News clips Sep. 26-30, 2009

Federal Funding

• Panel says spend more on national parks; [See also: The Future of Our Parks- NY Times Editorial about Parks appropriations funding]
• USDA to fund conservation effort in 12 states- Mississippi River water quality

Fisheries

• South Atlantic Deepwater Corals Protected From Fishing Gear
• Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Takes Strong New Action to Protect Fish Stocks and Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems

Endangered Species

• Feds reviewing humpback whale endangered status
• Feds to decide on listing ice seals as threatened
• Monk seal shooter pleads guilty- MCBI is quoted; [see also: Seal killer pleads guilty, gets 90-day term- Honolulu Advertiser; Man guilty in killing of seal on Kauai- Honolulu Star-Bulletin; Kauai man sent to jail for killing endangered monk seal- KHON2]

Hawaii

• $21 Million for Interior & Environment Projects

• Lay nets threaten Hawaii sea life- see link for diagram of lay gillnet and where they are banned in Hawaii
• Aquarium comes up with unique way to save coral reefs
• National Science Foundation awards $23 million to UH for EPSCoR program

News Clips: Friday, Sep. 25th, 2009

• White House task force gets input in R.I. on a national oceans policy- The Providence Journal.[see also: R.I. leads the way on oceans, say Obama officials- Providence Journal; Wind power a factor in sea plan for East Coast- Associated Press; Hearing explores federal ocean plan-Cape Cod Online; East Coast federal ocean hearing Thursday in Providence- Boston Globe]

• Human damage ‘needs limits’

• Deep-sea trawling debate heats up in France

• AP: Palau creates world's first shark sanctuary

Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification

News Clips: Sept. 23-24th, 2009

National Ocean Policy

• East Coast federal ocean hearing Thursday in Providence- Boston Globe [see also National panel seeks local views on ocean planning- Providence Journal]
• A landmark day for the ocean- Press Release from Ocean Conservancy
• White House Proposes National Ocean Council to Chart Course for Ocean Health- Environmental News Service

Climate Change

• FACTBOX: The science spurring talks on a U.N. climate pact
• Small island nations urge rich to limit warming
• Death by water torture- Climate Change effect on KiribatiPolicy

Policy

• “With Washington bleeding green, some congressmen -- the princes of pork -- are treating you like a giant ATM"- A blog about Inouye’s earmarks for FY10
• Bordallo Praises House Passage of Ocean Conservation Bills

Endangered Species

• Hunt for clues to sea life deaths at Farallones
• New Species Discovered On Whale Skeletons
• How the Laysan Duck can Recover

Marine Debris

• Volunteers Clean the World's Beaches This Weekend
• Fish and Paint Chips Part I: The Science of Trash

Marine Protected Areas

• Sanctuaries mooted for northern waters- Australia

Ocean Observation

• Keeping An Eye On The Oceans

Ecosystem-based management

• Biofuels Not So Friendly to Gulf of Mexico

Broad Ocean Conservation Goals Pose Significant New Challenges

By ALLISON WINTER of Greenwire

A comprehensive new ocean management plan proposed yesterday by the Obama administration aims to make sweeping changes in federal management and set ocean conservation as a top national priority. But translating those lofty goals into new approaches in agency management for land and water resources may prove difficult, ocean experts say.

"It's an important day, these are great recommendations ... but a big chunk of hard work lays ahead in fleshing out the details in this," said Chris Mann of the Pew Environment Group, who contributed to an acclaimed national ocean report six years ago. "This is the 'what'; we have to figure out how it is going to be carried out."

The first step toward creating the new national ocean policy came yesterday, in a 38-page report that lists a host of new priorities for the federal government to protect and restore ocean health. The interim report (pdf) sets the protection of ocean resources as a national goal and creates an ocean council to guide the new ecosystem-based approach.

Read more...

News clips September 19-22nd, 2009

More press on National Ocean Policy Draft Recommendations

• Administration Officials Recommend Ocean Policy- Journal of Commerce

• Ocean Task Force Has a Big, Deep Blue Job Ahead- Public News Service- WA- Elliott Norse, President of MCBI, is quoted

• The Blue Squad- E Magazine- by David Helvarg

Marine Spatial Planning

• Zoning the Sea for development, Cape Cod weighs in on Oceans Management Plan

• Groups Spar Over U.S. Offshore Drilling Plan
  

• Panel seeks to prevent more blue whale deaths- Santa Barbara, CA

• Salazar says he may wait on offshore drilling plan

Other News

• UN officials push for creation of monitoring system for marine environment

• Chesapeake dead zones an economic threat
  

• Research ship, Oceana Ranger, discovers dozen new species, off the Canary Isles

• Conservation Bonds Helping Clean California Beaches & Ocean Water- Reuters

• NOAA Scientists Catch Rare Giant Squid- Click link to see photos of the squid

• Project helps find, predict algae blooms

• Stimulus funds devoted to Hawaii watershed restoration

• Mediterranean states pass on bluefin tuna ban

• Oceanographers Examine Mercury Levels Of Pelagic Fish In Hawaii