Jerry Fraser’s recent editorial (“A Dual Assault”) in National Fisherman’s e-newsletter was very misguided and only repeated the industry song of denial when it comes to dealing with destructive fishing issues in a straightforward manner. The science on the impacts of bottom trawling is not a grey area. The NRC report on this issue clearly … Read more

Last week a record number of endangered and threatened sea turtles began washing up along the Georgia coastline, including 13 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, the most endangered sea turtle in the world.  At the same time, 106 shrimp boats were spotted fishing off the Georgia coastline.  Because the turtles otherwise seemed healthy and no other … Read more

Check out this story. Can you imagine what happens to the whales, dolphins, turtles, sharks and other marine creatures who don’t even have a chance against these boats? COPENHAGEN (AFP) – A Danish trawler made a surprise catch when it scooped up a German submarine in its nets, forcing the vessel to rise to the … Read more

Oceana’s victory in getting Royal Caribbean Cruises to adopt advanced wastewater treatment technology fleetwide is a tremendous step, but it is not the final solution to the problem of cruise ship pollution.  The industry is still growing.  The number of passengers that travel each year is increasing bringing with it more and more pollution, and … Read more

[editor’s note, by Jason] (This post is by Andy Sharpless, Oceana’s CEO.) Eleven hard months of campaigning against Royal Caribbean. Oceana’s demand was simple: stop dumping untreated and poorly treated sewage into our oceans! The company knew that technology existed to treat their waste water — indeed it had installed this equipment on three of … Read more

From the CBC — “Fishery changed cod breeding: study“: Overfishing of mature cod has caused the fish to change their breeding tactics, a new study suggests.

Last Tuesday the EPA announced its commitment to making the nation’s beaches clean and safe for swimmers. The “new” plan basically entails enforcing laws and programs already on the books – programs, I might add, that Congress and the Administration have thus far neglected to adequately fund. When it passed the B.E.A.C.H. Act in 2000, … Read more

Wow! Oceana’s all over the newspapers today on the US Ocean Commission Report! Not just quantity, but quality. Check out Oceana in the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle and the Boston Globe.

From CanadaEast.com — “Cod fishery closed again due to historically low stocks“: There won’t be a cod fishery this year off the east and northeast coast of Newfoundland and the south coast of Labrador.

From the New Zealand News — “Fisherman wins prize for slick way to save big birds“: Conservationists believe populations of 22 species of seabirds are declining, including 17 of the 21 species of albatross. But Alex Aitken, a fisherman for 24 years based at Leigh, has discovered a simple, cheap and effective solution to the … Read more