Discussions in Rome failed to agree on new guidance for deep-sea fisheries in the high seas. A second meeting was called for this summer to discuss outstanding issues.

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Corruption in global fisheries is compounding the devastating effects of overfishing – and the problem could get worse, according to IUCN today.

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The future for corals does not look bright. That’s the message from the first in-depth analysis of 2005’s widespread coral bleaching in the Caribbean.

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The World Conservation Union (IUCN) seeks nominations of qualified individuals with recognized expertise in research methods for studying population parameters, behaviour and ecology of baleen whales (preferably gray whales) to serve on the WGWAP.

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Late on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the only conservation organization with official observer status at the UN, called for the rapid development of a network of marine protected areas to help the oceans cope with climate change.

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Archipelago National Park in the Baltic Sea has received recognition this week of being one of the best managed wilderness areas in Europe. As a result of undergoing an intensive independent assessment of its conservation, visitor management and sustainable tourism development it received the coveted status of being a certified PAN (Protected Area Network) Park. Oulanka National Park was the first Finnish national park in the PAN Parks network.

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West Africa has comparably well-developed activities for MPAs and fisheries, whilst East Africa has a longer history of research capacity building and integrated coastal management projects. There is therefore much scope for exchange and cooperation between the two regions according to a new IUCN report.

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A new method to combat global warming by dumping iron into the sea needs to be treated with caution, governments and scientists warn.

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More than 40% of shark and ray species in the Mediterranean are threatened with extinction, according to a new report from the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Full releaseComunicado completoCommuniqué completFull report [PDF]IUCN Centre for Mediterranean CooperationIUCN Species Survival Commission

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) is creating an independent scientific panel to advise the Government of Mauritania on environmental issues concerning oil and gas development.

Full storyFrançais [PDF]UICN Bureau Regional pour l'Afrique de l'OuestPanel des experts indépendants

Marine policy experts today warned that a crisis situation is developing in oceans that will require urgent measures and stronger international law to avoid catastrophic declines in ocean productivity.

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A la veille du Grenelle de l’environnement et du premier colloque national sur les aires marines protégées, le Comité français de l’UICN publie un nouveau rapport indiquant que l’heure est venue pour l’Etat français d’adopter une loi Mer. Avec le deuxième domaine maritime au monde, la France a d’importantes responsabilités pour la préservation de la biodiversité marine mais sa législation peine à y répondre en étant trop sectorielle et complexe, sans vision d’ensemble pour sa protection.

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IUCN has released the first in the series of “Guidelines for the Sustainable Development of Mediterranean Aquaculture” targeted at decision-makers, scientists
and producers.

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Marine protected areas should be the new priority for South American governments, according to those who attended the Latin American Parks Congress earlier this month.

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The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation organised a workshop in Istanbul, Turkey from 22-24 September 2007 to analyze the impact of shipping activities on biodiversity in the Mediterranean.

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Two African Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) projects, part of the global LME movement supported by the Global Environment Facility and a host of international organisations, including IUCN, are the first to have successfully established innovative, ministerial level, ecosystem-based Commissions to oversee the recovery, development and sustainability of their goods and services.

Conference communiqué

As the number of marine species assessments increases, so does the number of species in danger. The 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ shows that excessive and destructive fishing activities play a primary role in oceans biodiversity loss.

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Interactions between sharks and pelagic longline fisheries are causing ecological, economic and social problems. Studies, announced recently by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, indicate that action is needed to develop methods to deter sharks from taking hooked fish from longline gear - amove that will benefit sharks and the fishing industry.

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Issue 4 of GMP News, the IUCN Global Marine Programme newsletter, covering news and events on IUCN marine-related activities from the last 12 months is now available. GMP welcomes feedback and offers opportunities to IUCN members to provide input into future issues.

GMP News 4

Invasive species do not recognise Marine Protected Area (MPA) boundaries, yet very little is done to address the problem of alien invasive species in marine protected area planning and management. In the case of an MPA, invasions can pose serious threats and lead to dramatic impacts, particularly when management is unprepared for them.To help address this issue in the western Pacific, in July 2007, IUCN co-hosted a marine invasive species survey and training workshop with the Palau National Invasive Species Committee (NISC) and in collaboration with the Australian Maritime College.

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Economic Valuation (EV) is a practical tool that can be used within a business approach to ecosystem management. It can be applied in a multitude of different ways but is commonly used to assess potential benefits and costs, and to identify potential stakeholders and threats. At the end of July 2007, IUCN offered participants at the GEF Fourth Biennial International Waters Conference the chance to attend a workshop to learn more about this tool applied in the context of Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs).

Workshop report ¦ Workshop website

Capacity building efforts for research should reflect the same kind of cumulative and learning process as science itself. This was one of the findings of a workshop co-organised in May 2007 by IUCN, Sida, PRCM, FIBA, Swedish Water House and hosted by the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Practioners from several sub-saharan Africa countries were joined by marine scientists from Europe to take stock of experiences and identify key factors for success, with the aim of further enhancing development co-operation efforts for marine research, at national, regional and local levels in East and West Africa.

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Though Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and their members face conflicting pressures, if they do not take steps now to better manage fish stocks, these resources will continue to decline to the detriment of the ocean’s wellbeing, food security and human health. IUCN believes that all RFMOs should conduct self-assessments this year or next and include a review of how each RFMO accepts scientific advice and incorporates that advice into its conservation and management measures. 

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A world-renowned lake in Palau, an island nation 800km east of the Philippines, is currently being invaded by a prolific species of anemone. It is taking over more than half of Jellyfish Lake, a tourist attraction that lures thousands of visitors to Palau each month.

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Scientists highlight the importance of noise limits for energy companies operating in Russia to protect the critically endangered western gray whale.

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The unreachable depths of the ocean are now reachable – and so is the genetic marine material that lives there. As a new potential industry opens up, a set of rules is urgently needed to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of our oceans’ resources, according to the World Conservation Union.

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Business has joined forces with the World Conservation
Union (IUCN) to better understand the biology of
and threats to western gray whales. The purpose of
this broad engagement is to do everything possible
to ensure the survival and recovery of this population.

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Despite the thirteenth Conference of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) strongly reaffirming the contribution of the convention to the sustainable harvest of marine resources, at COP 14, the Parties seemed to back away from this approach to resource management.

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Caribbean coral species are dying off, indicating dramatic shifts in the ecological balance under the sea, a new scientific study of Caribbean marine life shows. Climate change and warmer waters are being cited as leading cause.

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Wood species used for violin bows, shark species featured in British fish and chip meals and coral species exploited for jewelry rank high on the CITES conference agenda for international trade controls in endangered species, opening on Sunday.

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The first assessment of all European mammals, carried out by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), shows that nearly one in every six mammal species is now threatened with extinction. Europe is now home to the world’s most threatened cat species, the Iberian Lynx, and the world’s most threatened seal, the Mediterranean Monk Seal.

Full story IUCN Red List European Mammal AssessmentCase studies [PDF]

Marine protected areas greatly boost both coral recovery and the abundance of coral reef fish. This is the main finding of a survey on coral reefs in the northern Sumatran islands of Weh and Aceh earlier this year. Set up mainly to monitor the recovery of corals following the 2004 tsunami, the 2007 survey found that human management had a greater impact on reef fish abundance than the tsunami.

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While many programmes and projects dealing with natural resource management in the South Asia region have included alternative livelihood components, these have often been poorly conceived and ineffective in their implementation. To address the lack of institutional capacity within the region to systematically approach
alternative livelihood creation in a participatory and poverty-focused way, IUCN and Integrated Marine Management Ltd (IMM) organised the first of three workshops from January 27 to February 3 in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India.

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Sakhalin Energy and the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel, convened by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), have agreed to work together on seismic surveys and oil spill prevention. These are some of the biggest threats to the critically endangered Western Gray Whales from the oil and gas development in the whales’ feeding area, off Sakhalin island.

Full storyThe Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and partners launch new documentary of the Lebanon oil spill and its impact on the environment.

Full releaseIUCN's work on the Lebanon oil spillIUCN's work in West and Central Asia

IUCN was part of the Expert Consultation on deep-sea fisheries on the high seas who have recently released a report of conclusions and recommendations to deep-sea fisheries on the high seas. Among them was recognition that spatial and temporal management tools suc