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Thrillcraft ban can start
Maui News, December 15, 2004
By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer

WAILUKU – U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway has granted a 30-day stay of her decision overturning a state ban on thrillcraft during whale season on Maui. The stay essentially will allow the state to enforce its ban, which starts today, while a final legal decision is worked out.

In her written comments issued late Monday, Mollway also said she’d be willing to formally reconsider her earlier decision that invalidated the seasonal ban. But because the state already has filed an appeal to that decision, Mollway must now wait until the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals returns it to her jurisdiction.

Mollway’s actions followed approval of a new federal law that gave the State of Hawaii the authority to create regulations to protect humpback whales in its waters. The law was included as a provision of the federal Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which was signed by President George W. Bush last week.

In July, Mollway invalidated the state law establishing a Dec. 15 to May 15 ban on parasails, Jet Skis and other kinds of thrillcraft in the waters off West Maui and South Maui, saying it went beyond the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act in regulating ocean activities.

The federal laws already prohibit boaters from harassing whales, and set specific standards for vessels and people in the water to avoid harassing humpback whales in Hawaiian waters. "We’re happy," said state Deputy Attorney General Bill Wynhoff.

He said that with Mollway’s stay of her order, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources planned to start enforcing its thrillcraft ban immediately. "Parasailing and thrillcraft are illegal, just like they were before the judge (originally) ruled," he said.

He said he doubted 30 days would be adequate to complete the process of having the appellate court remand the case to Mollway for a final decision. But Wynhoff planned to ask Mollway for an extension if more time were needed. "We don’t want people out there parasailing on January 15, that’s for sure," he said.

Randy Awo, Maui branch chief for DLNR’s enforcement division, said his officers were ready to enforce the seasonal thrillcraft ban. "We have been cleared to continue with the enforcement of the ban on thrillcraft, effective tomorrow," he said Tuesday.

He said he expected the public would cooperate with the ban, but he also anticipated there would be some confusion over what had happened, saying private individuals and commercial operators already had called for clarification about the status of the ban.

He said his division would have no problem starting enforcement. "We’re already familiar with what the rules and the prohibition are, so it’s not very difficult for us to ramp up to do what we’ve always done," he said. "The more challenging thing was to stand down. We’re ready to go."

Greg VanderLaan, president of UFO Chuting of Hawaii, said in a written statement that he was disappointed with the 30-day stay but respected Mollway’s decision. "The case is now scheduled to be heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, at which time we will continue our efforts to bring some logic and science into the efforts of humpback whale conservation," he said.

UFO Chuting was one of the companies that sued the state to lift its seasonal ban on thrillcraft, prompting Mollway’s original ruling.

VanderLaan has said he planned to cease parasailing operations from January through March, out of respect for concerns over whales. He said it was "ironic" Mollway’s stay was set to expire Jan. 15.

VanderLaan has said the state’s thrillcraft ban targeted parasailing and certain other ocean activities regardless of their actual impact on whales.

Environmentalists have said thrillcraft are a threat to whales and whale calves because operators engage in frequent changes in speed and direction. Such changes make the thrillcraft hard for the animals to avoid, increasing the chances of a collision.

3-year-old’s death leads to settlement
The whale-watching company will make changes to prevent future accidents
By Mary Vorsino
HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN

A tour boat operator has settled a lawsuit filed after a 3-year-old boy was killed when the boat collided with a humpback whale off Diamond Head last Christmas.

Ryker Hamilton of Norfolk, Va., was fatally injured on a whale-watching cruise aboard the 77-foot American Dream. The boy, who suffered head and neck injuries when he hit the handrail and deck after the boat collided with a whale, was traveling with his parents and grandparents.

Rick Fried, attorney for the boy's family, said terms of the settlement would not be disclosed as part of the agreement. "While nothing can replace the loss of a child, the Hamilton family has accepted what they believe to be an appropriate settlement," Fried said in a statement yesterday.

As part of the settlement, Kailua-based Aquamarine, which operates the American Dream, has agreed to institute "changes to minimize the likelihood of such an incident" in the future, Fried said. He declined to elaborate.

John Lacy, attorney for Aquamarine, said the company "believes this settlement is the appropriate conclusion to this accident."

"Aquamarine remains dedicated to assuring the continued safety of their guests, crew and marine life," Lacy said.

In a Coast Guard report on the boy's death released earlier this year, American Dream Capt. Monroe Wightman III admitted to being distracted with the public address system when the vessel collided with the whale. He was trying to adjust the volume, which the Coast Guard said should have been handled by a crew member.

"It is believed that Mr. Wightman acted with negligence by turning his back and walking away from the helm of the vessel at a critical time when whales were spotted in the immediate vicinity of the vessel," the Coast Guard said.

"His inattention was during a time when (Wightman) should have been more focused at the helm ... since he knew the whales were in the area."

The accident happened after Wightman announced over the PA system that he spotted a whale about 300 yards away. He steered the boat to get a closer view. Ten minutes later a pod of humpback whales was spotted about 100 to 300 feet from the ship's bow, the Coast Guard said.

The boy's father, Ryan, was holding the toddler in his arms when the boat collided with the whale. The jolt caused Ryan Hamilton to lose his balance. His son hit the rail with his head and neck before hitting the deck. Death was "almost instantaneous," the Coast Guard said.

Shrimp farms get boost
By Jan TenBruggencate
Honolulu Advertiser Science Writer

Hawai'i's high-tech shrimp farming industry hopes for a marketing boost from a new designation of U.S.-farmed shrimp as an environmentally friendly product.

The group Environmental Defense, as part of its Oceans Alive program, has listed domestic shrimp as an "Eco-Best" seafood selection. The designation is an indication that products are produced in an environmentally appropriate way and that they are low in hazardous contaminants when consumed.

"It's important to get the word out that Hawai'i's shrimp are among the best in the world, and this program should help us do that," said Paul Bienfang, who represents the 40-acre Ceatech shrimp operation on Kaua'i.

It's a big potential market, since shrimp grown in the United States now represents less than 1 percent of the total shrimp consumed in the nation. Aquaculture, including shrimp farming, was the fastest-growing part of the Hawaiian agricultural industry in 2003, with sales at $27.65 million — 9.8 percent more than in 2002. Aquaculture grew 13 percent the year before.

It has not been an industry without problems. A virus got into Ceatech's ponds earlier this year, requiring that they all be drained and 20 million shrimp be buried. Still, officials say the Environmental Defense support for domestic shrimp is a sign of hope for the industry's future.

"This is exciting news for Hawai'i's shrimp farmers. This important endorsement of U.S.-farmed shrimp from a prestigious organization like Environmental Defense will help create even more demand for high-quality shrimp," said Bruce Anderson, president of Oceanic Institute.

Oceanic Institute at Makapu'u is a leader in shrimp research and has developed virus-free and disease-resistant shrimps. Those products are now the basis of more than 90 percent of the shrimp raised in the United States. They allow shrimp farmers to produce healthy crops with less loss to disease, and also prevent the transmission of disease into wild animals in the local environment.

For the Environmental Defense list of best and worst choices in seafood, see
www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/1980_pocket_seafood_selector.pdf.

The institute, working with the United States Marine Shrimp Farming Program, has also worked with farmers to find ways to reduce shrimp farming's damage to the environment, improving efficiency and reducing pollution.

"Many U.S. shrimp farms have adopted management practices that greatly reduce their environmental impact. Farms avoid environmental pitfalls, such as frequent wastewater discharges, that have bedeviled shrimp farming aboard," said Environmental Defense's Rebecca Goldburg.

Much of wild-caught shrimp is harvested in a way that also entraps a great deal of unwanted sealife, which is discarded — often dead. "Most shrimp production outside the U.S. entails considerable habitat destruction or bycatch," according to Environmental Defense.

Superferry pros, cons discussed at hearings
By Jan TenBruggencate
Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer

The Hawai'i Superferry may energize Neighbor Island economies, but it could congest their roads and parks with O'ahu cars.

It will help farmers get produce to other islands, but ferried cars could spread the seeds of aggressive alien weeds such as miconia. It could help sports teams reduce fund-raising needs by providing cheaper interisland transportation, but could threaten marine species like humpback whale calves with high-speed collisions.

As the state Public Utilities Commission campaigns the proposed ferry system through Neighbor Island public hearings this week, the Hawai'i community seems split between a cheerleading fascination with the statewide ferry system and reservations about what it could mean to the Islands.

"I think it's going to be great, not only for moving people between islands affordably, but also for agricultural and other freight. I can't see that it won't be a huge benefit for us," said Beth Tokioka, Kaua'i County's economic development director.

Others argue that this kind of boosterism masks real issues.

"At any speed over 20 miles an hour is where you're looking at deadly collisions — deadly for humans as well as whales," said Greg Kaufman, president of the Pacific Whale Foundation. "And at the proposed speeds of 40 to 45 miles an hour, there is no way they can avoid an animal."

There's talk about forward-looking sonar and computerized ocean-scanning equipment, but "no one has been able to develop high-speed collision avoidance systems," Kaufman said.

John Garibaldi, chief executive officer of Hawai'i Superferry, said the firm is working to minimize approaches to whales.

"During the whale season, we'll be changing routes" to respond to where whales are, he said. And the company continues to research the best equipment for spotting whales in the vessels' path.

Humpback whales are common in Hawaiian waters from December to May. Naomi McIntosh, manager of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, said she has participated with Hawai'i Superferry personnel in workshops to mitigate possible collisions.

"We've been having a lot of talks about what can be done," she said.

A particular concern is humpback whale calves, which tend to stay nearer the surface than adults, but are harder to spot because of their smaller size, she said.

Others worry about whether Hawai'i's harbors can handle the ferry, or whether they can be adequately retrofitted in time for a planned 2006 rollout of ferry service. Issues at several harbors include dock space, sewage pumpout capabilities and parking for hundreds of cars. At some harbors, notably Kahului on Maui, there are also issues about harbor expansion crowding other ocean uses like outrigger canoe paddling.

"We are having internal discussions right now as to cost, sewage, ramps and parking areas," said state Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa. "And we've been meeting with Maui canoe clubs to try to figure out if we can accommodate everybody."

Garibaldi said his firm has worked with the Department of Transportation Harbors Division and identified changes needed at each of its proposed terminals.

The firm has proposed bringing in two identical ferries, each 340 feet long with a capacity of 866 passengers and as many as 340 small cars "although we expect the average load to be about half that."

Garibaldi said the first ship should arrive in late 2006, with the second arriving 15 to 16 months later. The vessels would have about a 40 mph cruising speed.

The schedule when one vessel is available probably would have one daily round-trip to Kahului, with trips alternating every other day to Kawaihae and Nawiliwili. Adult fares, estimated at $50 midweek and $60 Friday through Monday, might rise if fuel prices stay up, he said.

The Sierra Club of Hawai'i is one organization with conflicting views, said its director, Jeff Mikulina.

"It has tremendous potential, and we want to do whatever we can to support diversified agriculture, particularly of organic crops. It's encouraging that they have a zero-discharge policy, and they have taken some corrective measures in the area of marine collisions, although I don't know if it's enough," Mikulina said.

On the other hand, the Sierra Club worries that the easy influx of cars could damage the rural feeling of some Neighbor Island areas. And it is particularly worried about alien species being able to readily move from one island to another

"What if a farm truck from the Big Island gets on the ferry with miconia seeds in its wheel wells? Are they going to wash those cars before they transport them?" Mikulina said.

Honolulu-based land developer John Michael White said he's ridden ferries around the world, and feels it's a perfect fit for Hawai'i. "The towns that have the ferry terminals, the economy bustles. It's so convenient. You take your car wherever you go. The only ones that are going to feel a little pinch are the rent-a-car companies," he said.

Whale Researchers in Communications Breakthrough
By Lisette Johnston, Scottish Press Association

Scientists studying killer whales claim the mammals’ communication depends on the type of prey they hunt, it emerged today. The research suggests the whales’ communication is shaped by the risk of warning off their prey at feeding time.

Whales rely extensively on underwater sound to orientate themselves and stay in touch with one another, and killer whales have a particularly complex system of underwater communication, the experts said.

The researchers at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and British Columbia University in Vancouver, Canada, studied two distinct forms of killer whale – residents and transients – which feed on different types of prey.

The team discovered fish-eating whales are more likely to talk to each other while mammal-eating killer whales have to restrict underwater communication

This is because fish are hard of hearing and cannot detect the calls at any distance. But mammal-eating killer whales hunt prey which has excellent underwater hearing and can “eavesdrop” on whale calls to make their escape.

The research was undertaken by biologist Dr Volker Deecke of the University of St Andrews and the marine mammal research unit in Vancouver, in collaboration with Professor Peter Slater at St Andrews and Dr John Ford of Canadian federal body Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Dr Deecke said: “When animals communicate, they risk passing on information to unintended listeners, which intercept their communication signals.

“In our case such eavesdropping wasn’t a problem for the fish-eating resident killer whales because their primary prey, Pacific salmon, are very hard of hearing.

“Transient killer whales on the other hand feed on marine mammals which have excellent underwater hearing so that they risk warning their prey every time they call.

“Because calling behaviour warns marine mammal prey and so greatly reduces their hunting success, sound communication is far more costly for transients compared to residents.

“Our finding that mammal-eating killer whales call much less often than fish-eaters demonstrates that the calling behaviour of killer whales is shaped by the hearing ability of the prey that they eat.”

The team worked from small boats off the coast of British Columbia and Alaska scanning the waters using high-powered binoculars for hours at a time.

It is thought killer whales produce underwater calls to co-ordinate behaviour and to keep track of each other, since vision is limited underwater. The study will be published early next year in the scientific journal Animal Behaviour.

Whale and dolphin strandings fit predictions
13:37 01 December 2004
NewScientist.com news service
Emma Young, Sydney

Three whale and dolphin strandings have left more than 170 animals dead on the beaches of Australia and New Zealand in the past few days. The precise causes are unclear, but the beachings tally with predictions made by Tasmanian scientists in New Scientist in July 2004.

“We identified that 2004 would be a year for lots of strandings - and this is exactly what we are seeing,” says Mark Hindell of the Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.

On Sunday, 66 pilot whales and 28 bottlenose dolphins died after beaching themselves on King Island, in the Bass Strait, off the north-west coast of Tasmania. On the same day, about 60 pilot whales died on Opoutere Beach in New Zealand. Then on Monday, 42 pilot whales beached themselves on Maria Island, off east Tasmania, and only 23 were successfully refloated.

Possible causes for cetacean beaching are thought to include seismic testing for oil and gas. But this is not clearly implicated in these new cases. And whales can also swim into trouble if they follow prey too close into shore.

Hindell and his colleagues’ analysis of more than 80 years of stranding data in south-east Australia suggested that every 10 to 12 years, shifts in a climate phenomenon - called the zonal westerly winds - cause colder, nutrient-rich waters to move closer to the shore. Whales and dolphins follow this cold water towards the coast, and so their risk of beaching increases. During the last peak, in 1992, there were 29 stranding events.

“We still can’t say precisely why individual pods go ashore. But since the number of strandings seems to have been high overall this year, it does match our predictions closely,” Hindell says.

The total number of reported strandings has increased dramatically over the last five years, points out Rosemary Gales, senior marine biologist with the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service: “This follows our concerted efforts to increase public reporting - and it is difficult to disentangle any real increase in strandings with increased notifications.” But she adds that the 10 to 12-year pattern still seems to hold.

Coral reefs dying: Study says less than a third remain healthy
December 17, 2004, The Register Guard
A Register-Guard Editorial

Coral reefs are the very foundation of life in the Earth's oceans - and, by extension, of all human life - and they're perishing at a catastrophic rate.

One-fifth of the world's coral reefs already have been destroyed, and a full one-half face either imminent or longer-term threat of collapse unless the United States and the rest of the world move swiftly to protect remaining reefs and to restore those that have been damaged.

A new study by 240 scientists in 96 countries found that only 30 percent of the world's coral reefs are healthy - an alarming decrease of 11 percent from just two years ago. It identifies global warming as the primary culprit, causing higher water temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations. But it also cites other significant threats, including pollution, sewage, erosion, coastal development and invasive tourism.

The threat to reefs is just one of many that besets our oceans. Populations of many critical fish species - including tuna, shark and swordfish, to name just a few - have declined by 90 percent. Tens of thousands of acres of coastal wetlands disappear each year, and agricultural and other chemicals empty into the oceans, creating vast dead zones. In the United States and elsewhere across the world, coastal waters - and the communities that rely on them - suffer from pollution and extensive habitat loss.

Earlier this year, President Bush received a report documenting the damage to this country's oceans and shores. The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy recommended a complete reorganization for future management of the 4.4 million-square- mile area off the nation's coasts. It also urged that coastal development be more closely regulated to avoid runoff of pollutants, and it recommended a doubling of the federal government's annual investment in ocean research.

While some of the findings of the presidentially appointed panel should be revised - most notably a recommendation that the estimated $3 billion annual cost be funded by royalties from offshore oil and gas exploration - it provides both a solid starting point and a comprehensive blueprint for decades to come.

By responding positively to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy's recommendations - the administration has until Dec. 20 to respond to the congressionally mandated study - Bush has an opportunity to create a positive environmental legacy by working with Congress to begin the difficult but essential process of saving our seas.

While the new study on coral reefs contains discouraging news, it's important to remember that oceans are remarkably resilient and capable of rebounding from damage. Scientists have a thorough and detailed understanding of what's happening to our oceans - and how to reverse the damage.

All's that's missing is the political will to make it happen.

Ocean Survey Finds New Fish, Tuna Migration Routes
November 23, 2004, Reuters

REYKJAVIK - A survey of the world's oceans is turning up more than two new species of fish a week and revealing huge trans-ocean migration routes by creatures from turtles to tuna, scientists say.

"We're finding new marine species almost everywhere," said Ron O'Dor, senior scientist of the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year project running until 2010 by hundreds of scientists in 70 nations.

Even in well-studied waters like off Europe, the number of species is climbing. The census will aid understanding of the oceans, the least-known part of the planet's surface, and help in monitoring threats including over-fishing and global warming.

For fish alone, the census has turned up 106 new species so far in 2004, or more than two a week, according to a 2004 report to be released on Tuesday.

The finds bring the known total of fish species to 15,482.

Among fish, new species found in 2004 include a type of striped goby that lives off Guam in the Pacific.

Other finds in 2004 included two types of octopus in chilly waters off Antarctica and a burrowing 20-cm (eight-inch) worm, dubbed a "purple orchid", in the depths of the mid-Atlantic.

The census estimates that there are about 230,000 known species of marine life, mostly tiny microbes and ranging up to blue whales, but that the real number may top two million.

"Below 3,000 metres (yards) there is a 50-50 chance that any species we find is new to science," O'Dor, a Canadian, told .

Some of the 2004 surprises were in the growing understanding of vast distances travelled by creatures from seals to fish tracked by tiny electronic tags. "It seems that these huge migrations are much more common than we believed," O'Dor said.

CALIFORNIA-JAPAN

"Bluefin tuna tagged in California turned up off Japan and then swim back to California," O'Dor said. "It's been known that tuna swim across the Atlantic but the Pacific is three times broader."

"And green turtles tagged near the equator go in huge loops around the Pacific, maybe three times in a lifetime of almost perpetual movement," he said.

And off western Canada, rare green sturgeon were also found 1,000 km (620 miles) north of their normal spawning grounds in California.

"Some people have suggested that perhaps they were moving north because of (global) warming, but we don't know," he said, adding large fish probably take several weeks to swim across the Pacific.

The census has so far registered 38,000 species, up from 13,000 a year ago.

"From some areas we have no samples yet, like the South Pacific or the Indian Ocean," O'Dor said.

Another challenge will be to map sub-sea mountains. About 14,000 sea mounts have been discovered but only 250 studied.

"They are like islands -- they have species found nowhere else," said J. Frederik Grassle of Rutgers University, chair of the census' international scientific steering committee.

He said some oil companies were cooperating in handing over seismic data of the seabed -- the firms were most interested in rocks deep below.

Killer Shark to be Destroyed After Australia Attack
20/12/2004, Reuters

SYDNEY - Australian police and wildlife officers were ordered on Friday to destroy a large shark which killed a teenage surfer in a savage attack as his horrified schoolfriends looked on.

Police said searchers had found a small amount of what were believed to be human remains which they had sent for forensic testing. A search in glassy waters off popular West Beach in the South Australia state capital Adelaide was continuing, they said.

"We're still searching ... they may have found a couple more things that could be human remains," a police spokeswoman said.

Witnesses described on Thursday seeing two great white sharks -- one up to five metres (16 feet) long -- attack 18-year-old attack surfer Nick Peterson after he fell off a surfboard which friends were towing behind a small boat about 300 metres (1,000 feet) offshore.

However police and rescuers now believe one large shark killed the teenager, the second fatal shark attack in Australia in five days.

Acting South Australia state premier Kevin Foley said the shark should be killed if it was found even though great white sharks are a protected species in Australian waters.

"The government's view is that a large shark in close proximity to the beaches that is posing a direct threat to human life should be destroyed," Foley told reporters in Adelaide.

Beaches in the area remained open and swimmers ventured back into the water despite Thursday's savage attack.

Rescue workers reported seeing a four-metre (13-foot) shark on Friday several km north of West Beach and believe it was the same one seen in the area several times in recent weeks.

"It actually came to the surface and swam under our rescue boat, so we do know it's still in the area," Sea Rescue Squadron leader Fraser Bell told reporters.

"The shark was seen ... and headed south towards the scene of yesterday's attack," he said.

While the search continued, distraught members of Peterson's family and his friends gathered at the beach and linked arms in a group at the water's edge. Others laid flowers along the shore.

"Nick was a very passionate and a very experienced water man," Peterson's father Philip said.

"We acknowledge that the sea is in fact the shark's domain and we don't ... advocate the indiscriminate killing of any shark," he said in a statement read to reporters.

Police inspector David Lusty said the attack had been swift and savage and that Peterson's friends could have done nothing to help him.

A 38-year-old man died after he was mauled by a shark while spearfishing off the far northeast coast of tropical Queensland state on Saturday.

In July, another surfer died in Western Australia when he was attacked by a shark described as being "as big as a car".

Australia has a reputation for shark attacks but International Shark File figures show most occur in North American waters.

The first documented attack in Australia was in 1791 and there have been more than 625 attacks in the past 200 years, about 190 of them fatal.

Ban on 'Finning' Offers Hope for Survival of Atlantic Sharks
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 23, 2004; Page A21

Sixty-three countries have agreed to ban the killing of sharks for their fins in the Atlantic Ocean, a move that conservationists said could help bolster the predators' declining population.

The Bush administration pushed for the binding measure, which was adopted unanimously by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, an international coalition that manages tuna and swordfish fisheries in the Atlantic. Sharks are often caught by accident along with tuna and swordfish, and fishermen cut off their fins to sell them in Asia for shark fin soup, which can sell for $100 a bowl. Fishermen often cut off the fins and throw the carcasses overboard because it leaves more room for other catches.

Despite sharks' feared reputation, they are a coveted commercial and recreational commodity, and there are no international catch limits on a species that has declined precipitously in the past few decades. Canadian authorities declared North Atlantic porbeagle sharks an endangered species in May after surveys showed their numbers had declined by 90 percent since the 1960s.

National Marine Fisheries Service Director William Hogarth, who led the U.S. delegation to the commission's New Orleans meeting, said the agreement "is what we needed to ensure the survival of Atlantic sharks."

The United States prohibited shark "finning" in the Atlantic more than a decade ago, but other countries have been slower to follow. South Korea initially resisted the ban, and any country can still opt out in the next six months before the restrictions take effect. The ban does not apply to other oceans, and environmentalists plan to lobby for a finning ban in the Pacific.

Sonja Fordham, a shark conservation specialist at the Ocean Conservancy and a U.S. delegate, called the pact "a significant step forward" and added: "This does a lot to address the unsustainable mortality of sharks."

Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year, but it is hard to pin down an exact number because countries do not have to track how many sharks are caught and where they are captured; the commission also agreed to monitor shark catch worldwide and identify where the creatures nurse.

Sharks are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because they grow slowly and produce so few young. Although the United Nations adopted an international shark-conservation plan in 1999, few countries have produced national plans to carry out the effort.

Liz Lauck, acting director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's marine program, said that "sharks remain in peril all over the world" and that the success of the new measures "will hinge on enforcement of the finning ban, careful monitoring of new shark data and follow-up action through catch limits."

White House Creates Cabinet-Level Ocean Policy Panel
20/12/2004, Reuters

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration created on Friday a cabinet-level committee to address rising pollution and overfishing in US territorial ocean waters.

The action is the first federal rethink of US ocean policy since 1969 and seeks to untangle a web of cross-purpose state and federal regulations.

Since 1969, US ocean-front states have seen a population boom. More than half of the US population lives in states with ocean frontage, according to the US Commission on Ocean Policy.

Growth has spurred bacteria-infested waters, overfishing and a string of government-ordered beach closings because of harmful runoff from sewers and farming operations.

US President George W. Bush on Friday signed an executive order creating the Committee on Ocean Policy to advise on ocean issues.

The move comes after a 16-member commission issued a report in April, which called for action.

"The commission provided us a substantial analysis of the problems we face when it comes to our oceans, and with the action today, the president is leading with a substantial set of solutions," said James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Connaughton will head the new committee.

The new office will pursue local quotas aimed at taming overfishing, convert some US Navy warships to research vessels and lay thousands of high-tech buoys to monitor sea conditions, Connaughton said.

It will also address the declining health of coral reefs and seek to ratify a global sea treaty, he said.

However, the administration avoided action on a panel recommendation to use off-shore oil and natural gas drilling royalties to fund ocean cleanup efforts.

The move got mixed reviews from environmental groups.

"We are pleased with the administration's first steps toward protecting the oceans," said David Festa at Environmental Defense.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, also an environmental group, said the administration effort comes up short because it ignores many of the independent panel's suggestions.

Congressional action to protect fisheries and reduce pollution is increasingly important, the organization said.

Most seabirds are filled with plastic waste
Shocking study supports demands for charges on disposable carrier bags
20/12/2004, Reuters
From Rob Edwards in Texel, The Netherlands

ALMOST every seabird in the world has waste plastic inside it. The stomachs of fulmars in the North Sea, storm petrels in the Antarctic and albatrosses in Hawaii have all been found to contain plastic discarded by consumers or industry. Some of the birds have eaten hundreds of plastic fragments and many have died as a result.

“It’s a disgrace for humankind that we have so much unnecessary rubbish,” says Dr Jan van Franeker, a Dutch marine biologist. “We should respect other forms of life on this planet, not offload our problems onto them.”

Franeker is a world expert on plastic waste at sea who has been leading a “Save the North Sea” research project funded by European governments for the past two years. Last week, at the Alterra laboratory on the Dutch island of Texel, he revealed his results exclusively to the Sunday Herald.

The scale and extent of the plastic pollution he has uncovered is staggering. Nineteen out of every 20 dead fulmars analysed by his team from around the North Sea had plastic in them. Each bird had swallowed an average of 44 pieces, weighing a total of 0.33 grams. One fulmar found in Belgium had ingested 1603 pieces, while another from Denmark had 20.6 grams of plastic in its stomach – equivalent to two kilograms in a human-sized stomach.

Franeker said toxic additives in the plastic can poison the birds while sharp fragments can damage or puncture their stomachs. Birds with stomachs full of plastic also ate less and grew weak. Fulmars were chosen for investigation because they are a good “indicator species” for illustrating the damage that plastic litter is doing to all marine life, he said. “If you look long enough, you can find it in almost any seabird worldwide.”

Franeker’s team collected 560 dead fulmars from the shores of eight countries around the North Sea between 2002 and 2004, plus 38 from the Faroes for comparison. Fulmars are members of the petrel family of seabirds and are common throughout the North Sea.

They feed at sea, eating fish, squid, plankton and carrion from near the surface. But at the same time they seem to ingest any waste, like plastic, which is floating around, causing them to be dubbed “flying dustbins”.

The worst-polluted fulmars were found in the southeast of the North Sea along the shores of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. The number and weight of ingested plastic scraps were twice those in fulmars from Orkney and Shetland.

But Franeker pointed out that the high levels of contamination in every region of the North Sea are far in excess of environmental safety limits being proposed by European governments. And the amounts of plastic in fulmars from Scotland were more than twice as high as levels in fulmars from the Faroes.

He believes the main source of plastic in the sea is waste illegally jettisoned by ships, fishing boats and marine installations. Fulmars near busy shipping lanes, like the Pentland Firth south of Orkney, have higher concentrations of plastic in their stomachs than fulmars from quieter areas like Shetland.

But Franeker stressed that it is not just boats that are to blame. Some of the waste is dumped into rivers and washed out to sea, and some, like plastic bags and balloons, is blown off the land.

“We regularly find pieces of balloons in birds,” he said. “Although letting off lots of balloons at a party can bring joy, there is a risk that it will kill wildlife.”

He added: “Litter is an environmental issue which is absolutely an issue of personal behaviour. If we don’t have the discipline as a human race to solve this problem, how are we going to solve more complicated problems?”

One of Franeker’s partner organisations in the European Union’s Save The North Sea project is the anti-litter group, Keep Scotland Beautiful. “We are horrified by the results of the latest European marine litter research,” said the organisation’s national director, John Summer.

“That 95% of fulmars in the North Sea area have plastic in their stomachs is shocking enough, but when you think that this is just an indicator species, which feeds solely at sea, and scale the problem up you start to realise how many, and to what extent, other marine mammals and birds are affected.

“More needs to be done to tackle marine litter sources round the coast of Scotland – and we can only urge people to have some pride, and think before leaving litter at the beach, throwing unwanted items overboard or discharging waste illegally.”

Franeker also found evidence that North Sea fulmars are feeding plastic waste to their chicks in regurgitated food. After breeding, adult birds recorded lower levels of plastic in their stomach than chicks.

In another study in the Antarctic, he found plastic fragments in the stomachs of eight out of every 10 chicks born to small seabirds called Wilson’s storm petrels. An analysis of Laysan albatross chicks that had died in their nests in Hawaii uncovered a wide range of ingested plastic debris, including a cigarette lighter, a toothbrush, a tampon applicator, a toy robot, a golf ball, and lids from a car battery and shampoo bottle.

The plastics industry responded to Franeker’s study by criticising the shipping industry. “The UK plastics industry does not condone marine pollution,” said the British Plastics Federation’s senior executive, Matt Clements. “Fundamentally, the issue calls for better and more responsible waste management practices for all materials on the part of the shipping industry.”

Environmentalists, however, highlighted the need to reduce our dependence on plastics.

“The terrible toll being inflicted on our wildlife through entanglement or ingestion of plastic waste calls for a drastic yet simple response,” said Dr Dan Barlow, head of research at Friends of the Earth Scotland. “The introduction of a plastic bag levy in Scotland would slash plastic use as people either reuse bags or switch to re-useable cloth bags. In turn, less plastic waste will end up in the environment.”

Edinburgh Liberal Democrat MSP, Mike Pringle, is proposing a new law in Scotland to tax plastic bags. Two major retail chains, B&Q and Ikea, have backed the idea by introducing charges for plastic bags instead of giving them away.

Friends of the Earth, however, attacked other retailers for being “wedded to the misplaced belief that such a charge would be catastrophic for business”. Barlow said: “Unless they change their position, our marine wildlife will continue to be turned into living dustbins.”

Navy under global pressure to limit sonar use
EU, others call for cut in noises that harm sea life
Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer
Monday, December 13, 2004
 

The United States is facing increasing international pressure to place limitations on the use of military sonar, the underwater equivalent of radar that has been linked to mass strandings of whales.

The European Union Parliament -- the most prominent of four international bodies that have taken up the matter in recent months -- called in October for its member states to develop a moratorium on all types of military sonars, which use powerful sound to locate objects such as submarines.

Two weeks ago, the IUCN-World Conservation Union, a prestigious group of 70 nations and 400 nongovernmental organizations meeting in Bangkok, overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging governments to limit the use of loud noise sources in the world's oceans, including military sonar, oil and gas exploration and commercial shipping, until the effects are better understood. The United States abstained from the vote.

The measure also said that, to the extent possible, sonar and other activities should be avoided entirely in areas where the vulnerable species live. According to studies cited by the EU and the other world bodies, noise can interfere with the survival of the ocean creatures that depend on sound to navigate, find food, locate mates, avoid predators and communicate with one another. At high decibel levels, noise can kill.

The U.S. Navy is the biggest user of midfrequency active sonar in the world -- and government officials have been loath to require permits to regulate its use.

"We're not ignoring it by any means," said Bill Hogarth, director of the fisheries division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "But to translate to direct mortality is very difficult.''

Hogarth said that calling for a ban or restrictions on naval sonar is "too simple,'' because the effects of sonar depend on ocean conditions.

In more than a dozen instances dating back to the 1960s, however, whales have stranded themselves on the beaches and sometimes died at the time of naval training exercises miles away using midfrequency active sonar.

An unprecedented stranding of 16 beaked and minke whales in the Bahamas in 2000 brought worldwide attention to military sonar. A NOAA investigation concluded that a Navy testing maneuver using midfrequency sonar -- by far the most commonly used type of sonar -- was the likely cause. Necropsies found signs of brain hemorrhaging, which is consistent with injury from sound.

Kenneth Balcomb, founder of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash., and leader of the Bahamas Marine Mammal Survey, concluded that a vibration in the whales' cranial air spaces tore delicate tissues around the brain and ears.

Military active sonars emit sound waves -- blasted from loud speakers - - that scan hundreds of thousands of square miles of ocean waters the way a spotlight would search on land. The sound signal bounces off objects and sends back information to receivers. Some midfrequency active sonar systems can put out more than 235 decibels, as loud as a Saturn V rocket at launch. Aside from the U.S. use, the technology is also employed by Western European countries, Japan, Australia and, to a small extent, Canada.

The other two groups that have called for curbs on naval sonar in the last five months are the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission and the 16 member nations of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area, or

ACCOMBAMS.

At the Bangkok meeting, the United States chose not to engage in the discussions on underwater sea noise, and abstained from voting on the resulting resolution, according to the State Department.

U.S. officials later issued a statement saying the United States shares underlying concerns about the potential effects of sonar, encourages an international approach to advance scientific understanding and is a leader in paying for research and conducting programs to assess and mitigate the adverse effects of some sounds.

Darla Jordan, a State Department press officer, said the United States abstained because it is "in the process of addressing these complex issues.''

Those close to the discussions said there are differences on sonar policy between NOAA, the Defense Department and the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission.

Disappointed by the abstention, environmental groups said the United States, by refusing to partake in negotiations, was repeating behavior exhibited in regard to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Bush administration walked away from the talks on how to implement the United Nations' convention to curb greenhouse gases, which has now been signed by 197 countries and takes effect in February 2005.

Erin Heskett, an International Fund for Animal Welfare spokesman, said the United States should have been a leader in forging the Kyoto pact and it should be collaborating now with Europe and other nations on the sonar issue.

"Here the U.S. is once again ignoring an opportunity to work with the international community," Heskett said. "You would think with the resources and the scientific expertise that we have that we'd be a leader in finding solutions. Not making a commitment to work with other countries, that's the most disturbing.''

Last July, four environmental groups, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Natural Resources Defense Council, sent a letter to the Navy, asking it to change the way it uses midfrequency sonar on more than half of its 300 ships and submarines. The Navy has not made public what it has done in response.

Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who first challenged the Navy's use of powerful underwater sounds a decade ago, says his group is considering filing a lawsuit that would charge the Navy with harassing and killing marine mammals in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

NOAA officials say the Navy has approached the agency about obtaining permits to conduct midfrequency sonar exercises off the East Coast of the United States. But Navy spokesman Mike Kafka -- asked if the Navy is talking with NOAA about putting midfrequency sonar under permit -- said, "It would be inappropriate to get into specifics of ongoing talks.

"All policy decisions on this matter, including those regarding permitting requirements, must be based on fully developed, sound science,'' Kafka said, adding, "the Navy's continued ability to test and train with anti- submarine technology, including midrange sonar, is absolutely vital to the nation's security and national interests.''

Hogarth, the NOAA fisheries director, said his agency is in constant dialogue with the Navy.

"We realize the Navy is a big user of sonar," Hogarth said. "We're aware of the national security issues, and we're also aware of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.''