Chief

Author: Michael Casey Source: Seattle Times/AP October 20, 2012 "DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Armed with a clipboard and wearing bright yellow waders, Rima Jabado looked the part of a government inspector at the Dubai fish market as workers sawed the fins off hundreds of dead sharks from Oman and bagged them for export to Asian restaurants. read more More...

Author: Imelda Abano Source: SciDevNet October 19, 2012 "[MANILA] Scientists have stumbled* upon an "effective" way to halt the advance of destructive crown-of-thorns starfish, which feed upon coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region, causing them severe damage and death. read more More...

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Author: Amy Marshall Source: The Morning Bulletin October 17, 2012 "A CAPRICORN Coast environmental group says the Fitzroy Coal Terminal's "new milestone" hides even worse outcomes for the Great Barrier Reef than previously thought. *The Keppel and Fitzroy Delta Alliance says it holds grave concerns for endangered species such as the Snubfin dolphin and is demanding the project's developers answer some key questions. read more More...

Author: Derek Baldwin Source: Gulfnews.com October 12, 2012 "Dubai: Mohammad Tabish, fisheries specialist with the Ministry of Water and Environment, says as top predator, sharks must be protected through stringent regulations placed upon the commercial fishing industry in the UAE. read more More...

Author: Isabella Cota Source: Huffington Post October 10, 2012 "MANUEL ANTONIO, Costa Rica, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Costa Rica on Wednesday passed a blanket ban on shark finning, in which the fins are sliced off sharks, often while they are alive, before the fish are thrown back into the ocean to die. President Laura Chinchilla signed an executive order banning shark finning in the Central American nation's coastal waters, closing loopholes in an existing law passed in 2001. read more More...

Author: Natalie Heng Source: The Star Online October 9, 2012 "GUY RAYMENT, 47, had overheard lamentations about shark data deficiency many times before. One day, just as divers do, he was complaining about the severe decline in shark populations around the world when his friend said: “Why don’t you stop complaining and do something about it?” He thought she had a good point, and that was how the Asian Shark Conservation group was born. read more More...

Author: Tarina White Source: Cairns.com.au October 8, 2012 "GORDONVALE cane grower John Ferrando is among a record number of farmers in the Far North who are investing in environmentally friendly practices to improve soil quality and reduce chemical runoff to the Great Barrier Reef. The Commonwealth has doled out almost $5 million this year to farmers in the Wet Tropics through its Reef Rescue Water Quality Incentive Grants scheme. read more More...

Source: Herald Online October 6, 2012 read more More...

Author: Martin Parry Source: AFP via Google October 8, 2012 "SYDNEY — An Australian research team said Monday they have found an effective way to kill the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish, which is devastating coral reefs across the Pacific and Indian oceans. The discovery by James Cook University's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Queensland state comes after a study showed the Great Barrier Reef had lost more than half its coral cover in the past 27 years. read more More...

Author: Freya Roberts Source: The Carbon Brief October 5, 2012 "Scientists widely agree on the fundamental mechanisms by which climate change will affect the world's corals. Rising sea surface temperatures and increasingly acidic oceans make it difficult for corals to grow and survive. But how well corals are able to adapt under these conditions is something that divides scientific opinion. read more More...

Source: Sydney Morning Herald October 4, 2012 "The Queensland government says the Great Barrier Reef would be protected from the environmental consequences of a planned bauxite mine. Resources firm Cape Alumina Limited has resumed planning for a bauxite mine on a wildlife preserve at Cape York. The revival of the plans comes only a day after a study by the Australian Institute for Marine Science found that coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef had halved since the mid-1980s." read more More...

Author: Katharine Gammon Source: CBS News October 2, 2012 "Australia's Great Barrier Reef is a glittering gem -- the world's largest coral reef ecosystem -- chock-full of diverse marine life. But new research shows it is also in steep decline, with half of the reef vanishing in the past 27 years. * read more More...

Author: Eric Scigliano** * Source: OnEarth Blog September 30, 2012 read more More...

Source: Phys.org September 24, 2012 "Satellite measurement of sea surface temperatures has yielded clear evidence of major changes taking place in the waters of Australia's Great Barrier Reef over the past 25 years, marine scientists have found. read more More...

Author: Ariel Barkhurst Source: Sun-Sentinel September 23, 2012 "DANIA BEACH—In a $50 million five-story brick and glass building in John U. Lloyd Beach State Park, researchers are taking the biomass of crustaceans to help study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, cultivating asexual staghorn coral and sequencing the genomes of sponges. read more More...

Author: Jayashree Nandi Source: The Economic Times September 21, 2012 "While the coal fiasco is still at the helm in India, environmental groups are now warning Australia of the massive pollution that some of its future projects will create. A Greenpeace report has estimated the total amount of carbon emissions from the Australian coal mines proposed for a new mining region will be around 700 million metric tones per annum (mtpa). read more More...

Source: Zeenews.com September 21, 2012 "Washington: Overfishing and nitrate pollution can destroy coral reefs by allowing an overgrowth of algae that can choke off oxygen and disrupt helpful bacteria. These "macroalgae," or large algal species, can get out of control when sewage increases nitrate levels, feeds the algae, and some of the large fish that are most effective at reducing the algal buildup are removed by fishing. read more More...

Source: Phys.org September 19, 2012 "Researchers at Oregon State University for the first time have confirmed some of the mechanisms by which overfishing and nitrate pollution can help destroy coral reefs – it appears they allow an overgrowth of algae that can bring with it unwanted pathogens, choke off oxygen and disrupt helpful bacteria. read more More...

Author: Megan Gannon Source: Yahoo News/LiveScience.com September 20, 2012 "The coral diversity in the West Indian Ocean, especially around Madagascar, is greater than previously believed and it may even rival parts of the Great Barrier Reef, new research shows. The study, published Sept. 19 in the journal PLoS ONE, is based on surveys of reef-building corals conducted from 2002 to 2011 by scientists with the Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO). read more More...

Author: Oliver Milman Source: The Guardian September 18, 2012 read more More...

Author: Alvah Simon Source: Boating New Zealand September 14, 2012 "I can't stand it anymore. I have to come clean. I am a mass murderer. There, I said it! I didn't mean it. I was young - in the wrong place at the wrong time. But none of that mattered to my thousands of innocent victims, destroyed, dead, gone forever. read more More...

Source: Sciencenetwork WA September 14, 2012 "Research by the Australian Institute of Marine Science has discovered that proposed dredging works along the WA coast could severely impact certain coral species found in local waters. * Scientists from the Institute along with the Australian Research Centre of Excellence conducted laboratory tests to develop lethal and sub-lethal benchmarks for coral exposed to dredging-generated sediments related to offshore developments. read more More...

Author: Larry Pynn Source: The Vancouver Sun September 13, 2012 "The tide of shark conservation is continuing to wash over Metro Vancouver - one municipality at a time. The City of Vancouver will become the latest jurisdiction to weigh in on the growing international issue when it debates a motion Tuesday related to a ban on the sale of shark fins. read more More...

Source: Science Network Western Australia September 13, 2012 "RESEARCH by the Australian Institute of Marine Science has discovered that proposed dredging works along the WA coast could severely impact certain coral species found in local waters. * Scientists from the Institute along with the Australian Research Centre of Excellence conducted laboratory tests to develop lethal and sub-lethal benchmarks for coral exposed to dredging-generated sediments related to offshore developments. read more More...