The Philippines looking at Timor Leste sea to raise tuna catch

State, private sector looking at Timor Leste sea to raise tuna catch
Business World 4 Oct 08;

The Philippines’ deep-sea fishing industry has been reeling from poor catch, which it attributed to global warming in the Pacific Ocean; high diesel prices that have forced fleets to cut their fishing expeditions; as well as a current ban by Jakarta on foreign fishing vessels bringing fish caught in Indonesian waters to other countries for processing.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and tuna fishing companies will survey Timor Leste’s Banda Sea next month to jump-start the country’s bid to catch tuna in the area, officials said yesterday.

"We can go to Timor Leste in November after the budget hearing [of BFAR]," Malcolm I. Sarmiento, director of BFAR, said in a phone interview. Meanwhile, Assistant Director Gil A. Adora said "the private sector is still organizing themselves [for the trip]."

In August, the Philippines and Timor Leste signed a memorandum of agreement on fisheries sectors.

Specifically, Manila and Dili agreed to cooperate in post-harvest; fish processing development and marketing; coastal management and development; marine fisheries conservation; combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices; as well as environmental protection.

"Subject to their respective laws and regulations, the Parties agree to grant fishing licenses to each other’s fishing vessels," the pact read. "The private sector should study what fish is there and what equipment is needed,"

Mr. Adora said. "It [fishing in foreign waters] is always a global competition, other countries might be more aggressive to start fishing."

The government is looking at harvesting 30,000-50,000 metric tons of tuna from Banda Sea.

There is a catch, however. Tuna fishers might be dissuaded to fish in Timor Leste because of high fuel prices and the lack of equipment, Mr. Adora noted. BFAR is pushing for a P250-million fund next year to grant loans for the tuna fishers’ equipment upgrade.

The Philippines’ deep-sea fishing industry has been reeling from poor catch, which it attributed to global warming in the Pacific Ocean; high diesel prices that have forced fleets to cut their fishing expeditions; as well as a current ban by Jakarta on foreign fishing vessels bringing fish caught in Indonesian waters to other countries for processing.

High costs of fuel, which accounts for up to 70% of operating costs, resulted in fishers reducing fishing operations, Mr. Sarmiento said.

In the first semester, the fisheries subsector experienced a growth slowdown of 2.74% from a 7.24% expansion during the same period last year due to steep increase in oil prices and typhoons and natural calamities, a data of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics show. Tunas caught in Philippines waters total 300,000-350,000 metric tons a year, Mr. Sarmiento said. — Neil Jerome C. Morales

Read more!

Sea creatures bound for freedom after time at aquarium

Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist 2 Oct 08;

The Ucluelet Aquarium has taken the concept of "catch and release" to new depths. On Saturday, hundreds of sea creatures will return to the sea after spending a few months ashore entertaining and educating the public.

"Release day has become the iconic event for us," said Bill Morrison of the non-profit Ucluelet Aquarium Society yesterday.

Releasing sea creatures after a few months' captivity "keeps us distinct from other kinds of aquariums," said Morrison.

Veterinary checks of the animals show that most benefit from the steady feeding and pampering received on shore, he said. Morrison jokes that the aquarium has become "an intertidal spa" for oceanic specimens.

The town so loves its aquarium that there are plans to find it a permanent home on the harbour, alongside the native barnacles and starfish. All going well, the aquarium will also soon be open year-round, instead of just seasonally. Both the residents and the businesses would love to see that happen.

"When we started to get unsolicited donations from the local businesses we realized we were the enhancing the tourism infrastructure," Morrison said.

The aquarium began in a temporary shelter in the summers of 2004 and 2005, showcasing fish and sea critters scooped from the sea in the spring. Once the summers ended, the animals were returned to the ocean.

The two-year foreshore permit expired and the aquarium closed down but reappeared this summer, with 15,000 visitors swarming to the temporary structure on the edge of the harbour.

"The whole town is in love with the aquarium," said Marny Saunders, general manager of Ucluelet's Chamber of Commerce.

"The ocean is just so amazing. We're surrounded by it but we don't get a chance to see up close and personal how amazing it really is."

Saunders' 16-year-old son hung around the aquarium so much he was put to work as the youngest employee, she said.

The District of Ucluelet is helping the aquarium secure permits with the provincial and federal governments, said Geoff Lyons, the town's chief administrative officer.

"People are gobsmacked when they look at the type of fish that are there," said Lyons. "Few even know what kind of exotic looking fish are out [in the ocean]."

Starfish and barnacles were released to the ocean yesterday but the crowds are expected to appear on Saturday, when the last of the fish are released from the town's dock. A highlight will be the release of an octopus, which has gained some popularity with locals.

The fish are gathered in the spring by divers, volunteers and staff, said Morrison.

Some come in from fishermen "but an awful lot come in from our army of youngsters who ply the docks and bring us many different specimens," Morrison said.

Over the winter, the aquarium society hopes to build tidal pools and encourage sea creatures to become part of an outdoor exhibit near the future building site.

The building itself is still in the design stage, said Morrison, but work could begin this winter on a platform that will support it.

Even if the aquarium finds the funds to open year-round, it will still continue to release fish back to the sea in an ongoing cycle, he said, "so no animal stays in captivity for more than a few months."

The release begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday and is expected to continue for a couple of hours.

Read more!

Sewage pipeline provides home for rare sea life

Shannon Monea, Globe and Mail 2 Oct 08;

SOOKE — A 1.7-kilometre sewage pipeline has become a new home and nursery for fish and plant species in an area that once was a virtual void.

Three years after it was installed on the grainy, vacant ocean floor just off southern Vancouver Island near Sooke, a fused plastic pipe cloaked by cement ballast is drawing previously absent fish like the threatened lingcod and a variety of seaweed and sea creatures.

"That's one of the delightful aspects, because there used to be nothing there," said Tami Wetmore, an environmental engineer for Epcor, the utility company that oversaw construction of Sooke's sewer system and the marine outfall.

When the sewage system was approved five years ago to stop failing septic systems from polluting Sooke's harbour and basin, critics raised concerns that the outfall would harm marine life.

But a true sea change has occurred.

"Most people don't associate outfalls with increased life, but this pipeline structure is adding complexity to what was a flat, sandy habitat," said Jason Clarke, an engineer and marine biologist with consulting firm WorleyParsons. "It's been a rapid diversification that I haven't seen to quite this degree."

The company's Victoria office monitors more than a dozen sewage outfalls a year.

During a mandatory inspection in April, Mr. Clarke and another diver examined Sooke's sewage pipe, which reaches an ocean depth of 30 metres in the relatively clean, brisk-moving waters of Juan de Fuca Strait.

A video they made shows an underwater world of waving plants and darting fish in what had been a barren zone.

Attached to the outer cement blanket that keeps the pipe in place are plants such as kelp and other seaweeds. Sea cucumbers, sea stars, snails, crabs and other invertebrates mosey around. Mr. Clarke also spotted a fearsome-looking juvenile wolf eel.

Kelp greenling, quillback and copper rockfish, and most notably, lingcod - a fish much prized by anglers - have also taken up residence in the large gap between the cement ballast and the plastic sewage pipe.

"Now an artificial reef has developed, filling the length of the pipe. It's a structure that will support egg habitat," said Epcor's Ms. Wetmore.

Of significance is that lingcod have colonized the pipeline and are depositing eggs there.

"Any time you see a place where they like to spawn, that's a place you want to protect," Mr. Clarke said of the closely monitored species, which is found on the North American West Coast and is difficult to establish.

"In this case, a manmade structure is helping lingcod to propagate."

According to ongoing research by the Vancouver Aquarium, Strait of Georgia lingcod stocks have fallen to between 7 per cent and 22 per cent of what they were 100 years ago, and their numbers continue to decline around the West Coast.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans spokesman Dan Bate said creation of new habitat for lingcod is a "positive" step.

While B.C.'s West Coast has more than 100 marine outfalls, most originating at major cities or pulp mills, Mr. Clarke estimated that perhaps a dozen have brought about robust marine habitats.

Mr. Clarke predicted that when he dons his diving gear in about four years for a follow-up inspection, Sooke's pipeline will be encrusted with more life forms and support even greater numbers of invertebrates and fish.

"This is a great story. That's not to say build pipelines all over the place to help fish, but there are benefits."

At the end of the pipeline, the treated sewage is released via diffuser ports. The "virtually transparent water" rises rapidly to the midwater level and is quickly assimilated into the ocean, Mr. Clarke said.

Added Ms. Wetmore: "The marine environment is better than anyone expected."

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 3 Oct 08

Work on Sungei Punggol dam continues
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Sluggish on F1 weekend
on the pulau hantu blog

Read more!

Discovery of arowanas' secrets boosts breeding

Molecular tools help uncover the breeding habits of expensive fish
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 3 Oct 08;

UNLIKE most of their scaly counterparts, Asian arowanas mate for life, local studies by ornamental fish farmers and scientists have found.

And when it comes to taking care of the brood, father knows best. The male carries the babies in its mouth for over six weeks before allowing them to swim free.

The secrets of the world's most expensive ornamental fish were uncovered using molecular tools at the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) and the fish of mainboard-listed Qian Hu, during a five-year research project.

Their discoveries on breeding habits have led to a doubling in fish production.

'In the second year alone, it was a 50 per cent increase and each year since then, its been a 20 to 30 per cent increase on the previous year's broods,' said lead researcher at TLL, Mr Alex Chang.

Qian Hu managing director Kenny Yap said the group produces a third, or about 10,000 of the world's supply of this freshwater fish each year.

The studies were conducted on close to 230 adult fish which had their genetic fingerprints put under the microscope.

'Knowing which fish have paired up could reduce breeding costs, because we can bring smaller numbers of fish together in a single small pond,' said Mr Yap. It can also guarantee customers who pay thousands of dollars for a fry complete information on the pedigree.

Traditional breeding methods have been hit-and-miss because farmers cannot tell one sex from another, let alone which fish have formed pairs. Breeding patterns are also hard to predict.

'Most are monogamous, with the odd few going astray or preferring complete celibacy, much like humans,' said Mr Yap.

To achieve the most prized characteristics and increase the baby count, the next phase of the research will use 'in-vitro' fertilisation. This will guarantee specific characteristics are carried by lineage.

'Within reason, we'll be able to give the buyers what they want - bigger fins, brighter colour, favoured shape of head,' Mr Yap said. The company is investing another $3 million over the next three years, on top of the initial sum of $1 million, to start a research centre in Sungei Tengah next year.

Mr Chang, Qian Hu's first formal scientific scholar, will head the facility, which will have 32 ponds. Two-thirds will be for breeding while a third will be for research.

Professor Peter Ng, director of the Tropical Marine Science Institute, said findings could change the conservation landscape for this species. 'Of the red, green and silver arowana in the wild, the red is most endangered. There is a chance it is a separate species and if this is proven through the genetic tests, more must be done to protect them.'

With Qian Hu's expected jump in arowana production, stocks in the wild could be replenished, said Mr Chang.

skesava@sph.com.sg

Tracing the lineage and habits

# DNA tests comparing fossils and present day arowana show the popular red and green arowana diverged from their prehistoric predecessors up to 30,000 years ago, when Kalimantan separated from the rest of its South-east Asian landmass.

# The fish lack sexual dimorphism - they look the same whether male or female. They become fertile after three years and naturally spawn up to 80 marble-size eggs once a year. In-vitro fertilisation, using cryogenically frozen sperm and eggs harvested from the mother, could see many more fish produced.

# They remain fertile for about 30 years and generally mate for life.

# Extremely protective, the father carries the brood in his mouth for 45 days till they are large enough to fend for themselves. The male fish starve during this time.

# These top predators usually eat live amphibians, fish and insects. TLL and Qian Hu intend to optimise medicines and diet for these prized pets to increase their reproduction.

# A five-month old, 15cm-long red Asian arowana, the most prized colour, can fetch sellers $2,500. The largest known 40-year-old specimens reach 1m.

SHOBANA KESAVA

Read more!

Regulator instructs Island Power to secure new gas supply deal

EMA sets conditions for Island's access to Indonesian gas pipeline
Ronnie Lim, Business Times 3 Oct 08;

ISLAND Power - which has been fighting for access to an Indonesian gas pipeline to try to revive its stalled $1 billion power plant project on Jurong Island - has just been told by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) that it first needs to secure a new gas supply agreement (GSA), after losing its earlier Indonesian gas deal.

Island also has to reach an allocation agreement with the incumbent players on how gas delivered through the Singapore portion of the Sumatra-Singapore pipeline is to be measured and allocated, it added.

The EMA decision - just out on its website - comes over a year after Island applied in July 2007 to the Singapore regulator for access to this portion of the offshore pipeline to bring in its own Indonesian gas.

It was its inability to access the pipeline that led to Indonesia cancelling last October Island's earlier GSA to buy 110 million cubic feet of gas daily from a ConocoPhillips gas field in Sumatra.

EMA in its directive said that before it can give Island any direction for pipeline access, the company needs to procure a new GSA 'within a reasonable time'.

There must also be an 'allocation agreement' between Island, Island's gas seller, incumbent gas importer Gas Supply Pte Ltd (GSPL) and Indonesia's Pertamina to determine how their co-mingled gas in the pipeline is to be measured and allocated.

Once these conditions are fulfilled, EMA said, it can then issue directions under Section 38(4) of the recently amended Gas Act and specify the terms under which Island can enter a transportation agreement with the pipeline owner and operator PowerGas.

This should cause minimum disruption to the existing arrangement between PowerGas and incumbent importer GSPL.

The latest EMA ruling may, however, be all but moot for Island, whose US parent Intergen is now 50 per cent owned by India's GMR Infrastructure.

GMR was unsuccessful in its recent bids for Tuas Power and Senoko Power, the first two of three Singapore generation companies being divested by Temasek Holdings, and the Indian power player will very likely now try for the last one being sold - PowerSeraya.

The fate of the long-stalled Island project will therefore hinge on whether GMR succeeds in its third attempt to land a Singapore asset.

Furthermore, Intergen, with new owner GMR on board, will likely review its global asset portfolio before deciding whether to proceed with the stalled Singapore project, observers said.

Island has been blocked for years - from as far back as 2002 - from access to the Singapore portion of the Sumatra-Singapore pipeline to bring in its own contracted Indonesian gas because of earlier legal tangles, and subsequently commercial issues, involving GSPL and PowerGas.

Thus, despite earlier having Indonesian gas in hand, and building contracts ready, its project stalled. The final straw came when Indonesia's oil and gas regulator BPMigas cancelled Island's gas deal, with the gas said to have gone to other buyers.

Island's parent, Intergen, has undergone several ownership changes since the Singapore project was first mooted.

It was originally owned by Shell and Bechtel Group, which subsequently sold out to a partnership of Ontario Teachers Pension Fund and US private equity fund AIG Highstar Capital II. AIG Highstar recently sold its 50 per cent stake to India's GMR.

Read more!

Experts say more can be done to make existing Singapore buildings energy-efficient

Green drive to focus on older buildings
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 3 Oct 08;

SINGAPORE'S efforts in recent years to green new buildings have made the country one of the world leaders in sustainability, said an international panel of experts yesterday.

But more can be done to convert existing buildings into energy-efficient ones, including providing financial incentives for the private sector.

These were the findings of a newly formed panel of experts invited by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to review Singapore's green building policies. The findings were presented at BCA's second 'breakfast talk for CEOs' yesterday.

The BCA launched the Green Mark rating system only in 2005 so the 'speed has been impressive', said Mr Peter Head, panel member and director of British engineering firm Arup Associates.

Mr Head is well known as the architect behind China's first eco-city in Dongtan.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Parliamentary Secretary (National Development), said yesterday that the BCA will be taking on the panel's feedback.

Its second green building masterplan, to be unveiled next year, will focus on greening existing buildings and providing further incentives, he said.

Dr Maliki also told industry leaders at the event yesterday that there is increasing evidence worldwide that green buildings command higher rents and asset values, as well as increase productivity of its occupants.

The issue is no longer 'whether we should go green, but how fast we can go green', added BCA chief executive John Keung.

Other panel recommendations included mandating the submission of building energy information by owners, as this will help gauge a building's performance.

The BCA can also take the lead in 'green procurement' - sourcing green materials - for the industry, said Ms Maria Atkinson, global head of sustainability for Australian property group Lend Lease.

Further financial incentives were mooted to 'jump start the process'. These included boosting the availability of funds to building owners by involving banks to provide preferential loan rates to Green Mark projects. This works in Japan, where banks make 'green loans' for buildings that aim for higher environmental ratings, said the panel.

It also singled out research and development, capacity building and education as critical in the next leg of Singapore's green journey.

'Government and policy are known to be the major driver for sustainability,' said Ms Atkinson. Singapore's role is even more crucial, as it is well positioned to be an 'adviser' to developing countries in Asia such as Indonesia and Malaysia, she added.

The panel agreed that legislation would accelerate the green building movement and drive energy efficiency.

Other panel members include Professor Joachim Luther, chief executive of Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore; Japanese architect Kazuo Iwamura, known for his urban and architectural research; and Mr Kevin Hydes, chairman of the World Green Building Council.

Buildings account for about half of Singapore's total end-use electricity consumption. There are about 130 green buildings with 200 awaiting assessment.

Business Times - 03 Oct 2008

More funds needed for green building push
Jamie Lee, Business Times 3 Oct 08;

THE Building and Construction Authority (BCA) should offer more funds to owners of existing buildings to make these buildings greener, an international panel said yesterday.

The call comes after BCA said that it would shift its focus from the construction of new green buildings to the greening of existing buildings, which are significant energy guzzlers.

The panel said that one of the barriers to upgrading existing buildings is the availability of funds.

'While there is a strong business case to green existing buildings, there is also a need for incentives to jump-start the process and motivate building owners,' it said.

Parliamentary Secretary (Ministry for National Development) Maliki Osman said that BCA is refining its Green Mark assessment criteria to include 'a performance-based approach' that will look at how developers upgrade existing buildings and the level of energy efficiency.

The panel said that Singapore should make it compulsory for building owners to publicly declare energy information on their buildings. Comparisons between similar properties could then be made, which would help companies 'set realistic energy reduction targets'.

This happens in California and the European Union, said panel member Maria Atkinson, who is head of global sustainability at Australian property company Lend Lease.

But Dr Maliki said that regulation should be the last resort. 'We want to see how best we can use moral suasion to encourage building owners to move in that direction,' he said. 'It works better when one feels this is a cause to be championed.'

The panel members, who spent the past four days reviewing BCA's green policies, said that incentives for higher tier Green Mark projects, such as bonus gross floor area, could help building owners go greener.

Another idea is the 'green lease' - an arrangement that considers the carbon footprint of tenants, as well as energy and water efficiency.

Ms Atkinson said that Lend Lease is structuring Singapore's first green lease for retailers at the upcoming shopping centre 313@Somerset, which is also the first mall to achieve a BCA Green Mark Platinum award.

The panel of experts also asked the government to factor in the green element of tenders submitted for public building projects.

On the private front, banks could offer green or preferential loans for buildings that aim for higher energy efficiency, as happens in Japan, the panel suggested.

Orchard mall to grant only 'green leases'
Straits Times 3 Oct 08;

SINGAPORE'S Orchard Road shopping strip will soon be home to the first eco-mall here with 'green tenants'.

Business people setting up shop at 313@Somerset have to sign 'green leases' committing them to achieving environmental targets, said Ms Maria Atkinson, global head of sustainability for Australia's Lend Lease, the mall's developer.

Ms Atkinson is one of the five international experts invited by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to review Singapore's green building movement.

As part of their lease terms, retailers at 313@Somerset will have to comply with fit-out guidelines such as using greener materials and reducing water and energy usage, she added. They will have to participate in community programmes to increase awareness of the benefits of green buildings, and report energy consumption to track the building's performance.

Such practices could be encouraged so tenants can help owners achieve certain operational targets for green buildings, added Ms Atkinson.

The green leasing concept was one of the panel's key recommendations. It also suggested the Government rent and lease only green buildings via its agencies to encourage more green buildings.

The panel will convene here again in October next year when Singapore will host, for the first time, the International Green Building Conference.

313@Somerset will be completed late next year.

$10m contract to build zero-energy building
Today Online 3 Oct 08;

THE $10.47-million contract for Singapore’s first zero-energy building (picture) has been awarded to local firm ACP Construction. Work to retrofit an existing building at the BCA Academy along Braddell Road starts this month and should be completed by next year.

As announced earlier, everything in the building, from the lights and air-conditioning, to the water in the toilets, will be sourced from renewable energy.

It will house green classrooms, a library, as well as a visitor centre that can be used for training purposes. The retrofitted building will also function as a test-bed for green building technologies, to see if new ideas can be adopted for commercial use.

The building is part of the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) plan to raise awareness of a sustainable built environment and is its flagship R & D project under its Green Building Masterplan.

The BCA had earlier awarded another tender for the building’s solar panel to Singapore firm Grenzone for $1.7 million.

ACP Construction has a track record for constructing high-tech buildings. They were involved in two Green Mark projects — 138 Depot Road and Neuros Biopolis Phase 2 in One North. ESTHER NG

Read more!

Struggle to clean up shore debris following Hurricane Ike

Debris of daily life washes onto Texas beaches
Christopher Sherman, Associated Press 3 Oct 08;

PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE, Texas (AP) — The world's longest undeveloped barrier island now looks as if people have been living — and dumping — on it for decades.

Tons of debris swept up by Hurricane Ike last month were carried by Gulf of Mexico currents hundreds of miles from the upper Texas coast to this ordinarily pristine landscape just north of the Mexican border.

Sections of roofs, refrigerators, loveseats, beds, TVs, hot tubs and holiday decorations litter the more than 60 miles of gently arcing sand in the national park.

Some of the junk is good for a laugh, like the lifejacket-clad snowman someone placed next to a plastic pumpkin, a small but real palm tree and an acoustic guitar. But it's no joke to wildlife workers who are worried the trash will harm birds and other animals, including an endangered turtle that nests here in the spring.

"It could have a huge impact," said Larry Turk, maintenance chief for Padre Island. The park wants to clean up as much of the debris as possible before the Kemp's Ridley turtles return, he said, because a debris-clogged beach would make it hard for them to dig their nests.

For two weeks after Ike hit, every high tide seemed to dump a load of debris on beaches, and two weeks into the cleanup, the amount of debris on gulf beaches remains untallied.

One 4-mile stretch had produced enough to fill 2,970 industrial-size trashbags. Farther south at Cameron County's South Padre Island beaches, Ike's residue quickly filled seven 30-cubic yard garbage bins.

Some of the Padre Island debris is the stuff of anyone's weekly garbage, including the garbage can itself. Some smacks of irony: a sandbox in the shape of a green turtle, or an octopus preserved in a jar.

"It's on all our beaches — everything, people's lives," said Tony Amos, a research fellow at the University of Texas's Marine Science Institute.

No bodies have been found amid the rubble, although dozens of people remain unaccounted for.

Cleaning up the national seashore is a federal responsibility, but local governments in the area were relieved to also be included in the federal disaster declaration, allowing them to seek cleanup reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

That was not the case three years ago, when Hurricane Rita smashed into western Louisiana and sent a flood of debris to South Texas beaches, said Javier Mendez, parks director for Cameron County. Mendez's department maintains about 9 miles of beach on the island and another 7 miles along the coast south to the Mexican border.

"We just couldn't handle it," Mendez said of that earlier storm's debris. This time Mendez is counting on federal reimbursement.

Some of the garbage is a hazard to the seashore's wildlife. The most obvious risk could be the countless small pieces of plastic that could be mistaken for food.

"The plastic is a real killer of both turtles and birds," said Dr. Joshua Rose, natural resource specialist for the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park.

Seabirds like gulls, terns and pelicans, not very discerning diners, can get tangled in larger pieces of plastic or get smaller pieces lodged in their digestive systems, Rose said.

At the national seashore, park rangers are going after the most immediate threats first, collecting plastic and steel barrels that could contain oil or hazardous chemicals. A hazardous materials team scheduled a daylong expedition down the seashore this week.

Next, rangers will go for the big floating plastic bins that organize households.

Lumber is a lower priority, and beachcombers like David Michaelsen may end up grabbing most of it.

Michaelsen, 55, burned some vacation time to wander the debris field with tape measure in work-glove-clad hands. He is building a greenhouse for his wife and started looking for materials along the 60-mile-long free rummage sale.

"I can take care of a few house projects, use my (time off) and clean up the beach all in one afternoon," Michaelsen said after dropping a large plastic lid — perfect drip pan for a leaky Jeep at home — into the bed of his pickup. "The way lumber costs anymore, and this is just lying here."

Some unknown architects made a little shade on the beach by pounding some two-by-fours and plywood together. They furnished it with a few of the hundreds of plastic patio chairs on the beach and used orange spray paint to dub it the "Shark Shak." It was the perfect spot for J. Carl Lee and his Jack Russell terrier, Hunter, to stop for lunch.

Looking around, Lee thought there could be a business opportunity for someone willing to mine the beach's plastic.

He only saw one problem.

"You wouldn't have enough trailers to pull all the plastic off this beach."

Read more!

Black rhinos released into wild

BBC News 2 Oct 08;

For the first time in more than 25 years, captive-bred black rhinos have been released back into the wild.

Experts have hailed it as a landmark step for African wildlife conservation.

Black rhinoceroses were once widespread in Africa, but in recent years these huge horned creatures have suffered dramatic declines, thanks to poaching and habitat loss.

In particular, Kenya has suffered huge losses, with numbers plummeting from an estimated 20,000 in the 1970s to some 500 today.

Those that remained were confined to sanctuaries.

The Kenya Wildlife Service has been working with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) to revive rhino numbers. And now they are confident enough to begin releasing these animals back into the wild.

The BBC's Karen Allen was there to watch the first batch being returned to their natural habitat - and met some of the people who have made it all happen.

Read more!

20 seabirds and waterbirds added to threatened list

mongabay.com 2 Oct 08;

The U.N. has added 20 species of migratory waterbird to the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) giving them greater international protection in Africa, Europe, and Asia.

At the fourth meeting of AEWA, held in Antananarivo, Madagascar from 15-19 September 2008, delegates agreed to expand its threatened list (Annex 2) to include species traditionally classified as "seabirds" like tropicbirds, boobies, terns, and frigatebirds. Seabirds are at risk from overfishing, which both depletes their prey and snags birds as by-catch; pollution and trash; habitat destruction; invasive species; overexploitation; and loss of habitat and breeding sites. Climate change is also a threat to many species.

"I am very satisfied with the decision of the 4th Meeting of the Parties to include 20 seabird species in AEWA," said Bert Lenten, the Executive Secretary of AEWA. "This means that more attention will be paid to the conservation of these species. Some of them, such as the tropic birds need urgent attention because their populations are numbering less than 10,000 individuals."

The list includes:

* Phaethon aetheras / Red-billed Tropicbird
* Phaethon rubricauda / Red-tailed Tropicbird
* Phaethon lepturus / White-tailed Tropicbird
* Sula (Morus) bassana / Northern Gannet
* Sula dactylatra / Masked Booby
* Fregata minor / Great Frigatebird
* Fregata ariel / Lesser Frigatebird
* Catharacta skua / Great Skua
* Stercorarius longicaudus / Long-tailed Skua
* Rissa tridactyla / Black-legged Kittiwake
* Sterna anaethetus / Bridled Tern
* Sterna fuscata / Sooty Tern
* Anous stolidus / Brown Noddy
* Anous tenuirostris / Lesser Noddy
* Alle alle / Little Auk
* Uria aalge / Common Guillemot
* Uria lomvia / Brunnich’s Guillemot
* Alca torda / Razorbill
* Cepphus grylle / Black Guillemot
* Fratercula arctica / Atlantic Puffin

Read more!

Tourism lures Bali's youth away from seaweed trade

Luh De Suryani, Jakarta Post 30 Sep 08;

Nusa Lembongan Island, which boasts luxurious mansions owned by seaweed farmers who contribute significantly to the island's economy, may be losing it's next generation of such farmers.

The late Made Kawijaya, also known as Pan Tarsin, was the pioneer of seaweed farming in Lembongan. In 1986, the man who used to poach sea turtles was awarded the Kalpataru award, the country's highest award for nature conservation.

That Pan Tarsin received the Kalpataru was in itself shocking, says his son Wayan Tarzan.

"They used to call my father a criminal for hunting endangered sea turtles and coral reefs, before he became a seaweed farmer," he says.

In the 1980s, Pan Tarsin was a notorious poacher of sea turtles. Battling high waves and chill ocean winds was part of his daily ritual. At the time, there was little else a man could do but hunt sea turtles and other prized bounty, including coral reefs and giant clams.

The endangered giant clams were especially valuable. The flesh, high in protein, and the shell, coveted material for high-quality ornaments, could help feed a family for a whole month back then.

But then there arrived on the island an official from the Klungkung Agriculture Agency, asking residents to start cultivating seaweed.

"He brought two types of seaweed, five kilograms of each. And since the hunters weren't catching enough sea turtles, they began learning how to farm seaweed," recalls Tarzan, part of the second generation of seaweed farmers in Nusa Lembongan.

The first harvest was a failure, and so was the second. Seaweed farmers did not make any money because the seaweed they produced was bartered for basic commodities, such as rice.

And then one day a customer from Ujung Pandang, now Makassar, in South Sulawesi, came with an offer to buy seaweed at Rp 300 (3 US cents) per kilogram. The farmers were buoyed by new hopes -- a rare commodity in what had always been one of the poorest regions in Bali province.

That hope was further strengthened by the advent of the island's tourism industry. Visitors and holidaymakers began trickling into the island.

Bali is now Indonesia's largest producer of seaweed after West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Sulawesi and South Sulawesi.

The cotonii and spinosum are the most commonly cultivated types.

In addition to seaweed, Pan Tarsin and his son began looking for opportunities in the tourism industry, deciding to build a hostel called Johny Losmen, one of the oldest in Nusa Lembongan.

The island's draw for visitors now revolves around two main attractions: the seaweed fields peppered around the island, and marine activities such as diving and surfing.

The seaweed farmers tending their plants, and the thousands of small boats scattered along the coast, have become a permanent fixture.

But the future is not looking very rosy for those who helped pull this island to its feet.

Tarsin was cremated this year. Tarzan has switched professions to become a contractor for hotel developments in his village after the tourism industry began garnering more local attention.

"All of my kids said they don't want to be farmers and decided to learn more about tourism in Bali. I'm pretty confused myself. What's going to happen to seaweed farming in the future?" Tarzan says.

A number of farmers have begun outsourcing their work to people from outside Nusa Lembongan.

The areas that used to be the heart of the seaweed industry are mostly populated by old women laboring over the post-harvest work of drying and seed-preparing.

"There are very few young people who are willing to farm seaweed. I suppose it can be called rough work," says Made Wiyata, 35, a farmer in Jungut Batu village.

Wiyata says his generation could be the last of Nusa Lembongan's seaweed farmers, adding he wasn't even sure whether he could still tend to his own farms due to stiff competition.

The number of non-Nusa Lembongan natives who have taken up seaweed cultivation on the island is on the rise. The increased supply has naturally caused price fluctuations.

"Right now it's only Rp 5,000 per kilogram of dry seaweed. Last month it reached Rp 13,000. I don't understand how the price can fall that much," Wiyata says.

Wiyata, who owns six seaweed fields inside a 600-square-meter area, can produce about one ton of dry seaweed, making about Rp 5 million a month at the current price of Rp 5,000 per kilogram.

His net income is only half that, but he remains stoic about it.

"It's not bad," he says.

"It's just a pity the young people are more willing to work in the tourism industry."

Read more!

Illegal Mexican Parrot Trade Targeted by New Ban

Alexis Okeowo, National Geographic News 2 Oct 08;

A new permanent ban on parrot sales in Mexico may protect the country's exotic birds from a thriving illegal wildlife trade, conservationists say.

Mexico considers half of its 22 parrot species endangered, and all but two are protected by federal law.

But between 65,000 and 78,000 parrots and guacamayas—a bigger type of parrot—are captured illegally every year, and most of these birds die each year before reaching their intended buyers.

The government has been unable to control the clandestine capture and sale of the protected birds, environmentalists say.

The new ban—an amendment to Mexico's wildlife law—will eliminate the parrot and guacamaya market completely.

The law will go into effect when it is published in the official congressional diary, possibly by the end of October.

" … The whole trade is really a waste," said Juan Carlos Cantú Guzmán, director of programs for the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife Mexico, which published a report on the illegal parrot market in 2007 and supports the ban.

"Ninety percent of the bird species are in some category of risk, and most are in danger of extinction if nothing is done."

Legal or Illegal?

The Defenders of Wildlife Mexico report identified U.S. demand as a major driving force behind the illegal trade for some species, such as the yellow-naped parrot, which is found only in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

"In many cases, the destination of these birds are border cities like Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez to commercialize them in the United States," Javier Sosa, director of the wildlife program at Mexico's environmental protection agency, PROFEPA, said in an email.

But most illegally captured parrots stay in Mexico, Defenders of Wildlife's Guzmán added. The parrots are dispersed to different distribution centers and then sent to countless markets across the country.

Mexico only allows the sale of parrots via legal channels, such as through a federally established conservation area or the regulated estates of bird-trapper and exporter unions.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 parrots are allowed for capture each year, according to government quotas.

But there is no efficient marking system to differentiate between legally and illegally captured birds, Sosa of PROFEPA said.

Especially at informal markets, the only method to differentiate between legally and illegally captured parrots is to check if a bird has a band around its leg. A band signifies a legally caught bird.

"It's very hard to monitor bird trappers. [The Defenders of Wildlife Mexico report] is the first time anyone has been able to get an estimate on the illegal trade of bird species," Guzmán said.

Little Oversight

The group's research found that Mexican environmental officials "had absolutely no effect on the illegal parrot trade," Guzmán added. Only 2 percent of trafficked parrots are confiscated by government officials each year.

Mexican unions also protect rights of professional bird trappers, who say they comply with government rules when capturing birds. The permanent ban has outraged many bird trappers.

Fidél Chavez Policarpio captures parrots legally for a living and sells them at México City's bustling Sonora Market.

"I capture the parrots in Vera Cruz [one of Mexico's coastal regions], and then usually have 20 to 30 customers a week when I return to the city," said Policarpio, who has been working in the parrot trade for 15 years.

Like other trappers, he delves into Mexico's forests armed with only a net, work he describes as "very difficult."

"It would be bad if they did [ban parrot sales]," Policarpio said. "My family and I need bird trapping to survive. I have children to take care of."

Parrot vendor Samuel Daniel Zarate has been selling the colorful birds nearly all of his life in México City, though he is not involved with the birds' capture.

He believes the legal sale of birds should still be allowed at markets such as Sonora, where the sale of exotic birds is booming.

"I have too many customers," Zarate said. "People here love parrots and guacamayas."

Read more!

Researchers find that tuna swim across Atlantic

Yahoo News 3 Oct 08;

Bluefin tuna from both sides of the Atlantic get together as juveniles, a discovery that could affect how the tuna fishery is managed. While North American and Mediterranean bluefin return home to spawn, a study published in Friday's edition of the journal Science reveals that as youngsters the fish travel long distances to intermix.

The researchers found that while the largest tuna — sought by commercial fishermen off North America — tend to be local fish, the smaller ones caught by sport fishermen often have originated in the Mediterranean.

The team, led by Jay Rooker of Texas A&M University and David Secor of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, was able to identify the origins of fish by examining the chemical composition of the otolith, or ear stone, of the tuna.

"Juveniles are not conforming to the principal premise of how they've been managed — that fish keep to their own side of the Atlantic," Secor said in a statement. "This could be particularly troubling if North American juveniles head to the Mediterranean. High exploitation there might mean that few make it back. Evaluating where Mediterranean juveniles originate should be our next highest priority."

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas meets next month in Morocco to discuss declining tuna stocks and ways to better manage species.

Read more!

Noisier Oceans May Be "Disaster" For Marine Animals

Richard A. Lovett, National Geographic News 2 Oct 08;

As the world's oceans become more acidic, the underwater sounds that whales and other marine mammals depend on for survival may turn into a confusing racket, a new study says.

That's because the ocean's ability to conduct sound is expected to increase dramatically due to global warming.

The shift could make it easier for rare whales to find each other and reproduce, researchers say.

More likely, though, the effect would be comparable to a person in a crowded place straining to talk over all the chatter.

"What that means is that the background level of noise in the ocean—say wave noise or ship noise—will increase," said study co-author Peter Brewer, a geochemist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California.

(Related: "Noisy Eaters Are Cause of Mysterious Ocean Sounds" [August 18, 2008].)

John Hocevar, oceans campaign director for Greenpeace USA, agreed.

"This is a real disaster for marine life," he said.

Soda Water Acid

Sound transmission in oceans is affected by the concentration of various ions, or charged atoms, said Keith Hester, a member of the research team.

The ions are affected by the water's pH, which becomes more acidic as carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning is absorbed.

The result is carbonic acid, the same acid found in soda water.

Ocean acidity, Hester said, is projected to increase by .3 pH points between now and 2050. That may not seem like much, but the change will spur a 70 percent increase in the distance sound will travel.

"We were surprised to see how big it was," Hester said.

Less certain are the ramifications.

Previous studies have suggested that high-powered sonar may cause hearing loss and other injuries to marine mammals.

Recent findings have revealed that reef fishes use sound to locate their reefs.

In addition to animal impacts, military sonar operators may have more trouble distinguishing faint signals from background noise.

The new study appeared this week in in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

"Impossible to Predict"

Marine biologists are cautious about predicting about what may happen to marine animals in seas that conduct sound better.

"The effects on biology are uncertain at the moment," Richard Zeebe of the University of Hawaii said in an email.

But it's clear that the change in sound transmission is an unanticipated side effect of fossil fuel burning, experts say.

"This is a good example that we're making very big changes to our oceans," said co-author Hester.

"There's a hundred million tons of carbon dioxide absorbed per hour by the oceans. This is really changing a lot [of things] that we're still trying to understand."

Read more!

Group seeks protection for ugly New England fish

Clarke Canfield, Associated Press Yahoo News 2 Oct 08;

A ferocious-looking denizen of the deep that can gobble up whole urchins and crabs in a few swift chomps needs protection, according to a petition filed with the federal government.

The Conservation Law Foundation asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday to list the Atlantic wolffish — a species with large protruding teeth and a face that's downright ugly — as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The fish, also called an ocean catfish, is under pressure from commercial and recreational fishermen and could be wiped out if nothing is done, the Boston-based conservation group said.

"The fishing pressure is going to continue to haunt this fish right down to extinction unless something is done," said Peter Shelley, the foundation's vice president.

The slow-growing, late-maturing wolffish lives along the rocky ocean bottom in 250- to 400-foot waters off New England. They can grow up to 5 feet long and weigh up to 40 pounds. Their powerful jaws and teeth can crush lobsters, urchins, clams, scallops and crabs.

Although the fish aren't targeted by commercial fishermen, fishing nets and dredges that are dragged along the ocean bottom have destroyed much of the fish's habitat, diminishing both their numbers and range, according to the conservation group.

Although the fish is ugly, it is tasty and can be found at some seafood retailers and on the menus of upscale restaurants, Shelley said.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has listed the fish as a "species of concern," calling the stock overexploited and severely depleted.

If the fish is given endangered status, it could result in additional restrictions on New England fishermen, who are already tightly regulated. The conservation group says measures to reduce wolffish mortality could range from simply throwing them back to area closures.

That possibility didn't sit well with fishermen.

"They always have to find something to go after us," said Angela Sanfilippo, executive director of the Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership in Gloucester, Mass.

Read more!

Google Search for Cleaner Energy Unveiled by CEO

Braden Reddall, PlanetArk 3 Oct 08;

SAN FRANCISCO - Google aims to do for the power grid what it did for the Web.

Having conquered the market for Web search by first simplifying how it is done and then making sales of related advertising more efficient, Google Inc is now funding green technology and using its brand power to lobby for policy change.

Google launched a plan on Wednesday to wean the United States off burning coal and oil for power by 2030, and cut oil use for cars by 40 percent. That will cost trillions of dollars, but Google believes it should ultimately save money.

Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said the annual cost of the energy plan would anyway be less than the US$700 billion being considered to bail out the financial industry, and he saw some parallels between the energy challenge and the credit crisis.

"That is an unconscionable failure of system design," he said. "It is inconceivable to me that the sum of the financial industry would have created that as a possible outcome."

He said Google had not yet felt the economic impact of it, but added it was hard to say what would happen next.

"There is an equivalent scale problem in energy," he told reporters after a speech to San Francisco's Commonwealth Club entitled "Where Would Google Drill?". "I'm a computer scientist and computer scientists love scale problems. We like scale and replication and leverage in a technical way."

Through its philanthropic arm Google.org, the company is backing start-ups designing wind, solar and geothermal technologies, which it hopes will eventually be cheaper than coal. Google invested US$45 million in such companies this year.

"But that is a drop when we need a flood," Google wrote on its official blog, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/clean-energy-2030.html


HOT TOPIC

Calls for energy efficiency, once heard largely from environmentalists, now resonate with voters and businesses unlike never before, especially with oil above US$100 a barrel.

Google itself is improving its servers and their buildings, identifying US$5 million in building efficiency investments that will pay for themselves in two and a half years. New efficiency standards for computers could cut power consumption by the equivalent of 10 to 20 coal-fired plants by 2010, Google said.

Google's energy plan calls for stricter building codes, a commitment to wind and solar tax credits that have lapsed in the past, and a price on carbon through cap-and-trade or tax.

Google recently partnered with General Electric Co to speed up development of grid technology. Echoing calls by both presidential candidates for an upgraded power grid, Google wants to see more smart meters and real-time pricing to let people see how much energy they use and what it costs them.

Schmidt, a business adviser to Barack Obama's campaign, was discouraged by talk of "clean coal" among Republicans, but said generally of energy policy: "Regardless of who becomes president, there will be action on this front."

Asked if he would ever enter politics, Schmidt told the Commonwealth Club meeting: "That is very flattering, but the answer is 'hell no.'"

At the time of Google's initial public offering in 2004, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin pledged employee time and about 1 percent of Google's equity -- 3 million shares -- plus 1 percent of profits to philanthropy. In 2006, Google converted 300,000 shares into about US$90 million to set up Google.org.

The fact that it is a small percentage of Google's US$4 billion-plus 2007 profit has led some critics to wonder whether it is little more than a publicity stunt.

Schmidt said there was a branding benefit from the effort, but it was ultimately driven by what the two founders wanted, and he doubted investors worried too much about the cost. "Our shareholders are used to this sort of stuff from Google." (Editing by Bernard Orr and Louise Heavens)

Read more!

US Could Create 4.2 Mln Green Jobs by 2038 - Study

Jim Loney, PlanetArk 3 Oct 08;

MIAMI - The US economy could generate 4.2 million new "green" jobs in the next 30 years, about 10 percent of all the jobs created, according to a study for the US Conference of Mayors released on Thursday.

The study found the United States now has about 750,000 green jobs, which generally involve producing renewable energy or providing engineering, legal or research support.

That figure represents less than 0.5 percent of all current US jobs, said Global Insight, the economic research and consulting firm that did the study.

The study is the first attempt to quantify the economic opportunity presented by a drive by US cities and states to boost energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases and the use of fossil fuels, the group said.

"We are firmly convinced that what we need in this country is a green revolution," Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, president of the US Conference of Mayors, said at a news conference.

The study was released on the same day that the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose to 497,000, the highest number in seven years.

The forecast of 4.2 million new green jobs is based on the assumption that 40 percent of the electricity generated in the United States by 2038 will come from alternative fuels -- wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass.

It also assumes that 30 percent of fuel used in cars and light trucks will come from alternatives to gasoline and diesel by then, and that electricity use in existing buildings will drop by 35 percent due to retrofitting.

The study said the push to increase the use of alternative fuels in transportation alone could generate nearly 1.5 million new jobs in the next three decades.


CITIES, STATES TAKING STEPS

Spurred by Washington's failure to enact global emissions standards in the United States, the world's biggest polluter, members of the US Conference of Mayors have moved to enact elements of the Kyoto Protocol -- a climate change pact agreed to by governments at a 1997 UN conference in Japan -- in their own cities.

Many states also have set their own targets. For example, Florida last year called on state utilities to produce 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020 and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to year 2000 levels by 2017.

The study defined current green jobs as those focused on generating electricity from renewable or nuclear fuels, supplying corn or soy for fuel, making or selling renewable power equipment, and building and installing energy or pollution management systems.

It also listed government environmental jobs or support jobs in engineering, legal, research and consulting.

The largest number of current green jobs -- nearly 420,000 of the 750,000 -- are in engineering, legal, research and consulting, the study found. The second largest field, with 127,000 jobs, was renewable power generation.

Some 85 percent of current green jobs are in metropolitan areas, with the largest number being in New York, followed by Washington, Houston and Los Angeles. (Editing by Jane Sutton and Xavier Briand)

Read more!