19
Dec 2008 - Sydney, Australia - A widespread
and severe coral bleaching episode is predicted
to cause immense damage to some of the world’s
most important marine environments over
the next few months.
A report from the US
Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) predicts severe bleaching
for parts of the Coral Sea, which lies adjacent
to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the
Coral Triangle, a 5.4 million square kilometre
expanse of ocean in the Indo-Pacific which
is considered the centre of the world’s
marine life.
“This forecast bleaching
episode will be caused by increased water
temperatures and is the kind of event we
can expect on a regular basis if average
global temperatures rise above 2 degrees,”
said Richard Leck, Climate Change Strategy
Leader for WWF’s Coral Triangle Program.
The bleaching, predicted
to occur between now and February, could
have a devastating impact on coral reef
ecosystems, killing coral and destroying
food chains. There would be severe impacts
for communities in Australia and the region,
who depend on the oceans for their livelihoods.
The Coral Triangle,
stretching from the Philippines to Malaysia
and Papua New Guinea, is home to 75 per
cent of all known coral species. More than
120 million people rely on its marine resources.
“Regular bleaching episodes
in this part of the world will have a massive
impact on the region’s ability to sustain
local communities,” said Leck. “In the Pacific
many of the Small Island Developing States,
such as the Solomon Islands, rely largely
on the coast and coastal environments such
as coral reefs for food supply. This is
a region where alternative sources of income
and food are limited.
“Time is crucial and
Australia needs to step up to the plate.
Following the government’s lack of resolve
to seriously reduce future domestic carbon
emissions, Australia has a huge role to
play in assisting Coral Triangle countries
and people to adapt to the changes in their
climate.“
The Australian government
this week announced a 2020 target for reducing
its greenhouse gas pollution by 5 per cent,
which WWF criticised as completely inadequate.
Reductions of at least 25 per cent by 2020
are needed to set the world on a pathway
to meaningful cuts in greenhouse pollution.
Australia’s Coral Sea,
which will also be affected by coral bleaching
and climate change, is a pristine marine
wilderness covering almost 1,000,000 square
kilometres and is extraordinarily rich in
marine life, including sharks and turtles,
with a series of spectacular reefs rising
thousands of metres from the sea floor.
WWF is urging the Australian
government to declare the Coral Sea a marine
protected area, as well as working to establish
a network of marine protected areas that
will assist ocean environments to adapt
to the changes caused by rising temperatures,
and to absorb the impacts from human activity.
+ More
Discards to be included
in fisheries quotas - says WWF
19 Dec 2008 - Every
year in December, European Fisheries Ministers
meet to decide how much fishers can catch
the following year. Quotas, however, do
not include the amount of fish which are
caught in nets and then discarded.. This
happens when fishermen catch fish for which
they don’t have a quota, or when they have
already reached their quota. Sometimes they
get rid off less valuable but healthy and
marketable fish to provide storage for bigger
specimens..
“Europe's Fisheries
Ministers and the EU Commission have presided
over a systematic failure in fisheries management.
If they want to be serious about ensuring
a prosperous and sustainable fisheries for
Europe, they should get around to dealing
with the large amount of discards. The next
years, with the preparation of the Common
Fisheries Policy reform, they have a chance
to end the failure.” says Aaron McLoughlin,
Head of the European Marine Programme at
WWF.
Irresponsible fishing
practices and lack of controls have produced
in the last year records of discard rates.
In 2007, in the North Sea fishermen have
landed 24 thousand tonnes of cod in the
North Sea and thrown overboard another 23
thousand tonnes. Despite the EU commitment
last year to reduce discards to 10%, scientists
report that by the end of 2008 discard rates
will be even higher than last year.
WWF highlights that
the 30% increase in total allowable quota
for cod agreed today, together with a commitment
to reduce fish mortality by 25%, can only
be accepted if industry sticks to the tough
controls agreed to. According to the conservation
organisation, the measures adopted today
including the obligatory use of selective
gears when the quota is almost reached,
the ban to discard marketable fish and the
closure of areas during the spawning season
could halve discards, but need to be implemented
properly.
WWF would like to see
all fishing vessels adopting more selective
gears from the outset and calls the European
Union for a new policy that will deliver
the systematic reduction of current discard
levels till its elimination.
EU Fisheries Ministers
have also decided upon fisheries quotas
for 2009 for a number of other fish stocks.
WWF is particularly concerned about the
15% increase of quotas for Southern hake
opposed to zero catch advised by scientists.
In addition, the 10% cut in quotas for whiting
is absolutely insufficient to guarantee
the recovery of this imperilled stock.
“Every year the fisheries
quotas circus is repeating the same show.
We need to change this if we want to preserve
valuable fish stocks and marine life,” said
Aaron McLoughlin.
Aaron Mc Loughlin, Head of European Marine
Programme, WWF European Policy Office,
