The App is free and allows users to access from their iPhone or iPad the most up-to-date commercial and recreational federal fishing regulations for species managed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The App also provides information on fish identification, measurement guidelines, sanctuaries and closures, and important telephone numbers.
“The use of this technology allows us to get the regulations out to more people in a convenient format. It’s particularly useful because no internet connection is needed to access the App, so checking regulations or identifying fish while out on the water is easy.” said Dr. Steve Bortone, Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
The Council hopes to develop a similar App compatible with other smart phones.
To download the new App, visit the App store from your iPhone or iPad, search for “Gulf Council,” and click on the Council logo. To preview the App from your computer, visit <http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gulf-fisheries-management/id426286698?mt=8&ls=1>.
March 24 2011 at 07:27pm
London – The world’s coral reefs are in danger of dying out in the next 20 years unless carbon emissions are cut drastically, warns a coalition of scientists led by Sir David Attenborough.
The delicate ecosystems, known as the “rainforests of the sea”, support huge amounts of marine life. But as oceans absorb CO2 they become more acidic, making it impossible for structures such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to survive. Read the full article
AFP
 |
WASHINGTON, March 17, 2011 – The U.S. government failed to meet its legal deadline Wednesday for issuing a final rule providing additional protections for loggerhead sea turtles, whose populations have faced severe declines over the last decade. The rule is required as a result of 2007 legal petitions by Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN), the Center for Biological Diversity, and Oceana urging the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Fish and Wildlife Service to change the status of North Pacific and northwest Atlantic loggerheads from “threatened” to the more protective “endangered” classification under the Endangered Species Act.
Click here to access the 2009 NMFS status review of loggerhead populations, and click here to download more information on the proposed Endangered Species Act reclassification and the TIRN petition.
“Every day of delay is another loggerhead drowned or injured in deadly fisheries,” says Dr. Chris Pincetich, marine biologist with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, “Pacific loggerheads need increased protections immediately to reverse their decline towards extinction.”
On March 16, 2010, the government proposed to list loggerheads as endangered in response to a court-ordered settlement over prior delays. It has now failed to take timely action by missing the legal deadline to issue a final rule within one year.
“While the government dragged its feet, loggerhead sea turtles have drowned in fishing gear and oil from the BP spill. Meanwhile, larger threats from global warming and sea-level rise are mounting,” said Catherine Kilduff, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Endangered Species Act protections are needed to promote the recovery of loggerheads and protect nesting beaches from rising seas. Delaying these additional protections only puts these rare turtles at increased risk of extinction.”
While critical habitat is not currently designated for loggerheads, the final rule would trigger its identification, an important step toward achieving improved protections for key nesting beaches and migratory and feeding habitat in the ocean.
“It is disgraceful that after more than three years and in the face of overwhelming evidence that the government has yet to address this critical issue,” said Eric Bilsky, assistant general counsel and senior litigator at Oceana.
Loggerheads have declined by at least 80 percent in the North Pacific and could become functionally or ecologically extinct by the mid-21st century if additional protections are not put into place. Florida beaches, which host the largest nesting population of loggerheads in the Northwest Atlantic, have seen more than a 25 percent decline in nesting since 1998. Human activities, including commercial fishing and habitat degradation, are pushing loggerheads towards extinction. Climate change threatens to make the situation even worse.
In addition to demanding that the government protect sea turtles and their habitat under existing law, the groups are calling for comprehensive legislation that would protect U.S. sea turtles in ocean waters as well as on land.
Turtle Island Restoration Network is an international marine conservation organization headquartered in California whose 35,000 members members and online activists work to protect sea turtles and marine biodiversity in the United States and around the world. For more information, visit www.SeaTurtles.org.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national nonprofit conservation organization with more than 255,000 members and online activists dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild lands. For more information, please visit www.biologicaldiversity.org.
Oceana campaigns to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Our teams of marine scientists, economists, lawyers, and advocates win specific and concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and to prevent the irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other sea life. Global in scope and dedicated to conservation, Oceana has campaigners based in North America, Europe, and South and Central America. More than 500,000 members and e-activists in over 150 countries have already joined Oceana. For more information, please visit www.Oceana.org
Press Release-Oceana, Center for Biodiversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network
.
ScienceDaily (Mar. 17, 2011) — University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science scientist Chris Langdon and colleagues developed a new tool to monitor coral reef vital signs. By accurately measuring their biological pulse, scientists can better assess how climate change and other ecological threats impact coral reef health worldwide. Read the full article
MATAMOROS, Mexico — The chase began after darkness descended on this stretch of ocean, where the U.S.-Mexico border cuts through the Gulf of Mexico.
The shark fishermen turned off the lights of their skiff before sneaking north across the border, and the U.S. Coast Guard boat followed suit, leaving six officers to find the target using a single pair of night-vision goggles.
“Those guys are north of the line,” said Petty Officer Andrew Watzek, squinting at the 25-foot Mexican skiff and then at a radar screen, where the border is a bold line extending off the coast. “They’re definitely in American waters.” Read the full article
Washington Post By Kevin Sieff, Thursday, March 17,2011
Southern California researchers say about 35% of fish they collected in the northern Pacific Ocean in 2008 had plastic in their stomachs. The study shows the troubling effect floating litter is having on marine life, the researchers say. Read the article
March 11, 2011|By Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times
The tsunami that struck Japan on Friday brought back memories of the tsunami of 2004 that devastated many parts of Sri Lanka. At the time, the steady destruction of coral reefs around the country was believed to have aggravated the impact of the disaster. The theory was confirmed by Sri Lankan scientist, Harindra Fernando, who was in Sri Lanka recently. Read the full article
The Sunday Times – March 13, 2011
By Malaka Rodrigo
http://www.battleinthebay.org/
Directions….
To get here turn off of US 1 onto Sombrero Beach Road at mile marker 50 (by Publix and Kmart) and follow for two miles to the end of the road. If you’re riding a bicycle, there’s a wide bike path the entire route from Oversees Highway to the beach. Bring your lunch, your dog, your kids – whatever you want for a day at the races.
ISLA MUJERES, MEXICO – U.S. and Mexican scientists believe they are close to solving one of the shark world’s great mysteries.
They want to know why whale sharks, the largest shark species, gather each year by the hundreds in the teal-blue waters off this Yucatan Peninsula barrier island. Read the full article
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, March 7, 2011; 6:37 PM By Jim Tharpe
February 23, 2011
FWC Staff and Reef Relief's Paul G. Johnson, State Programs & Policy Director
“Today, in cooperation with the Sea Turtle Conservancy, Reef Relief Policy and Programs Director Paul G. Johnson presented a resolution in recognition and praise to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, it’s staff and volunteers in the rescue and release of cold stunned sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico last January. The resolution was read at their recent meeting in Apalachicola, Florida.”
