On April 17, President Trump issued an executive order would open large USA marine protected areas to commercial fishing in the Pacific. The order instructs the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to implement US-based fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. The proclamation threatens endangered species, sharks, and some of the healthiest coral reefs and marine ecosystems in the world.Protected under federal law since 2009, the proclamation violates the Antiquities Act, the law used to create the Monument.
Read MoreTrump Opens Door for Commercial Fishing in Protected Marine Monuments
President Trump signed an executive order that opens up commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage National Marine Monument, covering about 490,000 square miles of ocean southwest of Hawaii. The removal of protected status under Executive Order has been proved in court under the last Trump Administration to violate the Antiquities Act. New litigation from environmental groups is pending in response to the Executive Order.
Read MoreShark Retention Bans Can Save Sharks
A study published in the journal Fish and Fisheries this month revealed that fisheries could reduce shark death by requiring the release of threatened sharks caught as bycatch by at least three times. Known as retention bans, the practice requires that fishermen release certain sharks that are endangered or unwanted rather than retain them for their fins or some other use.
Read MoreHope for Sharks and Marine Habitat
Shark Newsletter December 24, 2024 View this email in your browser This year, as part of our Kahu Manō campaign to reduce retention and bycatch of critically endangered sharks, Shark […]
Read MoreICCAT Fails to Protect Atlantic Sharks
Last week, the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Cyprus ended with a failure to pass loopholes over shark finning.
Read MoreWalking Sharks, Glowing Sharks- February News
Sometime in the Spring or Summer of 2023, Japan’s TEPCO intends to dump 1.3 million tons of radioactive waste water from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown into the Pacific ocean.
Walking Sharks Protected in Indonesia
Read MoreStop Radiation Dumping in the Pacific
Japan proposes to release 1.3 million tons of radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown into the Pacific ocean sometime in the Spring or Summer of 2023.
Read MoreGear Changes in Pacific Fleet Shine Ray of Hope for Critically Endangered Sharks
An announcement in 2020 by the Hawaii Longline Association to ban the use of wire leaders in the tuna fleet’s fishing equipment paved the way to help save the imperiled oceanic whitetip shark from extinction.
Read MorePacific Fisheries Managers Move to Protect Sharks
In a surprising decision, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission has outlawed shark lines and wire leaders, both of which are used by industrial-scale fishers targeting sharks and leading to major declines in Pacific shark populations.
Read MoreNew Hawaii Shark Regulation Implemented To Protect Pacific Sharks
A new regulation prohibiting the use of wire leaders in longline fisheries is expected to increase the survival of hooked oceanic whitetip sharks by up to 30%.
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