By LINDSEY HOSHAWPublished: November 9, 2009 ABOARD THE ALGUITA, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement. Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks […]
The international commission that sets fishing limits for tuna and other large migratory fish is meeting in Brazil. The commission faces a depressing reality: the bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean is headed toward commercial extinction. From time to time, the commission has marginally reduced the allowable catch, but never by as much […]
By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers • Published November 07, 2009 WASHINGTON — Off the coast of Washington state, mysterious algae mixed with sea foam have killed more than 8,000 seabirds, puzzling scientists. A thousand miles off California, researchers have discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling vortex roughly twice the size of Texas […]
An environmental lawyer in Indonesia says local fishermen are going bankrupt because the Timor Sea oil spill has ruined fish stocks. The West Atlas oil rig spewed hundreds of thousands of litres of oil and gas into the sea for 10 weeks and last week caught fire. It was plugged earlier this week with mud. […]
A fisherman unloads a sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna from a small boat at the General Santos Fish Port Complex on Mindinao island in the southern Philippines on Aug. 11, 2009. Hand-line fishermen in General Santos bring in some of the best quality — and most expensive — tuna that goes on sale in the large fresh […]
By ANDREW DARBYNovember 7, 2009 HOBART: The Rudd Government has pulled plans to publicise the discovery of massive illegal fishing nets in the Antarctic while the ship that found them, Oceanic Viking, is under a different spotlight. Bottom-set gillnets are presenting a new crisis in Australia’s regional waters. Laid by foreign fishers, they form a […]
Gannets on the island of Malgas in South Africa are in a bit of a pinch. Usually they nest with one parent out fishing, while the other parent guards the chick. However, fewer fish to catch means both parents have to go hunting and leave the chick unguarded. This leaves an opportunity open for pelicans […]
By JUDITH KOHLER, Associated Press Writer Judith Kohler, Associated Press Writer – Thu Nov 5, 4:51 pm ET DENVER – Airborne nitrogen pollution from vehicle exhaust and farm fertilizer is turning algae in the alpine lakes of Rocky Mountain National Park into junk food for fish, a study says. A similar phenomenon is occurring in […]
PERTH, Australia, November 3, 2009 (ENS) – PTTEP Australasia today confirmed it has killed a leaking oil well and stopped the main fire at the Montara well head platform and surrounding the West Atlas drilling rig in the Timor Sea off Australia’s north west Kimberley coast. Now the focus turns to investigating the cause of […]
An oil rig at the centre of a massive spill in the Timor Sea off the north-west coast of Australia has caught fire. The company which runs the well, PTTEP Australasia, said the fire broke out as it attempted to plug a leak deep underwater at the West Atlas rig. All workers are reported to […]