Washington, DC – Oceana announces the start of its fifth annual Ocean Hero Awards, a summertime contest celebrating individuals who go above and beyond to protect America’s oceans. The program honors one youth and one adult who make a unique impact in ocean conservation. Past winners and finalists have worked on a variety of … Read more
Today, Michael LeVine, Pacific Senior Council, Oceana, testified on the “Offshore Energy and Jobs Act” (H.R. 2231) in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources of the Committee on Natural Resources. H.R. 2231 would force the Secretary of the Interior to offer lease sales in vast areas of U.S. … Read more
The bottom trawl fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska will now have to avoid catching Chinook salmon as bycatch or risk closing their fisheries. A rule recommended by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council establishes a limit on the number of Chinook salmon that can be killed as bycatch each year in the Central and … Read more
WASHINGTON- Today, Oceana filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for its failure to require adequate observer coverage for the New England groundfish fishery for cod, haddock and flounder. NMFS has a duty to set quotas to prevent overfishing and ensure that those quotas are not exceeded. That process depends upon data … Read more
Today the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a proposed rule to upgrade the classification of the California swordfish and thresher shark drift gillnet fishery from “Category II” to the more serious “Category I” listing for its deadly take of whales, dolphins, seals and sea lions. This re-classification is the result of the fishery injuring … Read more
WASHINGTON—Yesterday, a bipartisan group of Florida legislators from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate sent a letter to President Obama urging him to stop proposed seismic airgun testing in the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Department of the Interior is currently considering allowing geophysical companies to use seismic airguns to test for oil and gas … Read more
Belize City, Belize –Yesterday, Belize’s Supreme Court declared offshore drilling contracts issued by the Government of Belize (in 2004 and 2007) null and void, providing a dramatic and potentially definitive setback to The Government of Belize and the petroleum prospecting companies issued the contracts. The ruling, handed down by Justice Oswell Legall, was in response … Read more
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) illegally adopted new regulations governing the management of the northern subpopulation of northern anchovy. Specifically, fisheries managers violated the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act when they failed to incorporate the timely advice of NMFS scientists when amending the Coastal Pelagic Species … Read more
Today, ConocoPhillips announced that it will not pursue plans to conduct oil exploration drilling in the Arctic Ocean in 2014. This announcement follows a year of mishaps and problems with Shell’s Arctic drilling operations, and Department of the Interior recognition of the need for better planning and standards for Arctic Ocean drilling operations. In … Read more
Today the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to adopt its first ever Fishery Ecosystem Plan, a vision for how to successfully manage for sustainable and valuable West Coast fisheries while maintaining the health of the ocean ecosystem. Oceana is pleased to see federal managers shift their focus from maximizing the catch of single species to … 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.