Daily News Clips

Demand for marine scientists grows
South Coast Today - New Bedford,MA,USA
A new report, released Monday by NOAA Fisheries, concludes that the supply of marine scientists trained to estimate the size and health of fish stocks is ...

Carbon Dioxide Auction Raises $38 Million
Hartford Courant, United States - 1 hour ago
Carbon dioxide sold for $3.07 a ton in the nation's first auction of emissions allowances for power plants, held last Thursday by a consortium of Northeast ...

 

Heat’s rightly on for coastal drilling
Boston Herald - United States
Congress soon will have a chance to do so by letting the restrictions on offshore drilling lapse and allowing this extra energy to come online. ...

 

Daily News Clips

Sea turtles are back, noshing on jellyfish
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
Benson led teams of specialists aboard the NOAA research ship David Starr Jordan that carried sonar gear to scan for the jellyfish while crew members tagged ...
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Senate Ends Ban On Offshore Oil Drilling Off Atlantic, Pacific Coasts
AHN - USA
Washington, DC (AHN) - Senate lawmakers voted Saturday to end a 26-year ban on offshore drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as part of a ...
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Highlights of offshore drilling, budget measure
The Associated Press
Highlights of the spending bill sent to President Bush on Saturday that would end a freeze on more offshore oil drilling and provide money for federal ...
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Presidential Action Ensures Recreational Fishing in Federal Waters
MuskieFIRST - Rhinelander,WI,USA
This historic amendment ensures that federal agencies must maintain recreational fishing on federal lands and waters, including marine protected areas. ...
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Bush wants to expand marine protections in Pacific
The Associated Press
He also announced that the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, off the California coast, will be expanded by 585 square nautical miles to include the ...
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President Bush Discusses US Ocean Action Plan
Whitehouse.gov (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
And so I've asked the Secretaries of the Interior, Commerce, and Defense, as well as the CEQ Chairman, to work to find additional areas in the Pacific that ...
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Fact Sheet: Protecting Our Oceans
Whitehouse.gov (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
Creating the largest fully protected marine conservation area in the world: President Bush established the Papahânaumokuâkea Marine National Monument in ...
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House votes to lift offshore drilling ban
Houston Chronicle - United States
Fearing a politically damaging dust-up with Republicans over offshore drilling, House Democrats late Tuesday agreed to allow the congressional drilling ban ...
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Whale Protection Rule Clears White House, 573 Days Later
OMB Watch - USA
During that time, OIRA and other White House offices tried hard to derail NOAA's efforts to protect the species by imposing speed limits on large ships ...
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Gulf seafood industry crippled by Ike's damage
MLive.com, MI - 18 hours ago
The $100 million fishing industry in Galveston Bay is virtually paralyzed. Hurricane Ike's impact is being felt among Gulf seafood harvesters…

Daily News Clips

Saipan objects to Bush marine protection plan
Honolulu Advertiser - Honolulu,HI,USA
The proposal, expected to be final before Bush leaves office, could establish marine sanctuaries or national monuments modeled on the Papahanaumokuakea ...
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Carbon dioxide emissions could mean trouble for ocean species
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Fairbanks,AK,USA
By Christi Hang FAIRBANKS — The mysterious cold water coral reefs could remain a mystery if the world’s carbon dioxide output stays the same. ...
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Proposed marine sanctuary stretches from Crescent City to Little River
Times-Standard - Eureka,CA,USA
EUREKA -- The Yurok Tribe is taking preliminary steps to establish a marine sanctuary from just south of Crescent City to Little River, the boundaries of ...
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Daily News Clips

Could global warming benefit one species of endangered shark?
Plenty Magazine - New York,NY,USA
... species is listed as "vulnerable to extinction" by the IUCN Red List. The species is worst off in Australia, where it is considered "critically endangered."
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Environmentalists to launch monument TV ad
Saipan Tribune - Saipan,Northern Mariana Islands,Micronesia
By Stefan Sebastian Environmentalists backing a proposal to establish a national marine monument in the CNMI's northern waters are poised to take their case ...
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Modest Carbon Dioxide Cutbacks May Be Too Little, Too Late For ...
Science Daily (press release) - USA
"Before the industrial revolution, over 98% of warm water coral reefs were surrounded by open ocean waters at least 3.5 times supersaturated with aragonite" ...
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Save Washington’s Ocean Backyard

Let your marine sanctuary know you care about the diversity of ocean life off the Olympic Coast!

Be an advocate for biodiversity and habitat protection!

MCBI plays an advisory role to the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and you can help us.

• Attend a public meeting and provide comments as the sanctuary reexamines its management priorities.
  
• Encourage the sanctuary to protect the ocean ecosystem in our backyard.


• Contact MCBI or the sanctuary for background information on the issues.

The public comment period ends November 14, 2008. Thank you for taking care of our ocean!

(Photo credit: Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary)

Daily News Clips

 

Island Officials Say US Move Would 'Trammel' Local Rights
pacific - Honolulu,HI,USA
In a letter to Bush, three senior government officials and indigenous community leaders said designating the northern islands as a marine monument or ...
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Federal Agencies Map Plans to Address Marine Debris
NOAA - Washington,DC,USA
EPA, NOAA and nine other federal agencies announced today the completion of an interagency report that guides the strategies of individual federal agencies ...
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Out to sea
Worcester Telegram - Worcester,MA,USA
The bill purports to prohibit development in marine sanctuaries and empower states to block drilling off their shores — both provisions are already on the ...
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Report: Ocean debris will likely worsen
The Associated Press
The endangered Hawaiian monk seal population is struggling as many of the mammals get entangled in improperly discarded fishing nets. ...
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Endangered whales might change shipping rules at SC ports
Beaufort Gazette - Beaufort,SC,USA
Only about 300 are believed to exist, according to Barb Zoodsma, a NOAA biologist. The leading causes of death include collisions with ships and getting ...
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Bringing Oceans to a Boil
RedOrbit - Dallas,TX,USA
The report's panel of scientists points out that acidification hurt tropical and subtropical reefs the most, but that cold water corals are in danger as ...
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Daily News Clips

Canada’s Pacific North Coast needs better management in the face ...
KBS Radio - Trail,BC,Canada
According to the report, BC’s Bountiful Sea: Heritage Worth Preserving, less than one per cent of the ocean in this region is designated as a protected area ...
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NOAA: Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary In “Fair-to-Good ...
7thSpace Interactive (press release) - New York,NY,USA
A new NOAA report on the health of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary indicates that the overall condition of the sanctuary’s marine life and ...
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Daily News Clips

Oil drilling in Georges Bank banned in energy bill
Boston Herald - United States
... bill to ban drilling in national marine sanctuaries, including the Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, located off Massachusetts.
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US House approves offshore drilling
Boston Globe - United States
The final bill also excludes marine monuments and national marine sanctuaries from drilling. This summer, as gas prices climbed to nearly $5 a gallon in ...
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Kingman Atoll, MPAs and climate change
By John Bruno
In an op-ed describing the impact of the new the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, Enric Sala (the Line Islands expedition leader) argued, “A national monument can protect against the ...
Climate Shifts - http://www.climateshifts.org/

Proposals for marine reserve sites sought
Statesman Journal - Salem,OR,USA
The controversial marine reserves — which have drawnstrong opposition from a number of coastal residents — would be areas within Oregon's territorial sea, ...
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House Roll Call: How they voted on offshore drilling bill

By The Associated Press

The 236-189 roll call Tuesday by which the House voted to allow oil drilling off the nation's coasts beyond 50 miles out if states agree.

 

Daily News Clips

State May Change Protected Marine Areas on San Diego's Coast
San Diego 6 - San Diego,CA,USA
The state is in the process of remapping the protected areas based on the health of the habitat and fish populations, and any recommendations will ...
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Talkback: Getting to the bottom of the fish crisis
CNN International - USA
At the beginning of September the Hong Kong government announced it was considering banning all bottom trawling activities in its waters, ...
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Daily News Clips

Memorandum on Potential Marine Conservation Management Areas
RedOrbit - Dallas,TX,USA
National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 USC 1431, et seq.), or the Antiquities Act (16 USC 431). These objects include: In the central Pacific, coral reefs, ...
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The endangered Endangered Species Act
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
In 2003, those two agencies entered into an agreement that allowed them to skip independent scientific reviews under the Endangered Species Act and ...
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Marine debris threatens animals, environment
Dailyrecord.com - Parsippany,NJ,USA
President Bush drew attention to the problem in 2006, designating a group of remote Hawaiian islands a marine national monument. Ocean currents dump up to ...
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Algae blooms choking oceans, lakes
Canada.com - Don Mills,Ontario,Canada
Algae has smothered 80 per cent of coral reefs in the Caribbean and ruined 75 per cent of California's fish-rich kelp forests. Poison day-glo-green caulerpa ...
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Daily News Clips

Humpback Whales Make Huge Comeback
By Adi(Adi)
"It's not a complete success, but it's definitely very encouraging in terms of the recovery of the species," said Jeff Walters, co-manager of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. ...
animalaquatic - http://animalaquatic.blogspot.com/

Pitch in to protect our coastal waters
Los Angeles Daily News - Los Angeles,CA,USA
Marine Protected Areas are like underwater parks, open for visitation, appreciation and enjoyment. They protect key habitat so that marine life can recover, ...
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Stepping back from the acidic abyss
Christian Science Monitor - Boston,MA,USA
Especially if the topic involves coral reefs and ocean acidification. The venue: The 20th meeting of the US Coral Reef Task Force, set up in 1988 to ...
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Endangering protection for species, habitat
South Bend Tribune - South Bend,IN,USA
Controversy has churned for years over the Endangered Species Act. Some say the 1973 act should not be changed; it should be more strongly enforced. ...
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House Democrats Unveil Bill to End Drilling Ban

Daily News Clips

Bush's new ocean protection plan needs more teeth
Seattle Post Intelligencer - 12 hours ago
By JOSHUA REICHERT AND TERRY GARCIA Two years ago, President Bush set a new standard for global ocean protection when he created the world's largest no-take ...

House resolution opposes marine monument plan
Saipan Tribune, Micronesia - 22 hours ago
President Bush recently directed federal agencies to conduct an assessment of the waters at issue to determine their suitability as a marine monument, ...

Noise Pollution Hurting Marine Wildlife
Boston Channel.com - MA, USA
Since June, all the low-frequency sound in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary has been recorded by 10 recording devices located 12 miles off ...
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Scientists discuss plastics in the oceans during Tacoma conference
TheNewsTribune.com, WA - 8 hours ago
It’s wrong to litter the oceans with plastic debris - and you don’t have to be a scientist to see it. Even so, when the world’s leading researchers in the ...

Oceans of Opportunity
Energy Central, CO - Sep 9, 2008
Ocean Renewable Power Co. says that the waters off Maine's coastline will provide the foundation by which it can spawn a new generation of electricity. ...

 

Daily News Clips

Ocean conditions signal West Coast salmon rebound
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
Bill Peterson of NOAA Fisheries in Newport says the change in an atmospheric condition known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation has generated cold water ...
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Democrats Start on Energy Plan

Washington Post, DC, USA

After absorbing months of criticism for inaction on the high cost of gasoline, House Democrats yesterday began assembling broad energy legislation that allows greater drilling off the Atlantic coastline and Florida's gulf shore.

 

Cutthroat trout ducks endangered species list
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
By Patty Henetz Posted: 8:58 PM- Federal officials say they don't need to put the Bonneville cutthroat trout on the endangered or threatened species list, ...

 

March of the penguins: court urges decision on protection
Scientific American - USA
Penguins may be waddling closer to protected status under the Endangered Species Act, now that a judge has told federal regulators to determine whether the ...
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Make Coral Sea 'marine protected area' 
The Age, Australia - 11 hours ago
A group of scientists have called for the Coral Sea to be declared the world's largest marine protected area, but the fishing industry says the idea is ...

 

Daily News Update

Ocean preserve: Bush plan recognized a need to protect
Houston Chronicle - United States
... million acres to create a national maritime monument, now known as the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. ...
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Expand county's no-fishing zones?
San Diego Union Tribune - United States
It has a year to submit its nonbinding report to the state Fish & Game Commission, which has the final say on new or expanded marine reserves.

Small-scale fisheries are "best hope" for sustainability in ...
Mongabay.com - USA
We need less fishing effort and more marine reserves. And we need them fast.” As for consumers in the developed world, Jacquet does not believe it is enough ...
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Conservationists asking to keep ban on off-shore drilling
Foster's Daily Democrat - Dover,NH,USA
Brooks said extracting oil and gas from the protected area would have a negligible effect on prices, lowering them "a few cents one or two decades from now. ...
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Fishermen, Environmentalists Face Off Over Coastal Protection
NBC Sandiego.com - San Diego,CA,USA
The focus is on state marine protected areas, and San Diego County has several of them, including La Jolla Cove, Cardiff and San Eligio Lagoon. ...
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The King of Tuna

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Mr. Bush’s Blue Legacy

A New York Times Editorial
September 2, 2008

President Bush may be on the brink of doing something stunningly at odds with his record as one of the worst environmental stewards ever to inhabit the White House. He is considering setting aside three vast, remote corners of the Pacific Ocean for protection, an area larger than Alaska and Texas combined.

In a memo last month, Mr. Bush directed his administration to develop a plan for creating sanctuaries in the waters around the Northern Mariana Islands, including the Mariana Trench, the world’s deepest; Rose Atoll in American Samoa; and parts of a long, sprawling collection of reefs and atolls known as the Line Islands.

The waters are as isolated and pristine as any part of the globe can be these days, home to countless species of fish and plants, rare turtles and seabirds and glorious reefs. The Mariana Trench is a staggering place; it could swallow Everest. The islands are mostly coral flyspecks, but if the waters around them are protected to the fullest extent possible — to the 200-mile territorial limit — the sanctuaries would total nearly 900,000 square miles. That is bigger than all of Mexico.

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