Constantine's profileConstantine's spacePhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
Constantine's spaceLet Nature run Wild! PROTEST AGAINST EXTENSION OF ITALIAN HUNTING SEASONThe government headed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi plans a drastic extension of the hunting season in Italy. Instead of the present four months the hunters in the Apennine Peninsula are to be permitted to hunt birds for seven months of the year. Species particularly affected are Turtle Dove, Quail and thrushes. All the leading Italian nature and wildlife organisations have started a joint protest campaign against this renewed attempt to water down hunting legislation. Do your bit and join in! http://www.komitee.de/en/index.php?italyprotest2010 Thank you, Special Message from the Seafood Watch Team
Whales, dolphins and porpoises suffer dramatic declines from by-catch in fishing netsToothed whales are currently suffering from a major threat which is unsustainable loss from by-catch in fishery operations. For 86% of all toothed whale species, entanglement and death in gillnets, traps, weirs, purse seines, longlines and trawls poses a major risk. Lack of food and forced dietary shifts due to overfishing pose additional threats to 13 species. These are among the findings of a report launched today on the website of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS). A corresponding poster available online shows for the first time all toothed whale species sorted according to their conservation status as defined by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This encyclopaedia on all 72 species of toothed whales includes the most recent scientific findings on the distribution, migration, behaviour and threats to this group of whales. Maps showing the currently known distribution of each species were provided by IUCN and the Global Mammal Assessment. UNEP/CMS Executive Secretary Elizabeth Mrema said: "During the International Year of Biodiversity, the Convention on Migratory Species continues to address major threats such as by-catch, ship strikes, ocean noise impacts and climate change to safeguard these charismatic marine mammals. Governments need to enhance their efforts towards implementing targeted action plans under the Convention. " Toothed whales occur in a wide range of marine and freshwater habitats, from the Arctic to the tropics. Some species live in large river systems such as the Amazon, Ganges, Indus and Yangtze. For 41 of all toothed whales species, our knowledge is too limited to even know if they are threatened or not. At the same time 6 species of toothed whales that are listed on Appendix I of the Convention are on the brink of extinction. Many populations of toothed whales were hunted almost to extinction and 50 species continue to be hunted, often at unsustainable levels. Ingestion of plastic debris or the effects of pollution by an ever increasing cocktail of chemicals have been reported for 48 species. Habitat degradation from dams and withdrawal of water from rivers and lakes threatens 18 species while ship strikes have a serious impact on 14 species. Noise caused by seismic explorations, marine construction projects as well as military sonar pose ever increasing threats to these marine mammals. Based on the Review of Small Cetaceans published by CMS in 2003, this report includes the Sperm Whale as the only large toothed whale as well as the Australian Snubfin Dolphin and the Guiana Dolphin as new species. Since 2003, the conservation status of the toothed whales has worsened dramatically. The Baiji River Dolphin, which used to live in the Yangtze River, is now probably extinct as no living specimens have been documented in the wild since 2002. With only 150 individuals remaining in the wild, the Vaquita, a porpoise living in the northern Gulf of California, is facing the same destiny. Entanglement in fishing gear claimed an unsustainably high death toll on both species. Data collection on the distribution, behaviour and migration of toothed whales, as reflected in research for the CMS can facilitate the development and implementation of action plans that can help reduce the threats to many whale species. Being an official partner of the International Year of Biodiversity, the Convention on Migratory Species has joined the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity on a global scale. CMS, which has been recognized as CBD's lead partner on issues regarding migratory species, continues to take steps to stress the importance of biodiversity for our well-being and enhance efforts to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss. Notes: The full species reports for the toothed whales can be downloaded from www.cms.int. The publication is a joint effort of CMS, ACCOBAMS, ASCOBANS, IUCN, WWF and Loro Parque Foundation. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Bonn Convention, works for the conservation of a wide array of endangered migratory animals such as whales and dolphins worldwide through the negotiation and implementation of agreements and species action plans. With currently 113 member countries, many of them in Africa, CMS is a fast-growing convention with special importance due to its expertise in the field of migratory species. Under the Convention, the following regional treaties were concluded to protect whales and dolphins: Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS), Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region and the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Conservation of the Manatee and Small Cetaceans of Western Africa and Macaronesia. For more information please contact: Veronika Lenarz, Public Information, UNEP/CMS Secretariat, on Tel.: +49 228 815 2409 or e-mail: vlenarz@cms.int, www.cms.int European Waste Reduction Awards + call for 2010 actions The 1st annual awards for ‘outstanding actions’ developed to reduce waste across Europe will be announced on 15 March 2010, in Brussels. The event, organised by the three-year LIFE+ Information and Communication project, the European Week for Waste Reduction, will unveil the winners of over 2 600 waste reduction activities, organised during last year’s waste reduction week. At this ceremony, which takes place at 6 pm at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Brussels, awards will be granted to the projects selected in the following categories: administrations and public authorities, associations and NGOs, businesses, educational institutions, and other (for example hospitals, nursing homes, cultural institutions, etc.). The awards will be introduced by a welcome speech by Evelyne Huytebroeck, Minister of the Environment, Energy and Urban Renovation for the Brussels-Capital Region. The speech will feature an overall assessment of the 2009 European Week for Waste Reduction. It will also include details of how to take part in the 2010 event. For more information on the event and on the 2010 call for European Week for Waste Reduction, visit the project website. Commercial fishing endangers dolphin populations
"The Mediterranean Sea has a stable and constant dolphin population off the coast of Israel. Any resolution concerning the sea must also consider the dolphins," says Dr. Aviad Scheinin of the University of Haifa, who carried out the study. Extensive commercial fishing endangers dolphin populations in the Mediterranean. This has been shown in a new study carried out at the University of Haifa's Department of Maritime Civilizations. "Unfortunately, we turn our backs to the sea and do not give much consideration to our marine neighbors," states researcher Dr. Aviad Scheinin. The study, which was supervised by Prof. Ehud Spanier and Dr. Dan Kerem, examined the competition between the two top predators along the Mediterranean coast of Israel: the Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and bottom trawlers. (Trawling is the principal type of commercial fishing in Israel and involves dragging a large fishing net through the water, close to the sea floor, from the back of a boat.) These two predators off the coast of Israel trap similar types of fish near the sea floor, so the researchers decided to examine the nature of the competition between the two. Commercial trawling in the Mediterranean off the coast of Israel targets codfish, red mullet and sole, three commercial and sought-after types of fish. The Department of Fisheries in Israel's Ministry of Agriculture has data showing that over the years the amount of fish from the sea floor looted by Israel's commercial trawling is larger than the amount of fish that nature provides, indicating that the sea floor fish population dropped between the years 1949 and 2006. Would this decline in fish supply necessarily cause direct harm to the dolphins, seeing as their diet might also include other types of fish? In order to verify this, the researcher examined the contents of the stomachs of 26 dolphins that died and landed on the beach, or that had been caught by mistake. He also examined the behavior of living dolphins by carrying out 232 marine surveys over more than 3,000 km. along the central coast of Israel. The dolphins' stomachs contained mainly non-commercialized fish, suggesting that they perhaps do not compete directly with the commercial trawlers, and that the commercial fishing does not directly affect the dolphins' nutrition. The living dolphins' behavior, on the other hand, draws an entirely different picture. According to Dr. Scheinin, most of the dolphins were observed around the trawling boats: the chances of observing a school of dolphins near a trawler is ten times higher than in the open sea. This is because the trawler serves as a "feeding station" for the dolphins: there they are not able to feed from the more expensive loot caught in the nets, but they are able to enjoy schools of other types of fish that swim around the trawler. "The problem is that this type of fishing endangers the dolphins. Eight dolphins die each year off the coast of Israel on average, and of those, four die after having been mistakenly caught in trawling nets. Seeing as many studies have proven the high intelligence of the dolphin, it is clear that these sea mammals are aware of this danger, but are left with little choice due to their need to search for food around the trawlers due to the scarcity of other food sources," Dr. Scheinin explains. This conclusion is reinforced by the suckling female dolphins. These dolphins require larger quantities of food than usual, and despite the risk for the younger and much less experienced dolphins that swim by their side, all of the suckling dolphins have been observed significantly more frequently around the trawlers. This indicates that they could not obtain enough food in other places. The dolphins off the coast of Israel spend most of their time in search of food while their mates in other areas in the world are far busier with social activities. This fact is yet another contributing factor to the assumption that they suffer a deficiency in food resources. The present study illustrates, for the first time, the characteristics of the dolphins inhabiting the sea region off the Mediterranean coast of Israel. This dolphin population is stable and at any given time can be counted at about 350 dolphins. Of these, the researchers are personally familiar with 150 dolphins on a first name basis which can be identified by the dorsal fin, the dolphin's fingerprint. Forty of these are seen repeatedly and are permanent inhabitants of opposite the coast of Israel. "There is a stable dolphin population off the shores of Israel, and any resolution concerning the sea must also consider the dolphins. So as to preserve this population we must declare extensive marine nature reserves, so as to regulate fishing and bring an end to sea pollution. Regrettably, we are not considerate enough of the dolphins," concludes Dr. Scheinin. Contact: Rachel Feldman |
|
||||||||||||||||
Send a private message
Tell a friend
Add to My MSN
Add to your network
Sign up for alerts
|
|
