The next few days could be critical for the US states along the Gulf of Mexico. The spreading oil spill there threatens to have devastating effects for a fragile ecosystem and local economy. Bad weather is frustrating efforts to keep the slick contained. What’s worse, capping the undersea oil well that is gushing thousands of barrels of crude per day could take months.
The world is watching the Gulf of Mexico’s predicament with concern, but it is a grim and important reminder for those of us on the Arabian Gulf. The oil and gas industry remains the lifeblood of the national and regional economies, and lessons about how to prevent and contain oil spills are vital to national security.
It is too early to assign blame in the Gulf of Mexico spill. What can be said, however, is that BP’s 2009 environmental assessment that a major oil spill was “virtually impossible” in the area was clearly over-optimistic. Major oil companies, not to mention government authorities, need to plan for the eventuality of an oil spill, not diminish its risk.
“Always, you have to measure things by looking at the worst-case scenario,” said Khamis Bu Amim, the chief executive of the Regional Clean Sea Organisation (Resco), a Dubai-based association of regional oil companies. Resco has helped to develop the UAE’s plan to protect against marine pollution, which is currently under review by the Ministry of Environment and Water.
That plan will not only cover disaster response but include measures to minimise marine pollution from shipping, industry and coastal development. The Arabian Gulf is under tremendous pressure already. “It’s different than anywhere else in the world,” Mr Bu-Amim said. “For drinking water security, the only thing in the Gulf is the sea.”
This region has weathered major oil spills in the past. The 1991 Gulf War disaster, when Kuwaiti oil wells were sabotaged by Saddam Hussein’s invading forces, is still the worst oil spill on record.
Gulf nations can certainly empathise with the situation facing coastal areas in the American South. But it should not take another disaster of this scale before a comprehensive plan to contain the damage of an oil spill is put into place.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Oil rig spill volume at 42,000 gallons per day, threatens wildlife
By: Raymond Gellner
Last week’s Transocean Ltd. oil rig explosion has created a leak of approximately 1,000 barrels, or 42,000 gallons per day, and may take months to repair, experts have stated. Although there is a chance that the leak may be stopped Monday or Tuesday, there is a large chance that it will take much longer, a prospect that could jeopardize wildlife within the Gulf.
Oil started leaking on Thursday, April 22 after the oil rig Deepwater Horizon, which was located 52 miles Southeast of the tip of Louisiana, sank into the Gulf of Mexico after an explosion and fire that wounded 17 of the 126 crew members on the rig and left another 11 missing, presumed dead after a lengthy search of the surrounding area.
ABC News reported that Rear Admiral Mary Landry of the Coast Guard stated, “We are in a very serious situation. Forty-five to 90 days is the initial estimate. That's an estimate right now before this well could be secured.”
There is one last effort that will be made within the next 20 to 30 hours to secure the leak by means of a robotic probe. However, if this should fail, it would mean that the task will take possibly months to complete.
Concerning the upcoming cleanup efforts along the U.S. coastlines, Landry said, “We have been in contact with all the coastal states. Everyone is forward-leaning and preparing for coastal impact.”
Oil started leaking on Thursday, April 22 after the oil rig Deepwater Horizon, which was located 52 miles Southeast of the tip of Louisiana, sank into the Gulf of Mexico after an explosion and fire that wounded 17 of the 126 crew members on the rig and left another 11 missing, presumed dead after a lengthy search of the surrounding area.
ABC News reported that Rear Admiral Mary Landry of the Coast Guard stated, “We are in a very serious situation. Forty-five to 90 days is the initial estimate. That's an estimate right now before this well could be secured.”
There is one last effort that will be made within the next 20 to 30 hours to secure the leak by means of a robotic probe. However, if this should fail, it would mean that the task will take possibly months to complete.
Concerning the upcoming cleanup efforts along the U.S. coastlines, Landry said, “We have been in contact with all the coastal states. Everyone is forward-leaning and preparing for coastal impact.”
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Kenya rated highly in marine hygiene 4/18/10
By peter orengo
Kenya has recorded significant drop in the level of marine pollution according to the latest Marine Debris Index by Ocean Conservancy.
Kenya, one of the seven African countries covered in the report with more than 3,600 items collected at its coastline, had improved significantly since 2008, when 91,000 pieces of debris were collected. This represents a 2,400 per cent reduction.
South Africa recorded the highest number of debris, followed by Egypt. Other African countries investigated include Tanzania, Ghana, Togo, and Namibia.
Syringes, condoms, food wrappers, clothing, shoes, plastic and glass bottles are just some of the material found in Kenya’s coastal waters, says the Trash Travels: From Our Hands to the Sea, Around the Globe and Through Time report.
Marked improvement
Compared to 2,000 condoms collected in the Kenyan waters of the India Ocean in 2008 (being fourth highest in the world), only 104 condoms were collected last year.
Leisure and entertainment contributed to debris such as plastic and paper bags, balloons, beverage bottles and clothing, shoes, food wrappers and containers, straws and toys ending up in the Kenyan coastline. These pieces represented 75 per cent of total debris collected at 2,719 in number.
Seven million
"This report shows the commitment by Kenyans to taking environmental issues seriously. Trash does not fall from the sky; it falls from human hands —those hands have the power to stop it," says Fred Sewe, the local co-ordinator of International Coastal Clean-up, a group of volunteers concerned with the marine eco-system.
He added: "Our ocean is essential to the health of everything on the planet including our own. Whether we live near a coast or hundreds of miles inland, we are all connected to the ocean from the air we breathe to the food we eat."
The report is the world’s only state-by-state analysis of trash in water bodies. It was generated from the international coastal clean up, held in September last year.
Globally, Unites States of America recorded the highest number of items at 4,201,962.
The trash was collected and data recorded by the nearly 500,000 volunteers around the world who combed local beaches and waterways during the exercise.
Volunteers removed nearly seven million pounds of debris, from 108 countries with a common mission of improving the health of oceans.
Kenya has recorded significant drop in the level of marine pollution according to the latest Marine Debris Index by Ocean Conservancy.
Kenya, one of the seven African countries covered in the report with more than 3,600 items collected at its coastline, had improved significantly since 2008, when 91,000 pieces of debris were collected. This represents a 2,400 per cent reduction.
South Africa recorded the highest number of debris, followed by Egypt. Other African countries investigated include Tanzania, Ghana, Togo, and Namibia.
Syringes, condoms, food wrappers, clothing, shoes, plastic and glass bottles are just some of the material found in Kenya’s coastal waters, says the Trash Travels: From Our Hands to the Sea, Around the Globe and Through Time report.
Marked improvement
Compared to 2,000 condoms collected in the Kenyan waters of the India Ocean in 2008 (being fourth highest in the world), only 104 condoms were collected last year.
Leisure and entertainment contributed to debris such as plastic and paper bags, balloons, beverage bottles and clothing, shoes, food wrappers and containers, straws and toys ending up in the Kenyan coastline. These pieces represented 75 per cent of total debris collected at 2,719 in number.
Seven million
"This report shows the commitment by Kenyans to taking environmental issues seriously. Trash does not fall from the sky; it falls from human hands —those hands have the power to stop it," says Fred Sewe, the local co-ordinator of International Coastal Clean-up, a group of volunteers concerned with the marine eco-system.
He added: "Our ocean is essential to the health of everything on the planet including our own. Whether we live near a coast or hundreds of miles inland, we are all connected to the ocean from the air we breathe to the food we eat."
The report is the world’s only state-by-state analysis of trash in water bodies. It was generated from the international coastal clean up, held in September last year.
Globally, Unites States of America recorded the highest number of items at 4,201,962.
The trash was collected and data recorded by the nearly 500,000 volunteers around the world who combed local beaches and waterways during the exercise.
Volunteers removed nearly seven million pounds of debris, from 108 countries with a common mission of improving the health of oceans.
Indian Ocean countries in new deal to stop pollution 4/18/10
By Cosmus Butunyi
Ten East and Southern African countries have signed a new pact against pollution that will boost environmental management in the Western Indian Ocean.
The Protocol for the Protection of the Coastal and Marine Environment of the Western Indian Ocean from Land-based Sources and Activities will be implemented on the countries’ coastline that stretches from Somalia to South Africa.
This includes the shorelines of Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Somalia, as well as the island states of Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion-France.
The agreement binds the governments to a common objective of preventing, reducing, mitigating and controlling pollution from land-based sources and activities to protect and sustain the marine and coastal environment in the Western Indian Ocean.
It was signed by environment ministers from the 10 countries at the sixth conference of parties to the Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Western Indian Ocean held at the United Nations Environment Programme headquarters in Gigiri, Nairobi.
Also ratified by the ministers is a 25-year strategic action plan for efficient management of the marine and coastal environment in the region; as well as amendments to the Nairobi Convention that take into account provisions on emerging issues such as climate change and the need for an ecosystem-based management approach.
Third regional agreement
It has taken five years of negotiations to develop the agreement through the Nairobi Convention led by a legal and technical review regional task force. Each of the governments also nominated legal and technical experts to participate in the drafting of the agreement.
This becomes the third such regional agreement on seas in the world with legal instruments for controlling land-based activities that degrade or pollute the marine waters. The other regions with a similar agreement include the Wider Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Unep executive director Achim Steiner said that the protocol would provide an important tool for shaping and guiding actions in order to protect the marine and coastal environment of the Western Indian Ocean.
“This will ensure that the unique ecosystems can deliver sustainable development and well-being to the 60 million people who live and depend on its resources,” he said.
Presently, the countries that share the Western Indian Ocean face challenges relating to sustainable management of their coastal and marine environments.
It is feared that this could affect the ocean, one of the few remaining undisturbed areas of the world ocean with diverse ecosystems that provide invaluable goods and services to growing populations of the region.
The Indian Ocean is globally recognised for its unique biological richness and natural beauty and high ecological and socio-economic value. Unep estimates the economic value of the goods and services provided by the Western Indian Ocean marine ecosystem alone, through fisheries and tourism, to be over $25 billion.
With a combined coastline that stretches over 15,000 kilometres and a continental shelf area of about 450,000 square kilometres, the Western Indian Ocean region is home to a diverse range of marine and coastal ecosystems that include lowland forests, mangrove forests, sea grass beds and coral reefs. This serves as a source of livelihood and income for over 60 million people residing within 100km of the coastal zone.
Recent studies have found out that out of the estimated total population of 175 million in the region, 40 million people reside within 25 kilometres of the coastal zone and are directly affected by the declining health of the coastal and marine ecosystems.
This is largely through the fishery and tourism industries that are crucial for food security, employment and income generation.
Efforts are already ongoing to safeguard the Western Indian Ocean under the $11.4 million WIO-LaB project that addresses some of the major environmental concerns related to the degradation of the marine and coastal environment resulting from land-based activities.
The project by the countries in the region is supported by the Norwegian government, Unep, and the Global Environment Fund.
It is designed to serve as a demonstration project for the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities.
Ten East and Southern African countries have signed a new pact against pollution that will boost environmental management in the Western Indian Ocean.
The Protocol for the Protection of the Coastal and Marine Environment of the Western Indian Ocean from Land-based Sources and Activities will be implemented on the countries’ coastline that stretches from Somalia to South Africa.
This includes the shorelines of Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Somalia, as well as the island states of Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion-France.
The agreement binds the governments to a common objective of preventing, reducing, mitigating and controlling pollution from land-based sources and activities to protect and sustain the marine and coastal environment in the Western Indian Ocean.
It was signed by environment ministers from the 10 countries at the sixth conference of parties to the Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Western Indian Ocean held at the United Nations Environment Programme headquarters in Gigiri, Nairobi.
Also ratified by the ministers is a 25-year strategic action plan for efficient management of the marine and coastal environment in the region; as well as amendments to the Nairobi Convention that take into account provisions on emerging issues such as climate change and the need for an ecosystem-based management approach.
Third regional agreement
It has taken five years of negotiations to develop the agreement through the Nairobi Convention led by a legal and technical review regional task force. Each of the governments also nominated legal and technical experts to participate in the drafting of the agreement.
This becomes the third such regional agreement on seas in the world with legal instruments for controlling land-based activities that degrade or pollute the marine waters. The other regions with a similar agreement include the Wider Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Unep executive director Achim Steiner said that the protocol would provide an important tool for shaping and guiding actions in order to protect the marine and coastal environment of the Western Indian Ocean.
“This will ensure that the unique ecosystems can deliver sustainable development and well-being to the 60 million people who live and depend on its resources,” he said.
Presently, the countries that share the Western Indian Ocean face challenges relating to sustainable management of their coastal and marine environments.
It is feared that this could affect the ocean, one of the few remaining undisturbed areas of the world ocean with diverse ecosystems that provide invaluable goods and services to growing populations of the region.
The Indian Ocean is globally recognised for its unique biological richness and natural beauty and high ecological and socio-economic value. Unep estimates the economic value of the goods and services provided by the Western Indian Ocean marine ecosystem alone, through fisheries and tourism, to be over $25 billion.
With a combined coastline that stretches over 15,000 kilometres and a continental shelf area of about 450,000 square kilometres, the Western Indian Ocean region is home to a diverse range of marine and coastal ecosystems that include lowland forests, mangrove forests, sea grass beds and coral reefs. This serves as a source of livelihood and income for over 60 million people residing within 100km of the coastal zone.
Recent studies have found out that out of the estimated total population of 175 million in the region, 40 million people reside within 25 kilometres of the coastal zone and are directly affected by the declining health of the coastal and marine ecosystems.
This is largely through the fishery and tourism industries that are crucial for food security, employment and income generation.
Efforts are already ongoing to safeguard the Western Indian Ocean under the $11.4 million WIO-LaB project that addresses some of the major environmental concerns related to the degradation of the marine and coastal environment resulting from land-based activities.
The project by the countries in the region is supported by the Norwegian government, Unep, and the Global Environment Fund.
It is designed to serve as a demonstration project for the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Federal Police launch coal ship spill probe 4/10/10
The Australian Federal Police has confirmed it has launched an investigation into the grounding of a Chinese coal carrier off the central Queensland coast.
Authorities are pumping oil out of the Shen Neng 1, which hit Douglas Shoal a week ago.
Yesterday it was revealed the Federal Police had been asked to consider mounting a criminal investigation into how the ship ran aground.
In a statement, the AFP says it has launched an investigation after a request by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Meanwhile, a maritime law expert says the Queensland Government is unlikely to be able to recoup the full clean-up bill associated with a Chinese coal carrier's accident on the Great Barrier Reef.
It has been a week since the Shen Neng 1 rammed into the Douglas Shoal.
So far, it has leaked around two tonnes of heavy fuel oil. Experts are pumping another thousand tonnes of oil off the coal carrier.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says it will be at least three days before attempts can be made to re-float the coal carrier.
"We won't see all of the oil off the ship until probably the end of the weekend at the earliest, and then there'll have to be considerable assessments taken of the vessel, empty of the oil before any flotation procedures occur," she said.
Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan says the Chinese company that owns the ship will be forced to meet the full costs associated with the grounding.
"Make no mistake - this company will pay a very substantial price for this incident," she said.
"Their ship was off course in very environmentally sensitive areas and they will pay the price."
Ms Bligh echoed the sentiments.
"Those costs will be recouped; we will be charging those costs to the insurance company of this vessel," she said.
"My aim is to make sure that there is no cost at all to the Queensland taxpayer as a result of this incident."
But according to Professor Nick Gaskell, an international maritime law expert at the University of Queensland, the State Government's tough talk might not be supported by law.
"The good news is that Australia joined an international convention last year called the Bunker Pollution Convention," he said.
"This allows states and others to claim compensation where you've got leakage of fuel oil carried aboard ordinary merchant ships.
"The Bunker Pollution Convention allows states to claim from the owners and the operators of the ship without having to prove fault. This is a no-fault compensation system."
But Professor Gaskell says that in exchange for the no-fault system, ship owners are entitled to a ceiling on damages claims.
"So the state has to prove what it's lost, but there is a maximum amount calculated according to the size of the ship," he said.
"And my calculations on the information available to me indicate that the maximum sum for this ship will be in the region of $23.5 million."
Professor Gaskell doubts that amount will cover the clean-up bill in an environmentally sensitive area like the Great Barrier Reef, particularly after last year's spill off Moreton Bay in Queensland left a clean-up and compensation bill of about $31 million, with the State Government only able to retrieve $23 million.
Authorities are pumping oil out of the Shen Neng 1, which hit Douglas Shoal a week ago.
Yesterday it was revealed the Federal Police had been asked to consider mounting a criminal investigation into how the ship ran aground.
In a statement, the AFP says it has launched an investigation after a request by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Meanwhile, a maritime law expert says the Queensland Government is unlikely to be able to recoup the full clean-up bill associated with a Chinese coal carrier's accident on the Great Barrier Reef.
It has been a week since the Shen Neng 1 rammed into the Douglas Shoal.
So far, it has leaked around two tonnes of heavy fuel oil. Experts are pumping another thousand tonnes of oil off the coal carrier.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says it will be at least three days before attempts can be made to re-float the coal carrier.
"We won't see all of the oil off the ship until probably the end of the weekend at the earliest, and then there'll have to be considerable assessments taken of the vessel, empty of the oil before any flotation procedures occur," she said.
Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan says the Chinese company that owns the ship will be forced to meet the full costs associated with the grounding.
"Make no mistake - this company will pay a very substantial price for this incident," she said.
"Their ship was off course in very environmentally sensitive areas and they will pay the price."
Ms Bligh echoed the sentiments.
"Those costs will be recouped; we will be charging those costs to the insurance company of this vessel," she said.
"My aim is to make sure that there is no cost at all to the Queensland taxpayer as a result of this incident."
But according to Professor Nick Gaskell, an international maritime law expert at the University of Queensland, the State Government's tough talk might not be supported by law.
"The good news is that Australia joined an international convention last year called the Bunker Pollution Convention," he said.
"This allows states and others to claim compensation where you've got leakage of fuel oil carried aboard ordinary merchant ships.
"The Bunker Pollution Convention allows states to claim from the owners and the operators of the ship without having to prove fault. This is a no-fault compensation system."
But Professor Gaskell says that in exchange for the no-fault system, ship owners are entitled to a ceiling on damages claims.
"So the state has to prove what it's lost, but there is a maximum amount calculated according to the size of the ship," he said.
"And my calculations on the information available to me indicate that the maximum sum for this ship will be in the region of $23.5 million."
Professor Gaskell doubts that amount will cover the clean-up bill in an environmentally sensitive area like the Great Barrier Reef, particularly after last year's spill off Moreton Bay in Queensland left a clean-up and compensation bill of about $31 million, with the State Government only able to retrieve $23 million.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Pacific gyre examined today
Expert to speak on pollution problems in the ocean for Green Coast Day.
By Coast Report Staff
Published: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 10:12 AM PDT
Orange Coast College will host its fifth annual Green Coast Day today to help spread awareness about plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean.
Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation will present “Pollution in the Pacific Ocean” today in the Robert B. Moore Theater at 9:35 a.m.
A youth in a boat picks through plastic garbage in the Pacific Ocean. A lecture today will discuss the problem of pollution.
The lecture is hosted by OCC oceanography instructor Tom Garrison and the Marine Science and International Business programs and sponsors include the research foundation, the South Coast Air Quality management District, Plug in America, the Orange County Prius Club and Leah Baylor.
Moore’s lecture will focus on the affects to the ocean of years of discarded plastics floating off the coast. He will discuss the giant gyre in the Pacific Ocean and the damage it brings to ocean wildlife.
Moore grew up in Long Beach but often traveled to remote destinations with his father. He attended the University of California at San Diego where he studied chemistry and Spanish.
Moore founded Algalita Marine Research Foundation in 1994 after 25 years running a woodworking and finishing business. In 1995 he launched his purpose-designed, aluminum-hulled research vessel Alguita, in Hobart, Tasmania, and helped organize the Australian government’s first research voyage to document human caused contamination of Australia’s east coast.
After returning to California, he became a coordinator of the State Water Resources Control Board’s Volunteer Water Monitoring Steering Committee and developed chemical and bacterial monitoring methods for the Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force.
He was also instrumental in helping to assess for the first time a study of the entire Southern California Bight along the coastline from Point Conception to San Diego.
The Algalita Marine Research Foundation is based in Long Beach and is dedicated to the protection of the marine environment and its watersheds through research, education and restoration. The foundation studies that impact of plastic marine pollution on the environment.
In addition to Moore’s speech, and as part of Green Coast Day, an Electric and Low Emission Vehicles Showcase will take place in the Quad from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
Extra credit slips will be made available for both the speech and the vehicle showcase.
For more information contact John Fawcett at 714-432-5634, ext. 1 or jfawcett@occ.cccd.edu.
By Coast Report Staff
Published: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 10:12 AM PDT
Orange Coast College will host its fifth annual Green Coast Day today to help spread awareness about plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean.
Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation will present “Pollution in the Pacific Ocean” today in the Robert B. Moore Theater at 9:35 a.m.
A youth in a boat picks through plastic garbage in the Pacific Ocean. A lecture today will discuss the problem of pollution.
The lecture is hosted by OCC oceanography instructor Tom Garrison and the Marine Science and International Business programs and sponsors include the research foundation, the South Coast Air Quality management District, Plug in America, the Orange County Prius Club and Leah Baylor.
Moore’s lecture will focus on the affects to the ocean of years of discarded plastics floating off the coast. He will discuss the giant gyre in the Pacific Ocean and the damage it brings to ocean wildlife.
Moore grew up in Long Beach but often traveled to remote destinations with his father. He attended the University of California at San Diego where he studied chemistry and Spanish.
Moore founded Algalita Marine Research Foundation in 1994 after 25 years running a woodworking and finishing business. In 1995 he launched his purpose-designed, aluminum-hulled research vessel Alguita, in Hobart, Tasmania, and helped organize the Australian government’s first research voyage to document human caused contamination of Australia’s east coast.
After returning to California, he became a coordinator of the State Water Resources Control Board’s Volunteer Water Monitoring Steering Committee and developed chemical and bacterial monitoring methods for the Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force.
He was also instrumental in helping to assess for the first time a study of the entire Southern California Bight along the coastline from Point Conception to San Diego.
The Algalita Marine Research Foundation is based in Long Beach and is dedicated to the protection of the marine environment and its watersheds through research, education and restoration. The foundation studies that impact of plastic marine pollution on the environment.
In addition to Moore’s speech, and as part of Green Coast Day, an Electric and Low Emission Vehicles Showcase will take place in the Quad from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
Extra credit slips will be made available for both the speech and the vehicle showcase.
For more information contact John Fawcett at 714-432-5634, ext. 1 or jfawcett@occ.cccd.edu.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Deadliest catch: Turtles die 'in their millions' from fishing lines 4/7/10
CNN) -- Millions of sea turtles have been the unintentional victims of the world's fisheries in the past 20 years, according to a report published Tuesday.
The first ever global survey of sea turtle bycatch conducted by Conservation International and Duke University in the United States suggests that the Mediterranean and the Eastern Pacific are locations where the marine turtle populations are in danger of collapse.
The report says that the increase in fishing gear, like longlines and gillnets, in marine habitats is directly linked to the increase in the accidental capture of sea turtles.
Bycatch occurs when fishing gear inadvertently snag animals other than the intended catch. Sea turtles, along with sharks, dolphins, and albatrosses, are among the most frequently accidentally captured. They often perish as a result of swallowing sharp J-shaped hooks, or by drowning in nets.
The report, published this week in "Conservation Letters" investigated the impact of bycatch on sea turtles around the globe from 1990 to 2008. Their findings show that tens of thousands of marine turtles have been reported as bycatch in the past 20 years.
Dr. Bryan Wallace, Science Advisor for Conservation International's Sea Turtle Flagship Program believes the number may be far higher.
"Because the reports we reviewed typically covered less than 1 percent of all fleets, with little or no information from small-scale fisheries around the world, we conservatively estimate that the true total is probably not in tens of thousands, but in the millions of turtles taken as bycatch in the past two decades," he said in a press statement.
Sea turtles are highly migratory animals that cover vast areas of ocean between nesting and feeding grounds. They are subject to several threats, including capture for their meat and collection of eggs, destruction of nesting beaches and pollution of the ocean.
However, Wallace and the reports' co-authors believe bycatch is the most serious threat to sea turtle populations around the world.
Six of the seven marine turtle species are currently categorized as "vulnerable", "endangered", or "critically endangered globally" by the International Union of Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List. They include loggerheads, leatherbacks, hawksbills, Olive Ridleys, Kemp's Ridleys and green sea turtles; the flatback, an endemic to Australia, is currently categorized as Data Deficient.
The highest reported bycatch rates for longline fisheries occurred off Mexico's Baja California peninsula, the report said, adding that the highest rates for gillnet fishing took place in the North Adriatic region of the Mediterranean and the highest rates for trawls were found off the coast of Uruguay.
The report suggests that a lack of integrated management of fishing in the Mediterranean Sea is to blame for the region's high bycatch rates. It has some of the world's highest concentrations of longline fishing and trawling.
"We have only begun to scratch the surface about the realities of sea turtle bycatch," said Wallace. "Our review revealed important data gaps in areas where small-scale fisheries operate, especially Africa, the eastern Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia."
"Sea turtles are sentinel species of how oceans are functioning. The impacts that human activities have on them give us an idea as to how those same activities are affecting the oceans on which billions of people around the world depend for their own well-being." said Wallace.
"Our hope is that this study gives governments and fisheries alike the impetus for bolstering on-going efforts to reduce sea turtle bycatch and to promote more sustainable fishing practices as soon as possible."
The first ever global survey of sea turtle bycatch conducted by Conservation International and Duke University in the United States suggests that the Mediterranean and the Eastern Pacific are locations where the marine turtle populations are in danger of collapse.
The report says that the increase in fishing gear, like longlines and gillnets, in marine habitats is directly linked to the increase in the accidental capture of sea turtles.
Bycatch occurs when fishing gear inadvertently snag animals other than the intended catch. Sea turtles, along with sharks, dolphins, and albatrosses, are among the most frequently accidentally captured. They often perish as a result of swallowing sharp J-shaped hooks, or by drowning in nets.
The report, published this week in "Conservation Letters" investigated the impact of bycatch on sea turtles around the globe from 1990 to 2008. Their findings show that tens of thousands of marine turtles have been reported as bycatch in the past 20 years.
Dr. Bryan Wallace, Science Advisor for Conservation International's Sea Turtle Flagship Program believes the number may be far higher.
"Because the reports we reviewed typically covered less than 1 percent of all fleets, with little or no information from small-scale fisheries around the world, we conservatively estimate that the true total is probably not in tens of thousands, but in the millions of turtles taken as bycatch in the past two decades," he said in a press statement.
Sea turtles are highly migratory animals that cover vast areas of ocean between nesting and feeding grounds. They are subject to several threats, including capture for their meat and collection of eggs, destruction of nesting beaches and pollution of the ocean.
However, Wallace and the reports' co-authors believe bycatch is the most serious threat to sea turtle populations around the world.
Six of the seven marine turtle species are currently categorized as "vulnerable", "endangered", or "critically endangered globally" by the International Union of Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List. They include loggerheads, leatherbacks, hawksbills, Olive Ridleys, Kemp's Ridleys and green sea turtles; the flatback, an endemic to Australia, is currently categorized as Data Deficient.
The highest reported bycatch rates for longline fisheries occurred off Mexico's Baja California peninsula, the report said, adding that the highest rates for gillnet fishing took place in the North Adriatic region of the Mediterranean and the highest rates for trawls were found off the coast of Uruguay.
The report suggests that a lack of integrated management of fishing in the Mediterranean Sea is to blame for the region's high bycatch rates. It has some of the world's highest concentrations of longline fishing and trawling.
"We have only begun to scratch the surface about the realities of sea turtle bycatch," said Wallace. "Our review revealed important data gaps in areas where small-scale fisheries operate, especially Africa, the eastern Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia."
"Sea turtles are sentinel species of how oceans are functioning. The impacts that human activities have on them give us an idea as to how those same activities are affecting the oceans on which billions of people around the world depend for their own well-being." said Wallace.
"Our hope is that this study gives governments and fisheries alike the impetus for bolstering on-going efforts to reduce sea turtle bycatch and to promote more sustainable fishing practices as soon as possible."
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