The Beacon
Oceana’s blog about the latest ocean news, policy and science.
Tell Obama: Turn Shell's Ships Around
Every day brings Shell a little closer to drilling in Arctic waters, home to seals, whales, and polar bears.
With that drilling comes the risk of an oil spill, which could be devastating to the ocean ecosystem and those dependent on it. But it’s not too late—there is still a chance for President Obama to turn Shell’s boats around and insist on good science and demonstrated response technology.
Drilling in the Arctic isn’t like drilling anywhere else. Stormy seas, freezing temperatures, and a lack of infrastructure create a dangerous and possibly deadly trifecta. If an accident occurs, it would be impossible to clean up the spilled oil and keep the water safe for the whales and seals who live there.
Oceana and its partners gathered more than one million signatures seeking good decisions about our Arctic Ocean resources. These signatures are being delivered to the White House today asking President Obama to turn Shell’s ships around and keep the Arctic safe.
But there is still more to do. Today, we’re asking you to call the White House and ask President Obama to stop Shell until we have the science and response capacity needed to make good decisions. We’ve made it easy for you—you can just dial 202-456-1111, or check out our handy form with talking points here. And then let us know how it goes!
Exciting News for Turtles
Amanda Keledjian is a marine scientist at Oceana.
This week, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a proposed regulation that would help prevent sea turtle deaths from shrimp fishing by requiring all skimmer trawls operating in the Gulf of Mexico to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs).
Oceana and other concerned organizations welcome this exciting news after having asked NMFS to address ongoing sea turtle mortalities and enforce its own protective regulations that are crucial to the recovery and survival of these threatened and endangered species. Turtle excluder devices have effectively reduced the number of sea turtles that drown as a result of commercial fishing activities each year, and NMFS estimates that this new rule could save more than 5,500 sea turtles!
When properly attached to fishing nets, TEDs act as an escape hatch and allow captured turtles to swim freely away while shrimp accumulate in the net. However, many skimmer trawl boats have been exempt from TED requirements and were instead restricted to towing nets for shorter periods of time. Despite their proven effectiveness, it has taken many years for NMFS to require TEDs in fisheries that are known to harm turtles, with a long history of litigation surrounding this contentious issue.
Video: Aimee Teegarden Swims with Sea Lions
Drum roll, please: we’re excited to unveil our latest video starring actress and ocean lover, Aimee Teegarden of “Friday Night Lights.”
We traveled with Teegarden up the coast of Southern California, from La Jolla to Santa Barbara Island, filming a video about the need to protect the ocean’s threatened habitats.
Teegarden showed off her surfing skills and also free dove with sea lion pups in a gorgeous kelp forest.
“It’s amazing that hidden treasures like this exist all over the ocean – you just have to look for them. It’s really upsetting to think about an awesome place like the sea lion rookery being destroyed by destructive fishing, pollution, or anything else harmful,” said Teegarden. “This experience made it clear that we need to identify these unique and important areas in the ocean and do whatever we can to save them. I love that Oceana finds the special places like this and then fights to protect them.”
Check out the new video, share it on Facebook and Twitter and join Aimee and Oceana in our efforts to save the ocean’s hidden treasures!
Angela Kinsey and Barton Seaver Head to Capitol Hill
Next Monday, actress and ocean activist Angela Kinsey will be here in Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to pass legislation to stop seafood fraud.
Kinsey is best known for her role as the tightly-wound head of accounting on “The Office,” and she also appeared in a video for Oceana’s sea turtle campaign alongside Rachael Harris (“The Hangover.) Kinsey will be joined by sustainable chef and author Barton Seaver and Oceana campaign director Beth Lowell. Their stops will include a briefing on Capitol Hill and a reception at National Aquarium.
Oceana has found mislabeling of nearly one in five fish fillets sampled in Boston-area supermarkets, as well as the mislabeling of more than half of the seafood sampled in the Los Angeles-area. Oceana is calling on the federal government to make combating seafood fraud a priority as well as for traceability of seafood sold in the United States.
Yves Klein Auction to Benefit Oceana
Tomorrow Christie’s International Auction House will host a Post War and Contemporary Arts evening sale, featuring Yves Klein’s FC 1, which is being sold on behalf of an anonymous collector. FC 1 is expected to achieve a record-breaking final sale price, a portion of which will be donated to Oceana.
FC 1 is the most important work by Yves Klein ever to be offered at auction, and is considered to be one of the most important Post War European works of art. The piece has been featured prominently at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC.
We’re so thankful to our friends at Christie’s for their continued support. Christie’s has put together a great website, including a tab about Oceana and a video about the making of the piece:
Searching for a More Responsible Way to Farm Fish
Almost half of the world’s seafood now comes from fish farms, which can cause significant environmental harm if not responsibly managed.
Because many fish are confined to a small area, aquaculture can lead to high levels of pollution and outbreaks of diseases. Sometimes the farmed fish escape, which can hurt wild fish populations and the local ecosystem. Aquaculture can also lead to overfishing since carnivorous fish, like salmon and tuna, are fed large amounts of fishmeal made from prey fish like anchovies or herrings.
The Velella Project is an experiment off the coast of Hawaii that is trying to address some of the problems associated with aquaculture. Instead of enclosing fish in stationary nets or tanks like traditional farming methods, a specially-designed spherical pen, called the Aquapod, drifts through the water containing 2,000 hatchery born fish.
Oceana's Mike Hirshfield on Fish and the Law
Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration set catch limits under the 2006 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act amendments for all covered species, a major triumph for fisheries management.
The Environmental Forum asked the leading voices in fisheries management, “Is the 2006 law succeeding in restoring fish stocks? Are adjustments needed to ensure robust stocks and sustainable commercial and recreational fisheries in the future?” Here’s an excerpt of the response by Mike Hirshfield. Oceana’s Senior Vice President for North America, and Chief Scientist. He is currently on sabbatical; you can read about his travels at his blog.
The United States is fortunate to have a law designed to keep abundant fish populations in the ocean. All ocean lovers, including commercial and recreational fishermen, should celebrate the passage of the 2006 amendments to that law. If they are carried out fully, we will definitely see increased fish populations in future years. Our fishery management system is one of the best in the world, certainly compared to places like Europe. But before we pat ourselves on the back too much, we need to take a clear-eyed look at what the amendments did — and didn’t — do, as well as the way the National Marine Fisheries Service is implementing the law. Some problem areas are indicated below by italics.
The amendments only addressed part of the problem. Fisheries management comes down to three principles: First, don’t kill more fish than can be replenished. Second, don’t kill too many other animals. And third, don’t wreck the places fish need to live. The 2006 amendments really only dealt with the first.
The amendments came 10 years too late for some species. Conservationists thought the 1996 amendments required an end to overfishing. We were wrong. Unfortunately, for some species, the additional decade meant ten more years of declining populations. For long-lived, slow-growing species like Atlantic halibut, some sharks, and Pacific rockfish, the extra overfishing means their populations won’t rebuild for decades — if ever.
Too many species are “off the books.” Several hundred species of fish caught by fishermen are not included in fishery management plans, so managers don’t consider them subject to the accountability requirements of the 2006 amendments. Managers have even removed species from plans to avoid the obligation. Species subject to international management are exempt from the requirements, even if overfished, like Atlantic bluefin tuna.
Too many species may fail to rebuild. Many rebuilding plans are designed with little better than a 50 percent chance of success — meaning they are nearly as likely to fail. Even an 80 percent chance of success means 20 of 100 such plans will fail. We may not always have all the science we would like, but it needs to be taken seriously, with the tie going to the fish. We need more safety margin, not less.
The bare minimum is the target. “Not overfished” and “preventing overfishing” are weak standards of success, leaving too many populations at risk. Fish stocks will face increased threats from a changing climate. We need to hedge our bets with larger fish populations, not the bare minimum.
You can read the full piece at The Environmental Forum.
Oceana and Fish Fraud on the Daily Show
We have finally made it -- Last night Oceana’s new Los Angeles seafood fraud report was featured on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Ever-angry Lewis Black responded to the report: “Snapper, tilapia, who gives a S#@*? That’s what the ketchup’s for!”
Well, not quite the message we were going for with the report, but pretty funny nonetheless.
Video: Andy Sharpless on Fish and World Hunger
Did you know that protecting our oceans could be an answer to world hunger? A few weeks ago our CEO Andy Sharpless gave a talk at TedxSF about how saving the oceans can help feed the world.
We think it’s a fantastic, thought-provoking presentation, please watch and pass it on:
Maya Lin Asks 'What is Missing'?
We got an email recently from artist Maya Lin about her new project, What is Missing, and it is spectacular. Maya created a monument to the disappearing creatures and places on our planet, and put it on the internet to grow and evolve.
Her project is a powerful interactive website that showcases the disappearing creatures and environments on our planet through a “Map of Memory.” The map is covered in tiny colorful dots, and each dot represents a creature or place in danger. Change the Timeline from past to present, and now each dot represents conservation efforts by many groups including Oceana. A new category, Future, is in the works.
I chose a spot in the ocean and found myself watching a video on right whales. While a whale song played from my speakers, the story was told on the screen in simple, powerful facts, keeping me on the edge of my seat as I watched the whales’ struggles from old-time whalers to modern-day warfare testing. A shorter video on krill was surprisingly fascinating, with facts about their weight (less than a paperclip!) interspersed with the sad reality of how many animals will starve if we overfish them.
Other dots on the map contain simple facts or memories about the creatures highlighted, and you can even add your own memories to the map. You could spend hours on this site exploring the videos and memories of our world.
We applaud Maya Lin for this beautiful and powerful website, and can’t wait to see what it turns into as the stories grow and change.
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