Industry, Conservation and Legislation Updates

Giant cannibal shrimp invasion growing

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:48:00 GMT

An invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday that sightings of the massive Asian tiger shrimp, which can eat their smaller cousins, were 10 times higher in 2011 than in 2010.

“And they are probably even more prevalent than reports suggest, because the more fisherman and other locals become accustomed to seeing them, the less likely they are to report them,” said Pam Fuller, a USGS biologist.

The shrimp, which can grow to 13 inches long, are native to Asian and Australian waters and have been reported in coastal waters from North Carolina to Texas.

They can be consumed by humans.

"They're supposed to be very good. But they can get very large, sorta like lobsters," Fuller said.

While they may make good eatin' for people, it's the eating the giant shrimp do themselves that worries scientists.

"Are they competing with or preying on native shrimp," Fuller asked. "It's also very disease-prone."

To try to get those answers, government scientists are launching a special research project on the creatures.

“The Asian tiger shrimp represents yet another potential marine invader capable of altering fragile marine ecosystems,” NOAA marine ecologist James Morris said in a statement. “Our efforts will include assessments of the biology and ecology of this non-native species and attempts to predict impacts to economically and ecologically important species of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico."

Murray W. Camp/MASNA ILOC Rep

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Philippines steps up poaching enforcement efforts

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:31:00 GMT

CITES Animal Committee Meets

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:18:00 GMT

The twenty-sixth meeting of the Animals Committee (AC26) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) convened from 15-20 March 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland. AC26 was followed by the Joint Meeting of the AC and Plants Committee (PC), which took place in Dublin, Ireland, from 22-24 March 2012.

It had been several years since the CITES scientific committees have had the opportunity to meet for any length of time in tandem, and with preparations for the 62nd meeting of the Standing Committee (SC62) in July and the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16) in Thailand in 2013 gaining momentum, the committees were under pressure to complete their mandate from CoP15 and provide essential advice to the Convention’s decision-making body. The more than 200 participants attending the meetings over the course of two and a half weeks was an indication of parties’ interest in the scientific committees’ deliberations. The Committees completed their work with collegial collaboration and while some of the more contentious issues provided some lengthy and complex debates, the AC/PC delegates left Dublin with some accomplishments under their belts and some work to do to ensure that CITES’ scientific processes continue to provide a strong foundation for the Convention.

During AC26, participants adopted recommendations on: the Review of Significant Trade (RST) in specimens of Appendix-II species; the Periodic Review of animal species included in the CITES Appendices; the reports from Caspian Sea range states on the evaluation of sturgeon stock assessment and Total Allowable Catch (TAC) determination methodology; the implementation of Resolution Conf. 12.6 (Rev. CoP15) on conservation and management of sharks; and the report of the WG on sea cucumbers.

The specific recommendations adopted by AC26, several of which specifically deal with corals, will be the subject of additional near-future MASNA blog entries, so stay tuned.

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Sea Shepherd Calls for Removal of Giam Choo-Hoo from CITES Committee

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:19:00 GMT

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has called for and demanded the immediate removal of Dr. Giam Choo-Hoo from the UN’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Dr. Choo-Hoo is the Asian delegate on the CITES Animal Committee. Sea Shepherd accuses him of being a representative of the shark fin industry.

Captain Paul Watson has sent a letter to CITES and many other animal protection groups stating, “Sea Shepherd has initiated a campaign to bring the activities of Dr. Giam and CITES lack of a conflict of interest provisos to the world and this campaign will not cease until these issues are addressed.”

More info can be found here.

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Calls for accelerated reef restoration in Philippines

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 16:52:00 GMT

A prominent Filipina scientist said a laid back attitude to ecological restoration may cost the Philippines further loss of its coral reefs, biodiversity and, eventually, source of food.

“Within the human-dominated system, restoration have to be integrated within the broader context of all the main driving factors of ecosystem degradation, in which agriculture often has central importance,” professor Rhodora Azanza of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute said, echoing findings of scientists in 2009. Azanza spoke at the National Research Council of the Philippines general membership assembly last week.

Azanza said previous efforts have been focused on conservation, which has helped increase production of food, “but mostly for aquaculture.”

Citing Bureau of Agricultural Statistics data, Azanza noted that for a decade beginning 1999, commercial and municipal marine fisheries production failed to steadily catch up with aquaculture as total marine production hit nearly 5 million metric tons.

“Marine reserves fall short of the required 25 to 35 percent of 25,000 [square kilometers] of coral-reef areas that need to be protected to get meaningful and faster results to protect [and/or] stabilize biodiversity and enhance productivity of these areas.”

These marine areas total 1.61 million hectares comprised of the provinces of Antique, Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Negros Oriental and Samar.

Azanza added that the framework for the ecorestoration of coral reefs should be “robust.”

She opts for restoration since conservation efforts comprise of “passive measures, allowing natural processes to mitigate impacts without or with only minimal human interference and far more used [and/or] biased toward animals.”

Restoration, on the other hand, emphasizes more “active measures… [and] has, at its core, the assumption that at least some proportion of habitat loss is recoverable through positive action.”

Today's young adults less interested in environmental issues

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:00 GMT

A recent article describes a study reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology describes the result of a study concluding that today's young Americans are less interested in the environment and in conserving resources — and often less civic-minded overall — than their elders were when they were young. The findings go against the widespread belief that environmental issues have hit home with today's young adults, known as Millennials, who have grown up amid climate change discussion and the mantra "reduce, reuse, recycle." The environment is often listed among top concerns of young voters.

Based on two longstanding national surveys of high school seniors and college freshmen, Twenge and her colleagues found a decline, over the last four decades, in young people's trust in others, their interest in government and the time they said they spent thinking about social problems.

Steepest of all was a steady decline in concern about the environment, and taking personal action to save it.

Of particular concern to those of us concerned with the decline of the world’s coral reefs, the article also quoted Mark Potosnak, an environmental science professor at DePaul University in Chicago, who has noticed an increase in skepticism — or confusion — about climate change among his students as the national debate has heightened. That leads to fatigue, he said.

"It's not so much that they don't think it's important. They're just worn out," Potosnak said. "It's like poverty in a foreign country. You see the picture so many times, you become inured to it."

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Borneo eco-resort’s reef restoration

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:34:00 GMT

In Sabah, Borneo, the Gayana Eco Resort is showcasing its coral reef restoration initiative during a "Marine Awareness Month" from March 22-April 22.

The environmental sanctuary on Gaya Island off the coast of Kota Kinabalu is celebrating the return to the wild of revived coral and hand-reared juvenile Giant Clams from its Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC). The event marks a milestone in the resort’s commitment to restore a coral reef ecosystem ravaged by illegal fishing methods, dumping of waste into the sea and climate change.

Over the past few years, broken coral fragments have been collected and grown at its research center. 1000 fully grown colonies will now be transferred to a ocean nursery on the island’s reefs. Marine biologists have also spawned all seven Giant Clams species found in Malaysian waters at the resort’s nursery: Tridacna gigas, Tridacna derasa, Tridacna squamosa, Tridacna maxima, Tridacna crocea, Hippopus porcellanus and Hippopus hippopus. 500 of these clams are being transferred to a reef nursery.

Guests at Gayana Eco Resort have the opportunity of participating in the reef restoration, assisting with coral planting of broken coral fragments.

Source article can be found here.

Murray W. Camp

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US Magistrate Judge recommends review of plea in black coral case

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:13:00 GMT

The Virgin Island Daily News reports that a US Magistrate agreed to recommend that the plea agreement of Ashu Bhandari, a St. Thomas jeweler charged with six felony counts of falsifying overseas shipments of black coral be reviewed by the presiding US District Judge, who previously rejected a plea deal between Bhandari’s company and the US Attorney. The judge will determine whether the court will accept the plea deal or continue to trial June 14.

Each count warrants up to five years imprisonment. The plea agreement assigns a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss amassed by the unlawful enterprise - whichever amount is more.

Bhandari was in the business of importing raw black coral, according to the plea agreement. He sold high-end black coral jewelry and artwork.

The Endangered Species Act implements the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora includes all black coral species. The federal Lacey Act makes it a felony to falsely label wildlife intended for international commerce.

Stay tuned.

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US Senator pushes NOAA to track Tsunami debris

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:53:00 GMT

According to this article, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) urged the head of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today to step up programs to analyze the potential danger of debris from last year’s Japanese tsunami to Washington’s coastal economy.

During an Oceans, Fisheries, Coast Guard, and Atmosphere Subcommittee hearing today, Cantwell questioned NOAA head Dr. Jane Lubchenco on the agency’s readiness to address the threat tsunami debris poses to Washington state’s coastal economy. President Obama’s FY13 budget proposes a 25 percent cut to NOAA’s Marine Debris Program.

After a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, 2011, an enormous amount of debris was washed out to sea. Currently, the debris is spread out across an area measuring 2,000 by 1,000 nautical miles and is expected to reach Hawaii later this year and Washington state starting in early 2013. Washington state’s coastal economy supports 165,000 jobs and produces $10.8 billion in economic activity each year.

Cantwell urged Lubchenco today to come up with a plan to address the threat tsunami debris may pose to the coastal economy.

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UN and CITES issue joint report on conservation and sustainable use of sharks

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:31:00 GMT

The report of an international workshop to “Review the Application and Effectiveness of International Regulatory Measures for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Elasmobranchs”, convened jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CITES in Genazzano, Italy, has been published by FAO.

The workshop was attended by specialists, acting in an individual expert capacity, from a variety of different disciplines, sectors and geographic regions.

Among their key conclusions, the workshop participants agreed that:

international cooperation of States is very important for a species (or stock) with a broad geographic distribution to ensure that necessary management measures are applied over a sufficiently large distribution area; otherwise, the measures taken by one or a few States might not have the desired effect on the status of the species or stock;
every regulatory measure will be met with a mixed response by civil society when different groups have different interests;

scientific assessment and data collection for sound shark management regimes at national and international levels are important, together with species identification tools and appropriate training of data collectors and inspectors;

while every effort to improve scientific assessment should be made, the application of adaptive management and precautionary management approaches as well as the ecosystem approach to fisheries should be considered;

Information from fishery-independent sources (i.e. scientific surveys) is very important for scientific stock assessment and subsequent management advice, however, these types of activities are very costly and may be beyond the economic realities of developing countries without international assistance and cooperation; and

the listing of sharks on one of the CITES Appendices alone cannot effectively ensure their conservation without a proper fishery management scheme, therefore, the use of CITES to regulate international trade in sharks should be considered as a complementary measure rather than an alternative to traditional fisheries management; under the right circumstances, however, international trade measures – provided they are properly implemented - can play a valuable supportive role in helping to ensure sustainable fisheries and provide incentives for the creation or enhancement of a fisheries management scheme for the species concerned.

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