Environmental Issues

One of the new ocean conservation-based organizations is COARE , based in San Francisco and dedicated to greater public awareness through education. The group has an additional effort taking place in shark conservation with their Shark Safe web site. Shark Safe focuses on shark conservation and addressing the market demand through education. To that end, here is a press release that announces the multi-lingual expansion of their web site, including a Chinese version - one of the primary markets for shark products. SharkSafe.org Adds Multilingual Support Certification Program Uses Chinese and French Versions to Raise Awareness of Shark Conservation. Oakland, CA, November 04, 2009 ... Read Full Story

One of the new ocean conservation-based organizations is COARE, based in San Francisco and dedicated to greater public awareness through education. The group has an additional effort taking place in shark conservation with their Shark Safe web site. Shark Safe focuses on shark conservation and addressing the market demand through education. To that end, here is a press release that announces the multi-lingual expansion of their web site, including a Chinese version - one of the primary markets for shark products. SharkSafe.org Adds Multilingual Support Certification Program Uses Chinese and French Versions to Raise Awareness of Shark Conservation. Oakland, CA, November 04, 2009 (PR.COM) ... Read Full Story

Certification Program Uses Chinese and French Versions to Raise Awareness of Shark Conservation. Oakland, Califonia - November 2009 -- The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education, known more commonly by its acronym "COARE", announced today the availability of multilingual resources for its Shark Safe certification program. The website, www.sharksafe.org , which allows both consumers and businesses to learn more about the Shark Safe certification program, is now available in several languages, including Chinese and French. Using an easily recognizable logo to distinguish participating establishments, the Shark Safe program offers certification to qualifying restaurants and select businesses that demonstrate a measured commitment to shark ... Read Full Story

Certification Program Uses Chinese and French Versions to Raise Awareness of Shark Conservation. Oakland, Califonia - November 2009 The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education, known more commonly by its acronym "COARE", announced today the availability of multilingual resources for its Shark Safe certification program. The website, www.sharksafe.org, which allows both consumers and businesses to learn more about the Shark Safe certification program, is now available in several languages, including Chinese and French. Using an easily recognizable logo to distinguish participating establishments, the Shark Safe program offers certification to qualifying restaurants and select businesses that demonstrate a measured commitment to shark conservation. Now ... Read Full Story

Asian demand for bluefin tuna, sharks' fins and ivory will come under scrutiny when 175 member states of the UN wildlife trade agency meet to consider trade restrictions, according to documents seen by AFP. Proposals to restrict or ban international trade in those three products are due to be studied when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) holds its next triennial meeting in Qatar next year. Monaco has tabled a ban for trade in tuna, while the European Union and the United States have proposed limits on the global trade of several shark species, the documents showed. Meanwhile, Tanzania and Zambia ... Read Full Story

A town at the centre of a controversial dolphin slaughtering documentary could sue the film makers, local fisheries officials said Wednesday, as it premiered at a Tokyo film festival. "The Cove", an award-winning film depicting the annual slaughter of dolphins in the Japanese coastal town of Taiji, has caused uproar in the town, with film makers accused of covertly shooting footage using divers and hidden cameras. The Taiji fisheries cooperative, which strongly supports the dolphin hunt, has written a letter of protest to the organiser of the film festival, an official told AFP. "We've heard that the film includes factual errors, and so we ... Read Full Story

Japan said Monday it has caught 59 whales — one short of the maximum allowed by international guidelines — under a research program that critics say is a cover for commercial whaling. The annual expedition off the port city of Kushiro ended over the weekend after harvesting 59 minke whales, the Fisheries Agency said in a statement. A maximum of 60 is allowed under the research program authorized by the International Whaling Commission. Japan and other pro-whaling nations have been pushing for the IWC to revoke the 1986 ban on commercial hunts amid arguments over the number of whales left in the world's oceans. ... Read Full Story