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Oceans, Coral Reefs

NOAA Reports a Record Number of Rebuilt Fisheries

A record six fish populations were declared rebuilt to healthy levels in 2011, bringing the number of rebuilt U.S. marine fish populations in the last 11 years to 27, according to a report to Congress out today from NOAA’s Fisheries Service. This report documents historic progress toward ending overfishing and rebuilding our nation’s fisheries, due to the commitment of fishermen, fishing communities, non-governmental organizations, scientists, and managers.

 


Simple Tool Helps Companies Address Water Risks

A global online tool launched today, March 28, 2012, by WWF and German development finance institution DEG (Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH) enables companies and investors to address their water-related risks. WWF and DEG have created a practical online questionnaire that not only identifies water risk in supply chains and investment portfolios, but also provides practical steps to mitigate risk.

 


Learning from Earth’s History about Changing the Chemistry of the Atmosphere and Oceans

The oceans may be acidifying faster today than they did in the last 300 million years, according to scientists who published a paper in the March 2, 2012 issue of the journal Science. "These scientists have synthesized and evaluated evidence far back in Earth's history," said Candace Major, program officer in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research. "The ocean acidification we're seeing today is unprecedented…a result of the very fast rates at which we're changing the chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans."

 


Protection for Bermuda's 'Golden Rainforest of the Sea'

The Pew Environment Group’s Global Ocean Legacy Program is working with the government of Bermuda, nongovernmental organizations, and scientists to establish the ‘Bermuda Blue Halo,’ a very large, no-take marine reserve to protect the Sargasso Sea within Bermuda's waters.

 


U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues First National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants

Historic ‘mercury and air toxics standards’ meet 20-year old requirement to cut dangerous smokestack emissions: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the first national standards to protect American families from power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution like arsenic, acid gas, nickel, sele nium, and cyanide. The standards will slash emissions of these dangerous pollutants by relying on widely available, proven pollution controls that are already in use at more than half of the nation’s coal-fired power plants.


Alternative Fishing Gear Can Reduce Shark Mortality:Pew lays out simple steps to cut bycatch numbers

A new global scientific review shows that simple changes in fishing gear could significantly reduce the large number of sharks unintentionally caught in the world’s oceans.


Water and Sanitation Related Diseases and the Environment: Challenges, Interventions and Preventive Measures

The drought and famine once again blighting the Horn of Africa brings with it an unwelcome reminder that for all of mankind’s achievements we are yet to eradicate the scourge of poverty or to provide clean water, sanitation or basic health care for the world’s most desperate people.


World’s Largest Shark Sanctuary Declared in Central Pacific

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is now home to the world’s largest shark sanctuary. The Nitijela, the Marshallese parliament, unanimously passed legislation last week  that ends commercial fishing of sharks in all 1,990,530 square kilometers (768,547 square miles) of the central Pacific country’s waters, an ocean area four times the landmass of California.


Tokelau Declares Shark Sanctuary

Matt Rand, director of Global Shark Conservation for the Pew Environment Group, issued the following statement on 7 September 2011 in response to the shark sanctuary designation made by Tokelau, an island territory in the South Pacific.


Chile Ban on Shark Finning Law Published: Praised by Pew

Matt Rand, director of global shark conservation for the Pew Environment Group, issued the following statement on August 8, 2011 in response to Chilean President Sebastián Piñera’s signing of Chile’s ban on shark finning.


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