Conservation | Ocean Doctor | Ocean Conservation

Shark Nations Failing on Conservation Pledges

February 2, 2011 By Newswire

By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News

The wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and the Pew Environment Group say most of the main shark fishing nations do not manage fisheries well.

Ten years ago, governments agreed a global plan to conserve sharks.

An estimated 100 million sharks are killed each year, with nearly a third of species at risk of extinction.

Many fisheries target the fins for use in shark fin soup; and a number of countries, including the US, have recently passed measures aimed at regulating the trade.

Neither of the two countries catching the most sharks – Indonesia and India – has yet finalised national plans of action for protecting sharks.

Read the rest…

Note: Newswire stories are provided as a courtesy of OceanDoctor.org. Content of these articles is provided by external sources.

Filed Under: Ocean Newswire Tagged With: Conservation, Failing, Nations, Pledges, shark

A Blueprint of Collaboration ? and Friendship ? with Cuba

November 17, 2009 By Ocean Doctor

Nearly 60 representatives from Cuba, Mexico and the U.S. convened in Havana in October 2009 to finalize a "Plan of Action" for future collaboration in marine research and conservation focused in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean Sea

HAVANA, Cuba — On October 25-26, 2009 the third meeting of a growing partnership of U.S, Cuban and Mexican institutions dedicated to strengthening collaboration in marine research and conservation convened in Havana, Cuba and has resulted in the near-finalization of a new five-year “Plan of Action,” a blueprint for future collaboration. The ongoing effort, led by The Ocean Foundation, the Center for International Policy, the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, and the Mexican Secretariat of the Navy has set the stage for an unprecedented level of collaboration among the three nations, including the creation of new projects and partnerships along with additional funding to support them. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Featured, Projects & Expeditions Tagged With: Conservation, conservation policies, conservation priorities, Consuelo Aguilar, coral reef, Cuba, cuba and the united states, cuban scientists, Dr. Robert Hueter, embargo, Gulf of Mexico, Havana, havana cuba, marine protected areas, mexican institutions, sea turtle, shark, The Ocean Foundation, western caribbean sea

Cuba Loses its Mother Ocean

May 6, 2009 By Ocean Doctor

Cuba has lost its Mother Ocean. Dr. María Elena Ibarra Martín, director of the University of Havana’s Center for Marine Research (Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, CIM) since 1981, passed away yesterday afternoon after a month-long struggle following heart surgery. CIM is the only academic institution in Cuba where marine biologists are trained, and her loss is mourned by hundreds of her students, many of whom grew up to become her colleagues — and friends. Her selfless, tireless dedication goes far beyond words, and the impact she has made on education, conservation, and her unique model of personal integrity will no doubt endure for centuries to come. When I last saw Doctora in February, she was as busy as ever, wrestling mountains of paperwork on her desk while never letting go of her visionary perspective about conservation and education. Nor did she ever let go of her special fondness for sea turtles and her love for and dedication to her students.

Free Speech(es): 50 Years, 50 States, 50 Speeches

October 6, 2008 By Ocean Doctor

Fresh from the Eisenhower Administration era, your friendly neighborhood Ocean Doctor turned 50 today. In doing so, I outlived my father, William L. Guggenheim, who tragically died at 49 when he was lost at sea. It was my days as a boy, fishing with my dad off of Cape May, New Jersey, that I truly inherited his passion for the sea, and I feel lucky to have been able to spend much of my life near, in, or best of all, under the water.

To celebrate my 50th, I’d like you to send me on a journey this year, a journey to visit our next generation, in their schools, and share with them some of the awe and wonder of my experiences in the sea, including the important lessons that go along with them. So I’ll be donating one speech to one school in every state and U.S. territory (accredited schools, public or private, K through college level). I’m waving my speaking fee and travel expenses. I don’t require anything except an enthusiastic audience and maybe a glass of water. (I would encourage a class project to find creative ways to offset my travel’s carbon footprint to your school.) I’ll show my videos, share my adventures, and my enthusiasm for the wonder of the deep blue part of the planet.

I’ll honor the first request I receive from each state and U.S. territory (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa) and, of course, the District of Columbia. If you or someone you know would like to take me up on this offer, just fill out the Book a Speaker Form on the 1planet1ocean web site and indicate that you’re submitting the request for the “Free Speech” project.

I look forward to this adventure and wish all of you a happy 50th, whenever it arrives, or whenever it was.

Filed Under: 50 States Expedition, Conservation, Featured, Flotsam, USA & Territories, Washington, DC Tagged With: american samoa, cape may new jersey, Conservation, contest, district of columbia, guam, next generation, OceanDoctor, puerto rico, speech, speeches, US, USA, videos

Exploring, Studying Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico

September 1, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

Proyecto Costa Noroccidental research team aboard Cuban research vessel Boca del Toro, second expedition

The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the University of Havana’s Center for Marine Research (CIM) [Centro de Investigaciones Marinas] are leading a collaborative effort, Proyecto Costa Noroccidental [Project of the Northwest Coast], a comprehensive multi-year research and conservation program for Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico coast. Dr. David E. Guggenheim, president of 1planet1ocean, is a member of HRI’s Advisory Council and also serves as HRI’s Cuba Programs Manager and is co-principal investigator of the project with Dr. Gaspar González Sansón of CIM. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Featured, Projects & Expeditions Tagged With: Caribbean, centro de investigaciones, CIM, cim center, Conservation, conservation policies, coral, corals, Cuba, cuba program, cuba programs, cuban institutions, David E. Guggenheim, ecosystem, ecosystems, embargo, Expedition, fish, fishing, gaspar gonzález, Guanahacabibes, guggenheim, Gulf of Mexico, Havana, hri, investigaciones marinas, marcuba, marine habitats, Northwest Cuba, northwestern Cuba, sea turtle, shark, the Gulf, United States, University of Havana

Esperanza Sets Sail from Dutch Harbor: Bering Sea Expedition Under Way

July 27, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

DeepWorker submarines aboard Esperanza as the ship heads north into the Bering Sea, leaving the Aleutians behind. (Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

The Expedition to the Bering Sea officially got under way as the M/V Esperanza departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska on Friday, July 27 at 4pm Alaska Daylight Time. The Esperanza will steam through the night — for roughly 15 hours — to its first destination, Pribolof Canyon near the Pribolof Islands in the Bering Sea. The first DeepWorker dives are scheduled for Saturday morning.

In June, an international team of researchers and conservation specialists recently completed a week of intensive training and preparations for this Greenpeace-led expedition to Alaska’s Bering sea. The Esperanza is carrying two manned submersibles, a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and the research team to the Bering Sea for a three week survey of Zhemchug and Pribilof Canyons, specifically to map and document deepwater corals living at depths of more than 1,000 feet. [Read more...]