THE Irish-led VENTuRE scientific expedition aboard the national research vessel RV Celtic Explorer has discovered a previously uncharted field of hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge – the first to be explored north of the Azores.
Continue reading Uncharted hydrothermal vents discovered on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
(Translated from Spanish)
Dear Matthew,
In response to your letter, I would like to inform you that on 4 April Spain presented to civil society the results of a commitment which we adopted in 2005 aimed at protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems, taking into account sustainability and biodiversity. In 2005, Spain decided to identify and locate VMEs in areas where the Spanish fleet was operating in order to protect deep-sea fisheries as a socio-economic activity without harming VMEs. This commitment entailed both the involvement of a large number of scientists, mainly coming from the Spanish Oceanographic Institute, and a great economic investment every year.
Continue reading Letter from Spanish Minister to DSCC on new commitments in the South West Atlantic
Faroe Islands Minister of Fisheries Johan Dahl hosted the 16th Annual Conference of the North Atlantic Fisheries Ministers in Torshavn, Faroe Islands last week. Issues discussed included the impacts of fisheries on marine ecosystems in the high seas and sustainable stock management across the globe.
Continue reading Sustainable fisheries highlighted in North Atlantic
Greenpeace Spain, Ecologistas en Acción, the Pew Environment Group and WWF Spain, together with the DSCC have called on Minister Rosa Aguilar Rivero Minister for the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM) of Spain, to act on the recommendations of the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) to close areas of the high seas in the Southwest Atlantic to bottom trawl fishing by Spanish fleets.
The Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM) hosted an event on 4 April in Madrid. Scientists presented the results of the several years of research by the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) to identify vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) on the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean. The meeting was opened by Minister Rosa Aguilar. MARM is the Ministry within which the General Secretariat of the Sea (Secretaria General del Mar), which is responsible for fisheries, is housed.
The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition is deeply disappointed with the decision made by the European Union’s Council of Fisheries Ministers late last night to set Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas for deep-sea fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic in contravention of United Nations General Assembly resolutions.
Continue reading EU Fisheries Ministers deep-six protection of the deep-sea
The Annual Meeting of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) took place 10-14 November 2010. Three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attended as observers – the Pew Environment Group, Seas at Risk and WWF, together with the DSCC. In relation to the implementation of the UN General Assembly resolutions on deep-sea fisheries, in their opening statements the NGOs called on NEAFC Parties to agree to:
Allowances for deep-sea bottom fishing proposed today by the European Commission will lead to continued depletion and destruction of Northeast Atlantic fish stocks and should be abandoned, according to an international alliance of more than 60 organizations.
Continue reading Commission Proposal for North Atlantic Fisheries Condemned
Halifax, Canada: The meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, which concluded today, left conservation organizations disappointed with the failure of NAFO countries to live up to their international commitments to protect the high seas. In 2006, they all agreed through a United Nations General Assembly resolution to conduct environmental impact assessments of deep-sea fishing and to protect deep-sea species and biodiversity. The UN resolution was a compromise in response to calls by numerous governments and conservation organizations for a moratorium on bottom trawling on the high seas.
Continue reading Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization comes up short on protecting the deep sea
The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition today released a report at the United Nations which describes major shortcomings in the implementation of UN General Assembly resolutions designed to protect the deep-ocean from the destructive impact of fishing. Lead author of the report, Dr Alex Rogers of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), said that “RFMOs are failing to manage deep-sea bottom fisheries on the high seas sustainably with respect to target and by-catch species. For most fisheries there is little or no information on the status of stocks and in many cases we do not even know what is being caught where.”
Continue reading Scientific Review: Most High Seas, Deep Sea fish unmanaged
