The US Government has moved too fast to reopen Gulf of Mexico fisheries say non-government scientists in the US. Researchers with the Georgia Sea Grant and University of Georgia have released a report concluding that in fact nearly 80 percent of the oil from the BP spill remains in the Gulf, contrary to goverment claims. The earlier federal report about the fate of the oil that BP spilled in the Gulf of Mexico has been described as "too rosy." NOAA Adminstrator Jane Lubchenco has claimed that independent scientists had given it their stamp of approval. But, according to the Huffington Post, all the scientists listed in the report when contacted for comment this week said the exact same thing: "That although they provided some input to NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), they in no way reviewed the report, and could not vouch for it." Who's telling the truth? More here & here

TAGS: Gulf of Mexico, oil spill, independent scientists, fisheries reopening premature, the Huffington Post, Jane Lubchenco, NOAA,

A European Union ban on seal products has been suspended. The ban was suspended until further notice after Inuit leaders questioned the legality of the ban. The petition launched by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) for an injunction has been granted by the European Court of Justice. More here and here   Meanwhile the founding President of the Canadian Sealers Association, Jim Winter, has sent a blistering letter to Senator Mac Harb, denouncing his anti-sealing stance and suggesting that he has sold out to animal rights groups. Rex Murphy comments here

TAGS: seal hunt, seal products ban, ban suspended, EU, Inuit, European Court of Justice, Jim Winter, Canadian Sealers Association, Senator Mac Harb ,animal rights groups, Rex Murphy

News out of Indonesia indicates that coral reefs there are dying at record rates due to warmer temperatures. The hotspot has affected reefs across Indonesia as well as in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, and it is now pushing its way northward. The death of the coral is attributed to a dramatic rise in water temperatures off northwestern Indonesia. More here

TAGS: coral reefs dying, record rates, Indonesia,warmer temperatures, global warming

Also see Questions re NAFO posed in Senate by Senator Rompkey here

NAFO/Fishery treaty hurts  resource, democracy, sovereignty by Gerry Byrne, MP

 A recent and widely noted University of British Columbia study shows many regional fishery management organizations around the world failing to halt dramatic declines of fish stocks.  Atlantic Canadians already know firsthand about RFMO shortcomings.  After foreign trawlers fished down the original abundance of Atlantic cod, Canada set up its 200-mile limit in 1977.  The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization came into place to manage “straddling stocks” at the edge of our zone and beyond, on the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks.  The organization has a dismal record. Lax  rules  and  poor cooperation have long prevented recovery of badly depleted species.  East coasters know that. But most of them and Canadians at large have never noted an alarming new possibility.  Foreign fleets could  return inside our 200-mile limit – with NAFO setting the rules. That’s partly thanks to some distant-water fishing states' maneuverings in NAFO.  But it’s mostly thanks to the Harper government, which has weakened our fishery, our sovereignty, and our democracy in a single stroke.