World’s last wilderness areas may vanish – “We have lost so much already, so we must secure the last remaining wilderness before it disappears forever”

1 November 2018 (UQ News) – The world’s last wilderness areas are rapidly disappearing, with explicit international conservation targets critically needed, according to University of Queensland-led research.The international team recently mapped intact ocean ecosystems, complementing a 2016 project charting remaining terrestrial wilderness.Professor James Watson, from UQ’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said the two […]

Governor Brown signs bill to end destructive swordfish drift gillnet fishing off California – New law will promote sustainable, domestic swordfish and safeguard ocean wildlife

27 September 2018 (Oceana) – Today, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill — Senate Bill (SB) 1017 — that will clean up California’s swordfish fishery. SB 1017 will phase out the use of large-mesh driftnet fishing for swordfish, establish a buyout program, and incentivize the use of cleaner fishing gear to reduce […]

Fisheries nations to decide fate of declining bigeye tuna – “The stock is in the red with a very high level of certainty”

By Marlowe Hood 28 September 2018 (AFP) – Dozens of nations with commercial fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean will grapple next week with a new finding that bigeye tuna, the backbone of a billion dollar business, is severely depleted and overfished. Unless catch levels are sharply reduced, scientists warned, stocks of the fatty, fast-swimming predator […]

“Surge in financing” of up to $7 trillion per year needed to finance world sustainable development goals: UN chief

24 September 2018 (UN News) – A “surge in financing and investments” is needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations plan of action agreed by Member States, to transform the world, the Secretary-General said on Monday.António Guterres was speaking at the opening of the High Level Meeting on Financing the 2030 Agenda, at […]

Trump administration completes plan to roll back safety rules inspired by Deepwater Horizon disaster – “These rollbacks allow offshore oil companies to self-police and prioritize industry profits over safety”

By Coral Davenport 27 September 2018 WASHINGTON (The New York Times) – The Trump administration has completed its plan to roll back major offshore-drilling safety regulations that were put in place after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in 2010 that killed 11 people and caused the worst oil spill in American history.The Interior Department’s […]

Overfishing and pollution have trashed the Mediterranean – 90 percent of Mediterranean fish populations are now harvested in excess of science-based recommendations

By Agata Mrowiec 16 August 2018 (Oceana) – The Mediterranean is the top tourism destination worldwide. Sunbathers and swimmers flock to the sea during summer holidays.Idyllic though it may seem, all is not well. The Mediterranean is the world’s most overfished sea, with the highest percentage of unsustainably harvested fish populations, according to a recent […]

Why growth can’t be green: New data proves you can support capitalism or the environment, but it’s hard to do both

By Jason Hickel 12 September 2018 (Foreign Policy) – Warnings about ecological breakdown have become ubiquitous. Over the past few years, major newspapers, including the Guardian and the New York Times, have carried alarming stories on soil depletion, deforestation, and the collapse of fish stocks and insect populations. These crises are being driven by global […]

Study ranks marine mammals’ risks from Arctic shipping – “Even going right over the North Pole may be passable within a matter of decades”

By Heather McFarland 2 July 2018 (UAF News) – Bowhead whales are the marine mammals most vulnerable to disruption from increased ship traffic in waters off Alaska, a new study has concluded. Across the Arctic, narwhals are the most vulnerable.The study is the first to assess the vulnerability of the seven marine mammal species that […]

About 300 endangered sea turtles found dead off Mexican coast, trapped in fishing nets

By Jose Cortes, Ana Isabel Martinez, and Julia Love; Editing by Sandra Maler 28 August 2018 SANTA MARIA COLOTEPEC, Mexico (Reuters) – About 300 endangered sea turtles were found dead off the southern coast of Mexico on Tuesday, trapped in fishing nets, shortly after more than 100 dead turtles were recovered.Fishermen in the southern state […]

Canada court rules for salmon farms over territorial rights of First Nations

Vancouver, BC, 2 August 2018 (Sea Shepherd) – Today Justice Maisonville ruled that only Alexandra Morton can continue sampling close to salmon farms, but only in a boat that is 2.6m long, which is a vessel so tiny it is unsafe to operate in the marine waters of the BC coast. As a result, Marine […]

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