European nations agreed last week to set up fishing-free zones in remote parts of the Atlantic Ocean in the world's first high seas network of protected areas beyond the control of national governments. Environment ministers from 15 European states, forming the OSPAR group overseeing the North-East Atlantic, said they would seek recognition of the six areas at the United Nations and from the United States and Canada on the other side of the ocean.The proposed zones would give a new level of protection to species living in the mid-Atlantic. Species include whales, sharks, rays, orange roughy and cold-water corals.Protection might mean permanent bans on fishing or seabed drilling or mining, perhaps even restrictions on shipping.The six zones, covering a total 285,000 sq kms (110,000 sq miles) or an area equivalent in size to Italy or the U.S. state of Arizona, are mainly north of the Azores and west of Ireland. More here

TAGS: Marine protected areas, protection zones, mid-Atlantic zones, EU, OSPAR, environmental protection, sustainable fisheries, fishing

I read two press releases tonight about the outcome of this week's NAFO meeting. The WWF proclaims that: "NAFO Commits to an Effective Rebuilding Plan for Grand Banks Cod:Three More Years of Grand Banks Cod Moratoria". It praises Canada for taking " the lead at NAFO by developing a plan to create a robust rebuilding strategy for depleted stocks, including essential elements such as rebuilding targets, timelines, and harvest control rules."  Knowing that NAFO has been a toothless tiger for decades, I shook my head in disbelief. The moratorium has been in effect for years and the EU has continued to ignore bycatch restrictions thereby rendering the moratorium meaningless. I saw nothing to indicate that this will change.

Concerns about the certification process for sustainable fisheries have been reignited by a battle over the Antarctic toothfish, which lives in one of the most pristine marine ecosystems. Three fishing companies want to market it as sustainable and were on track to get the stamp of approval from the Marine Stewardship Council. But environmental organizations have objected, arguing that the label isn't warranted, given the paucity of data about the life history of the toothfish and the ecological impacts of fishing in the Ross Sea. An independent examiner is now reviewing the evidence. Whatever the outcome, the saga of the Antarctic toothfish shows that making a watertight case for sustainability can be devilishly difficult. More details at: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/329/5999/1596?sa_campaign=Email/sntw/24-September-2010/10.1126/science.329.5999.1596

TAGS: Science, Toothfish, Antarctic toothfish, Marine Stewardship Council, certification,sustainability, sustainable, fisheries, fishing

After two days of hearings, several members of an 11-member advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that there are not yet sufficient data to determine that a genetic modification that enables salmon to grow twice as quickly is safe for the affected fish or for consumers. More here http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/fda-unable-reach-conclusion-genetically-modified-salmon/story?id=11682586

TAGS: Frankenfish, GM salmon, FDA, no conclusion