U.S. action on Bigeye Tuna Criticized

Via Environmental Science and Technology
U.S. increases catches of bigeye tuna

The U.S. is coming under harsh criticism from Pacific island nations and conservationists for ramping up its catch of bigeye tuna at a time when scientists are calling for an immediate 30% reduction. By invoking a treaty it signed with 16 Pacific island nations, the U.S. has declared itself immune from a reduction in catch that fisheries scientists say is long overdue. In contrast, other nations are preparing for 10% per year cutbacks starting in January 2010.

“Is the Obama government deliberately acting in an anticonservation role, or is it misguided by its advisors?” wonders Sylvester Pokajam, director of fisheries in Papua New Guinea, the country that pushed hardest for conservation measures. U.S. officials declined to discuss the official position on the record.

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Crabs go deep to avoid hot water

Via the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK:

Researchers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, have drawn together 200 years’ worth of oceanographic knowledge to investigate the distribution of a notorious deep-sea giant – the king crab. The results, published this week in the Journal of Biogeography, reveal temperature as a driving force behind the speciation and radiation of a major seafloor predator; globally, and over tens of millions of years of Earth’s history.

In deep seas all over the world, around 100 species of king crabs live largely undiscovered. The fraction that we have found includes some weird and wonderful examples - Paralomis seagrantii has its eight walking legs and claws entirely covered in long fur-like setae; while related group Lithodes megacanthus grows to lengths of 1.5 metres, and has 15-20-cm long defensive spines covering its body. At temperatures of around 1- 4ºC, these crabs thrive in some of the colder waters on Earth; living and growing very slowly, probably to very old ages. Only in the cooler water towards the poles are king crabs found near the water surface – though temperatures found around some parts of the Antarctic (below 1ºC) are too extreme for their survival.

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Surviving mass extinction by bridging the benthic/planktic divide

Via PNAS Early Edition:
Kate F. Darling, et. al. provide evidence for a tychopelagic existence for the planktic foraminifera Streptochilus globigerus citing its relation to the benthic Bolivina variabilis. The evolution from a benthic to planktic existence was generally viewed as a one-time event per clade. This finding shows the possibility that the tychopelagic foraminifera have the capability to quickly recolonize the planktic domain after extinction events.

Evolution of planktic organisms from benthic ancestors is commonly thought to represent unidirectional expansion into new ecological domains, possibly only once per clade. For foraminifera, this evolutionary expansion occurred in the Early–Middle Jurassic, and all living and extinct planktic foraminifera have been placed within 1 clade, the Suborder Globigerinina. The subsequent radiation of planktic foraminifera in the Jurassic and Cretaceous resulted in highly diverse assemblages, which suffered mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, leaving an impoverished assemblage dominated by microperforate triserial and biserial forms. The few survivor species radiated to form diverse assemblages once again in the Cenozoic. There have, however, long been doubts regarding the monophyletic origin of planktic foraminifera.

We present surprising but conclusive genetic evidence that the Recent biserial planktic Streptochilus globigerus belongs to the same biological species as the benthic Bolivina variabilis, and geochemical evidence that this ecologically flexible species actively grows within the open-ocean surface waters, thus occupying both planktic and benthic domains. Such a lifestyle (tychopelagic) had not been recognized as adapted by foraminifera. Tychopelagic are endowed with great ecological advantage, enabling rapid recolonization of the extinction-susceptible pelagic domain from the benthos. We argue that the existence of such forms must be considered in resolving foraminiferal phylogeny.

Published online before print July 2, 2009, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0902827106

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NPDES GP issued for Washington Aquaculture

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access:
Issuance of a Final NPDES General Permit (GP) for Federal Aquaculture Facilities and Aquaculture Facilities Located in Indian Country Within the Boundaries of the State of Washington (Permit Number WAG-13-0000)

On November 12, 2008, the Director, Office of Water and Watersheds, EPA Region 10, proposed to issue a general permit to cover federal aquaculture facilities and aquaculture facilities in Indian Country in the State of Washington that meet minimum size thresholds of 20,000 pounds annual production and 5,000 pounds of feed used in the maximum month of feeding.

During the 47-day comment period, EPA received comments from six people representing four organizations and has prepared a Response to Comments document to explain changes made in the permit and reasons for not making changes that were requested. EPA received certification for the permit under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act from the Lummi Nation, the Makah Tribe, the Spokane Tribe, the Tulalip Tribes, and the Washington Department of Ecology.

DATES: The permit will become effective August 1, 2009 and will expire July 31, 2014. The permit issuance date is July 15, 2009.

Read the entire announcment at the Federal Register.
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New NOAA Publications

Two new NOAA publications are available:

NOAA Fisheries announces the release of Our Living Oceans: Habitat , Policymakers' Summary. This document summarizes key issues affecting the habitats of NOAA Fisheries' trust resources, habitat status and trends, and associated research needs. The full volume of Our Living Oceans: Habitat will be released soon. To obtain a hard copy of the Policymakers' Summary, please contact Mark.Chandler@noaa.gov.
Our living oceans: Habitat. Status of the habitat of U.S. living marine resources. Policymakers’ summary, 1st edition, 32 p. [PDF 5.8MB]

NOAA Fisheries has released its Biennial Report to Congress on the Recovery Program for Threatened and Endangered Species. This report addresses the conservation, management, and research activities conducted for the benefit of domestic endangered and threatened species, covering the time period October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2008. It includes accounts of each species, its status, current threats, conservation actions undertaken during this time frame, and priority actions needed. The report notes that 37% of listed species under NOAA jurisdiction are stable or increasing, 29% are known to be declining, and 34% are unknown or mixed in their status. For more information, contact Larissa.Plants@noaa.gov.
Biennial Report to Congress on the Recovery Program for Threatened and Endangered Species., 184 p,[PDF] 3.3MB

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Long Island Sound Dolphins

NYC is buzzing over the recent arrival of Bottlenose dolphins in the Long Island Sound:

From LoHud.com:

NEW ROCHELLE - Hundreds of dolphins have been swimming together in Long Island Sound, leaving witnesses in awe of the unusual occurrence.

"It was the most incredible sight I've ever witnessed on Long Island Sound," said John Knight, owner of Hudson Park Bait and Tackle near the city's marina. "You had to see this. I'm still speechless."

Knight was on a boat Saturday morning on the Sound when he saw hundreds of dolphins in the area for hours. He said the experience made him feel like legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.

From Newsday:

It appears the dolphins sighted last week on the North Shore have no plans to leave just yet.

But the group of about 150 to 200 dolphins first spotted Wednesday in Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington and Northport has now split into two groups. One group headed for City Island in the Bronx while the others were seen in the Long Island Sound near Bayville.

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Researchers Survey Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Via AAAS EurekAlert! the NEFSC Announces:
Researchers Survey Mid-Atlantic Ridge Looking For New Forms of Marine Life, Clues to Deep-Sea Communities

An international team of researchers is surveying the Mid-Atlantic Ridge halfway between Iceland and the Azores to determine its biodiversity and perhaps discover new species and clues to deep-sea food webs. The project is part of a 16-nation effort to determine if the underwater mountain chain in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean has its own distinct animal communities.

Led by NOAA researcher Mike Vecchione of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), headquartered in Woods Hole, Mass., the research team is working aboard the 208-foot NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow for six weeks as part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystem Project, or MAR-ECO. The cruise is funded by NOAA Fisheries Service with additional support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Read the entire press release from NEFSC
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