November 2014 - Oceana

ICCAT Moves to Properly Manage Bluefin Tuna, but Doesn’t Take Action for Sharks and Swordfish

Earlier this month, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) concluded its meeting in Genoa, Italy to discuss protections for various marine species, including bluefin tuna, sharks, and swordfish. At the same time, the IUCN World Parks Congress concluded its once-a-decade meeting with new protections for marine habitat and other developments for … Read more

Sea Turtles Can Get the Bends after Capture in Fishing Gear, Says New Study

If you’re an avid scuba diver, you’re probably all too familiar with decompression sickness (DCS)—more commonly known as the bends—a disease that can strike astronauts, divers, and others, and arises after inadequately recompressing after changes in pressure gradients. In the marine environment, scientists long thought that many diving vertebrates—like sea turtles and marine mammals—were immune … Read more

Oceana in Chile Submits Recommendations for Lowering Common Hake Catch Quotas

Last week, Oceana in Chile recommended that the Chilean government lower the total annual catch quota for common hake—a severely overexploited species— in 2015 by about 1,000 tons because of declines. According to Chile’s Fisheries Development Institute, common hake biomass declined by over six percent this year. “Increasing the quota for hake will only accelerate … Read more

CEO Note: Oceana, Google, and SkyTruth Announce New Technology to Track Global Fishing Activity

Monitoring global fishing activity is a monumental task. I’d like to introduce you to a groundbreaking new tool, created by Google, SkyTruth, and Oceana, called Global Fishing Watch. Using satellite data emitted by fishing vessels, the program gives people around the world a simple online platform to visualize, track, and share information about ocean fishing activity. … Read more

Oceana’s New Report Highlights Uses, Benefits of Global Fishing Watch Technology

Illegal and unsustainable fishing activity is taking a tremendous toll on the world’s oceans, stripping them of healthy fish populations and damaging precious ecosystems. Not only does the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimate that nearly one-third of assessed marine fish stocks have been overfished, but they also estimate that 90 percent were either … Read more

Spiny Dogfish Catch a Break—No More Shark Finning in the U.S.!

Did you know that shark finning is still allowed in the U.S.?  Despite the finning prohibition ushered in by the 2010 Shark Conservation Act, some east coast states were still allowing fishermen to fin spiny dogfish sharks at sea as long as the removed fins did not weigh more than five percent of the bodies … Read more

Video: Learn How Global Fishing Watch Can be Used to Tackle Illegal Fishing

As you may have heard yesterday on The Beacon, Oceana, Google, and SkyTruth announced their new platform, Global Fishing Watch, that uses satellite data to track fishing activity around the world. The unprecedented tool will provides citizens, fishery managers, and government groups with a unique look into fishing activity throughout the world’s oceans, and will … Read more

Oceana Partners with Google and SkyTruth to Announce New Tool to Track Global Fishing Activity

Today, Oceana, SkyTruth, and Google announced their partnership to develop a new big-data technology platform, called Global Fishing Watch, that analyzes massive amounts of satellite data to create the first ever global view of commercial fishing. The prototype was unveiled today at the 2014 IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia—an international forum held every … Read more

Book Review: ‘Law of the Jungle’ by Paul M. Barrett

When one thinks of the Amazon, many probably picture it as a pristine, luscious rainforest teeming with biodiversity that hint at simpler times before human development and exploitation. But within the dense foliage of the Amazon rainforest lies one of the most complex, tangled 30-year-old tales in the making that’s undoubtedly one of the world’s … Read more