small-scale fishing captures at least 250,000 sharks every year, most of them apparently illegally, and 62 percent of Chile’s fisheries are overexploited or depleted.
- But the overarching problem, the one that enables the rest, is weak governance, according to experts.
- This article encapsulates a series of stories by Mongabay Latam examining the state of the sea in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.
New paper proposes a science-based ‘Global Deal for Nature’
- A paper published in Science today outlines a new “Global Deal for Nature,” officially launching an effort to establish science-based conservation targets covering all of planet Earth, including terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
- The Global Deal for Nature proposes a target of 30 percent of the planet to be fully protected under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity by 2030. But because much more of Earth’s natural ecosystems need to be preserved or restored in order to avert the worst impacts of runaway global warming, another 20 percent of the planet would be protected under the GDN as Climate Stabilization Areas (CSAs).
- Conservation scientists, environmental NGOs, and indigenous groups are urging governments to adopt the GDN as a companion commitment alongside the Paris Climate Agreement approved by nearly 200 countries in 2015.
Swelling amount of plastic in the ocean confirmed by new study
- A new study used log books from 60 years of plankton research to document the increase in the amount of plastic in the ocean.
- The study’s authors tabulated the entanglements of the continuous plankton recorder, a sampling device that’s towed behind ships, revealing a significant increase in plastic in the ocean since the 1990s.
- Scientists have long suspected such a trend but have been unable to demonstrate it with data until now.
Scientists urge overhaul of the world’s parks to protect biodiversity
- A team of scientists argues that we should evaluate the effectiveness of protected areas based on the outcomes for biodiversity, not simple the area of land or ocean they protect.
- In a paper published April 11 in the journal Science, they outline the weaknesses of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, which set goals of protecting 17 percent of the earth’s surface and 10 percent of its oceans by 2020.
- They propose monitoring the outcomes of protected areas that measure changes in biodiversity in comparison to agreed-upon “reference” levels and then using those figures to determine how well they are performing.
30 percent by 2030? Study maps out how to protect the world’s oceans
- Scientists have mapped out an enormous network of potential marine protected areas that cover more than one-third of the world’s oceans and represent all marine ecosystem categories.
- The proposed network is part of a wider movement to get countries to commit to protecting 30 percent of the oceans by 2030. Governments are already working toward an international pledge to protect at least 10 percent by 2020.
- The scientists released their report outlining the network on April 4, a day before the conclusion of the second round of negotiations at the United Nations toward a landmark treaty to address the ongoing decline of marine biodiversity on the high seas.
Indonesia creates three marine protected areas within Coral Triangle
- Indonesia has designated three new marine protected areas (MPAs) in the waters of eastern North Maluku province.
- The new protected zones are expected to improve the local fisheries sector and support national food security.
- The establishment of the areas is part of the government’s target to create 200,000 square kilometers (77,200 square miles) of MPAs by 2020; it has already achieved 96 percent of that goal.
Belize to nearly triple area under strict marine protected areas
- The government of Belize has approved a plan to expand its marine areas designated as no-take zones from 4.5 percent to 11.6 percent of its total waters.
- Much of the expansion will cover deep-sea areas at depths ranging from 200 to 3,000 meters (660 to 9,850 feet), currently underrepresented in Belize’s system of marine protected areas, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
- The expansion will also include a no-take area in Belize’s exclusive economic zone, covering an extensive coral reef complex known as the Corona Reef.
Fishing for sharks in Honduras’s sanctuary seas: Q&A with biologist Gabriela Ochoa
- In 2011, Honduras declared the creation of a shark sanctuary encompassing all its waters.
- A 2016 decree allows for the sale of sharks caught incidentally, but in the absence of monitoring and inspection, hundreds of sharks are still being caught daily during certain seasons to supply an Easter-time demand for dried fish.
- Mongabay spoke with marine biologist and conservationist Gabriela Ochoa, who studies Honduras’s ongoing shark fishery, about the trade.
Crab season to be cut short in California to protect whales and turtles
- A settlement between the Center for Biological Diversity and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will close California’s Dungeness crab fishery three months early in 2019 to reduce the chances that whales and other sea life will become entangled in fishing gear.
- The crabbing season in 2020 and 2021 will also be shuttered early in places where high concentrations of whales come to feed in the spring, such as Monterey Bay.
- Conservationists applauded the changes, saying that they will save animals’ lives.
- The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations was also involved in hammering out the settlement, and its representative said that the new rules, while “challenging,” would help the industry move toward a “resilient, prosperous, and protective fishery.”
Ascension, the Atlantic ‘Galápagos,’ to get massive marine reserve
- The British government has announced the creation of a fully protected “no-take” marine protected area (MPA) in the waters around Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean.
- The MPA will cover 443,000 square kilometers (171,000 square miles), making it one of the largest MPAs in the Atlantic.
- The British government has joined calls for the protection of 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Study maps where tunas, sharks and fishing ships meet
- By analyzing the trails of 933 fishing vessels and more than 800 sharks and tunas in the northeast Pacific, researchers have identified regions where the two tend to overlap in a new study.
- While the ships could be traced back to 12 countries, most that operated within the high seas part of the study region belonged to just five countries: Taiwan, China, Japan, Mexico and the United States.
- The study found that 4 to 35 percent of all the species’ core habitats overlapped with commercial fishing ships. But where they overlapped differed: for species like the salmon shark, most of the overlap occurred within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or domestic waters of the U.S. and Canada, while 87 percent of blue shark overlap with fishing occurred in the high seas
- Such fish-fishing overlap maps would be particularly useful for guiding fisheries management in the high seas, researchers say.
‘Managed resilience’ not a successful strategy for conserving coral reefs, researchers find
- Coral reefs in protected areas that regulate fishing and pollution have declined to the same extent as reef systems in unprotected areas, according to recent research.
- The study, published in the Annual Review of Marine Science in January, determined that ocean warming is the primary cause of the global decline of reef-building corals.
- The researchers behind the study say their findings are consistent with a growing body of evidence that shows so-called “managed resilience” efforts, such as controls on fishing and pollution, don’t help coral reefs cope with the impacts of climate change.
Indonesia investigates mass shark deaths at captive-breeding facility
- An investigation is underway after 127 sharks died at a captive-breeding facility in a marine national park in Indonesia.
- Experts suspect poor water quality may have triggered the die-off.
- The breeding facility, operating since 1960 and a key attraction inside Karimunjawa National Park, was shut in June 2018 after a visitor swimming in one of the floating cages was bitten by a shark.
Possible vaquita death accompanies announcement that only 10 are left
- The environmental organization Sea Shepherd said it found a dead vaquita in a gillnet on March 12.
- One day later, scientists from the group CIRVA announced that around 10 — as many as 22 or as few as six — vaquitas survive in the Gulf of California.
- Despite a ban on gillnets used catch totoaba, a fish prized for its swim bladders used in traditional Chinese medicine, vaquita numbers have continued to decline.
Putting the Blue in the Green New Deal (commentary)
- The Green New Deal (GND) is a U.S. resolution that aims to address economic inequality and global warming through a set of proposed economic stimulus projects.
- As nearly half of the U.S. populace lives in or near coastal areas, the GND needs to prioritize the sustainable use and preservation of the marine environment – called the “blue economy.”
- David Helvarg of Blue Frontier and Jason Scorse of the International Environmental Policy Program and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies suggest a series of policy and investment priorities for incorporation of the blue economy into the GND.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Something smells fishy: Scientists uncover illegal fishing using shark tracking devices
- Sharks become unlikely detectives as marine ecologists discover a link between their acoustic telemetry data and the presence of illegal fishing vessels.
- Researchers acoustically tagged 95 silvertip and grey reef sharks to assess whether the creation of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Marine Protected Area was helping to protect these species.
- Detailed in a recently released paper, the almost simultaneous loss of 15 acoustic tags coincided with the capture of two illegal fishing vessels, arrested for having 359 sharks on board.
- While helping to map sharks’ movements around the reef, scientists expect that they will be able to use data collected from the acoustic tags to predict the presence of illegal fishing vessels.
New MPA established in Philippines includes community-led monitoring program
- A new marine protected area (MPA) has been founded in the Philippines within what are considered some of the most biologically diverse waters on Earth.
- The new MPA, which has been given the name Pirasan, encompasses more than 54 acres (about 22 hectares) of thriving coral reef habitat. The MPA was designed to protect this pristine reef system and, at the same time, boost an emerging local ecotourism industry.
- In addition to establishing the new protected area, the municipality of Tingloy has committed to a uniquely ambitious two-year program to monitor the reef’s health and empower local residents as stewards of the reef.
Marine protected areas are getting SMART (commentary)
- This year, World Wildlife Day will celebrate life in the world’s oceans. It’s a fitting tribute. Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the world’s surface, harbor hundreds of thousands of species, and provide important resources to coastal communities that house more than 35 percent of the global population.
- Oceans also face significant threats, including overexploitation. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are central to the efforts to protect Earth’s seas and the wildlife that call them home. In recent years, there has been a surge in their creation.
- In order for this strategy to succeed, though, new and existing MPAs must be managed effectively. The Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) was developed by the SMART Partnership, a collaboration of nine global conservation organizations to improve the performance of protected areas, both on land and at sea, and better use limited resources.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Warmer waters shrink krill habitat around Antarctica
- A new study has found that fewer young krill are surviving to adulthood around Antarctica as ocean temperatures have risen in the Southern Ocean in the past few decades.
- The researchers, who looked at decades of data on krill body lengths and abundance, found that the highest densities of krill had shifted southward by some 440 kilometers (273 miles) since the 1920s.
- The scientists note that the findings could alter food webs in the Southern Ocean.
- Currently, the internationally managed krill fishery does not take the location and size of the krill population into account.
Latam Eco Review: Pirate fishers in the Caribbean and many new reserves created
The recent top stories from Mongabay Latam, our Spanish-language service, include a ‘pirate’ fishing vessel being welcomed in Panama, news of forestry officials indicted for illegal logging in Peru’s Amazon, and the loss of 11 protected areas in Brazil. Disease and drugs surround uncontacted peoples of Peru’s Amazon Infection, lack of culturally appropriate health services, […]
Top 10 happy environmental stories of 2018
- Throughout 2018, efforts to protect habitats and conserve threatened species were driven by governments, scientists, NGOs and indigenous communities.
- The world pledged more conservation funding to protect the oceans, while protections for coastal ecosystems were also boosted.
- Conservation initiatives steered by indigenous communities continue to garner attention and praise, not least because they tend to be more sustainable and effective than top-down programs.
- These were among the upbeat, happy environmental and conservation stories we reported on in 2018.
2018’s top 10 ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2018.
- Hopeful developments included international efforts to curb plastic pollution and negotiate an international treaty to protect the high seas.
- Meanwhile, research documenting unprecedented ocean warming, acidification, and oxygen decline spotlighted the real-time unfolding of climate change.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Argentina creates two new marine parks to protect penguins, sea lions
- Argentina has officially created two large marine protected areas: the Yaganes Marine National Park, lying off the country’s southern tip, and the Namuncurá-Burdwood Bank II Marine National Park in the South Atlantic.
- Together, the two parks cover a total area of about 98,000 square kilometers (37,000 square miles).
- Industrial fishing is both an important source of revenue for Argentina and a threat to the country’s marine life. But the areas destined to become protected areas have had little fishing activity in recent years, which helped move negotiations in favor of the marine parks.
Global agreement on ‘conserved areas’ marks new era of conservation (commentary)
- Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity have adopted the definition of a new conservation designation: ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (known informally as ‘conserved areas’).
- It represents a transformative moment in international biodiversity law and enables a greater diversity of actors — including government agencies, private entities, indigenous peoples, and local communities – to be recognized for their contributions to biodiversity outside protected areas.
- The ‘protected and conserved areas’ paradigm offers the global community an important means through which to respect human rights and appropriately recognize and support millions of square kilometers of lands and waters that are important for biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and connectivity — including in the Global Deal for Nature (2021-2030).
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Chile fishers brace for fallout after massive mining port is approved
- The iron ore export terminal was approved for an area rich in marine resources that artisanal fishing communities rely on, and is just 29 kilometers (18 miles) from the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve and the Choros and Damas Islands Marine Reserve.
- The project’s approval went practically unnoticed at a time when attention was focused on a debate over the planned construction of another mining port, Dominga, just 5 kilometers (3 miles) to the south.
- Once completed, the Cruz Grande port will serve 75 ships a year carrying away 13.5 million tons of iron ore — less than 300 meters (1,000 feet) from fishing sites that hundreds of families rely on for their incomes.
- This section of the coast is an important whale migration corridor and is also home to 122 species of birds, among them the Humboldt penguin. Chile’s only colony of bottlenose dolphins also lives there, as do 68 species of fish and 180 species of microalgae and invertebrates.
Latam Eco Review: Rampant roadkill and shrinking seaweed stocks
The top stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay Latam, investigated Colombia’s roadkill rates; Chile’s marine forests; and Chinese energy projects in Ecuador. Mammals pay highest toll on Colombia’s highways Plans to double Colombia’s highway network by 2035 represent a major threat to wildlife conservation. A roadkill app and research have documented some 11,000 roadkill incidents, […]
PNG to create 7,500 square kilometers of new marine protected areas in Bismarck Sea
- Papua New Guinea has announced its commitment to creating 7,500 square kilometers of marine protected areas in the Bismarck Sea by 2021.
- The new MPA network will encompass 2,500 square kilometers of coastal areas around Tikana and Lavongai islands including key coral reef systems in the Bismarck Sea, as well as 5,000 square kilometers of offshore areas identified as high priorities for marine conservation in New Ireland Province.
- The PNG government has pledged to triple the coverage of its current MPA network, and this new 7,500-square-kilometer (nearly 2,900-square-mile) commitment will achieve that goal. According to WCS president and CEO Cristián Samper, the new MPAs will also help the country meet its Aichi Target goal of protecting 10 percent of its territorial waters and coastline by the year 2025.
Chile mine and port project nears approval despite scientific opposition
- The Chilean agency responsible for marine reserves did not take scientific information specified by its regional office into consideration when considering a proposed mining and port project.
- The Dominga project would be established within the foraging zones of species living in neighboring marine reserves.
- Two hundred scientists sent a letter to President Sebastián Piñera explaining the need to protect this space. Marine science experts like them say that the project’s area of influence underestimates impacts and will affect nearby protected areas.
- In April 2018, the Environmental Court ruled in favor of the project, but it is currently before the Supreme Court after an NGO lodged an appeal to invalidate the ruling.
$10bn pledged in new commitments to protect the world’s oceans
- Representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society groups and philanthropic organizations have pledged billions of dollars to protect vast swaths of the world’s oceans.
- The impacts of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and climate change on the world’s oceans were a focus of recently concluded Our Ocean Conference in Bali, Indonesia.
- Cooperation between governments is needed to prevent the world’s oceans from experiencing devastating damage from an onslaught of factors led by climate change.
Amid lack of enforcement, fishermen take the fight to blast fishing
- Indonesia’s ban on blast fishing has gone unenforced in some parts of Sulawesi island, local fishermen say.
- Two villages on Sulawesi’s eastern peninsula have responded to the lack of enforcement by declaring their own marine protected areas. The zones are now being patrolled by local fishing groups, but the province needs to sign off on them before legal action can be taken against violators.
- A local NGO called Japesda is helping the villages protect their waters.
Scientists map the impact of trawling using satellite vessel tracking
- Using satellite tracking data, researchers have come up with new maps showing the impact of trawling in 24 regions around the world.
- Trawling produces a sizable portion of the world’s seafood but is also seen as destructive and indiscriminate.
- The team found that trawlers fished 14 percent of the ocean in the areas they studied, leaving 86 percent untouched.
- But the study did not include parts of the world known to have high levels of trawling activity, leading one researcher to question whether the authors “over-interpreted” their results.
Scientists urge world leaders to scale up ambitions to protect global biodiversity
- Research has shown that a sixth mass extinction event is underway and largely driven by human activities. With the global population set to balloon to 10 billion people by 2050, which will more than double the current demand for food and water, scientists are increasingly calling for mankind to set aside sufficient amounts of ecosystems on land and at sea to ensure the survival of the many species with which we share planet Earth.
- Yet, according to Jonathan Baillie, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist of the National Geographic Society, and Ya-Ping Zhang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, “Current levels of protection do not even come close to the required levels.”
- To preserve global biodiversity and safeguard the provision of critical ecosystem services, ambitions must be ratcheted up in 2020, when the world’s governments will meet at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Beijing, China to set biodiversity targets for the future, Baillie and Zhang argue.
New species of blood-red coral found off Panama coast
- Researchers have found a new species of bright red coral in Hannibal Bank, an underwater seamount off Panama’s Pacific coast.
- The new coral, Thesea dalioi, is only the second known species of Thesea found in the eastern Pacific, the researchers say.
- Researchers named the new coral after Ray Dalio, a U.S. philanthropist and hedge fund manager whose foundation supports ocean exploration.
- The reefs on Hannibal Bank, where T. dalioi was discovered, occur in low-light environments that are thought to be fragile habitats made of a high diversity of corals, algae and sponges.
Komodo protesters say no to development in the dragons’ den
- Two private developers are set to build a restaurant and accommodation on islands that are home to the rare and threatened Komodo dragon in Indonesia.
- Residents have protested the plans, however, saying the giant lizards’ island habitat should be kept in pristine condition.
- They have also questioned the government’s commitment to the conservation of the dragons and their own livelihoods.
- For its part, the government says the developments will have a minimal footprint and will boost tourism revenue.
New Caledonia votes to protect coral reefs
- The government of New Caledonia voted on Tuesday to establish marine protected areas across 28,000 square kilometers of waters around the French overseas territory.
- The move safeguards coral reefs, marine habitats, and critical bird nesting areas.
- New Caledonia is known for its rich marine life, including nesting grounds for turtles, humpback whales, and sea birds.
Predatory coral bring down jellyfish by working together
- For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that corals can work cooperatively to capture jellyfish.
- The team observed the bright orange Astroides calycularis, which lives on sea walls and caves in the Mediterranean Sea, snagging mauve stinger jellyfish that became trapped by ocean currents.
- Coral polyps first grab onto a jellyfish’s bell, and then others will begin ingesting the jellyfish’s arms in a process that takes just a few minutes.
Latam Eco Review: Turtles at risk, jungle fracking, and a mafia land grab
The most popular stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, last week followed what is causing an 80 percent decline in some sea turtle populations in Peru, mafias and deforestation in Colombia, and fracking in Bolivia. Banner image: The hook in the photo above can cause internal damage that is fatal for sea turtles. Image courtesy of […]
Latam Eco Review: Witchcraft and wildlife trafficking in Peru
Among the most read stories at our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, this past week were articles about a hydropower project in one of Bolivia’s most diverse protected areas; Colombian Air Force drones that revealed alarming deforestation in Tinigua Park; and wildlife trafficking and witchcraft in Peru. Bolivia’s Ivirizu hydroelectric project threatens the biodiversity of Carrasco National […]
Global marine wilderness has dwindled to 13 percent, new map reveals
- New research examining the effects of 19 human stressors on the marine environment shows that only 13 percent of oceans can still be considered wilderness.
- Of the remaining wilderness, much of which is located in the high seas and at the poles, less than 5 percent falls under protection, and climate change and advances in technology could threaten it.
- The authors of the study call for international cooperation to protect the ocean’s wilderness areas, including a “Paris Agreement for the Ocean,” which they hope will be signed in 2020.
Bold initiative aims to protect coral reefs in the Dominican Republic
- Coral reefs of the northern Caribbean have undergone widespread change over the past century, driven by coastal development, pollution, over-fishing, the introduction of invasive species, and increasing ocean temperatures.
- A new and unique marine protected area, the Southeast Marine Sanctuary, has recently been declared, covering 786,300 hectares of reef environment, thus making it one of the largest protected areas in the Caribbean.
- The marine sanctuary will be divided into two zones, each to be co-managed by a diverse group of stakeholders organized into a nonprofit. The structure of its oversight – a collaboration among numerous stakeholders, from the federal government to local fishermen and from environmental groups to hotel associations – makes this new marine sanctuary remarkable.
Protecting PNG’s oceans: Q&A with marine activist John Aini
- John Aini is a prominent indigenous leader in his native Papua New Guinea who has won multiple awards for his grassroots activism in marine conservation.
- In a recent speech Aini outlined a number of threats to the country’s environment and indigenous peoples, including logging, mining, palm oil plantations and, most recently, the world’s first underwater mining operation, which is slated to begin production next year.
- This is the second of Mongabay’s two-part interview with Aini at the recent International Marine Conservation Congress in Malaysia.
Latam Eco Review: Spectacled bears in the spotlight
Among the most read stories at our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, this past week were articles about camera traps providing new insights into the spectacled bear’s natural habitat in Peru, and in Ecuador both private and governmental initiatives which are successfully fighting to protect the dry forest ecosystem in the southern part of the country. The […]
‘Decolonizing conservation’: Q&A with PNG marine activist John Aini
- John Aini is a prominent indigenous leader in his native Papua New Guinea who has won multiple awards for his grassroots activism in marine conservation.
- One of the defining points of his activism is the push to “decolonialize” conservation by engaging local and indigenous communities to a greater degree than typically practiced by large international NGOs.
- This is the first of Mongabay’s two-part interview with Aini at the recent International Marine Conservation Congress in Malaysia.
Krill fishing companies pledge to protect key food of Antarctic animals
- A majority of krill fishing companies have announced their commitment to voluntarily stop harvesting the tiny crustaceans from vast areas of the Antarctic Peninsula, including around important breeding penguin colonies.
- These companies are all members of the Association of Responsible Krill harvesting companies (ARK), representing 85 percent of the krill fishing industry in the Antarctic.
- The companies have also pledged to support the creation of a network of large-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Antarctic, the details of which will be finalized by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) at a conference in Australia later this year.
Belize Barrier Reef gets UNESCO upgrade
- UNESCO has announced that the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, which it added to the World Heritage List in 1996, has been removed from its list of ‘sites in danger.’
- The system’s seven sites are a significant habitat for threatened species, including sea turtles, manatees, and marine crocodiles.
- The area is also a popular tourist destination and global hotspot for diving.
- The site was added to UNESCO’s list of sites in danger in 2009 due to the destruction of mangrove forests and marine ecosystems, the looming threat of offshore oil extraction, and unsustainable coastal development.
Nature retention, not just protection, crucial to maintaining biodiversity and ecosystems: Scientists
- In a paper published last week in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, a team of Australian researchers argue that we need to shift conservation goals to focus on diverse and ambitious “nature retention targets” if we’re to truly safeguard the environment, biodiversity, and humanity.
- The researchers, who are affiliated with Australia’s University of Queensland (UQ) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), make a distinction between targets aimed at retaining natural systems and the current model that seeks to achieve targets for setting aside land as protected areas.
- Rather than simply setting a certain amount of the planet’s land and seas aside, nature retention targets would establish the baseline levels of natural system functions that we need to preserve in order to ensure the health of ecosystems and the services they provide.
Super plane, satellites help map the Caribbean’s hidden coral reefs
- Satellites, aircraft and scuba divers are creating the first ever high-resolution map of coral reefs throughout the Caribbean region.
- Layers of data with 10-centimeter (4-inch) resolution will reveal the extent of damage from recent hurricanes and identify pockets of living coral to protect, as well as ailing coral that can be restored.
- The maps will be used to declare new marine protected areas, guide management plans and select areas for post-hurricane restoration.
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