What’s a Sustainable Fish? Shortcomings of Existing Seafood Certification Systems

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Mspalding

by Mark J. Spalding, President of The Ocean Foundation
and Ken Stump, Ocean Policy Fellow at The Ocean Foundation
In response to “Some question whether sustainable seafood delivers on its promise” by Juliet Elperin. The Washington Post (April 22, 2012)

What's a Sustainable Fish?Juliet Eilperin’s timely article (“Some question whether sustainable seafood delivers on its promise“ by Juliet Elperin. The Washington Post. April 22, 2012) on the shortcomings of existing seafood certification systems does an excellent job of highlighting the confusion confronting consumers when they want to “do the right thing” by the oceans.  These eco-labels purport to identify sustainably caught fish, but misleading information can give both seafood sellers and consumers a false sense that their purchases can make a difference. As the study quoted in the article shows, sustainability as defined by Froese’s methods indicates: Continue reading →

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Whale-Sized Acts of Ocean Kindness

Posted on April 15, 2012 by admin

by Dr. Steven Swartz, Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program — a project of The Ocean Foundation

Dr. Steven Swartz returned from a successful winter gray whale research season in Laguna San Ignacio, Baja California and shared his team’s experiences this winter rewarding “random acts of ocean kindness” and fostering “Blue Marble” awareness as part of the Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program’s Outreach efforts.

Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program - Presenting a Blue Marble to a Gray WhaleFor the second consecutive year Laguna San Ignacio hosted record high numbers of gray whales (some 350 adults at peak of the season), and record numbers of mother-calf pairs, which were looking very healthy, which is reassuring coming off of the lean times of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when global climate change was affecting food availability for gray whales in the Arctic. All of this suggests that the whales are finding the Laguna San Ignacio marine protected area as a comfortable winter aggregation and breeding habitat, thus achieving the goals and mission of Mexico’s Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, of which the lagoon is a part. Continue reading →

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Introducing New Board of Advisors Members (3 of 3)

Posted on April 14, 2012 by ABraestrup

By Angel Braestrup — Chair, TOF Board of Advisors

In early March 2012, The Ocean Foundation Board of Directors held its spring meeting. As President Mark Spalding presented his summary of TOF’s recent activities, I found myself marveling at the willingness of our Board of Advisors to play a role in ensuring that this organization is as robust and helpful to the ocean conservation community as it can be.

The Board approved a significant expansion of the Board of Advisors at its meeting last fall.   Recently, we introduced the first 10 new members.  Today we are introducing an additional five dedicated individuals who have agreed to formally join The Ocean Foundation in this special way.  Members of the Board of Advisors agree to share their expertise on an as needed basis.  They also agree to read The Ocean Foundation’s blogs and visit the website to help us ensure that we remain accurate and timely in our sharing of information.  They join the committed donors, project and program leaders, volunteers, and grantees who make up the community that is The Ocean Foundation. Continue reading →

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Focus on Ocean Food Webs: Response to the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force Report, “Little Fish, Big Impact”

Posted on April 9, 2012 by KStump

by Kenneth Stump, Ocean Policy Fellow at The Ocean Foundation

Forage Fish (School of Goldband Fusilier, Pterocaesio chrysozona. Papua New Guinea - Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Forage Fish (School of Goldband Fusilier, Pterocaesio chrysozona. Papua New Guinea - Source: Wikimedia Commons)

As much as a third of the global annual catch of wild fish, totaling tens of billions of pounds of fish every year, consists of small to medium-sized forage fish that serve as prey for other fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Much of this catch is not destined for direct human consumption but instead is processed into fishmeal and oil for use in a variety of livestock and poultry feeds, pets foods, fish oil supplements and, increasingly, as the base of feedstock for farmed fish such as Atlantic salmon and crustaceans such as shrimp. Continue reading →

Posted in corals, deepwater corals | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Protecting Deep Seas on the High Seas

Posted on April 9, 2012 by WWilliams

By Wendy Williams
Coverage of the 5th International Deep Sea Coral Symposium, Amsterdam

Matthew Gianni of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (Photo: Greg Auger)

Matthew Gianni of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (Photo: Greg Auger)

AMSTERDAM, NL – How much progress the world is making in controlling “illegal” deep-sea fishing on the high seas depends on your perspective, Matthew Gianni of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition told scientists at last week’s Fifth International Symposium on Deep-Sea Corals.

“If you ask the policy people, they say it’s astonishing what been accomplished in such a short period of time,” Gianni, a former Greenpeace activist, told me over lunch after his presentation, “but if you ask the conservationists, they have a different opinion.” Continue reading →

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Unearthing the Most Ancient of Apartment Complexes

Posted on April 6, 2012 by WWilliams

By Wendy Williams
Coverage of the 5th International Deep Sea Coral Symposium, Amsterdam

"Ancient Coral Reefs" by By Heinrich Harder (1858-1935) (The Wonderful Paleo Art of Heinrich Harder) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"Ancient Coral Reefs" by By Heinrich Harder (1858-1935) (The Wonderful Paleo Art of Heinrich Harder)

AMSTERDAM, NL, April 3, 2012 — A little more than 65 million years ago, a meteor slammed into the sea just off the coast of what is now Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. We know about this event because the collision created an explosion of energy that laid down a worldwide tattle-tale layer of  iridium.

Following the collision came an extinction in which all dinosaurs (except for the birds) disappeared. In the seas, the dominant ammonites died off, as did many of the major predators like the super-huge plesiosaurs. As many as 80 to 90 percent of marine species may have become extinct. Continue reading →

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Introducing New Board of Advisors Members (2 of 3)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by ABraestrup

By Angel Braestrup — Chair, TOF Board of Advisors

The Board approved an expansion of the Board of Advisors at its meeting last fall.   In our previous post, we introduced the first five new members.  Today we are introducing an additional five dedicated individuals who have agreed to formally join The Ocean Foundation in this special way.  Members of the Board of Advisors agree to share their expertise on an as needed basis.  They also agree to read The Ocean Foundation’s blogs and visit the website to help us ensure that we remain accurate and timely in our sharing of information.  They join the committed donors, project and program leaders, volunteers, and grantees who make up the community that is The Ocean Foundation.

Our advisors are a widely traveled, experienced, and deeply thoughtful group of people.  This means, of course, that they are also overwhelmingly busy.  We cannot be grateful enough to them, for their contributions to the well-being of our planet, as well as to The Ocean Foundation. Continue reading →

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Impact of Deep-Water Oil Rigs on Gulf of Mexico Corals Needs Better Monitoring

Posted on April 4, 2012 by WWilliams

By Wendy Williams
Coverage of the 5th International Deep Sea Coral Symposium, Amsterdam

One of the Gulf of Mexico's deepwater coral species, Lophelia pertusa from the Mississippi Canyon 751 site at approximately 450 m depth. (Source: Lophelia II 2009: Deepwater Coral Expedition: Reefs, Rigs, and Wrecks; NOAA Ocean Explorer http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/09lophelia/welcome.html)

One of the Gulf of Mexico's deepwater coral species, Lophelia pertusa from the Mississippi Canyon 751 site at approximately 450 m depth. (Source: Lophelia II 2009: Deepwater Coral Expedition: Reefs, Rigs, and Wrecks; NOAA Ocean Explorer http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/09lophelia/welcome.html)

AMSTERDAM, NL (April 4, 2012) – Long-term monitoring of the environmental impact of deep-water oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico needs to be greatly improved, Gregory S. Boland, a biological oceanographer with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, told a gathering of several hundred cold-water coral scientists at a week-long meeting today.

“I envision a long-term probably permanent cycle of monitoring,” the federal official said in a the morning’s keynote speech.

Such monitoring has not always been done in the past, he said, “especially in deep water because of finances and time,” adding that the federal agency hopes to improve on that record. Continue reading →

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From Rembrandt’s Workshop to Corals of the Deep Sea

Posted on April 2, 2012 by WWilliams

By Wendy Williams
Coverage of the 5th International Deep Sea Coral Symposium, Amsterdam

Rembrandt's Atelier in Amsterdam

Rembrandt's Atelier in Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM, NL, April 2, 2012 – On the top floor of the Rembrandt House, where the 17th century artist lived, is the master’s atelier, complete with the famous alcove memorialized in some of his most famous works.

Adjacent to the atelier is the artifact room, where Amsterdam businessmen successful enough to commission a painting from the master could pick and choose among a variety of objects they wished included in their portrait. Their choices would symbolize how they wished to be viewed by future generations. Continue reading →

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Introducing New Board of Advisors Members (1 of 3)

Posted on April 2, 2012 by ABraestrup

By Angel Braestrup — Chair, TOF Board of Advisors

On the eve of the spring Board meeting of The Ocean Foundation, I found myself marveling at the willingness of our Board of Advisors to play a role in ensuring that this organization is as robust and helpful to the ocean conservation community as it can be.

The Board approved a significant expansion of the Board of Advisors at its meeting last fall.   We are taking this opportunity to announce the first five of those twenty new advisors who have agreed to formally join The Ocean Foundation in this special way.  Members of the Board of Advisors agree to share their expertise on an as needed basis.  They also agree to read The Ocean Foundation’s blogs and visit the website to help us ensure that we remain accurate and timely in our sharing of information.  They join the committed donors, project and program leaders, volunteers, and grantees who make up the community that is The Ocean Foundation.

Our advisors are a widely traveled, experienced, and deeply thoughtful group of people.  We cannot be grateful enough to them, for their contributions to the well-being of our planet, as well as to The Ocean Foundation. Continue reading →

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