Your Chance to Submit Photos
Will Be Gone in a Flash

Contribute to the Ocean in Focus Conservation Photography Contest
       
                         
SeaWeb's Marine Photobank and Project AWARE Foundation 
encourage you to submit your compelling ocean photos to the
Ocean in Focus Conservation Photography Contest.
 
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Submit your photos that engage viewers
in pressing marine issues and solutions
that address the rapid decline of our ocean's health.
 
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Submissions must be received by August 27th, 2009.
 
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Grand prize package includes:
    · Seven nights ocean-view accommodations at MATAVA, a premier eco-adventure resort in Fiji. Package includes five days, two-tank diving for two and six days unlimited shore diving for two as well as round-trip airport transfers.
    · A DVD copy of A Sea Change.
    · 16 tons of Carbon Offsets through NativeEnergy for your home and car for one year, plus carbon offsets for one round-trip air flight.
 
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Project Aware  |   Marine Photobank  |  SeaWeb  |   PADI

Photos: Left: Laysan Albatross, Midway Atoll, HI. Jennifer O'Leary. 
Right: Laysan Albatross Chick, Kure Atoll, HI. Claire Fackler, NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries

What its all about

It's as simple as a flick of the switch.

What began as a campaign to get Sydneysiders to turn their lights off, has grown to become one of the world's biggest climate change initiatives. In 2009, at 8.30pm on March 28, people around the world will turn their lights off for one hour - Earth Hour. We're aiming to reach one billion people, more than 1000 cities, all joining together in a global effort to show that its possible to take action on global warming.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia with 2.2 million homes and businesses turning their lights off for one hour. Only a year later and this event had become a global sustainability movement with up to 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Colosseum and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

Earth Hour 2009 is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to take responsibility and to get involved in working towards a sustainable future. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to The Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world will turn off their lights and join together in creating the vital conversation about the future of our precious planet.

Over 64 countries and territories are participating in Earth Hour 2009. This number grows every day as people realise how such a simple act, can have such a profound result in affecting change.

Earth Hour is a message of hope and a message of action. Everyone can make a difference.

Join us for Earth Hour 2009, turn off your lights at 8.30pm Saturday 28 March and sign-up here to be counted.

February came and it was time again for the Marine Ecology team to head out to Waitabu village for their annual biological monitoring of the Waitabu Marine Park.

This year's survey was both fun and quite successful. Despite the slightly few wet days at the beginning of the week, spirits remained alive through the week and we completed all surveys as per schedule.

Helen and I were joined by Rosemary Dautei from Reef Safari's, Rachel Dacks, Nic Turrentine, Natalie Parker, John Leonard, Leslie Currie and Grace Yeung (posted in the village) of Peace Corps Fiji. To be part of the week long activities was an experience for them and an opportunity for us to exchange ideas and share experiences. 

The village team of 11 volunteers were disciplined; excellent surveyors who definitely knew their stuff. Together we made a really dynamic team out of the Peace Corps, village surveyors and me, most of the time making sure we were doing it right. All this went on while Helen counted fish and saw to other matters of importance to the camp ground, village and home-stays.

2009 Waitabu Survey team
Back Row: Joe Saro (Boat captain), Grace Yeung (PC), Rose (RS), Tiko, Leslie (PC), John (PC), Natalie (PC), Nic (PC), Rachel (PC), Paulo.
Middle Row: Kelepi, Chin (MEC), Eta (Park Manager), Paulo W. Front Row: Lari & Okostino
(Note: PC = Peace Corps, RS = Reef Safaris, ME = Marine Ecology Consulting)

Sunday 01 - Feb 2009

My week began with the village children the Sunday afternoon I arrived in Waitabu. Thirty seven kids took part in a three hour marine education and conservation program. Children from as young as 3 to 15 years participated in the introductory marine education lesson, drawing and coloring in of the poster "Sasalu ni Waitabu" which translates into Waitabu's reef resources. Positive responses were received from the children and at the end of the program they were all shouting "na lase e manumanu" meaning coral is an animal. Even if these kids got in only as much is satisfactory for me as many young and adults in Fiji are still unaware of this fact.

Community children participating in marine education activity

Waitabu Kids
Child busy drawing reef resourced.
Dad Pita with 3yr old Sala busy coloring.

Monday 02 - Saturday 07 Feb 2009

The mornings began with a complete breakfast (most of the time) of fruits either Avocado pears (brought by Rose) papayas or banana's (from the farm), Helen's Mainland Vintage cheese, FMF breakfast crackers with either drau-ni-moli or Punjas tea. (Recommended field breakfast for reef surveyors in Fiji)

The biological surveys began on a wet Monday morning with the Manta Tow in the Marine Park.

Being dragged behind a boat is certainly a lot of fun but not when it's raining and the water cold.

We rounded up for the day completing the "Cawaki" (edible sea urchins) survey in the Marine Park and the fishing grounds.


Manta Tow in Marine Protected Area 
A refresher Reef Check training was conducted on Tuesday morning before we went out for the Giant Clam (Vasua) survey in the Marine Park and Trochus (Vivili) survey in the Marine Park and the fishing grounds.

Practice Reef Check surveys were first carried out in the Rara (village green) and then in the fishing grounds on Wednesday morning to make sure everyone understood and knew what they were recording.

Reef Check surveys were conducted in the fishing ground flats and at the reef edge after lunch on Wednesday.

We had what we call perfect Waitabu morning when we woke up on Thursday. I had the opportunity to see the rising sun lying inside my tent (luxury!!!). The mountains behind the village glowed orange as the sun came up and the lingering smell of burning wood from the open fire kitchens in the village will be etched in my memory for years.  Waitabu village on a bright Thursday morning. 

The 6 Peace Corps volunteers, Rose and I started off with the Socio-economic survey in the morning covering at least 20 households to gather basic data such as dependence on resources, livelihood options and attitudes toward the Marine Park . This will be analyzed for inclusion hopefully into the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas database. 

We finished Reef Check surveys in the Marine Park flats and edge later on Thursday afternoon and then everyone had a relaxing swim in the "tabu" area marveling at the unique color of corals and the abundance of fish.
Reef life in Marine Park

Through out the week we were well fed and looked after by Apisai's family (Assitant Marine Park Manager). There were generous servings of Waci-poki (made out of taro leaves), pumpkin leaves in lolo (coconut milk), bele leaves in lolo, lobster, fish and the usual tinned fish and Maggi noodles at times.

 Meal time L - R: Elia, Grace, Helen and Eta, enjoying a meal of waci-poki

We had been doing data write-up and drawing posters and graphs everyday at the end of surveys and so didn't have much to finish up on Friday morning as we prepared for the community presentations later that afternoon.

Survey team working on results and graphs 
The village survey team impressed me by agreeing to present the results of our week long survey to their community. Good on you boys!!! This certainly generated a lot of dialogue within the community members and we saw the benefit of having the village team presenting the results from their resources to their people.

Community members and volunteers sharing survey results with community members.


Stino Apao explaining "Cawaki" results as community members look on


Rose Dautei of Reef Safaris explaining benthic habitat map.

This was certainly a rewarding and memorable experience for me as the team proved that they could do this themselves when given the opportunity.

The 2009 Biological Survey Team

I flew back home on Saturday morning with pleasant memories of the 2009 surveys in Waitabu. It couldn't have been any better.

Chinnamma Reddy
Marine Scientist
Marine Ecology Consulting

 

Waitabu 2009 Annual Biological & Socio-economic Survey 1st - 6th February 2009

The next time you're in a restaurant and see marlin on the menu, "just say no." That's the message of a new, nationwide campaign called "Take Marlin Off the Menu," which is urging consumers to stop eating marlin, and restaurants to take marlin and other billfish such as sailfish and spearfish off their menus.

Three major marine conservation groups, the International Game Fish Association, the National Coalition for Marine Conservation and the Billfish Foundation have teamed up to draw awareness to the plight of marlin, which are being decimated by commercial overfishing worldwide due in part to continued consumer demand for marlin in U.S. restaurants and at seafood retailers.  

Marlin are distinguished by a long bill, an extension of the upper jaw and nasal bone; brilliant colors when "lit up;" and sleek body shapes that allow them to swim at extraordinary speeds. They are highly migratory in nature and can travel great distances, such as crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Like lions, polar bears and eagles, marlin and other billfish are an important, top-of-the-food-chain predator species that help to keep marine ecosystems in balance.

In addition to being endangered, the three marine conservation groups also want to alert consumers and restaurant chefs about the potential health risks of eating marlin meat, which contain higher than normal levels of mercury.

"We want to take a bite out of the commercial fishing of marlin and other billfish by persuading consumers and restaurant chefs that it's simply uncool to eat marlin," says Jason Schratwieser, director of conservation for the IGFA, an international recreational fishing organization founded in 1939 that is best known for maintaining freshwater and saltwater sport-fishing records worldwide.

Billfish populations have plunged over the past several decades as a direct result of commercial tuna and swordfish fleets that catch marlin by accident, according to Ellen Peel, president of The Billfish Foundation, a Ft. Lauderdale-based non-profit exclusively dedicated to protecting billfish. Commercial fishing accounts for more than 90 percent of annual marlin mortality.  Many recreational fishermen now practice catch and release of marlin and other billfish, a conservation effort spreading throughout North America.

The "Take Marlin Off the Menu" campaign is taking aim at U.S. restaurants and grocery stores primarily because the U.S. is the world's largest importer of billfish. That's despite laws that currently make it illegal to commercially harvest marlin, sailfish and spearfish from the Atlantic Ocean.  

To add some more bite to the campaign, the "Take Marlin Off the Menu" campaign will promote restaurants and seafood retailers that go "marlin free" by listing those businesses on the campaign's Web site, http://www.takemarlinoffthemenu.org. The campaign invites restaurants and seafood retailers to take a "marlin free" pledge in exchange for having the campaign promote those businesses to hundreds of thousands of concerned consumers and recreational anglers throughout the U.S.

The campaign also urges restaurants and seafood retailers to consider carrying more sustainable species such as mahi mahi, halibut, wild (not farmed) salmon, trout, some types of tuna (albacore and skipjack), and some types of snapper (gray, lane, yellowtail).

"There has never been more urgency than now," says Ken Hinman, president of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation, a Leesburg, Va.-based group comprised of conservation-minded fishermen. "If we don't stop the widespread consumption of billfish, these magnificent ocean predators will disappear from our seas. It's simply that critical."

To learn more about the Take Marlin Off the Menu campaign, visit www.takemarlinoffthemenu.org Tags: fiji conservation billfish marlin  Internet petitions to protect sharks Edit  Delete February 10, 2009 0 comments Fiji Shark Conservation and Awareness Project

These are the internet petitions to protect sharks and demand a ban on shark finning that I am aware of. Sign as many of them as you can!

 

If you know of any others please let me know!

 

Petition to ask New York restaurants to stop serving shark fin soup. This has been set up by New Yorkers Against Shark Finning - www.nyasf.org. "We, and many other environmentally conscious New Yorkers, feel strongly that serving Shark Fin Soup in US restaurants, where the practice of shark finning is banned, is a moral contradiction to our shared goal of protecting the environment. We therefore urge that restaurants start taking an ethical stand and accept full responsibility for what they are serving to customers by eliminating this one dish from their menu."

 

Petition organised by the Galapagos Conservation Trust against shark finning. Petition to the UK and EU to implement a total ban on shark finning. We, the undersigned, urge the UK Government and EU to implement a shark management plan and ban shark finning, and urge the United Nations to support a worldwide shark finning ban and demand that all nations implement the UN FAO International Plan of Action for Sharks.

 

Alibaba.com is collusive and partner to the criminal and wasteful practice of shark finning. Sign this petition to tell Alibaba to stop the distribution of shark fins.

 

The Shark Trust has an on-line petition to the European Commission ask for a European plan of action for sharks and rays.

 

Sign Wild Aid's petition to encourage Ban Ki-Moon and the UN General Assembly to take action immediately to protect the shark populations across the globe and stop shark finning.

The Sharklife Conservation Group, which is based in South Africa, currently has three ongoing campaigns. The first is to pressure the South African government to protect the Zambezi shark. Catch data show a reduction in the size and number of Zambezi sharks caught in nets along the coastline, indicating a likely reduction in the population. The second is to urge South Africa to take a sustainable approach to fishing and to stop longline fishing which has an adverse impact on shark populations, particularly the blue shark and short fin mako. The third is to tell Alibaba to stop promoting the shark fin trade.

 

Petition to the President of the People's Republic of China to tell the government to ban the catching, import and sale of sharks and all shark related products.