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As seen at the recent UN World Food Day commemorations, food and energy are interlinked -- and all the more so amid the current global financial crisis and its effects on the poor. This month we look at small-scale fishing communities and poverty; the growing world demand for seafood; and the use of marine protected areas as a management tool for sustainable fisheries. Turning to the environment, read how the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has been active in reducing wastage of energy and materials through vessel recycling and cleaner emissions from ships.
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The UN Atlas of the Oceans Editors
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- The Forgiving Air. Understanding Environmental Change : Editor's Award. This book clearly explains climate science and policy. It is an excellent resource for students, educators, and policy makers seeking to understand one of the most critical issues of our time. Modestly priced. (Book)
- Pacific Rim countries stage UN-initiated tsunami warning drill : The staged tsunami drill, “Exercise Pacific Wave 08,” will involve two days of testing the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (PTWS) – a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established network to promote the exchange of seismic and sea level data for rapid tsunami detection. (News)
- The Pearl Oyster : Comprehensive guide for oyster, mollusc and marine biologists. Aquaculturists and practitioners in oyster culture. (Book)
- IMO: Netherlands signs Wreck Removal Convention : The Kingdom of the Netherlands has become the fourth country to sign, subject to approval, the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007, joining Estonia, France and Italy, which signed subject to ratification. The Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention was adopted in May 2007 and will provide the legal basis for States to remove, or have removed, shipwrecks that may have the potential to affect adversely the safety of lives, goods and property at sea, as well as the marine environment. (News)
- Building Community Capacity for Tourism Development : A focused academic analysis of the emerging issue within tourism development practice, while critically examining the dimensions and processes of building community capacity to manage and develop a tourism industry. (Book)
- Marine Protected Areas (Ch 23) : Editor's Award. Ch. 23 is the marine chapter in a handbook which spans protected area management with international case studies. (Document)
- Nobel Prize for fluorescent jellyfish protein : The remarkable brightly glowing green fluorescent protein, GFP, was first observed in the beautiful jellyfish, Aequorea victoria in 1962. Since then, this protein has become one of the most important tools used in contemporary bioscience. With the aid of GFP, researchers have developed ways to watch processes that were previously invisible, such as the development of nerve cells in the brain or how cancer cells spread. (News)
- Centre for Marine Microbiology and Genetics Research (CMMG) : Research on tropical marine microbes, focused on the symbiotic relationships between the smallest creatures known and their hosts. (Website)
- Attack of the Heavy Metal Invaders : Video clip with transcript about invasive marine species, especially hull-fouling organisms. (Multimedia)
- Getty Prize goes to Madagascar community leader : WWF-US has announced that Roger Samba has been named the winner of the 2008 J. Paul Getty Award for Conservation Leadership. (News)
- IMO: United Nations Secretary General supports anti-piracy mandate extension : United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has pledged his support for an extension of the mandate, given in United Nations Security Council resolution 1816 (2008), enabling States co operating with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia to enter the country's territorial waters and use all necessary means in order to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, consistent with relevant international law. That mandate is due to expire on 1 December 2008, i.e. six months after the adoption of the resolution, on 2 June 2008. IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos wrote to Mr Ban last month proposing that the mandate be extended. Mr Ban has now confirmed that he supports the proposal and will be conveying the same to the Security Council, together with the concerns expressed by IMO and international shipping and seafaring organizations. (News)
- Huge Gap Between World Demand For Fish And What Can Be Sustainably Harvested : There is a huge gap between world demand for fish and what we can harvest from the world’s natural stocks. The figures are clear: If we don’t do something about the over fishing, the stocks of wild fish will be dealt a death blow. (News)
- Progress reported in UN-backed efforts to reduce pollution, emissions from ships : The United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) has reported major progress on efforts to cut polluting and global warming emissions from ships, achieve more environmentally friendly recycling of vessels and prevent contamination from harmful organisms in ballast. (News)
- Civil society workshop calls on FAO, governments to recognize, guarantee rights of small-scale, indigenous fishing communities : Representatives of small-scale fishing communities and indigenous communities dependent on fisheries for life and livelihood, and their supporters, have called on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), other UN agencies, regional fisheries bodies and national governments to recognize and guarantee access rights of small-scale and indigenous fishing communities to territories, lands and waters on which they have traditionally depended for their life and livelihoods. (News)
- United Nations Yearbook Collection : Online access to the complete collection of United Nations Yearbooks - from 1946 (Website)
- Quality Assurance and Certification in Ecotourism : Genuine ecotourism can have many positive impacts, particularly the conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage and the creation of economic opportunities for local communities. While promoting these, it aims to eliminate negative impacts such as environmental degradation, cultural commoditisation and playground effects. Unfortunately, the concept is broadly misunderstood and its true definition widely debated. It is often used as a marketing tool, with some operators taking advantage of the ecotourism label to attract more business while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways. This book considers the important topic of quality control and accreditation in ecotourism, describing the mechanisms that can be implemented to ensure quality in all aspects of the industry, namely protected areas, businesses, products and tour guides. (Book)
- FAO MPA Website : Marine protected areas as a fisheries management tool (Website)
- Report and documentation of the Expert Workshop on Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries Management: Review of Issues and Considerations : An overview of the discussion of participants and backgrounds papers characterizing MPAs as a fisheries management tool from the June 2006 workshop (Document)
- World Food Day stresses climate change and bioenergy effects on poor : Climate change and bioenergy are the focus of this year’s World Food Day activities, expected to involve over 150 countries. (News)
- IMO: IMO and industry agree joint approaches on Somalia piracy : At the invitation of IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, a meeting took place yesterday involving the heads of the four shipping industry bodies known collectively as the Round Table (BIMCO, ICS/ISF, INTERCARGO and INTERTANKO), and of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). The meeting aimed at exploring common approaches, additional to measures already taken, to address the increasingly serious incidence of piracy attacks on shipping off the coast of Somalia and, in particular, in the Gulf of Aden - a strategic corridor leading to the Red Sea and to the Suez Canal, which represents a key conduit for almost 12% of the world's crude oil, not to mention other energy, container and general bulk traffic. (News)
- IMO: USA ratifies international rules on air pollution from ships : The United States of America has become the 53rd state to ratify Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), with the deposition today of an instrument of ratification with the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Annex VI, which was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in May 2005, regulates the discharge of atmospheric pollutants from ships. Among other things, it set, for the first time, limits on sulphur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from ships' exhausts; prohibited deliberate emissions of ozone-depleting substances and put a global cap on the sulphur content of fuel oil. (News)
- IMO: IMO environment meeting adopts revised regulations on ship emissions : The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) unanimously adopted amendments to the MARPOL Annex VI regulations to reduce harmful emissions from ships even further, when it met for its 58th session at IMO's London headquarters. The main changes to MARPOL Annex VI will see a progressive reduction in sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships, with the global sulphur cap reduced initially to 3.50% (from the current 4.50%), effective from 1 January 2012; then progressively to 0.50 %, effective from 1 January 2020, subject to a feasibility review to be completed no later than 2018. (News)
- IMO: IMO environment meeting finalizes ships recycling convention for adoption in 2009 : The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved, without reservations, the text of the draft ship recycling convention for adoption at a conference in 2009, when it met for its 58th session at IMO's London headquarters. The MEPC conducted an article-by-article and regulation-by-regulation review of the draft new convention providing globally applicable regulations for ship recycling and for recycling activities. The text will now be circulated for consideration and adoption by a diplomatic conference to be held in Hong Kong, China, from 11 to 15 May 2009. (News)
- IMO: Major progress on air pollution, ship recycling and ballast water management at IMO environment meeting : Major progress was made on reducing emissions from ships, in achieving safer and more environmentally friendly recycling of ships, and in facilitating ballast water management, when the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) met for its 58th session at IMO's London headquarters. The MEPC unanimously adopted amendments to the MARPOL Annex VI regulations so as to reduce harmful emissions of air pollutants from ships even further; approved the draft ship recycling convention for adoption at a conference in 2009; approved a number of systems to help implement the Ballast Water Management Convention; and made substantial progress in developing technical and operational measures to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions from ships. (News)
- New Book Offers Comprehensive Global Analysis of Protected Areas : The World’s Protected Areas provides the most detailed assessment ever of the worldwide distribution and conservation status of protected areas -- including ocean areas (News)
- Is the aquaculture boom starting to fade? : The aquaculture industry has reached an important crossroads, with new challenges emerging regarding the sector’s ability to meet future world demand for fish. (News)
- US$50 billion lost by marine fishing each year : Economic losses in marine fisheries resulting from poor management, inefficiencies, and overfishing add up to a staggering US$50 billion per year, according to a new World Bank-FAO report released today. (News)
- Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform : This study concludes that marine capture fisheries are an underperforming global asset. (Document)
- IMO: Ship emissions high on agenda at IMO environment meeting : The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is expected to adopt proposed amendments to the MARPOL Annex VI regulations to reduce harmful emissions from ships, when it meets for its 58th session from 6 to 10 October at IMO Headquarters in London. The Committee will also continue its work on developing a mandatory regime to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping. The Committee has a packed agenda, which also includes the consideration of the draft ship recycling convention and issues relating to the implementation of the 2004 Ballast Water Management Convention. (News)
- ARGENTINA: Women Create Food and Jobs in Wetlands : An added-value initiative for small-scale fishing operations in the wetlands of the Paraná, a river that has many branches in northeastern Argentina, creating a series of fragile ecosystems that are rich in biodiversity. (News)
- Scum's Big Break : On a scenic Hawaiian coastline Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, is filling six acres of ponds with algae. With increasing concerns for future fuel supplies, one of the most exotic but most appealing proposals is the production of biodiesel from algae. Unlike crops such as corn, algae do not need fresh water or fertile land, thus posing no threat to food supplies. Algal ponds could yield 10 times as much oil per hectare as jatropha plants, which do not require agricultural land. A full-scale facility would cover 50,000 acres, but Shell will only move to that if both the initial pilot plant and a 2,500-acre demonstration plant perform to expectations. Graeme Sweeney, Shell’s head of future fuels is well aware of the constraints of developing advanced biofuels. “The timetable for achieving this is around 2015 for significant production,” he says. “We are looking at five to 10 years or so.” (News)