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Farmers step up for reef rescue effort

08 June 2010, ABC online (Australia)

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says the Federal Government's Reef Rescue program is going to plan, with more than 500,000 hectares of catchment land now operating under new guidelines.

The Federal Government assigned $200 million over five years for north Queensland farms to improve the quality of run-off into the Great Barrier Reef.

WWF spokesman Nick Heath says it will still take some time before the reef begins to feel the benefits.

"There'll be some immediate improvements in the sense of fertiliser and pesticide are easily washed off to the reef," he said.

"But in some other areas relating to erosion and mud pollution there are bigger lag effects so we may not see the improvement out on the reef for some years."

Mr Heath says the fund is impressed with the number of north Queensland farmers joining the effort.

He says many farmers are putting their own money into improving the quality of industrial run-off.

"It's incredible some of the individual stories and we really like to celebrate farmers who are often with their own money added in," Mr Heath said.

"There's a figure going around that for every dollar they're getting from the Commonwealth, they're putting two of their own dollars in."

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Read more Reef Rescue MMP results in Issue 39 Seagrass-Watch News: Click Here

No moratorium on dugong hunting

08 June 2010, Brisbane Times (Australia)

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett will not support a moratorium on killing dugongs, believing better policing and education will stop the gentle animals being hunted to extinction.

Mr Garrett was in Cairns today to commit $15 million to measure water quality improvements made through a federal program that supports farmers to cut the amount of nutrients that leave their farms and flow into the Great Barrier Reef.

Calls for a crackdown on illegal dugong netting in far north Queensland have been growing since the bodies of three of the endangered creatures were discovered near Cairns in April.

Only one could be saved.

Former federal Liberal MP Warren Entsch, who is contesting the next election, believes indigenous people have taken advantage of laws that allow them to hunt dugong and have set up a lucrative dugong meat industry.

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Traditional owners can hunt the animals using traditional means, but netting is banned.

Conservationist Bob Irwin, father of the late "crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin, is calling for a moratorium.

But Mr Garrett said it was unnecessary at this point.

Compliance officers and training programs to ensure dugongs were hunted in sustainable numbers would take time to have an effect, he said.

"I am confident that if we put those measures in place and see them through then it's an issue that can be properly addressed without a moratorium," Mr Garrett told reporters.

Traditional land owners would welcome the support, Mr Garrett said.

"We recognise that some indigenous people have specific rights, they are cultural rights, they are not commercial rights," he said.

"It is just a question of making sure that everybody understands what their rights and responsibilities are and make sure that they put them into practice."

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Where have all the Dugongs gone?

08 June 2010, PRLog.Org (Mozambique)

Projects Abroad starts a new marine mammal conservation volunteer project in Mozambique.

The Dugong has been hunted for thousands of years for the use of its meat and for oil. The Dugong as a species is vulnerable to extinction and is now referred to as one of the rarest mammals on earth.

Although the hunting of Dugongs is strictly prohibited the degradation of their feeding habitat and fishing related fatalities see their numbers continue to drop. The Dugong has a lifespan of over 70 years and with a slow rate of reproduction, it is especially vulnerable to a loss in numbers.

Projects Abroad’s new project is based in the town of Vilanculos on the south-eastern coast of Mozambique. This is one of the last remaining footholds of the Dugong. Volunteers will be working with the community to address problems of over fishing and dredging of the sea bed which destroys the seagrasses in shallow water which the Dugongs feed on.

Volunteers will be snorkelling to collect seagrass for re-plantation in designated protected breeding sites as well as transecting areas of the sea on overnight boat trips, mapping locations with GPS on fact finding projects. Volunteers will also be working on projects to address the problem of over fishing by creating artificial breeding sites as well as taking part in turtle, dolphin, whale shark and manta ray surveys.

This project is very exciting for the volunteers and very worthwhile.

’When we started with our African Plains Project based in Botswana we heard about the Dugong Project in Mozambique. I am excited to be able to send volunteers to Mozambique as this project has the potential for something really special’ Stuart Timson, Conservation specialist for Projects Abroad

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Yarrabah patrol uncovers dead dugongs in nets

07 June 2010, The Cairns Post (Australia)

THE death of two dugongs found in illegal nets has prompted calls for more rangers to be deployed to catch poachers

The incident near Yarrabah last Thursday comes less than two months after three dugongs were found dead in nets about 3.5 nautical miles off Cairns. The State and Federal governments are facing increasing pressure to scrap laws which allow traditional land owners to hunt dugongs and turtles using nets with a permit.

Aboriginal elders say the practice is an insult to traditional hunting heritage and that it fuels an illegal meat trade where dugong can fetch $150 a kilo. Commercial gains from hunting the animal breaches Commonwealth law. The incident has sparked fresh calls for more rangers with greater powers to be deployed in areas prone to poaching. Yarrabah Mayor Percy Neal said his council had rejected requests from dugong hunters to support the use of netting . "Our people need to hunt the traditional way using 14ft (4.2m)wooden boats with special spears, it’s fair game then," he said. "It’s not traditional hunting and it shouldn’t be tolerated … but we can’t do anything about it because people have permits from the State Government."

Federal Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said rangers should be given more power to prosecute poachers while the Government needed to regulate the practice. "Immediately, we need additional resources for indigenous rangers and more support for inspectors of the illegal dugong and turtle meat trade and their ability to prosecute," Mr Hunt said. "The slaughtering of dugongs is out of control because of poachers. There is an epidemic of poaching."

Animal activist Colin Riddell, who is heading a campaign to overturn hunting laws, said a moratorium on dugong killing had to be introduced so the numbers could be monitored. "No one knows how the dugong population has been affected by this," he said. "Most of these hunters don’t have permits, it’s just open slather."

A spokesman for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which is investigating the latest dugong deaths, confirmed the incident. "The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority found a set net as part of a patrol of the Yarrabah area which had two dead dugongs in it," he said.

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World Ocean Day: 8th June

2010 Theme - “Our oceans: opportunities and challenges”

The oceans are essential to food security and the health and survival of all life, power our climate and are a critical part of the biosphere. The official designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans.

In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly decided that, as from 2009, 8 June would be designated by the United Nations as “World Oceans Day” (resolution 63/111, paragraph 171). Many countries have celebrated World Oceans Day following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

World Ocean Day is an opportunity every year to honor the world's ocean, celebrate the products the ocean provides, such as seafood, as well as marine life itself for aquariums, pets, and also a time to appreciate its own intrinsic value. The ocean also provides sea-lanes for international trade. Global pollution and over-consumption of fish have resulted in drastically dwindling population of the majority of species.

World Ocean Day provides an opportunity to get directly involved in protecting our future, through a new mindset and personal and community action and involvement – beach cleanups, educational programs, art contests, film festivals, sustainable seafood events, and other planned activities help to raise consciousness of how our lives depend on the ocean.

More information: http://www.un.org/Depts/los/reference_files/worldoceansday.htm

Okinawan dugong swim against US tide

29 May 2010, FT.com (Japan)

Fat, gentle and rarely seen, ocean-dwelling dugong were once mistaken for mermaids or revered as storm-warning messengers from the gods.

Now, a handful of the endangered marine mammals are, at least in the eyes of the law, taking on the US defence department, in a case that has complicated the fraught effort to relocate a US military base on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

Dugong et al v Robert Gates , a lawsuit that has been playing out in a San Francisco court since 2003, gained fresh importance yesterday after Japan's government agreed to build a replacement for the Futenma marine air station in Henoko bay, a pristine dugong feeding ground.

The lawsuit, brought by a coalition of Japanese and American environmental groups, alleges the Pentagon violated the US National Historic Preservation Act by failing to consider the effect of the Henoko base on the dugong.

Yukio Hatoyama, Japan's left-leaning prime minister, had earlier opposed the relocation plan - agreed by a previous government - and promised to try to find another site off Okinawa.

His reversal under US pressure angered environmentalists, who are seeking to revive public concern over the dugong, revered in Okinawan culture.

The Save the Dugong Campaign Centre, a pressure group, yesterday submitted a 30,000-signature anti-base petition to the Japanese foreign and environment ministries. "We want to expand this issue from an environmental one to a form of political pressure," said Yoshiaki Ninagawa, director of the group.

As many as 50 of the grey-skinned, sumo-wrestler-sized creatures are thought to frequent the bay. Ironically, some naturalists thought Okinawa's dugong population extinct until military surveyors examining Henoko's suitability as a base in the 1990s spotted some.

The base's most controversial element is a proposal for two 1,800-metre runways. Environmentalists say these would destroy coral reefs and the seagrasses on which dugong feed, and have been unswayed by the idea that they could be made less damaging by building them on pilings, not landfill.

The NHPA requires US government agencies to apply the law's protections of registered cultural assets to projects carried out under their jurisdiction overseas as well as within the US. In Japan, the dugong - closely related to the manatee - are protected as "natural monuments".

So far the dugong have come out ahead in the case. In January 2008, the San Francisco court ruled that the defence department had not met the NHPA's standard for protecting foreign cultural assets and ordered it "to actively participate and co-ordinate with Japan" in assessing the planned base's environmental effect.

The Pentagon said it had been co-operating in Japan's own three-year environmental assessment, whose preliminary conclusions have been favourable to the base. But whether that will satisfy its NHPA obligations is a question the US court will likely have to decide, lawyers said.

Experts said the case was more likely to delay construction at Henoko than to scuttle it. "The law isn't intended to stop any project that affects a historic property. Most projects eventually go ahead after some kind of adjustment," said a US lawyer who has studied the dugong case.

Source and article: Click Here

Boat moorings make haloes in the seagrass

18 May 2010, UQ News (Australia)

An aerial view of a typical boat-mooring area in Moreton Bay reveals dozens of bare haloes, patches of sand surrounded by seagrass.

Associate Professor Greg Skilleter from UQ's Marine & Estuarine Ecology Unit in the School of Biological Sciences is leading the team that is doing the ecological assessments of the suitability of three mooring types — the Seagrass-Friendly Mooring System, the Ezy-Rider Mooring and the SeaFlex Mooring - for the conditions in Moreton Bay.

Boat anchors and chains are responsible for a significant proportion of lost seagrass habitat within the Moreton Bay Marine Park causing haloes which might be up to 1000 m2 in area where the vegetation has been stripped away.

“Moorings within Moreton Bay Marine Park range from purpose-built concrete blocks to old and rusting engine blocks and rail sleepers,” Associate Professor Skilleter said.

“The blocks do not cause the loss of the seagrass, it is the heavy anchor chain linking the block to the boat on the surface. As the boat swings in the breezes, the chain drags across the seafloor and pull the seagrass out.

“There are alternatives to these typical boat moorings that are more environmentally friendly and available on the market."

The Marine & Estuarine Ecology Unit is trialling these new mooring types in the Marine Park and success will be based on how well they reduce damage to the seagrass and the communities of animals that live in this habitat.

The moorings are being trialled over two years in four different areas of the Moreton Bay Marine Park, Tangalooma Island Resort on Moreton Island, One Mile on North Stradbroke Island, Point Halloran near Victoria Point and Dalpura Bay on Macleay Island.

“The waters in these boat mooring areas are murky and the divers are often working in near zero visibility, so a team of two works in close coordination with each other and with their boat-based lookout," Dr Skilleter said.

The work is tiring, moving dozens of heavy samples through the water while trying hard to not disturb the fine mud in which the seagrass is growing.

The focus of the Marine & Estuarine Ecology Unit is to understand how human activities modify coastal habitats and how this impacts on marine biodiversity.

Their approach is to take concepts and theory from fundamental ecology and use them to address significant environmental problems in collaboration with industry and government agency partners.

The study is a partnership with Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, the Department of Environment and Resource Management, SEQ Catchments, Maritime Safety Queensland, Seagrass-Watch and the Federal Government's Caring for our Country Community Coastcare grants scheme.

Source and article: Click Here

Dead dugong not netted by fishermen

30 April 2010, North Qld Register (Austraila)

THREE dugong found dead in a net near Cairns were not caught by professional fishermen according to the Queensland Seafood Industry Association QSIA). Industry spokesman Michael Gardner said he wanted to make it very clear that the net with two dugongs trapped had nothing whatsoever to do with com-mercial fishermen.

The net was spotted and picked up by the Navy's landing vessel, HMAS Labuan, while on its way from Cairns Harbour to Cooktown to take part in the ANZAC Day service.

"I think most people in the Cairns region probably realise what's going on with the deliberate killing of dugong but, whenever an incident like this involves a net, commercial fishermen can still suffer some collateral damage," he said. "I want to make sure the reputation of local commercial fishermen is not harmed by the deaths of these dugong. This was not done by commercial fishermen."

LNP environment spokesman Glen Elmes called on the State Government to produce the net saying that the State Environment Minister, Kate Jones has made a habit of brushing aside widespread community concern and anger over dugong killings.

"The net picked up by the Navy appears to be black cotton of the type used in the illegal trade of dugong meat. That net needs to be produced and examined by local experts who will be able to tell who made it and where it came from," Mr Elmes said. He said it appeared the commercial fishing industry was being blamed unfairly - especially as the net had not been properly identified.

Mr Gardner, president of the QSIA, called on authorities to take action on the deliberate netting of dugong. He said local fishermen had confirmed the net involved was not a type used by commercial fishermen. "Apparently, this is a net made to catch and kill dugong. There is no excuse for this type of killing of dugong. This wasteful, untargeted killing makes a mockery of State and Federal Government attempts to protect the species. "It is also an insult to commercial fishermen who have been banned from working in a number of productive fishing grounds, had nets restricted and accepted a range of onerous fishing rules to reduce the risk of accidentally catching even a single dugong in a net anywhere in the State."

Source and article: Click Here

Call to protect dugongs

29 April 2010, The Cairns Post (Australia)

COMPLAINTS about illegal fishing nets are falling on deaf ears, with Cairns Regional Council demanding the State Government do more to protect dugongs and turtles.

Councillors yesterday called for a tougher stand against illegal hunters and poachers as Queensland Fisheries revealed only 2 per cent of complaints it received over the past two years about illegal netting across the state resulted in illegal unattended nets being retrieved and destroyed. Most nets were retrieved from Cairns.

Conservationists, traditional owners and the fishing industry agree not enough is being done to prevent dugongs and turtles from being killed in Far North Queensland’s waters.

Three dugongs were killed after they were trapped in a net off Cairns last Friday. A fourth dugong trapped in the net and still alive was released back into the water.

The black net appeared to be a fishing net which, given the tide and wind, was presumed to have drifted from the Cairns harbour.

Queensland Fisheries has received 646 complaints about illegal fishing nets since 2008, all relating to size, areas of use and nets not being attended. During this time, the department has retrieved and destroyed 15 illegal unattended nets, nine of which were found in Cairns. A Fisheries spokeswoman said not all complaints could be substantiated, as there was not enough detail for each matter to be investigated.

The council passed a motion yesterday that it would write to the State Government requesting more vigorous enforcement of the existing laws in relation to fishing nets, illegal hunters and poachers of dugongs and turtles. Cr Dr Forsyth said it did not appear enough was being done to prevent the needless deaths.

WWF Australia policy manager Cliff Cobbo said increased capacity was needed in areas such as Cairns to conserve threatened marine species and police activities such as the
illegal harvest of turtles and dugongs.

Traditional owners have the right to hunt dugong through traditional means but netting is banned.

Leichhardt LNP candidate Warren Entsch, who had seized a net used for the illegal capture of dugongs, said there was too much confusion about which authority was responsible for patrolling illegal netting. "It’s not under the same realm as regulation of recreational fishers," Mr Entsch said.

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Dugongs die in abandoned fishing net

24 April 2010, The Cairns Post (Australia)

A Cairns navy vessel delayed its journey to Cooktown to participate in an Anzac Day service after crew spotted four dugongs trapped in a net off Cairns yesterday.

Three of the dugongs pulled from the water were dead, while a fourth was still alive and released back into the water by navy crew. A shovel nosed shark also trapped in the net was freed as well.

Conservationists have applauded the crew’s actions but branded the killings a dark day for Far North Queensland’s wildlife.

Two of the dead dugongs were about 2m long while the largest to have died measured 3m, indicating it was a mature adult capable of breeding.

The landing vessel HMAS Labuan had just left port bound for Cooktown when the trapped animals were spotted by crew about 3.5 nautical miles offshore around 3pm. Lt Steven Noakes said rough weather had created difficult conditions for the rescue. While one of the dugongs was able to be saved, Lt Noakes said some of his crew were greatly upset by the kills. "They’re a great bunch of guys and I think there will be some guys on board who will feel a bit disappointed to see what we’ve got here today," he said. "It’s obviously very upsetting."

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers met the vessel at port and hoisted the three dead dugongs on to the back of a truck to be taken away for an autopsy.

The net appeared to be a fishing net which, given the tide and wind, was presumed to have drifted out from the Cairns harbour.

Department of Environment and Resource Management regional marine manager Richard Quincey said the department would work with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Royal Australian Navy and Fisheries to investigate the incident further.

Cairns and Far North Environment Centre co-ordinator Steve Ryan described the incident as a disaster.

Source and article: Click Here

Protecting Verde Islands’ biodiversity

14 April 2010, by Madonna Virola, Philippine Daily Inquirer (Philippines)

The municipal councils of Looc and Lubang in Occidental Mindoro have approved a joint ordinance establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) in 10 sites of 14,485 hectares around their islands. The ordinance makes the area the largest marine protected system in the entire Verde Island Passage Marine Biodiversity Corridor (VIPMBC), according to Rina Bernabe, communications coordinator of the Sulawesi Seascape Project of the Conservation International (CI) Philippines.

“The establishment of these marine protected areas represents a huge investment for the future of the millions of people and the coastal communities depending on the rich marine resources of the Verde Island Passage,” said Romeo Trono, CI country executive director. “We are proud to have been part of this bold step taken by the people of Looc and Lubang,” he added.

Experts have recognized the corridor as the “center of the center” of marine shorefish biodiversity in the world. It is composed of the stretch of water surrounded by the provinces of Batangas, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Romblon and Marinduque. The enactment of the ordinance on March 24 was announced to residents and guests during the launching of the Philippine First Climate-Smart Marine Protected Area in the coastal village of Binacas in Lubang on April 7. Present were Dr. Angel Alcala of CI, scientists, local officials and villagers.

Studies undertaken by the CI showed that the Looc-Lubang area is one of the areas with the greatest marine conservation potentials. Reefs and shallows around the islands were found to have very high concentrations of fish larvae and eggs. This meant that protecting the areas is important in maintaining biodiversity and sustaining the fishery resources of the entire corridor. The Looc-Lubang area also boasts of at least three turtle species, seven species of whales and dolphins, eight seagrass species, and a rich variety of commercially important fish species. It hosts the corridor’s largest no-take zone (NTZ) at 1,150 ha, where all forms of extraction are banned. The remaining 13,335 ha are designated as fishery reserves, where only certain fishing methods and gears are allowed.

The MPAs are to be jointly managed by Looc and Lubang towns. “After this establishment, their main concern is the enforcement of policies within and around the MPAs,” said Louella de Lara, the municipal planning and development coordinator of Looc. Her counterpart in Lubang, Ray Morales, said “the continued support and understanding of the locals and outside entities, especially on the technical aspect of the management of the MPAs, are likewise critical.” The MPAs are expected to enhance the islands’ tourism potential, since the NTZ is located in front of a stretch of excellent beaches and coral reefs.

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Seagrass-Watch HQ is currently wokring in partnership with Conservation International, the Marine Science Institute – University of the Philippines, and the municipalities of the Verde Island Passage to increase awareness of seagrass and the services they provide and to ensure a sustainable management of seagrass resources.