Ocean News: Nicaragua Approves Massive Shipping Canal, Walking Fish Make Annual Appearance, and More - Oceana USA
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July 8, 2014

Ocean News: Nicaragua Approves Massive Shipping Canal, Walking Fish Make Annual Appearance, and More

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Yesterday, Nicaragua approved a proposed route for a $40 billion shipping channel across the country that will compete with the Panama Canal. The channel, which will traverse Central America’s largest lake, will undergo environmental and social impact studies this year. Reuters

– It’s running season again for grunion—“walking fish” with obscure nesting patterns: The females dig vertically into sandy Californian beaches to lay eggs, and then the males slither around her to fertilize the eggs. Healthy run counts have decreased in recent years. National Geographic

– The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is deciding whether to restrict the number of vessels or licenses for the northern section of Maine’s shrimp fishery for 2015. Regulators closed the fishery for the first time in 30 years this year after biomass dropped from 7,000 metric tons in 2011 to about 500 metric tons in 2013. Portland Press Herald

A new study found that climate change is the likely culprit for intensifying coastal winds along North and South America and southern Africa, which draw cold, nutrient-rich water to the ocean’s surface. Stronger winds could benefit plankton and fish populations, but could also harm marine life by disrupting feeding patterns, causing surface water turbulence, and decreasing oxygen levels. The Los Angeles Times

Op-Ed:

The “lawless race” to deplete the world’s oceans must end, and humankind needs to start restoring and protecting the oceans rather than continue to deplete them, according to a commissioner at the Global Ocean Commission. CNN