Oceans Reports

Freedom for the Seas: Now and for the Future

April 14, 2008

It is clearer today than ever before that the threats to ocean life are growing and beyond the capacity of any one nation to address alone. While in the past, we primarily spoke of overfishing or destructive fishing and their impacts on ocean life, today, climate change and its impacts on marine life must also loom large in the minds of oceans decision makers. "Freedom for the Seas: Now and for the Future" provides Greenpeace proposals on revolutionizing oceans governance.

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Black Holes in Deep Oceans Space: Closing the Legal Voids in High Seas Biodiversity Protection

April 14, 2008

The challenges facing our oceans in the 21st Century require that the primacy of the concept of "Freedom for the Seas" (Libertas Mari) be restored. The international community must act now on its commitments to protect the marine environment, so that future generations have the freedom to enjoy the benefits of this last remaining global commons sustainably and equitably. "Black Holes in Deep Oceans Space: Closing the legal voids in high seas biodiversity protection" addresses current gaps in international oceans governance.

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Challenging the Aquaculture Industry on Sustainability

March 07, 2008

Against a continuing background of diminishing and over–exploited marine resources, aquaculture has been widely held up as a panacea to the problem of providing a growing world population with ever-increasing amounts of fish for consumption. With the expansion of the industry, however, the tendency has been for methods of production to intensify, particularly in the production of carnivorous species. This has resulted in many serious impacts on the environment and human rights abuses. This report examines some of the serious environmental and social impacts that have resulted from the development and practice of aquaculture and which are reflected across the global industry.

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New Coral Data for Bering Sea Canyons

January 23, 2008

The Bering Sea is home to some of the largest submarine canyons in the world. These unique habitats are deep enough to provide refuges for species that have literally no place else to hide from industrial fishing operations, and are likely to be home for creatures that have yet to be seen with human eyes.

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Taking tuna out of the can

December 19, 2007

Tuna is one of the world’s favorite fish. It provides a critical part of the diet for millions of poor people, as well as being at the core of the world's luxury sashimi markets. But global tuna stocks are under threat. Many tuna species are now listed as either endangered or critically endangered. In fact, global tuna stocks are disappearing.

There is no end in sight to the global demand for tuna or to the pressure being brought to bear on developing countries of the Mediterranean (coastal States) to provide foreign fleets with access to their fisheries resources. While tuna access agreements are necessary and in some cases the only viable current option for some coastal States, it is unacceptable that these agreements lead to resource depletion, unfavorable terms and impoverishment for developing coastal States and a worsening situation for the poor in these countries.

This report offers strategies for how coastal States faced with unsustainable agreements might turn their situation around. It shows how coastal States could increase their revenues from access agreements by reducing and controlling access to their tuna. It provides recommendations and principles for what could become fair tuna fisheries agreements. These proposals are an attempt to translate the rhetoric of sustainable development into concrete steps that will maximize the chances of reversing the global decline of tuna stocks, place the tuna fishery on a longterm sustainable footing, and deliver a more equitable outcome to coastal nations through the provision of local economic opportunities within their communities.

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The Ecosystem Approach - protecting marine life in all its forms

May 15, 2007

The world’s oceans, once thought to contain inexhaustible resources, are under increasing threat. In recent years, scientific study after scientific study has pointed to the fact that human activities and fishing in particular have been putting extreme pressure on marine ecosystems to the point that profound ecosystem changes are being experienced in many parts of the world.

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Background on the Alaska Native Marine Cultural Heritage Zones

March 19, 2007

As we have done with our land based cultural and traditional hunting zones, to protect our traditional foods, so we must begin to protect our marine reserves for our customary and traditional needs. Demands for marine resources are at an all time high, even depleting the vast resources of the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Foreign owned and operated processing companies have been given ownership to many of our public resources, such as the crab of the Bering Sea.

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Trading Away Our Oceans

January 19, 2007

Instead of pursuing further liberalization, states should ensure existing international law is implemented fully and establish new rules to ensure sustainable and equitable management of the high seas. Furthermore, developing countries must be provided with the capacity and know-how to establish and enforce effective fisheries management regimes in their own waters.

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A Marine Reserve Network for the Gulf of California

November 17, 2006

Life abounds in the Gulf of California.This wonderful sea shelters some of the richest fisheries in the world,contains more than thirty species of marine mammals,and sustains the northernmost coral reefs in the American Continent. Immense coastal surges bring nutrients from the depths of the Gulf to the surface,and fertilize some of the richest oceanic waters in the world. The estuaries bring nutrients from land to sea,and join the ecological processes of ocean and land. In this study,Octavio Aburto Oropeza and Catalina Lopez Sagastegui present a detailed,comparative analysis of the different efforts carried out in the Gulf of California aiming to establish conservation priorities.With profound knowledge of the region,they discuss the alternatives set forth to establish a network of marine reserves in the Gulf of California,and with a broad,inclusive spirit, they search for consensus and solutions,finding accords, similarities in the focus points,and congruence in the different perspectives.

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Acid Mine Drainage: devastating to aquatic life

August 24, 2006

Acid streams resulting from mining activities from certain types of mineral deposits such as those at Rapu Rapu are highly toxic to the aquatic environment. The extreme acidity is toxic to most aquatic life and even after neutralization the precipitate formed continues to affect aquatic organisms. Toxic elements, such as copper, cadmium and zinc are often associated with acidic mine drainage, contributing substantially to the devastating ecological effects of acid mine drainage.

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