COARE: news | archives | 2008 | newsletter: December 2008

A New Year, and a New Era . . .
Wednesday, 07 January 2009

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Contents:
  - New leadership for NOAA
  - New marine sanctuaries
  - California oil spill
  - Proposed drilling ban
  - Louisiana sharks get a break
  - Shark pups born in captivity 
  - Aquarium celebrates 1.5 million visitors
  - Public white shark necropsy
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Hello, and Happy New Year, fellow ocean lovers!

2009 promises to be a year of hope and a year of change.

US President-elect Barack Obama has asked Oregon State
University professor Jane Lubchenco, a passionate
advocate for the oceans and one of the nation's most
prominent marine biologists, to head the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Lubchenco is an internationally known marine ecologist
who is deeply concerned about climate change and
overfishing, and her selection signals the incoming 
administration's focus on aggressive environmental and
marine protection.

She would be the first woman to head the prominent
science agency, which boasts an annual budget of about
$4 billion.  NOAA encompasses about half the workforce
and budget of the Department of Commerce. Its divisions
conduct the nation's study of oceans, weather, and global
warming.

Those divisions include the National Ocean Service,
National Weather Service and National Marine Fisheries
Service, which has jurisdiction over ocean fishing and
is charged with protecting imperiled Northwest salmon
and steelhead.

Lubchenco testified before Congress earlier this year,
pushing for public education and more funding for
research. She also said the nation must reduce
greenhouse gas emissions while making protection of
ocean ecosystems one of its highest priorities.  "If
society wishes to continue to benefit from the bounty
and the beauty of the oceans, it will need to implement
new and significantly more effective policies than 
currently exist."

 ---
  - New marine sanctuaries
 ---

In a surprising move just two weeks before he leaves
office, President Bush created three new national
monuments in the Pacific Ocean using powers granted to
him by the Antiquities Act of 1906.

The three monuments - in the Mariana Islands in the
western Pacific, the Rose Atoll off American Samoa, and
remote islands in the central Pacific - cover 195,280
square miles, the largest protected area of ocean.

In 2006, Bush also protected 139,793 square miles in the
Papahanaumokuakea Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine 
National Monument.  In all, Bush has protected more 
square miles of the ocean than any other person.

The Marianas Marine National Monument will protect the
Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth - deeper than
Mount Everest is high and explored for the first time
only in 1960. 

The Pacific Remote Islands National Monument will
include coral reefs surrounding Kingman Reef, Palmyra
Atoll, Howland, Baker and Jarvis islands, and Johnston
Atoll and Wake Island, home to nesting sea birds and 
migratory shore birds, corals with hundreds of fish
species and endangered turtles.

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, a remote area off
American Samoa, is a "tiny but spectacular" coral reef 
area also known for rare birds, including petrels, and 
reef sharks and parrot fish.  Humpback and pilot whales
and porpoises are frequently found there as well.

Not all areas within the designated monuments will be
fully protected, however -- slightly less than sixty
percent (60%) of the total area will be subject to 
prohibitions on fishing and other extractive activities, 
and the military will continue to operate in the monuments.

 ---
  - California oil spill
 ---

More than 1,130 gallons of oil were spilled off the
Carpinteria Coast in Santa Barbara County in early
December.  The spill was originally reported as a mere 
33 gallon accidental discharge by Dos Cuadras Offshore 
Resources (DCOR), the operator of the offshore oil 
platform where the spill occurred.  

However, an aerial survey by the Federal Minerals
Management Service estimated the spill to be over 27
barrels (1,134 gallons).

The Department of Fish and Game's Office of Spill
Prevention and Response (OSPR) immediately deployed
boats with surface skimmers and containment booms and
reported that in less than 24 hours they had contained
more than 70% of the spill.

"The price of oil has now dropped to a five year low
without any additional drilling in any state or federal
waters," said California Assemblyman Pedro Nava, whose
office announced the spill.  "This spill is another
reminder that the calls for increased drilling in our 
coastal waters are short-sighted and unnecessary.  
There is no need for more coastal drilling.  We must 
do everything necessary to prevent a larger catastrophe 
in the future."

 ---
  - Proposed drilling ban
 ---

On the first day in the 111th Congress, North Coast
Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduced a bill that
would permanently prohibit oil and gas drilling off the
coasts of Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. 
The Northern California Ocean and Coastal Protection Act
provides protection to the unique and productive marine 
environment along Northern California's outer
continental shelf (OCS).

During the last Congress, the ban on OCS drilling
expired, leaving the North Coast susceptible to future 
drilling endeavors.  The moratorium on OCS drilling had
been a bipartisan agreement in Congress since 1982, but 
came under regular attack, and was not renewed in 2008.  
A combination of last summer's national debate on
offshore drilling and record-high gasoline prices
increased political pressure to seek new sources of 
domestic oil.

"Our coastline is home to one of the four most important
upwellings in the world, which together support 20
percent of the ocean's fish.  Drilling on the North
Coast doesn't make sense, either from an economic 
standpoint or an environmental perspective.  By
permanently banning drilling, we can provide our coast 
with the protection it needs, regardless of who is in
charge in Washington," said Congressman Thompson.

Upwelling regions are coastal areas that support
extremely abundant and productive marine life.  This is
because an upwelling brings cold, nutrient-rich waters
up from the ocean depths that, when combined with
sunlight, enhance seaweed and phytoplankton growth. The 
seaweed and phytoplankton provide energy for some of the
most productive ecosystems in the world, including many 
of the world's most important fisheries, such as the 
North Coast fisheries.

Drilling for gas and oil off the Northern Coast of 
California could cause serious harm to the unique and 
productive ecosystem and abundant marine life found off
the coast, including the fish upon which many local
North Coast economies depend.

 ---
  - Louisiana sharks get a break
 ---

As of 11:30pm on 31 December 2008, Commercial fishing
for Large Coastal Sharks is no longer allowed in
Louisiana waters.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) also closed
the Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico at the same
time.

The commercial season will remain closed in Federal
waters for an undetermined period of time.  Since the
opening date of the season in Federal waters is not 
known at this time, no date has been set for the 
re-opening of the commercial Large Coastal Shark
fishery in Louisiana state waters either.

During the closed season, all commercial harvest, 
possession, purchase, exchange, barter, trade, sale or
attempt to purchase, exchange, barter, trade or sell 
Large Coastal Sharks or their fins is prohibited.

Louisiana rule L.A.C. 76:VII.357 defines the Large
Coastal Shark Group to include the great hammerhead,
scalloped hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, nurse shark, 
blacktip shark, bull shark, lemon shark, sandbar shark,
silky shark, spinner shark, and tiger shark.

 ---
  - Shark pups born in captivity 
 ---

Twelve new wobbegong shark pups found their way into the
world by way of the Georgia Aquarium's 6-million-gallon
Ocean Voyager tank.  The pups weighed about 2 ounces and
measured approximately 8 inches in length.

This was the third shark birth for the aquarium.
Previously, the zebra sharks and the bonnethead sharks 
have also given birth there.

The spotted wobbegong looks more like a large spotted 
catfish than a shark, and is considered a "near
threatened" species by the International Union for 
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).  

 ---
  - Aquarium celebrates 1.5 million visitors
 ---

Speaking of aquariums, the Aquarium of the Pacific in
Long Beach, California celebrated its 1.5 millionth
guest on 30 December, coinciding with its year-long 10th
anniversary celebration.

The Kerian family of Eleri, James, Kathleen, and Emily 
from Grafton, North Dakota, who were visiting the
Aquarium on vacation, were the 1.5 millionth guests. 
They were honored with a special greeting by the
Aquariums's staff and shark mascot, and the prize of a
family membership to the Aquarium of the Pacific.  

 ---
  - Public white shark necropsy
 ---

Our readers in New Zealand can find out a lot more about
what's inside a white shark this Thursday.  A public
necropsy of a 3m long, 300kg shark will take place at
the Auckland Museum, from 11:00am-1:00pm this Thursday
(08 January), at the museum's southeast loading dock.
Public viewers will have a chance to see, first hand,
the shark's stomach contents, and can watch as
scientists measure its internal organs.

The shark was found dead, tangled in a gill net, in 
Kaipara Harbour last Monday (29 December).  The fisherman 
notified the Department of Conservation (DOC) who, along
with the Auckland Museum, decided to hold the public
event to raise awareness of threats to the protected 
species.

 ---

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Wishing you healthy oceans,
 - Your friends at COARE

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