Blog: Oceans

Saving whales and saving money

Posted by Willie — 13 November 2009 at 11:47am - Comments

V for victory? A blue whale anticipates major cuts in Japan's whaling programme.

Many times during this conference I've heard bluefin tuna likened to blue whales - a comparison which has already been expressed eloquently by Charles Clover.

There are several stunning similarities -  they are both the biggest of their kind, hydrodynamic giants, amazingly adapted for life in the ocean. Most alarmingly though, both have been driven to the brink of extinction by overexploitation by a species remarkably ill-adapted for life in the ocean: humans.

Article tagged as: bluefin, charles clover, iccat, IWC, japan, tuna, whaling

At last, some good news on marine reserves...

Posted by jossc — 12 November 2009 at 4:34pm - Comments

Location of the proposed new South Orkneys MPA. Map © UKFCO

... or Marine Protected Areas, in government speak. On Tuesday the Foreign Office announced the creation of the South Orkneys MPA. Covering a large area of the Southern Ocean in the British Antarctic Territory, it will be the world's first "high-seas" reserve - off-limits to all types of fishing and dumping.

Article tagged as: marine reserves, south orkneys, southern ocean

Could bluefin tuna fisheries be closed? Our man in Brazil reports...

Posted by Willie — 12 November 2009 at 2:46pm - Comments

So, here in Brazil, the game is on. At the end of yesterday’s session the parties around the table at the ICCAT meeting were asked what their priorities were for conserving bluefin tuna. One by one they made positive murmurings about wanting to 'follow the scientific recommendations', and enforce compliance with them. They all pretty much said they want to see illegal fishing tackled. No rocket science there, and you would be forgiven for wondering why they have not done those things already!

Article tagged as: atlantic, bluefin, brazil, iccat, overfishing, tuna

Negotiating with biology

Posted by Willie — 11 November 2009 at 11:24am - Comments

As I write this, I'm sitting in the plenary room of the ICCAT meeting, whilst Charles Clover's film 'The End of The Line' is being screened. This in itself is a great coup.

In a memorable scene from the film, whilst attending a previous ICCAT meeting, Clover himself chastised the bureaucrats in that meeting for setting irresponsibly high quotas that ignored scientific advice. In his words they were '…negotiating with biology. And you just can't do that, and expect to see the biology survive'.

Article tagged as: atlantic, bluefin, iccat, oceans, tuna

Negotiating with biology

Posted by Willie — 11 November 2009 at 11:24am - Comments

As I write this, I'm sitting in the plenary room of the ICCAT meeting, whilst Charles Clover's film 'The End of The Line' is being screened. This in itself is a great coup.

In a memorable scene from the film, whilst attending a previous ICCAT meeting, Clover himself chastised the bureaucrats in that meeting for setting irresponsibly high quotas that ignored scientific advice. In his words they were '…negotiating with biology. And you just can't do that, and expect to see the biology survive'.

Article tagged as: atlantic, bluefin, iccat, oceans, tuna

Too chicken to protect bluefin?

Posted by Willie — 9 November 2009 at 9:37pm - Comments

There are a lot of chickens around Porto de Galinhas, in Brazil , where ICCAT, the body responsible for mismanaging bluefin tuna, and other fish species, is meeting this week.

Article tagged as: atlantic, bluefin, iccat, oceans

Too chicken to protect bluefin?

Posted by Willie — 9 November 2009 at 9:37pm - Comments

There are a lot of chickens around Porto de Galinhas, in Brazil , where ICCAT, the body responsible for mismanaging bluefin tuna, and other fish species, is meeting this week.

Article tagged as: atlantic, bluefin, iccat, oceans

How to cook jellyfish...

Posted by jossc — 30 October 2009 at 4:04pm - Comments

In this, the second instalment of the 'Our Ocean Wonderland' animations, Stephen Appelby considers the culinary seafood options likely to be open to us once we've emptied the seas of edible fish.

Article tagged as: animations, destructive fishing, oceans, overfishing, stephen appelby, videos

How to cook jellyfish...

Posted by jossc — 30 October 2009 at 4:04pm - Comments

In this, the second instalment of the 'Our Ocean Wonderland' animations, Stephen Appelby considers the culinary seafood options likely to be open to us once we've emptied the seas of edible fish.

Article tagged as: animations, destructive fishing, oceans, overfishing, stephen appelby, videos

25% of top restaurants are serving fish as endangered as the giant panda

Posted by jossc — 22 October 2009 at 3:57pm - Comments

Having made a startling movie which has changed the way people think about what’s on their dinner plate, Charles Clover and the End of the Line team have now turned their attentions to restaurants which are still serving endangered fish.

A survey of more than 100 top restaurants conducted for their new guide, fish2fork.com, found that nearly 9 out of 10 were serving at least one 'fish to avoid' from over-exploited stocks. And some of the most critically-acclaimed eateries are among the worst offenders - 7 out of 25 Michelin-starred restaurants visited served species officially listed as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List.

Article tagged as: bluefin, end of the line, nobu, overfishing, sustainable seafood
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