Blog Archives

Small-scale fishermen celebrated a landmark victory over industrial scale fishing on Wednedsay, when the high court in London ruled that fishing quotas could be redistributed by the government in favour of smaller vessels. This leaves the government free to reallocate valuable fishing rights, that have been unused or under-used by the big trawling vessels to which they were originally assigned, to smaller boats. Small scale fishermen argue that their fishing efforts are more environmentally friendly than those of larger industrial scale vessels, and support more jobs at hard-pressed UK ports.

The judgement, following a lengthy legal battle, is the first time this principle has been established in English law...

Industrialised fishing operations by boats from countries such as Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan are putting pressure on smaller operations carried out by Pacific Islanders. The Secretariat of the Pacific Community has put out a briefing paper for regional governments on how to handle the issue. Dr Shelton Harley, head of the SPC’s Oceanic Fisheries Programme’s Stock Assessment and Modelling Group tells Bruce Hill Pacific nations need to balance the needs of their local fishermen with the money they get from licensing bigger overseas companies to fish in their economic zones.

Presenter: Bruce Hill

Speaker: Dr Shelton Harley, Secretariat of the Pacific Community

HARLEY: At the end of the day there’s a finite number of fish and so these boats are competing in a way for the same, same sto...

The European Union (EU) has just officially adopted a strict ban on shark finning!  Saturday ended nearly a decade of battle to close several enforcement loopholes that had permitted some forms of shark finning. Finning has technically been prohibited in the EU since 2003, but an exemption allowed Member States to issue special permits for fishing vessels to remove shark fins on board. In particular, an exemption used by Spain and Portugal allowed some vessels to remove sharks’ fins at sea, which made it nearly impossible to detect and monitor the finning that was occurring.

Shark finning is a brutal practice – the shark is hauled onto a boat, its fins are sliced off, and the shark is thrown back into the ocean, often still alive, to drown or bleed to death. Since shark meat is less...

The earth’s coral reefs are disappearing due to several causes including the changing sea temperatures, pollution, carbon absorption, and human intervention. The Global Coral Reef Alliance (GCRA) has worked for several years to develop technologies and solutions that would help restore the oceans’ reefs and ensure that underwater life continue to thrive. The late Professor Wolf Hilbertz and Dr. Tom Goreau of the GCRA developed a patented technology and method called mineral accretion or Biorock®, which uses low voltage electrical currents to grow limestone structures on steel sculptures, thereby creating artificial reefs.

The process helps corals grow much faster than they normally do and helps protect the reefs from diseases and damage...

Japan has told the United Nation’s highest court that Australia’s anti-whaling stance is part of a “civilising mission and moral crusade” that is totally out of place in the modern world. Tokyo did not hold back in its opening submission to the 16 judges of the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Tuesday. “The days of civilising missions and moral crusades are over,” lawyer Payam Akhavan told the court. “In a world with diverse civilisations and traditions, international law cannot become an instrument for imposing the cultural preference of some at the expense of others.”

Canberra last week argued that Japan’s JARPA research program was cloaking ongoing commercial whaling in the lab coat of science...

Scientists are farming seaweed next to the tiny north-western island of Kerrera as part of an international project to produce seaweed-based biofuel.

This farm is one of three trials in the inshore waters off the coasts of Norway, Scotland and Ireland, which are growing sugar kelp on textile mats suspended in the water.

This experimental harvest will reveal which textile produces the best “carpet of seaweed”.

Some experts suggest that producing fuel from seaweed is too expensive to make it viable as a business, but these researchers say they could have commercial-scale farms within a decade. Selling the seaweed for other purposes – as a food or a cosmetic ingredient for example – could increase the value of the crop.

Local resident Duncan MacEachen explained to BBC News what this new techn...

Fish: Blue and Yellow Fusilier, Ribbon Sweetlips, Spot Lionfish, Common Lionfish, Papuan Scorpionfish, Goldstriped Sweetlips, Denise Pigmy Seahorse, Glassfish, Minute Filefish, Network Pipefish, Black Ribbon Eel

Nudi: Solarpower Nudi, Tambja Morosa, Chromodoris annae

Crustaceans: Tozeuma Shrimp, Orangutan Crabs, Bubblecoral Shrimp

Fish: Yellowtail Fusiliers, Bargibanti Pygmy Seahorse, Bigeye Trevallies, Ribbon Sweetlips, Slender Silversides

Nudi: Tambja gabriela, Chromodoris willani, Chromodoris annae, Flabellina rubrolineata, Tambja morosa , Chromodoris colemani, Chromodoris lochi

Crustaceans: Orang-utan Crab,

Other: Margarita Egg Cowrie

To prevent coral reefs around the world from dying off, deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions are required, says a new study from Carnegie’s Katharine Ricke and Ken Caldeira. They find that all existing coral reefs will be engulfed in inhospitable ocean chemistry conditions by the end of the century if civilization continues along its current emissions trajectory. Their work will be published July 3 by Environmental Research Letters.

Coral reefs are havens for marine biodiversity and underpin the economies of many coastal communities. But they are very sensitive to changes in ocean chemistry resulting from greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to coastal pollution, warming waters, overdevelopment, and overfishing.

Ricke and Caldeira, along with colleagues from Institut Pierre Simon Laplace...

GoDive Mykonos is a friendly, professional PADI Dive Resort in Mykonos island, a unique island in Cyclades Province, Greece. Expect to meet experienced instructors speaking a variety of languages. Join us for scuba diving, snorkeling and boat trips to the crystal clear waters and scenic dive sites of the Aegean Sea and experience the underwater world in safety and high standards of quality. We regularly visit the famous shipwreck of ¨Anna II¨, the inspiring reefs in Kalo Livadi, Agia Anna and Lia Bay, the cave systems in Tragonisi and other diving sites around the island. We offer an extensive range of PADI diving courses from Discover Scuba Diving (Begginers) to Dive Master (Certified).

Go Dive Mykonos situated in Lia at the south-east part of Mykonos (See our Map Location)...