The moratorium on commercial whaling, one of the environmental movement's greatest achievements, looks likely to be swept away this summer by a new international deal being negotiated behind closed doors. The new arrangement would legitimise the whaling activities of the three countries which have continued to hunt whales in defiance of the ban – Japan, Norway and Iceland – and would allow commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary set up by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1994.

Conservationists regard it as catastrophic, but fear there is a very real chance of its being accepted at the next IWC meeting in Morocco in June, not least because it is being strongly supported by the US – previously one of whaling's most determined opponents.

Should the deal go ahead, it would represent one of the most significant setbacks ever for conservation, and as big a failure for wildlife protection as December's Copenhagen conference was for action on climate change.

The UN wildlife trade body slapped down a trio of proposals on Tuesday to oversee cross-border commerce for sharks threatened with extinction through overfishing, sparking anger from conservationists.

The only marine species granted protection at a meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was the temperate zone porbeagle, a shark fished for its meat.

Earlier, bids to impose a global trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna and to require export monitoring for seven species of precious coral both fell well short of the required two-thirds majority.



http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/un-body-rejects-protection-for-shark-species-20100324-qw34.html?autostart=1

see toon at top.

Allowing whaling nations to kill a limited number of the animals is the only way ensure control, New Zealand's representative on the issue has said.

Former PM Geoffrey Palmer said attempts to reach a global deal on whaling would fail unless nations could compromise.

Australia, which wants a total ban on whaling, has expressed alarm at Mr Palmer's comments, and said it could not back such a scheme.

Japan, Iceland and Norway together hunt more than 2,000 whales each year.

Mr Palmer, who represents New Zealand on the International Whaling Commission (IWC), said whaling nations had increased the size of their hunts in recent years.

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Ah, stup it...

Millions of marine turtles have been killed over the past two decades through entrapment in fishing gear, according to a global survey.

Described as the first global synthesis of existing data, the study found especially high rates of "bycatch" in the Mediterranean and eastern Pacific.

Six of the seven sea turtle types are on the Red List of Threatened Species.

Writing in the journal Conservation Letters, researchers advocate much greater use of gear safe for turtles.

These include circular hooks rather than the conventional J-shaped hooks on long fishing lines, and hatches that allow the reptiles to escape from trawls.

Turtles must come to the surface to breathe.

When they are caught in a net or on a fishing hook, they cannot surface, and drown.

Lead researcher Bryan Wallace said the state of the world's turtles was an indicator of the wider health of the oceans.

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Main Diet of Leatherback Sea Turtle
The jellyfish is about 95 percent water, so it is hard to imagine how the leatherback sea turtle can eat them and grow as large as they do. The turtles often substitute large quantities of food for quality. The upper jaw parts in their mouth will pierce and hold most jellyfish parts. They can slice jelly fish into consumable pieces to eat with their jaws. The consumption of jellyfish may cause food poisoning in humans who eat the turtle's meat.
Jellyfish and Other Soft-Bodied Creatures
The leatherback turtle eats other soft-bodied creatures in the ocean besides jellyfish. They feed on tunicates, a plant-like creature that filters sea water through slits. Many of these creatures live on the ocean floor and are sedentary life forms similar to plants. The leatherback turtle's diet includes squid, fish, crustaceans, seaweed and other floating algae.
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Fishermen in northern Japan are bracing for a “massive” inundation of huge Nomura’s jellyfish this autumn reports the Telegraph. Nomura's jellyfish are one of the largest jellyfish in the world. The species can grow up to 2 meters in diameter and weigh 200 kg. The last time the phenomenon occurred on a similar scale was in the summer of 2005 when the jellyfish damaged nets, rendered fish inedible with toxic stings and injured fishermen. The first jellyfish have been reported off the coasts of Shimane, Kyoto and Niigata, reports Redskynews.

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Of course there are other (increasing number) plagues of jellyfish, some in the Atlantic, near Spain and near England, and in the Mediterranean Sea...

Some of these plagues are blamed on "global warming" (warmer sea?) but, although I am not an expert, I'd like to make a connection between the decline of turtle population and the rise in jellyfish plague, principally.

As mentioned above, turtle diet include jellyfish... so let's join the dots.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has published draft proposals for regulating whaling for the next decade.

Japan's Antarctic whale hunt would fall in stages to less than a quarter of its current size. But hunting would continue on the endangered fin whale.

The draft is the latest stage in a two-year process aiming to find compromise between pro- and anti-whaling camps.

It will be debated at the IWC's annual meeting in June. Some conservation groups have already condemned it.

Commercial whaling was banned globally in 1982, but Iceland, Japan and Norway continue to hunt under various exemptions, collectively targeting more than 2,000 whales each year.

"For the first time since the adoption of the commercial whaling moratorium, we will have strict, enforceable limits on all whaling operations.

"As a result, several thousand less whales will be killed over the period of the agreement."

Seeking sanctuary

Key countries, including the US and Japan, have limited comments to saying they will consider the draft proposal carefully.

But some conservation and animal welfare groups have already indicated opposition.

"The fact that this proposal is even being discussed shows just how far out of touch the IWC is with modern values," said Claire Bass, manager of the Marine Mammal Programme at the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

Environment groups say the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) proposal to allow some whales to be killed is a return to commercial whaling.

The IWC's proposal would let whalers harpoon 400 minke whales and 10 fin whales each year in Antarctic waters until the 2015-2016 season.

Fin whales are an endangered species and green groups say the only reason their numbers are strong again is because of the ban on commercial whaling.

Australia says it will not support the proposal and in a surprise twist New Zealand has also said it will not support it.

The next meeting of the IWC in Morocco in June was always going to be heated, but Friday's announcement from the IWC guarantees the debate will be loud and long.

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see toon at top.

The Federal Government has announced it will launch legal action against Japan over whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Formal proceedings will be lodged in the International Court of Justice in The Hague early next week ahead of an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Morocco in June.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says he is confident the legal action will not affect Australia's bilateral relationship with Japan.

He says he spoke to his New Zealand counterpart last night to notify him of the Government's decision after Cabinet approved the legal action yesterday.

Federal Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett joined Mr Smith for the announcement and said Japan's so-called scientific whaling program must end.

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Meanwhile:

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The largest aerial survey of whales along the Australian Antarctic coastline has found far fewer minke whales this year than last, despite covering three times the area.

Australian scientists on board boats have closely studied minke whales for the past 30 years, during which they have noticed a big drop in numbers.

Now researchers are going where boats cannot navigate.

Dr David Peel from the CSIRO oceans program, along with the Australian Antarctic Division, helped lead the two-month study.

He says they covered an incredible amount of water.

"We spent about 108 hours in the air and we travelled about 11,000 nautical miles, which is sort of equivalent of going from Sydney to London," he said.

"Basically it involved flying straight lines over the ocean in a set pattern, and five to six people within in the plane, looking out the windows on both sides trying to see if we could spot whales.

"If we did we had to take measurements and record observations."

It is the second aerial survey in as many years, but Dr Peel says this year's survey is much larger than the last.

He says he was very surprised at the low level of sightings.

A British newspaper says Japan has been bribing small nations to help it overturn a moratorium on commercial whaling.

Undercover reporters for the Sunday Times newspaper say fisheries officials from six African, Caribbean and Pacific nations told them Japan provided aid for fisheries and cash for delegates in return for their support at the International Whaling Commission.

The undercover reporters posed as anti-whaling lobbyists and offered aid packages to small nations if they stopped supporting Japan at the International Whaling Commission.

An official from Guinea told the reporters Japan provided millions of dollars in aid for fisheries, as well as well as flights, hotels and spending money for delegates at IWC meetings.

Officials from St Kitts and Nevis, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Grenada and Ivory Coast spoke of similar inducements.

Japan denies making any such payments.

Seventeen mostly pro-whaling nations have had their voting rights suspended at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Morocco, in what could be a blow to Japan's hopes of resuming commercial whaling.

Delegates at the Agadir meeting are currently engaged in secret talks in a bid to break the deadlock over proposals to allow Japan to resume a limited commercial whale hunt in exchange for a reduction in its so-called scientific whaling program in the Southern Ocean.

This morning meeting deputy chairman Anthony Liverpool said about one-fifth of the meeting's 88 member states would not be allowed to vote.

The countries include Palau, the Marshall Islands, Ghana and Gambia and are mostly drawn from the pro-whaling bloc which has been expected to back Japan's move.

They have been suspended for reasons including failing to pay their annual fees.

Solomon Islands, meanwhile, has failed to show up at the meeting.

With so many nations unable to vote, some are hopeful that the controversial plan to overturn a 24-year ban on commercial whaling will not get the numbers to pass.

Under the draft proposal, Japan would be allowed to catch 120 whales a year in its coastal waters.

The package has split the anti-whaling bloc, with Australia now at odds with some of its former allies.

The proposal needs a three-quarters majority vote to pass.

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see toon at top...

Leaked US government documents show Australian officials were willing to accept a compromise deal with Japan over whaling - despite then-environment minister Peter Garrett, publicly rejecting the idea.

Fairfax newspapers say documents obtained by WikiLeaks show Mr Garrett's former chief of staff, David Williams, told the US Australia could accept a deal.

The agreement would have overturned the ban on commercial whaling, in return for Japan reducing its so-called scientific research program.

The deal had the backing of New Zealand and the US in the lead-up to International Whaling Commission talks in the middle of last year.

The documents also show Mr Garrett believed he was more committed to ending whaling than the Australian Government officials who were negotiating with Japan.

Mr Garrett's office has been contacted for comment.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/04/3105737.htm

An anti-whaling group claims Japanese whalers are catching well below their planned quota this season.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's Paul Watson says the whalers have only caught up to 40 whales this season and are losing money.

"I'd be very surprised if they've taken many whales at all," he said.

"They're really under siege and they're running. I think it's going to be a financial disaster for them this year.

"They're in debt now for over almost $200 million in subsidies to the government and I don't see how they can continue to carry on going down there and losing money, more every year."

The comments come after the Japanese fleet and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society protesters had another violent confrontation in the Southern Ocean on Friday.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/06/3131182.htm?section=justin

Japan has used funds from its tsunami recovery budget to subsidise its controversial annual whaling programme, animal rights activists say.

Greenpeace says 2.3bn yen ($30m; £19m) is being used to fund extra security measures for the whaling fleet.

Japanese officials argued when they applied for extra funding that whaling helped coastal communities.

The whaling fleet reportedly headed for Antarctic waters this week, though Tokyo has not confirmed the reports.

There has been a ban on commercial whaling for 25 years, but Japan catches about 1,000 whales each year in what it says is a scientific research programme.

Critics say those claims are just a cover for a commercial operation, and accuse the Japanese of hunting the animals to the brink of extinction only for food.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16064002