The National Marine Fisheries Service took a major step toward protecting sperm whales by declining to issue a required marine mammal take permit for California’s swordfish drift gillnet fishery. Last month the government issued a draft permit for the fishery to kill and seriously injure endangered sperm, fin, and humpback whales. More than 13,000 comments … Read more
The National Marine Fisheries Service issued emergency regulations today that will shut down California’s drift gillnet fishery if a single endangered sperm whale is caught dead or injured. The rules will also require independent observers on all drift gillnet vessels operating in offshore waters deeper than 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) where sperm whales are most … Read more
August 23, 2013 Siletz Hotspot We spent the night last night drifting aboard the Miss Linda, forty miles offshore. The seas stayed calm and we were rocked to sleep by a gentle ocean swell. This morning we dove on an area we’ve named the “Siletz Hotspot”. Far west of the Siletz River estuary, this area … Read more
On Tuesday, August 20th Oceana will launch its 2013 science expedition out of Newport, Oregon to explore and document diverse living seafloor habitats off the coast of central and northern Oregon. Oceana scientists and crew plan to spend seven days at sea capturing high-definition video footage of coldwater corals, sponges, and other sensitive living habitats … Read more
WASHINGTON – Today, the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its first-ever offshore wind lease sale, leasing 164,750 acres off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The area was divided into two leases, the North Lease Area (Lease OCS-A0486), which consists of about 97,500 acres, and the South Lease Area (Lease … Read more
After voting closed and 7,000 votes were cast, Oceana announced today that Jean Beasley of Topsail Island, NC, and Rory & Maeve McCracken of Baton Rouge, LA, were chosen by the public as the adult and junior winners of this year’s Ocean Hero Awards. The winners beat out more than 300 other ocean activists who … Read more
The National Marine Fisheries Service this week declined to issue a required marine mammal take permit for California’s swordfish drift gillnet fishery in light of the recent entanglement of two sperm whales, but agreed to call a special meeting next week to discuss possible emergency measures to allow the fishery to continue operating legally while … Read more
Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld necessary protections for the endangered Western Population of Steller sea lions. The measures were put in place by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2010 to reduce competition between large-scale commercial fisheries and endangered Steller sea lions. Oceana and Greenpeace, represented by Earthjustice, joined the federal … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO— After more than five years of delay, the federal government today finally proposed to protect 36 areas of ocean habitat across six states for loggerhead sea turtles, in response to a lawsuit filed by three conservation groups. Loggerhead sea turtles face serious threats from pollution, drowning and injury in fishing gear, and loss … Read more
Washington DC– Today, Oceana announces the beginning of public voting for its 5th annual Ocean Hero Awards. After carefully reviewing hundreds of nominations for some of America’s most exceptional ocean stewards, Oceana selected an outstanding group of six adult finalists and six junior finalists hailing from all corners of the U.S. The public is now … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.