Posted by jossc — 29 April 2008 at 11:13am
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Video: the discovery of Aaptos kanuux
Fascinating news just in - our two month research expedition to the Bering Sea last summer led to the discovery of a new species. Using manned submarines and a Remote Operated Vehicle, the crew of the Esperanza explored two of the world's deepest underwater canyons and took samples of never before seen life on the sea floor. Now, careful analysis has revealed one of them to be an entirely new species of sponge. Discovered in Pribilof Canyon, the new discovery is to be named Aaptos kanuux.
Posted by bex — 23 April 2008 at 5:47pm
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You'd probably find the idea of an event for trading in rhinoceros horns or tiger skins pretty shocking. But today, 1,600 companies from 80
countries came together in Brussels to trade all sorts species, including some threatened and endangered ones: fish, also known as our global marine life.
The Brussels Seafood Expo is the world's biggest sea food trading event, where species on the brink of collapse - like Mediterranean bluefin tuna and North Sea cod - are, literally, served up on a plate.
Posted by jossc — 3 April 2008 at 2:58pm
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Today sees the long overdue publication of the Draft Marine Bill. The Bill presents a key opportunity not just to improve the management of our national waters, but to begin the concerted action that is needed to protect marine biodiversity and reverse the decline in our fish stocks.
But the Marine Bill is only a tool, not the finished product.
Against a continuing background of diminishing and over–exploited
marine resources, aquaculture has been widely held up as a panacea to
the problem of providing a growing world population with ever-increasing
amounts of fish for consumption. With the expansion of the industry,
however, the tendency has been for methods of production to intensify,
particularly in the production of carnivorous species. This has resulted in
many serious impacts on the environment and human rights abuses.
Posted by jossc — 15 February 2008 at 3:14pm
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It's official; mankind is killing off our oceans far faster than previously thought. The first global-scale study of human impacts on marine ecosystems, published today in the flagship US journal Science, reveals a picture of widespread destruction with few if any areas remaining untouched.
Posted by jossc — 7 February 2008 at 12:16pm
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Yesterday the Food Standards Agency (FSA) finally announced that it's going to review its misguided policy advising us all to eat at least two portions of fish every week. The independent watchdog, which is charged with protecting the public interest on food safety and health issues, has been pushing the 'two a week' figure in recent years - conveniently overlooking the fact that our over-exploited fisheries can't possibly sustain the increases in fishing needed to meet this level of consumption.
Commenting on today's Food Standards Agency announcement
that it is to review its advice on weekly fish consumption and take
environmental and sustainability concerns into account, Andy Tait, head of
Greenpeace's biodiversity campaign, said:
"Fish stocks are in crisis across the globe and any advice related to fish
consumption needs to face up to that reality.
"The current advice has a real
impact on already over-exploited global fisheries so we welcome that it is now
to be reviewed."
Top chefs Raymond Blanc and Tom Aikens will be joining forces with Greenpeace tomorrow (30 January) to urge other chefs to use only sustainable seafood on their menus.
They'll also be urging food writers to drop unsustainably caught fish from their recipes.
And the campaign has already attracted the backing of multiple Michelin-starred Heston Blumenthal and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
