Deep-sea corals area among the most vulnerable ecosystems and the United Nations has called for their protection. Most of these interesting communities have disappeared from large extensions of European waters and the Mediterranean due to bottom trawling, changes in water temperature or natural catastrophic events.
Hagfish, eel-like creatures known for secreting buckets of slime, are among the ocean’s most ancient species. They dwell on the ocean floor feeding on dead and dying sea life, filling an important ecological niche. Human activities, however, may be threatening their numbers and new research looks into the population decline of these shadowy creatures.
The seafloor is littered with underwater mountains, a new global survey has revealed.
Continue reading Seamounts: Undersea mountains ‘litter’ ocean floor
Responding to the preliminary findings of a new scientific report published today (November 9th), which describes a systematic failure by fisheries managers in the North Atlantic to protect the deep oceans, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) has said it’s time to halt unregulated deep sea bottom fishing .
Continue reading Time’s up: Fisheries managers fail to meet international commitments
CHARLESTON, South Carolina. (ENS)
Protection for over 23,000 square miles of complex deepwater corals located off the coasts of the Carolinas, Georgia, and eastern Florida was advanced last week by a unanimous vote of the members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, SAFMC, a federal government advisory body. Upon implementation by the Secretary of Commerce, the measure will protect specific areas of sensitive habitat, designated as Coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern, inhabited by coral species living in waters ranging from 1,200 feet to 2,300 feet deep.
Continue reading South Atlantic Deepwater Corals Protected From Fishing Gear
The World Oceans Conference in Manado, Indonesia, which was attended by high-level representatives from around 90 countries, ended with a strong Declaration about the impacts of climate change on the oceans.
Continue reading Manado Declaration Commits To Marine Protected Areas
MANADO OCEAN DECLARATION
(ADOPTED ON 14 MAY 2009, IN MANADO)
We, the Ministers and the Heads of Delegations assembled at the World Ocean Conference to discuss threats to the ocean, the effects of climate change on the ocean, and the role of ocean In climate change, held in Manado, Indonesia, on May 14, 2009,
10 March 2009 Commercial fishing in the north-east Atlantic could be harming deep-sea fish populations a kilometre below the deepest reach of fishing trawlers, according to a 25-year study published on Wednesday. Scientists have long known that commercial fishing affects deep-water fish numbers, but its effects appear to be felt twice as deep as previously thought.
58 Australian marine scientists have sent a letter to the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard urging him to “take advantage of an historic opportunity to secure significant protection for the world’s deep-ocean ecosystems on the high seas” by promoting the negotiation of a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling at this year’s United Nations General Assembly. (1) A week earlier, over 100 international marine scientists, conservationists and biodiversity experts attending the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC1) sent a letter to Australian Ministers for the Environment and Fisheries, Senators Ian Campbell and Ian MacDonald, urging them to stop deep sea destruction by supporting a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling. (2) The letter was also sent to Heads of State attending the Pacific Islands Forum and delegates to the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which met last week in Hobart.
Continue reading Scientists call on Australia to support the moratorium
In spite of the fact that Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has called on countries to “stop the rape of our oceans” (1) and Fisheries Minister Geoff Reagan agrees that no habitat means no fish, Canada stands poised to vote against a moratorium on bottom trawling in international waters at the United Nations. Last week, on Wednesday, 19 October 2005, a medley of deep sea creatures, entangled in three tonnes of bottom trawl fishing gear, were displayed by Deep Sea Conservation Coalition members on Canada’s Parliament Hill to impress on Parliament members the scale of the damage caused to sea floor habitats by such gear.
Continue reading Will Canada hold good on its promise to protect the oceans?
