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This month we highlight:
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The UN Atlas of the Oceans Editors
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- Global Oceans Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) : Identifying ecologically or biologically significant marine areas in need of protection on the open oceans and deep seas. (Website)
- New 'walking' fishes discovered in Gulf oil-spill zone : Two new fish species — with pancake-flat bodies, wiggling lures on their faces, and elbowed fins for "walking" on the seafloor — have been discovered in the path of spewing Gulf of Mexico oil. (News)
- Floating Glaciers : Glaciers are massive sheets of ice, sliding slowly down a mountain and carving enormous grooves in the land. However, there is one glacier that extends into the water, floating intact on the ocean waves. (News)
- Rising sea drives Panama islanders to mainland : Rising seas from global warming, coming after years of coral reef destruction, are forcing thousands of indigenous Panamanians to leave their ancestral homes on low-lying Caribbean islands. (News)
- North–South network hopes to boost Mediterranean science : Three years of consultations have been rewarded with the birth of the Euro-Mediterranean Science Academic Network (EMAN). (News)
- Indian Ocean sea levels 'rising at different rates' : Mapping variations in regional sea level changes of different parts of the Indian Ocean could help developing countries better adapt to the effects of climate change, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience. (News)
- Sea-bed structure affects tsunami size, study finds : Differences in the structure of the ocean floor off the coast of Sumatra could explain why the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake created a much larger tsunami than a similar magnitude quake the following year, according to a study. (News)
- New Ways of Managing UK Seas – Government Reports : The United Kingdom government has proposed a new way of managing UK seas -- the new planning and licensing systems will help the management of marine activities, ensure on-going environmental protection of UK seas, and give coastal communities a voice in the future uses of their marine environment. (News)
- FAO: International management of tuna fisheries : A new FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, International management of tuna fisheries - Arrangements, challenges and a way forward, reviews the current management of tuna fisheries by the five tuna regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs). (News)
- FAO: Marine fishery resources of the Pacific Islands : The Pacific Islands region consists of 14 independent countries and 8 territories located in the western and central Pacific Ocean. A recently published FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, Marine fishery resources of the Pacific Islands, discusses these two resource categories, updating and expanding an earlier review by FAO of the marine fishery resources of the Pacific Islands. (News)
- European ministers examine fisheries policy : At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 29 June, ministers exchanged views on the future reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) with a focus on sustainability: environmental, economic and social. (News)
- International Law Failing to Protect Coral Reefs and Tropical Fish, Experts Argue : International law has failed to protect coral reefs and tropical fish from being decimated by a growing collectors market, but U.S. reforms can lead the way towards making the trade more responsible, ecologically sustainable and humane. (News)
- Expedition to Mid-Cayman Rise Identifies Unusual Variety of Deep Sea Vents : The first expedition to search for deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Cayman Rise has turned up three distinct types of hydrothermal venting, reports an interdisciplinary team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (News)
- NOAA reopens one third of closed Gulf fishing area : NOAA has reopened 26,388 square miles of Gulf of Mexico waters to commercial and recreational fishing on 22 July. No oil has been observed in the area for 30 days. (News)
- Plastiki arrives in Sydney, Australia from San Francisco : After sailing more than 8,000 nautical miles and spending 128 days crossing the Pacific, the world’s largest ocean, in a boat made of 12,500 plastic PET bottles, the Plastiki expedition and her crew have safely and successfully reached their planned destination of Sydney to cheers of welcome and support. Visit the Plastiki moored at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour. ABC radio speaks to expedition leader David De Rothschild about what the voyage has achieved. (News)
- IMO: IMO and industry review of the “Year of the Seafarer”, piracy and climate change : IMO’s “Year of the Seafarer” has reached its halfway mark, with the recent Manila Conference (convened to adopt amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (the STCW Convention) and its associated Code) being the most significant of the various activities included in the action plan drawn up to promote this year’s World Maritime Day theme. To take stock of the status of the plan and consider what action to take in the remainder of the year, a meeting was organized at IMO Headquarters today (14 July 2010), the agenda of which also included the consideration of plans to mark the 2011 IMO World Maritime Day theme of “Piracy: orchestrating the response” and review progress on climate change from the IMO and shipping perspective. (News)
- IMO: Conference agrees new provisions on hours of rest for watchkeepers : Conference of Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, Manila, the Philippines, 21-25 June 2010 A Diplomatic Conference to adopt amendments to the STCW Convention, (successfully completed in Manila on 25 June 2010 - see briefing 32/2010) has also agreed, by consensus, a series of new provisions on the issue of "fitness for duty - hours of rest", to provide watchkeeping officers aboard ships with sufficient rest periods. (News)
- IMO: Air pollution from ships cut, with entry into force of MARPOL amendments : New and more stringent regulations to reduce harmful emissions from ships are expected to have a significant beneficial impact on the atmospheric environment and on human health, particularly that of people living in port cities and coastal communities. The revised Annex VI (Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL convention) enters into force globally on 1 July 2010, together with important reductions in sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions in specific areas. (News)
- IMO: New international passenger ship safety regulations enter into force : A comprehensive package of amendments to the international regulations affecting new passenger ships enters into force on 1 July 2010. Increased emphasis is placed on reducing the chance of accidents occurring and on improved survivability, embracing the concept of the ship as ‘its own best lifeboat’. (News)
- IMO: Manila conference sets 25 June annually as "Day of the Seafarer" : Conference of Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, Manila, the Philippines, 21-25 June 2010. Manila conference sets 25 June annually as "Day of the Seafarer". Member States of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have unanimously agreed that the unique contribution made by seafarers from all over the world to international seaborne trade, the world economy and civil society as a whole, should be marked annually with a 'Day of the Seafarer'. (News)
- IMO: Eastern European countries to get help in tackling alien invaders under innovative EBRD/IMO Marine Biosafety Initiative : Eastern European countries to get help in tackling alien invaders under innovative EBRD/IMO Marine Biosafety Initiative. The Russian Federation and Ukraine will be the first countries to benefit from a training programme aimed at helping selected Eastern European countries reduce the risk from harmful organisms and pathogens transferred in ships' ballast water, under an innovative Marine Biosafety Initiative, launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in partnership with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), through the Organization's GloBallast Partnerships Programme (GloBallast). (News)
- Plastiki Expedition nears Sydney, Australia : The 60 ft plastic bottle boat focusing world attention on waste in our oceans encounters heavy weather after leaving Noumea, New Caledonia. The Plastiki is on an epic voyage from San Francisco and is scheduled to arrive in Sydney, Australia before the end of July 2010. (News)
- Warmer Lake Tanganyika threatens East African fisheries : The warming of Lake Tanganyika over the past century has made the lake less productive — posing a serious threat to fisheries, according to a study. (News)
- Algae trials test 'wonder food' status of spirulina : A blue-green algae rich in protein could help curb global malnutrition if a US$1.7 million cultivation project in Chad — due to end in December — proves successful. (News)
- Recasting the net: defining a gender agenda : An international workshop on the role of women in fisheries - read about the outcome (Event)