Proposed amendments to CITES appendices

In March 2010 CITES (What is CITES? ) Parties will meet to discuss the potential inclusion of the marine species to the convention appendices list:

1. Lamna nasus - Porbeagle
2. Sphyrna lewini - Scalloped hammerhead
3. Sphyrna mokarran - Great hammerhead
4. Sphyrna zygaena - Smooth hammerhead
5. Carcharhinus plumbeus - Sandbar shark
6. Carcharhinus obscurus - Dusky shark
7. Carcharhinus longimanus - Oceanic whitetip
8. Squalus acanthias - Spiny dogfish
9. Northern Bluefin tuna - Thunnus thynnus

The shark species are all threatened by overfishing for sharks fin soup, for meat consumption and as a result of fishing bycatch. The bluefin tuna is overexploited to feed the worldwide sushi craze..

We hope that these inclusions are accepted and measures implemented as soon as possible. Inclusion of additional shark species (only the whale shark and basking sharks are currently protected) is important, the bluefin tuna is on the verge of complete collapse and efforts to protect this wonderful animal are too little but hopefully not too late.

There are often strong political resistence to expanding the list of protected animals.

Bluefin consumption in Hong Kong

WWF in Hong Kong has successfully managed to get some high profile restaurants to ban the sale of bluefin tuna in their outlets. Too little for now, but a start...

Bluefin tuna, in a food market in Barcelona

Article can be found here

http://www.livingseas.hk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=152:hong-kong-restaurants-to-stop-serving-bluefin-tuna&catid=53:hkconservation&Itemid=118

Lessons from the visit to Hong Kong of a humpback whale

The visit in early/mid March of a humpback whale in Hong Kong was an amazing and unexpected event, and provoked a lot of interest with the Hong Kong public.

To the credit of the Hong Kong authorities (AFCD) when it became clear that the whale was showing signs of distress from this attention, they quickly implemented measures to ensure that disturbance to the animal was minimised. These steps were successful and the good news is that the whale has not been seen since the 26th March, presumably finding his way back to his normal migratory route.

If only such a proactive approach could be taken with other species that are not protected in Hong Kong, such as the whale shark.

Visit the website from Living Seas Hong Kong to read the full article. (Click HERE )

Glimmer of hope for Pacific tuna - but only a glimmer

An article from Greenpeace international points to weakness in the agreements from Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. This is likely to continue to result in continued overfishing of bluefin and skipjack tuna fisheries. Objections to plans were raised by China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

The small glimmer of hope is the banning of purse seine fisheries in two high seas pockets between Pacific Island countries. Click here for description of purse seine fishing

Implications for me are that tuna is mostly off the menu. Albacore tuna is probably still okay.

Check out the following: http://www.msc.org/cook-eat-enjoy/fish-to-eat/albacore-tuna

The end of the Atlantic Bluefin tuna in sight?

ICCAT, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, is a group responsible for the management of fisheries for tuna and related species in the atlantic ocean. The group has enraged conservationists by setting a bluefin tuna fisheries quota for 2009 of 22,000 tonnes, this is 7,000 tonnes higher than scientific advice. Reports are mentioning that the EU skuppered plans by the US to impose the correct limit.


This is really a horrible situation, the death of a magnificent species is at hand.

My suggestion. Write to Joe Borg, EU Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and/or ICCAT. Contact details as follows:

Joe Borg email Cabinet-Borg@ec.europa.eu

ICCAT at email info@iccat.int or to the following address

ICCAT SECRETARIAT

Corazón de María, 8.

28002 Madrid,

SPAIN

Interesting articles on this subject at the following URL's
Telegraph newspaper
Treehugger.com

European commission news release. Noticable for not mentioning the scientific advice.

Bluefin tuna in trouble

This is an excellent post from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Have a look at the video as well:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_sushi_tuna.aspx


I'm sure we all know what a magnificent animal the bluefin tuna is, however it isn't soft and cuddly like a giant panda and doesn't necessarily get the public attention it deserves, but that doesn't mean that they should not be preserved. From an ecological perspective they are an alpha predator and we don't fully understand what effect removing this animal has on the marine environment that we are dependent on.

We need to stop eating endangered species. The Monteray Bay aquarium does a great job of highlighting the seafood to eat and the seafood to avoid.

I have blogged previously about other regional seafood guides. Have a look.

11 pelagic sharks listed as endangered

The IUCN has listed 11 pelagic sharks and rays as threatened with extinction. Pelagic species are traditionally seen as resilient, this study shatters this illusion

Grey reef shark. Not part of this study but also increasingly under pressure from overfishing

Fuller story can be found
Click HERE

Use of Shark products in cosmetics

In an article titled "Unilever ends the use of shark products in its cosmetics" Oceana also point the way to consumers needing to be better informed of what osmetic firms are using in their cosmetics.

Quotation from Oceana
“Oceana is satisfied to see that some of the biggest names in the cosmetics industry are recognizing their corporate social responsibilities and choosing not to contribute to the extinction of these important animals,” said Rebecca Greenberg, a marine scientist with Oceana and coordinator of the shark campaign. “We encourage people to become educated and responsible consumers by asking cosmetic retailers about squalene sources and directing their purchases towards companies that have never used this animal-based product in cosmetics or that have made the decision to replace it.”

Actually I was completely ignorant of this use. But not anymore.

Full article can be found here.
http://www.oceana.org/europe/media/press-releases/press_release/0/746/

WWF-HK starts a shark fin campaign

WWF Hong Kong has launched a shark fin campaign on the 3rd December, aimed at highlighting the

1. Most shark fisheries are poorly managed and unsustainable.
2. Huge wastage, 90-95% of the shark is disposed of after the fins are cut off.
3. 20% of the 546 shark species on the IUCN redlist are threatened with extinction.

Consumers should stop eating shark fin and restaurants should stop selling it.

The full story can be found Click HERE

Fish don't have many friends

This is so true...
we all love polar bears and tigers, flamingos and eagles but how many friends do fascinating fish have?

Thanks to Dr. Martin for passing me this.

Hong Kong marine species struggling to survive

A recent study and press release from WWF-Hong Kong highlights the plight of some of Hong Kong's favourite marine species, including the green turtle, horseshoe crab and chinese bahaba.

Also worth noting is :

"the dire situation facing the globally Critically Endangered Chinese Bahaba and locally depleted Hong Kong Grouper, both well-known edible fish in Hong Kong, were largely unknown to the general public. Mr Alex Fong, Ocean's 10 Ambassador of WWF Hong Kong said, "The polling results show charismatic marine species such as the Chinese white dolphin and Green turtle have received far greater public attention than commercially important fishes"

Sounds like a familiar story. There is a need to focus on better protection not only on individual species but the setup and real complete protection of a variety of marine habitats.

The story from WWF can be found here: http://www.wwf.org.hk/eng/pressreleases/20071115.php?source=eNews200711_1

Fishing ban called for Bluefin tuna

WWF is calling for a three year closure of the fisheries industry in European waters. The timing of this proclaimation is aligned with the meeting of International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) — meeting from 9 to 18 November in Antalya, Turkey.

This is a follow up to an earlier blog on Bluefin Tuna, click here

Miracle if anything positive comes out of this ICCAT meeting, as there is a history of indecision.

This latest story can be found here:
http://www.panda.org/index.cfm?uNewsID=116941

New nudibranch discovered in Hong Kong

Photo taken in Hong Kong waters by Charlie Frew. A previously undescribed species.

Click on the following link.
http://www.hkoutdoors.com/forums/activities/undescribed-nudibranch.html#962


There are hidden gems in the waters of Hong Kong. More work needs to be done to preserve it before it is too late.

The Harm of Good Intentions - turtles

Came across an interesting argument and perspective on the issue of keeping turtle hatchlings and releasing them until they are stronger.

The argument of this article posted on the WWF Philippines blog puts forward a compelling argument as to why turtle hatchlings should be left and not collected, fattened up and then release later. Essentially the argument is as follows:

1. Within the first 24 hours of life turtle instinct is to go out beyond the surf zone to catch major currents. They are carried to development areas where they remain until strong enough to migrate distances, it is during this period that the turtles learn about the currents and their migration routes. Key to their survival.


2. The turtles reproduction process has proven very successful, without human intervention and has enabled the turtles to out live the dinosaurs.

Obviously turtles need a helping hand when human interference is affecting the survival, such as egg collection or fishing by catch but other than that, maybe we should leave them alone...?

Are they right..?

Full article can be found here:
http://newsfromkkp.blogspirit.com/archive/2006/03/21/the-harm-of-good-intentions.html

EU closed Bluefin tuna fisheries for the rest of 2007

Due to the reaching of quotas for the year. This affects Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain. The European Union Fisheries Common fisheries policy set a target to ensure the long term survival of tuna. This includes reducing the amount caught, banning the use of spotter planes and ensuring fish smaller than 30Kgs are returned to the sea. Fisheries policy in the EU has not been very successful in the past but hopefully this will be adhered to and successful.

There are three bluefin tuna species, all provide the highly prized flesh for sushi and shashimi in Japanese restaurants worlwide. All species are critically endangered due to overfishing.
Northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)
Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii)
Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis)

We should all reduce consumption of this fish. See the seafood guides for more information:
Click here for the seafood guides


Press release for the closure of the fisheries for 2007 :
http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/press_corner/press_releases/com07_60_en.htm

Press release regarding sustainable fisheries for the bluefin tuna
http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/press_corner/press_releases/archives/com06/com06_88_en.htm

Hong Kong: juvenile green turtles released

Some great news...

Mid July 2007 a total of 61 green turtles (Chelonia mydas) were released at Tai Long Wan in Hong Kong's North Eastern, Sai Kung country park.

Heading out to open sea, photo from http://www.news.gov.hk

The juveniles were under the care of AFCD and Ocean Park staff since their mother laid eggs on Tai Long Wan last September and have grown from 25g to 800g in weight and 5cm to 16cm in shell length. This will give the youngsters a fighting chance of surviving and returning to Tai Long Wan.

All of the youngsters were micro chipped for future identification.

Story on the HK government website can be found Click HERE

The green sea turtle is an endangered species, under threat from habitat loss, pollution, fishing by catch and hunting/over exploitation.

Alaskan fisheries authority react quickly and close down commercial fishing

Interesting article passed to me by Alison Bradley (thanks Alison) points to a link between climate change and the stalled recovery of the 'overfished' cod fisheries in the North West Atlantic.

This link in a report by the University of Massachusetts, has led to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council making history by "summarily prohibited any bottom-trawl commercial fishing off the far north of Alaska past the Bering Strait — at least until scientists figure out the effects of sea ice retreat and warming."

The full story can be found HERE

The fast action of the Alaskan fisheries authorities should be applauded, fast and decisive action from scientific evidence is needed in many others areas, here's a few that immediately come to mind:

1. European fisheries in the North Sea and the Atlantic, near collapse.
2. WWF-HK's call for no catch zones in Hong Kong waters. Setting up of marine parks has seen little recovery
3. Bluefin tuna worldwide, a species now critically endangered.
4. The live fish trade in South East Asia, both due to unhealthy fishing practices and overfishing.
5. Shark finning, absolutely unsustainable.

Sea Turtle Conservation and Tourism Clash on Japan's Yakushima Island

An news item of interest that I have found on ENN (environment news network)
http://www.enn.com/net.html?id=2025

Essentially this article talks about how growing ecotourism on the island of Yakushima, Japan, is damaging the nests of the endangered North Pacific Loggerhead turtle.

To me this shows the increasing interest and thus the increasing value in environmental tourism, but clearly not all Ecotourism is created equal. Care must be taken to research and choose appropriate conservation enhancing Ecotourism destinations that also directly benefit local people. If you don't like what a tour group or "Ecotourist" site is doing, don't participate and publicise, on this BLOG and others, what you don't like.

Chinese turtle boat with 397 dead sea turtles aboard discovered

May 8th , 2007. Chinese registered vessel with 397 dead and stuffed turtles aboard was found in the Indonesian waters around Kalimantan.

Source: http://www.turtle-foundation.org

In China turtles are considered a symbol of longevity and presumably these were destined as cheesy decorative pieces in office receptions and the bosses living room.

The following was the grusome findings from the seizure.

1. 296 Hawksbill Turtles, a critically endangered species. Treated with formalin, size of carapace: 20 - 90 cm
2. 90 Green Turtles, an endangered species treated with formalin, size of carapace: 20 - 90 cm
3. 1 Olive Ridley Turtle, also an endangered species.
4. 4 cans of formalin with 25 liters each, 100 Liter in total
5. 17 nets with 38 cm nitting distance
6. 3 giant mussels, approx. length: 100 cm
7. 1 stuffed pufferfish
8. 2 speedboats with 60-PS-engines

More information can be found on the Turtle Foundation website. By clicking HERE

Conservation of sea turtles in Hong Kong

In direct response to Peter's question (see here) about the Sham Wan Beach and essentially conservation efforts in Hong Kong to protect the only nesting site for Green Turtles.

Actually a lot is done to protect the beach area during the potential nesting period, teams of volunteers and staff from the AFCD aim to make the beach as hospitable as possible and illegal entry onto the beach is subject to a maximum fine of HK$50,000.

More information can be seen click here