ACS Conservation Committee Report

ACS Conservation Reports are selected summaries of current news articles on whales, dolphins, porpoises, and their environment. These reports are offered to you under the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law.

  PEW Commission Urges New Approach to Oceans...   An independent commission studying ocean life in U.S. waters concluded in late May that federal oversight, coastal ecosystem managers and more marine reserves are needed to reverse what it says is a crisis caused by pollution, over fishing and too many people.

The Pew Oceans Commission report said depletion of marine life requires "a serious rethinking of ocean law, informed by a new ocean ethic." It urged Congress to enact a National Ocean Policy Act to streamline the government's approach and create national marine reserves that would be protected like wilderness areas.

The panel said a new oceans agency should take over the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and marine-related programs run by departments of Interior and Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

It also recommended a White House oceans council and a network of "regional ocean ecosystem councils" to participate in the regulation of farmland and urban runoff into oceans.

"We are now capable of altering the ocean's chemistry, stripping it of fish and the many other organisms which comprise its rich biodiversity, exploding and bleaching away its coral nurseries, and even reprogramming the ocean's delicate background noise," the report said.

The 18-member commission--including top marine experts, commercial fishermen and elected officials such as Gov. Tony Knowles of Alaska and Gov. George Pataki of New York--is the first to complete a review of U.S. ocean policy in three decades.

"Thirty years later, the threat is not so much other countries coming and taking our fish but it's our own behavior," commission chair Leon Panetta said in an interview.

Panetta said he was surprised to learn that every eight months 11 million gallons of oil--the same amount spilled by tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989--drains from land pollution into oceans. And as commissioners toured coastal areas, Panetta said, fishermen "everywhere we went" were saying "that they were seeing real trouble" and wanted change.

"For centuries we've used the oceans as a dumping ground and just figured that the resources were limitless, and we're finding out that they aren't," said Pat White, a Pew panel member who heads the Maine Lobsterman's Association. The full report can be downloaded from www.pewoceans.org.     Associated Press

  Puget Sound Orca Recovery Plan...   Finally, in late May, NOAA Fisheries officially designated the Puget Sound population of orcas as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Restoring Puget Sound's orcas to a healthy population probably won't be quick or easy, but it's time to get started, killer whale experts agree.

Whatever actions the federal government takes must be based on sound science, said Joe Scordino, deputy regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries.

More than 50 killer whale experts, government officials and representatives of environmental and whale-watching groups came together after the listing and began discussing how to put together a conservation plan to protect the orcas. Actions being discussed range from reducing boat traffic around the whales to cleaning up bottom sediments that could be poisoning them to rebuilding habitat for salmon, their primary food. The plan, due out by the end of next year, will be modeled after recovery plans for similar endangered species, such as blue and humpback whales.

Congress has earmarked $750,000 for research into why the orcas are dying. In just five years, the number of whales in the three Puget Sound pods dropped from 97 to 80 animals, rising slightly over the past year with five new births.

Linda Jones, deputy director for the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, said several new studies are or soon will be under way.

Tissue samples of 300 killer whales from throughout the world are being examined to put the Puget Sound animals into their proper genetic place.

Other studies are being planned to determine what the whales are eating and how much they depend on other kinds of fish when salmon are not running. "There is actually very little information about what the whales are eating ... or their seasonal variation in prey," Jones noted.

The reason, she added, is that the whales generally capture and consume their food under water, out of sight of humans. One of the key questions, Jones said, is whether the whales are suffering a nutritional deficit or picking up toxic chemicals from their food supply.

The three "southern resident" pods ... which roam from Puget Sound into Canada and out to sea ... have far higher levels of toxic chemicals than their "northern resident" cousins that almost never venture into Puget Sound. Still higher levels of contaminants are found in the wide-ranging transients, which eat seals instead of fish. That's to be expected, said Jones, since the transients are eating "higher on the food chain," after seals have already concentrated toxics in their blubber.

New studies will attempt to identify the sources of contamination by figuring out what kinds of fish the resident whales are eating and whether they have changed feeding locations over the years. Other studies will look at the fish themselves in an effort to trace the contamination back to its source.

Meanwhile, many local environmental leaders are calling for faster cleanups of contaminated sites throughout Puget Sound. There is no good reason to wait, they say.

Another area of research involves the effects of vessels on the orcas. A study planned for this summer will consider the level of noise the whales must endure in Puget Sound and how that changes with the movement of whale-watching boats, ferries and ocean-going ships, including Navy vessels. Whether boats are affecting the whales' ability to hunt is a key question, Jones said. Recently, orca researchers raised concerns about commonly used Navy sonar following an incident in the San Juan Islands.

J Pod, which stays in inland waters most of the winter, was seen to uncharacteristically split into two groups and flee as a Navy destroyer, USS Shoup, passed by. Some observers reported that the ship's sonar was so loud that it reverberated off the bottom of their boats.

Research also is needed into where the whales go in winter, Jones said. K and L pods commonly leave Puget Sound and travel into the ocean, sometimes as far as Monterey Bay in California. When they return in the spring, researchers often find some whales missing and presumed dead ... but they never know why.

While NOAA Fisheries will coordinate the research, the effort must be shared by all who care about orcas, Jones said. "We can't do it all ourselves, nor should we," she said. "We are really trying to bring the research community together."     The Sun, Bremerton, WA

  Conservationists Fight Determination that Southern Residents Are "Not Significant"...   In late May a coalition of environmental groups filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in their suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service [NMFS] to fight the Bush administration's determination that Puget Sound's Southern Resident killer whales are not "significant", precluding protection for the whales under the federal Endangered Species Act [ESA]. If the Motion is granted, the administration will be compelled to afford the fullest protections possible to save the region's totem species.

The lawsuit was filed in response to NMFS's July 1, 2002 determination that the agency will not list the Southern Residents under the ESA, even though agency biologists determined that the Southern Residents are going extinct. The lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity, on behalf of Earth Island Institute, Ocean Advocates, Orca Conservancy, Friends of the San Juans, People for Puget Sound, former five-term Secretary of State Ralph Munro and Karen Munro.

The Canadian organizations Sierra Legal Defense Fund and Georgia Strait Alliance will file Amicus -- or Friends of the Court -- briefs supporting the U.S. coalition's challenge on the ESA decision. The Samish Indian Nation has already filed an Amicus brief in support of the litigation.

"The Samish and our neighbors in British Columbia have long understood the significance of the Southern Residents to this region," said Michael Harris, President of Orca Conservancy. "And the Canadians acted appropriately in listing them as endangered. Obviously, these orcas don't become any less endangered once they cross boundaries."

"The recent incident involving U.S. Navy sonar tests blasting our orcas underscores the need for agencies and organizations across the border to work together to save these whales from extinction," said Fred Felleman, NW Director of Ocean Advocates. "Rather than the military seeking exemptions from environmental laws, they should be using their maritime prowess to facilitate the recovery of our orcas."

"This is the first time an agency has tried to avoid protecting a species by claiming that the species is insignificant," said Kathy Fletcher, Executive Director of People for Puget Sound. "If the Bush administration could get past its scorn for environmental protections, it would realize that saving the Southern Residents is not only good for our ecology, but also Puget Sound's economy."

"The Fisheries Service has scientists making legal determinations, lawyers sequestering scientific data, and Bush's appointed bureaucrats making determinations on whether a species lives or goes extinct," said Stephanie Buffum, Executive Director of Friends of the San Juans. "The Puget Sound resident orcas need and deserve our help now, and that's why this lawsuit is necessary."

The lawsuit highlights several violations of federal environmental law. The agency purposefully ignored several important aspects of killer whale biology and culture during its deliberations, including the fact that the Southern Residents maintain a unique culture and that their extinction will result in the extirpation of resident killer whales in the continental United States. The agency also illegally applied a policy that restricts when populations can be protected under law, failing to recognize that killer whale taxonomy is currently being revised and would impact the application of the policy.

Over the past six years, the Puget Sound's Southern Resident killer whales have declined nearly 20%, leaving only 78 individuals in the population at the end of the 2001 survey year. The cause of the current decline appears to be the synergistic effects of high levels of bioaccumulative toxins, a population decline in their preferred salmon prey, and human disturbance from vessel traffic and noise.

"You can't save these whales without protecting their habitat and prey from oil, PCB and noise pollution," Felleman adds. "None of our conservation laws protect habitat as effectively and as flexibly as the ESA, but we must look to the courts to counter the Bush administration's opposition to effectively enhancing the welfare of Washington's waters."

In response to the decline of the Southern Residents, the Center for Biological Diversity and 11 co-petitioners filed a petition to list the this orca group under the ESA on May 1, 2001. The Fisheries Service reviewed the petition and on July 1, 2002 determined that this population of orcas was indeed a discrete population. NMFS also found that they were in danger of extinction. However, the agency determined that the whales didn't meet a third criteria - that the whales are "significant."

Instead of listing the Southern Residents as Endangered, the Fisheries Service began considering if the Southern Residents are "depleted" under a different statute, the Marine Mammal Protection Act. However, depleted status cannot address the threats facing the Southern Residents.

"The 'depleted' designation will not be effective, because it is only useful to address threats such as unsustainable harvest levels and fishery bycatch. " But we know that neither of these threats are impacting the Southern Residents," said Brent Plater of the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Fisheries Service is using this to deflect attention away from their inaction on salmon declines and the risks of a catastrophic oil spill, which even their own scientists agree directly threatens the long-term survival of these whales. The depleted designation will allow them to continue to ignore these threats."

The importance of this lawsuit is highlighted by the recent births of new calves in this population. "Because mortality is so high for calves, we don't know if these whales will make it to reproductive maturity," said Will Anderson of Earth Island Institute. "But these births also show that there is still time to help this population recover. If the government would just use its best and most adaptable tool for species recovery, we could do so much more to ensure that these whales survive for future generations."     The Marine Connection

  Luna Won't be Helped...   A scientific panel of Canadian and American experts has decided not to reunite a lonely killer whale with his pod. The young male nicknamed Luna has been surviving alone in Nootka Sound, on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, for almost two years.

"We believe that interfering in what may be a natural and potentially important process is not in the best interest of this whale," Marilyn Joyce, a spokeswoman with the Fisheries Department, said in a statement.

It's unusual for killer whales to be alone because they normally travel in cohesive family groups. Experts aren't sure why Luna separated from his southern whale pod.

Leading the orca to open waters where he might naturally reunite with his pod has also been ruled out because it would further condition him to humans.

A woman has already been fined $100 for petting Luna, something scientists say could foster abnormal behavior patterns in the animal and hurt its chances of reuniting with its pod.

The Fisheries Department will patrol the area to provide information and to remind boaters to stay away from Luna. Anyone disturbing a marine mammal could be fined up to $100,000.     Canoe News

  The Berlin Initiative: New Effort to Protect Whales...   Australia, in conjunction with a number of key members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), has developed a proposal to move the IWC into the 21st century as the leading multilateral body responsible for the conservation and safeguarding of the world's whales.

The Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Dr David Kemp, today announced Australia, along with Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, UK, and the USA, has submitted a draft resolution for consideration at the Berlin meeting of the IWC titled the Berlin Initiative on Strengthening the Conservation Agenda of the International Whaling Commission.

"The Berlin Initiative recognizes the primary objective of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the convention that establishes the IWC, is to conserve whale stocks for the benefit of all mankind and for future generations," Dr Kemp said.

"Over the last 25 years of the IWC, increasing attention has been given to conserving whales and also putting in place arrangements to assist the recovery of whale species, such as the majestic Blue Whale which is the largest animal on earth today, that were hunted to the brink of extinction during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Berlin Initiative brings together all the conservation advances of the IWC and proposes the IWC establishes a Conservation Committee to safeguard these advances and continue the conservation momentum of the organization.

Given the importance of this proposal, and the other priority issues for Australia such as opposing commercial and so-called scientific whaling, and the proposals to establish two additional sanctuaries, I will attend the Berlin meeting and put forward the strongest possible cases to provide leadership for the IWC's conservation agenda."

Australia, along with New Zealand, will once again propose the establishment of the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary.

"It is especially pleasing to me that support for the Sanctuary has increased both within the region and within the IWC with the proposal attracting more co-sponsors than ever before," Dr Kemp said. "However, the misguided pro-whaling countries, deaf to the desires of the people of the South Pacific, will still have a blocking minority for this proposal so I call on them to be sensitive to what is wanted by the people who have the most to gain from the establishment of the Sanctuary and vote accordingly. Another key priority for Australia at the Berlin meeting will be to continue the fight against so-called 'scientific whaling'. Given the innovative non-lethal methodology Australian scientists use to research the diet of whales, including at the Australian Antarctic Division, lethal research is, frankly, out-dated, ill conceived and cruel. It is an outrage that endangered species such as the sei whale are being commercially hunted in large numbers under the guise of science."

The IWC meets for the 55th time from 16 to 19 June 2003 in Berlin, Germany     Australian Media Release

  Joint Statement on the Berlin Initiative...   The undersigned groups strongly support the Berlin Initiative to strengthen the conservation agenda of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which we believe could deliver major conservation benefits for cetaceans and the oceans.

Because of the ongoing degradation of our oceans, cetaceans now face a complex array of threats including commercial whaling, toxic pollution, climate change, commercial fisheries bycatch, over fishing, ship strikes, ocean noise, and industrial development.

These demand that the IWC should follow a clear conservation mandate.

The IWC has already taken many significant conservation decisions - including agreeing a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982 and establishing a whale sanctuary protecting the entire Southern Ocean in 1994. More are needed. It is time to build on these past achievements, make the most of the key scientific expertise in the IWC Scientific Committee, establish a dedicated conservation committee and work globally to ensure that the world's remaining cetaceans are given every possible protection.

We call on all IWC members, regardless of their position on whaling, to support this important initiative for conservation.

  Japan Claims Conservation Initiative a 'Trojan Horse'...   Minoru Morimoto said adoption of the "Berlin Initiative is a veiled attempt to change the fundamental purpose of the whaling treaty, and to do so by a simple majority vote. Hidden beneath the mask of conservation is a devious strategy to end all sustainable use of whale resources for food".

"Inviting the 'Berlin Initiative' into the gates of the IWC is like inviting the Trojan horse into Troy," Mr. Morimoto said. "Indeed there is some irony in that the discovery of the famous City of Troy itself came from the very nation that's proposing this resolution - Germany."     Scoop.co.nz

  Japan Threatens to Leave IWC if Conservation Initiative Endorsed...   As the annual meeting of the IWC kicked off in Berlin on June 16, and on the agenda is an initiative to set up a conservation committee -- a move Japan, a die-hard pro-whaling nation, fears could irrevocably alter the nature of the group.

"If the initiative were to pass, Japan would have to take strong action, such as possibly walking out," said Takanori Nagatomo, at the Whaling Division of Japan's Fisheries Agency.

A fishery policy-making panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided Thursday to urge Japanese negotiators to take a tough stance in the upcoming general meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), including secession from it.

The LDP Research Commission on Fishery Policies adopted a resolution calling for the government to freeze Japan's monetary contribution to the IWC and consider seceding from it if antiwhaling resolutions are adopted at the plenary session to be held in Berlin from Monday.     Koyoto News

  Japan and Norway Oppose Independent Reporting of the IWC meeting...   For many years, the International Institute for Sustainable Development has provided independent reports of UN meetings in its 'Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB)'.

ENB was supposed to provide this useful service for the first time at the forthcoming 55th IWC meeting in Berlin - at the initiative of the German Government.

However, just before the meeting begins, ENB has informed its readers that "Despite the best efforts of the German Government and ourselves, we will not be reporting from the 55th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), June 2003, Berlin. The Norwegian and Japanese Commissioners were not prepared to allow the Earth Negotiations Bulletin to participate with our usual status at negotiations as members of the organizing secretariat".

ENB has provided a high quality and invaluable service at CITES, CMS and other international meetings where, incidentally, Japan and Norway have never objected to it.     WDCS

  Icelanders to Resume Hunting for Whales...   Iceland is planning to restart its slaughter of whales with a lethal scientific research programme that will lead to full-scale commercial whaling.

Stefan Asmundsson, the Icelandic whaling commissioner, confirmed that his country intends to kill 250 whales a year for two years to study how many cod the huge mammals are eating. Its ships will catch 100 fin and 50 sei whales, which are listed as endangered, as well as 100 of the more common minke whales, whose population in the North Atlantic is not under threat.

Iceland stopped commercial whaling in 1989 but hopes to restart by 2006.

Animal welfare groups condemned the move, and accused hunters of planning to use the cold harpoon to kill whales, a non-explosive spear that results in a slow, cruel death, particularly for very large whales such as fin. Iceland denied the claim.

Iceland will join Norway and Japan as the only countries to circumvent the global ban on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986 to protect endangered species from extinction.

After a whale killed for research has been dissected, its meat and blubber are sold. Animal welfare groups claim that profit, rather than science, is the point of Japan's research programme, and is the motive for Iceland's move.

Iceland's research proposals will be discussed at the IWC's scientific committee meeting, which started yesterday in Berlin. Mr. Asmundsson said that while his country had submitted its scheme to the committee for constructive criticism, it had no intention of abandoning its plan. "Every country has the right to conduct scientific whaling," he added.

"It is no secret that we aim to restart commercial whaling in the future, and that that will have an important economic impact on various small fishing communities, but that is not what we are talking about now.

The driving force behind this isn't so much the whaling as the fisheries. Whales are very big and there are a lot of them, so they are quite obviously having an impact on fish stocks.

We estimate we could probably be catching 10 to 20 per cent more cod if we bring the whale stocks down to the optimum level. But those percentages are not based on sound scientific evidence, so our research programme is intended to get better data."

Research scientists had to kill the whales to count the fish in their stomachs, as they could not simply "ask the whale what it ate for dinner", said Mr. Asmundsson. He insisted that fin and sei were abundant in Icelandic waters, and not endangered. But Laila Sadler, the RSPCA's scientific officer on marine wildlife, said both fin and sei were listed as endangered species by the World Conservation Union. Fin whales were so large - second only to the blue whale in size and weight - that they were very hard to kill humanely.

"The real purpose of this is to sell the meat," said Miss Sadler.

"Fin whales are the second largest species in the world, and 100 of them is a hell of a lot of meat. Norwegian scientists may say that stocks are abundant in the North Atlantic, but both fin and sei are listed as endangered."

Miss Sadler said Iceland's one whaling company traditionally killed with the cold harpoon, a large spear fired into the whale, which allegedly kills instantly in less than 20 per cent of cases, leaving the rest to die of their injuries. Norwegian whalers use explosive harpoons, which kill instantly in up to 80 per cent of cases. Mr. Asmundsson denied that Iceland would use the cold harpoon.

The IWC was established in 1946 to regulate the whaling industry.

It has been split for years between the whaling nations, which argue that stocks are recovering and the global ban should be lifted, and countries such as Australia which believe whaling should be banned forever.

Dr Susan Lieberman, the director of the World Wide Fund for Nature's species programme, accused Iceland of a cynical sham. "This is a needless proposal based on a lack of scientific necessity or legitimacy. If this whaling goes ahead, it is clear that it is for commercial purposes."

A spokesman for the IWC said Iceland had to prove that its research was necessary.     WDCS

  Iceland: Tourism vs. Whaling...   CBS News reports on the growing debate in Iceland on the impact of a resumption of whaling on the fledgling whale watching industry. Worries about tourist reaction seemed borne out in talks with the customers on the Elding I [whale watching boat].

"I didn't come to Iceland to eat whales. I came to Iceland to see the whales out in the ocean," said Sandra Schmidt, 51, a legal secretary from Vernen, British Columbia.

"The main reason people come here is to see the whales, the amazing nature and other wildlife. If they take that away, I don't think as many people would come."

In 2001, 227,000 tourists visited Iceland, close to the population of 280,000. An estimated 1/3 went whale-watching, generation over $ 8.5 million dollars. Commercial whaling ('86-'89) generated approximately $3-$4 million.     CBS News

  Japan Admits Mislabeling Dolphin Meat as Whale Meat...   The Japanese government will tighten its inspections of fish vendors to prevent dolphin and porpoise meat from being illegally sold as whale meat, an official said Thursday.

"We have recognized the problem. Mislabeling of food products is definitely against our laws," said Takanori Nagatomo, an official with the whaling section of the Fisheries Agency. "We will take administrative action against those who are involved in selling dolphin meat as whale meat," he said.

He was unable to say, however, exactly what action the government would take to deal with the problem, which an international anti-whaling group said Wednesday was widespread in Japan.

The group, the British-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), also said that much of the dolphin, whale and porpoise meat is so riddled with mercury that just a tiny meal could exceed safety levels.

"Contaminated cetacean (whale, dolphin and porpoise) products are widely available in Japan's retail outlets," according to the report, "Mercury Rising" by the EIA, which specializes in using undercover techniques to expose environmental abuse.

Nagatomo said the government was drafting food safety guidelines to raise awareness among consumers about the problem. He added, however, specific species of whales are safe for human consumption because of the clean environment they live in.

"Baleen whales (which feed on small marine creatures filtered through a whalebone comb) in the Antarctic Ocean are absolutely safe for consumption. But some others, especially smaller ones, such as dolphins, are known to hold high levels of mercury in their flesh," he said. Toothed cetaceans, such as dolphins, have higher levels of mercury because they feed on fish or squid.

EIA said that it carried out four surveys of cetacean products on sale in Japanese stores, in April 2001 and February 2003. It took away 58 products, which were then tested by the Daiichi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Fukuoka.

In nine out of 24 samples where it was possible to obtain a DNA result, tissue that was described as whale meat turned out to be dolphin or porpoise. That suggests around one third of cetacean products on sale in Japan are mislabeled this way, the study said.

As for toxicity, the Japanese government has a permitted level of 0.4 parts per million of mercury in seafood and 0.3 ppm of methylmercury, a more poisonous form of mercury derived by the action of bacteria in the water.

Mercury safety limits were breached in 62 percent of the samples and methylmercury limits were exceeded in 53 percent of them. The average level of mercury was 2.05 ppm and that of methylmercury 1.13 ppm -- respectively more than five times and nearly four times the maximum allowable levels. On that basis, it would take just 151 grammes (five ounces) of a typical cetacean product to exceed the maximum weekly limit, according to EIA. All the small cetacean samples were above the limit, for both mercury and methylmercury.

Japan last week warned pregnant women against eating big fish and whales at the top of the food chain because mercury in their flesh may harm fetuses. The health ministry advised pregnant women to avoid eating shark and sperm whale meat more than once a week or consumer bottlenose dolphin meat more than once every two months.

"We have been conducting studies on it. There will be more advisories and warnings to be issued over the mercury levels in whale meat," Nagatomo said. "Naturally, we want to ensure the safety of our food products," he said.     Agence France-Presse

  Japan Again Refuses Contaminated Norwegian Whale Products ...   In late May the Norwegian press reported the disappointment of Norwegian whalers following a meeting between Norwegian Prime Minister Bondevik and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi, that Japan will not permit the import of whale products from Norway. Oddvar Nilsen Husa, a Norwegian whaler who has already taken 11 whales this season expressed disappointment that Japan has said no to buying whale meat from Norway.     Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

  Global Bycatch Nets Some 308,000 Cetaceans a Year...   Some 308,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die each year from entanglement in fishing gear, finds new research by U.S. and British scientists. The study, which was submitted in early June to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), is the first global estimate of cetacean deaths caused by fishing bycatch.

"This level of bycatch is no doubt significantly depleting and disrupting many populations of whales, dolphins and porpoises," said lead researcher Andy Read of Duke University, who is co chair of World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Cetacean Bycatch Task Force. "Several species will be lost in the next few decades if nothing is done."

Conservation groups are calling on delegates to the IWC meeting - to be held in Berlin, Germany from June 16-20 - to support a resolution on cetacean entanglement deaths that would make the issue a priority for the commission and encourage member governments to provide funding for research and strategies to reduce the problem.

There are solutions to reduce bycatch of cetaceans, but they have yet to be globally adopted. Read, and his colleagues at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, believe their research adds to growing evidence that death in fishing gear is the leading threat to the survival of the world's 80 plus species of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Cetaceans can become entangled in commonly used fishing gear such as gill nets, tangle nets, trammel nets, trawl nets and long lines.

The researchers cite several examples of some cetacean species that are on the brink of extinction because of unintentional death from fishing gear, including right whales, harbor porpoises, Irrawaddy dolphins and a small porpoise known as the vaquita.

Some fifteen percent of the vaquita population is killed every year in fishing nets within the Gulf of Mexico, which is the only place on Earth the endangered porpoise is found. It is primarily gill nets set for mackerels, sharks, rays and other species that unintentionally catch vaquitas. With a population of only around 500, this practice is decimating the species, the researchers say.

But there is some good news, the researchers report -solutions to the problem of entanglement are available, although they vary by region and species involved.

These can include adding gillie floats that break away when hit by a whale, acoustic "pingers" that warn marine mammals away from nets and buoy lines that are less likely to snare whales and dolphins.

The scientists stress that fishermen have been crucial in developing these successful gear modifications and will be vital to increasing the use of improved gear that limits cetacean bycatch. They note that concerted efforts have worked, in particular in U.S. fisheries, where cetacean bycatch has been reduced by some two thirds in the past decade. A diver from the environmental group Greenpeace works to free a dolphin trapped underwater in a fishing net.

"Solutions to cetacean bycatch are out there," said Karen Baragona, deputy director of WWF's Species Conservation program, "but to tackle the problem on a global scale, we need to boost political will, increase funding for research on cetacean-friendly ways of fishing, and tap into the creativity of fishermen - so that whales and dolphins are protected and fishermen can keep earning a living."

Bycatch is now recognized as one of the major problems with the industrialization of fishing that has occurred in the past few decades. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that some 25 percent of animals caught in fishing gear dies as bycatch.     Environmental News Service

  New Fishing Nets Helping-Some Species Still at Risk...   Trials of a new type of fishing net, created to reduce the number of dolphins trapped and killed in sea bass fisheries, have shown promising first results, with fewer dolphins recorded dead in the nets. However the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has cautioned that this will not provide a quick solution to the problem and many dolphins will continue to die.

Hundreds of dead dolphins wash up on the beaches of the south and west of the United Kingdom, Ireland and France each winter, as a result of pelagic (mid-water) trawling, including pair trawling, where a net is pulled between two trawlers. The actual annual death toll is feared to be many thousands of animals, as most carcasses are thought to wash out to sea and are therefore never found.

The experimental nets use a "separator grid" to create an escape hatch for any dolphins that are accidentally caught. These separator grids were trialed in the UK bass fleet, which at just four pairs of Scottish boats this year is just a small part of the problem. Thousands of dolphins are likely to continue to perish each year unless compulsory monitoring is introduced on other EU pelagic and pair trawl fisheries and swift preventative action is taken.

French, Irish, Dutch, Danish and Spanish fishing vessels also use these trawl nets in a wide range of fisheries in the area to the south and west of the UK, Ireland and France. Most of these fisheries have not even been subject to observer monitoring - but high dolphin catch levels have been observed in the bass, albacore tuna, hake, mackerel and horse mackerel fisheries.

The UK's separator grid research is important and may provide an answer to at least part of this problem. However, as with any technical development, it takes years to trial and perfect. Even if it can be made to operate effectively, it then has to be implemented and enforced throughout the fisheries involved. The reality is that the different fishing fleets using these pelagic and pair trawls have different sizes and configurations of nets and trawling characteristics - and there is unlikely to be a simple transfer of the separator grid from one fleet to another, even if it proves successful with one type of net. Further research, adjustment and trials are likely to be needed in different fisheries.

Until effective technical measures can be introduced across these fisheries, preventative measures will have to include restrictions or even suspensions of those fisheries that present the greatest risk. Unless action is taken - thousands of dolphins will continue to die, this year and next.     WDCS

  Pacific Island Nation Niue to Create Whale Sanctuary ...   Niue is expected to announce it will formally declare its entire Exclusive Ec30-Jun-2006 9:46umpback whales visit Niue, where the females give birth and mating takes place, before the long journey back to Antarctic waters.

A growing number of Pacific Island countries, including Fiji, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Tonga, have set up sanctuaries.

Meanwhile, delegates from Pacific Island countries will meet in February 2004 at the Pacific Islands Regional Ocean Forum to develop an Integrated Framework for Action of Ocean Initiatives for the region.     ABC Radio Australia News

  Canada Increases Funding for Conservation...   The Government of Canada announced $9 million in funding for conserving habitat and species at risk in late May. The funding supports 164 Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP) projects located across Canada.

"This investment demonstrates the Government of Canada's commitment to protect habitat and contribute to the recovery of species at risk," said Environment Minister David Anderson. "Since the Program's inception, Canadian stewardship projects have benefited the habitat of more than 300 federally-listed species at risk, and over 100 provincially-listed species at risk."

Habitat stewardship projects cover a wide range of stewardship activities. For instance, in Nova Scotia, stewards are working to protect Leatherback Turtles by providing guidance to fishers on safe turtle disentanglement techniques. Another HSP project will continue efforts to protect the Piping Plover on Prince Edward Island. Guardians will identify, protect and monitor Piping Plover nesting areas.

The Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk is in its fourth year of operation. Its goal is to contribute to the recovery and protection of species listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern. The Program is a partnership-based conservation initiative, which is managed cooperatively by Environment Canada, Parks Canada Agency, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Environment Canada administers the program.

The proclamation of the Species at Risk Act reinforces the Government of Canada's commitment to ensure the protection for species at risk. Under the Act, stewardship is the first response to habitat protection. Hundreds of stewardship projects are underway across Canada, many of them funded by the Habitat Stewardship Program. The Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk endorsed by provinces and territories is part of the comprehensive strategy to protect species at risk.     Canadian Government News