Sea Shepherd Announces Operation Blue Rage - SeaShepherd.org

image credit SeaShepherd.org

Tomorrow, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will launch its flagship, Steve Irwin, from New York to commence its campaign against illegal bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean - "Operation Blue Rage".

"Bluefin tuna currently face illegal poaching and extreme overfishing, and populations have fallen by at least 85% since the industrial fishing era began. Bluefin quotas are set at a ludicrously high 13,500 tons by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), but in actual fact over 60,000 tons are killed every year. In addition, shockingly, CITES recently failed to include the bluefin tuna as a protected species. The decision occurred after Japan, Canada, and a variety of economically challenged nations opposed the measure."

Don't even get me started on CITES...

Full article here (SeaShepherd.org):
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100428-1.html

PS- Love these guys!!

Don't Let President Obama Lift the Whaling Ban - Change.org

If anything is gonna make me violently pissed off it's gonna be this. Hadn't we already agreed that whales ought to be saved in the 70's? Wasn't the moratorium a huge environmental success? Why are we taking steps backwards?

President Obama is making deals behind closed doors to end the moratorium on commercial whaling. You would be hard pressed to find another issue that so many Americans agree on today - END commercial whaling forever! Please take a moment to sign the petition!!


photo credit Change.org

Petition at Change.org, started by Earth Day Network:
http://www.change.org/petitions/view/dont_let_president_obama_lift_the_whaling_ban_not_on_earth_day_not_ever

Obama Drops the Ball on Whaling - LA Times

Ladies and gentleman, it's time to get pissed.

President Obama is making deals behind closed doors to end the moratorium on commercial whaling. You would be hard pressed to find another issue that so many Americans agree on today - END commercial whaling FOREVER!

Mr. President argues that the moratorium should be lifted because loopholes are being exploited by whaling nations. He thinks that if whaling is legalized, it will bring the issues out into the open and whaling will eventually be phased out. So, in order to stop whaling, we need to start whaling? What??

"The Obama administration's fundamental premise -- that the proposed agreement will save thousands of whales over the next decade -- doesn't withstand scrutiny. The agreement suggests quota numbers, but no actual numbers have been agreed to among the nations of the whaling commission -- or even among the smaller group of nations that have, for the last three years, been negotiating the proposed agreement behind closed doors. The actual number of whales allowed to be killed if the agreement is adopted is, at this point, anybody's guess."

Sounds dangerous. Isn't this a huge step backwards for us? Wasn't the moratorium hailed as an enormous win for environmentalists? Aren't whales still in danger, despite the moratorium? I can tell you myself - they are. Climate change, ship strikes, entanglements in fishing gear, army and navy sonar exercises, noise pollutions...the list goes on.

Probably what pisses me off the most is that the quotas under negotiation right now do not have input from the scientific community. Everything is political, trying to please the whaling nations more than trying to conserve the whales. Indeed, the agreements being made are protecting commercial whaling more than they are protecting the whales.

If Obama lifts the moratorium, this will be his legacy. This WILL be his legacy. It's tragic, because many environmentalists voted for him due to his positions on environmental management, conservation and clean energy...but he's proving to be quite the disappointment.

Full article here (LA Times):
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-reynolds-20100428,0,3445944.story

SeaWorld's Educational Value Challenged in Congressional Hearing - Change.org

Sparked by the death of Tilikum's trainer at SeaWorld, Orlando; marine mammal experts, zoo and aquarium representatives and scientists headed to Capitol Hill yesterday to testify at the hearing Marine Mammals in Captivity: What Constitutes Meaningful Public Education?. Among attendees was director of The Cove, Louis Psihoyos who said that aquarium performances of marine mammals are no more than "stupid tricks for our amusement."

A main argument in the hearing was that aquariums are not providing accurate information to visitors about marine mammals and are misleading or misinforming the public with outdated information.


photo credit Change.org via Stig Nygaard

Full article here (Change.org):
http://animals.change.org/blog/view/seaworlds_educational_value_challenged_in_congressional_hearing

Caribbean Islands Approve Ban on Ocean Dumping - The Associated Press

Good news for countries in the Caribbean around Puerto Rico - After the U.N. outlawed ocean dumping in this region in 1993, enough ship trash receptacles are finally in place to put the law into effect.

"It's a big deal," said Ramos, a U.S. Coast Guard commander based on the Dutch island of Curacao near Venezuela. "Especially in the Caribbean, with all the tankers and the traffic going to the Panama Canal, it will make a big impact."

Way to go!

Full article here (The Associated Press via Google):
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jkdN1L_PgbsMNljoahv-6Z9MUfpgD9F331RO0