WASHINGTON, DC, February 3, 2009 (ENS) – President Barack Obama today named U.S. Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a Republican, to fill the slot of Commerce Secretary in his cabinet.

If confirmed by the Senate, Gregg will join Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a total of three Republicans in the Obama Cabinet.

The President called his former Senate colleague a “master of reaching across the aisle” and complimented his “strict fiscal discipline.” But Obama mentioned no environmental credentials for his choice, although the Department of Commerce governs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.

From left, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Judd Gregg, President Barack Obama (Photo courtesy The White House)

NOAA has many environmental functions including the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; the National Marine Fisheries Service; the National Ocean Service; the National Weather Service; and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

“The Commerce Department has a broad and interesting portfolio,” Senator Gregg said today, “but its primary goal must be to create jobs by promoting industry, promoting economic activity, and promoting excellence in science. And I intend to pursue those avenues aggressively.”

A former congressman from 1980-1988, and a governor of New Hampshire from 1989-1993, Gregg has been serving in the Senate since 1993, and is currently ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

In the Senate, Gregg has a record of supporting commercial exploitation of resources, including offshore drilling, over environmental protection, although he has voted for some conservation measures.

The League of Conservation Voters’ Scorecard for the 2008 session of Congress scored Gregg at just nine percent for pro-environmental votes. His total LCV score since 1993 is 44 percent.

Republicans for Environmental Protection, a nonprofit group, issued Gregg an “environmental harm demerit” for sponsoring a Fiscal Year 2007 budget resolution that used the congressional budget process to force oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

On March 16, 2006 the Senate passed the resolution by a 51-49 vote. In the House, pro-conservation Republicans stood with Democrats to ensure that Arctic drilling was not included in the House budget resolution. The two bills were never reconciled in conference, so the Arctic refuge remains protected.

Backpackers in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Photo by Out in Alaska)

REP said drilling in the refuge “would perpetuate America’s dangerous oil dependence and damage the most scenic, wildlife-rich reserve in the circumpolar north.”

He has voted against environmental funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and did not vote to fund programs for conserving public lands and wildlife, oceans, coasts, water and farmland.

On the other hand, REP praised Gregg for helping secure passage of S. 4001, the New England Wilderness Act, which designated as wilderness nearly 35,000 acres of forests, mountains, and streams in New Hampshire and 42,000 acres in Vermont.

REP’s 2007 Congressional Scorecard rated Gregg as fourth best Republican in the Senate for environmental voting.

The University of New Hampshire renamed its Environmental Technology Building Gregg Hall, because Gregg used earmarks to secure $266 million of federal funds for research and development projects for the university.

The Judd Gregg Meteorology Institute, established in 2003, is the center of meteorological and atmospheric research at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, which offers the only meteorology degree program in the state.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, an urgent issue Gregg will have to address at NOAA is upgrading infrastructure for responding to maritime accidents in the Arctic.

On Thursday, NOAA issued a joint report with the University of New Hampshire warning that more needs to be done to enhance emergency response capacity as Arctic sea ice declines due to climate warming and ship traffic in the region increases.

Scientists study ice patterns high in theArctic (Photo courtesy NOAA)

“The reduction of polar sea ice and the increasing worldwide demand for energy will likely result in a dramatic increase in the number of vessels that travel Arctic waters,” said Nancy Kinner, a UNH professor of civil and environmental engineering who serves as co-director of the Coastal Response Research Center, based at the university.

“As vessel traffic increases, disaster scenarios are going to become more of a reality,” she said.

The report details findings from a panel of experts and decision-makers from Arctic nation governments, industry and indigenous communities convened by the CRRC.

The panel examined five potential emergency response scenarios – a grounded cruise ship whose 2,000 passengers and crew must abandon the vessel; an ice-trapped and damaged ore carrier; an explosion on a fixed drilling rig north of Alaska; a collision between a tanker and fishing vessel that results in a large oil spill; and the grounding of a tug towing a supplies barge in an environmentally sensitive area near the Bering Strait.

“Now is the time to prepare for maritime accidents and potential spills in the Arctic,” said Amy Merten, NOAA co-director of the center. “This report clearly indicates that international cooperation and adequate resources are key to saving lives and protecting this special region.”

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CHICAGO, Illinois, December 4, 2008 (ENS) – President-elect Barack Obama has tapped New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to be his Secretary of Commerce, a position with many natural resources responsibilities.

Richardson will be in charge of rebuilding the U.S. economy on a basis of clean energy and green jobs – two of the essential pillars of Obama’s plan to revitalize America. And as commerce secretary, he will head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, which governs everything from the National Weather Service to fisheries management.

Governor Richardson is serving his second term as governor of New Mexico and previously represented northern New Mexico in Congress for 15 years. In 1997, President Bill Clinton selected Richardson as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. From 1998 to 2001, Richardson served as Clinton’s Secretary of Energy. He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination during the current election cycle but was defeated by Obama.

President-elect Barak Obama, left, announces
Governor Bill Richardson as his choice for
Commerce Secretary. (Photo courtesy
Office of the President-elect)

Announcing Richardson’s nomination in Chicago Wednesday, Obama said, “As a former Secretary of Energy, Bill understands the steps we must take to build a new, clean-energy industry and create the green jobs of the 21st century. Jobs that pay well and won’t be shipped overseas – jobs that will help us end our dependence on foreign oil.”

“And as a former Ambassador to the United Nations, Bill brings both international stature and a deep understanding of today’s global economy,” Obama said. “He understands that the success of today’s business in Detroit or Columbus often depends on whether it can sell products in places like Santiago or Shanghai.”

“And he knows that America’s reputation in the world is critical not just to our security, but to our prosperity – that when the citizens of the world respect America’s leadership, they are more likely to buy America’s products,” said the president-elect.

Richardson said, “There is a vital role for the Department of Commerce in our economic recovery. The unique strengths of the department and its talented public servants make it the natural agency to serve as the programmatic nerve center in America’s struggle to rejuvenate our economy. America will once again be at the forefront of innovation, especially in the new frontier of energy independence and clean energy jobs, and we will restore our position of respect in the world.”

The present Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, issued a supportive statement, saying, “The Department of Commerce is a vast agency with a diverse portfolio that ranges from promoting commerce and economic growth, to exercising stewardship over our oceans and waterways.”

“Richardson has the credibility and expertise to negotiate with our foreign partners and ensure that American businesses and workers have open markets and a fair playing field on which to compete,” said Gutierrez.

Ocean conservationists praised Obama’s choice of Richardson.

Vikki Spruill, president and chief executive of the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy said, “Bill Richardson is an outstanding choice to lead the Department of Commerce, the department most closely associated with America’s ocean policy.”

“Given the many serious problems currently facing our oceans, we hope and expect Governor Richardson to be a champion for the health of our oceans,” she said.

“Too often NOAA has been as afterthought at the Commerce Department. We believe Governor Richardson can change that. Clearly, he is aware the ocean supplies the air we breathe and the food we eat,” said Spruill. “We trust he will put defending this all-important resource at the front of his agenda, where it belongs.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, July 9, 2008 (ENS) – Today’s federal environmental research, development, and monitoring programs are not structured to handle such major problems as global climate change, declines in freshwater, and loss of biodiversity, warns a group of former senior federal officials who want to form a new agency by merging two existing ones.

In an article published in the journal “Science,” the officials propose an independent Earth Systems Science Agency that would be created by merging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, and the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS.

Former NOAA administrator D. James Baker and former USGS director Charles Groat, among the article’s seven coauthors, see important synergies in linking the two agencies.

Baker said, “Population pressure, development impact, and resource extraction affect land and sea alike. Just as the science of the Earth is seamless, so should the government responsibility be merged for these separate Earth agencies.”

Groat points to the breadth of capabilities the agency would possess.

A new combined Earth science agency
would treat the planet as a whole.
(Photo courtesy NASA)

“The USGS, in bringing not only its geologic, biologic, hydrologic and geospatial expertise to the understanding of natural systems, but also its research capabilities in energy, mineral, water, and biologic resources, gives the new organization a comprehensive perspective on both environmental and resource systems. If we effectively link these capabilities with those of NOAA, we will have a powerful research institution.”

The authors recommend that no less than 25 percent of the new agency’s budget be devoted to grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with academic and nonprofit institutions.

“Earth system science merges earth, atmospheric, and ocean science into a panorama of the earth system as it is today and as it will be tomorrow,” said Charles Kennel, former associate administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, and director of Mission to Planet Earth.

“We need it to predict climate change and its impacts, and to help us mitigate and adapt to other changes that have the potential to affect our quality of life and economic well-being,” Kennel said.

The article, entitled “An Earth Systems Science Agency,” points to the scientific advantages of linking NOAA’s atmospheric and marine programs with the terrestrial, freshwater, and biological programs of the USGS.

According to Donald Kennedy, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and past president of Stanford University, “It isn’t often that we are offered a real opportunity to make government work better. But the modest, sensible reorganization proposed here brings a new science-rich focus on some of our biggest contemporary challenges.”

Kennedy stresses the importance of linking the new agency’s activities with the tremendous talent in the nation’s universities, while former presidential science adviser John Gibbons says the new agency’s effectiveness will depend upon the bridges it builds to other federal agencies.

David Rejeski, who worked in both the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Council on Environmental Quality, emphasizes the importance of setting aside some of the Earth Systems Science Agency’s budget to fund research and development with breakthrough potential.

The paper points to the direct link between research and development and economic growth. The work of NOAA and USGS already fuels a large, multi-billion dollar private sector enterprise.

Mark Schaefer, a former official at the Department of the Interior and the White House science office, said, “Our nation’s research and development enterprise must be better structured and directed if we are to have any chance of solving the tremendous environmental challenges of our time.”

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SILVER SPRING, Maryland, May 12, 2008 (ENS) – U.S. environmental laws enacted in the 1970s are reducing overall contaminant levels in coastal waters of the United States, finds a 20 year study released today by scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. But the study shows continuing elevated levels of toxic metals and oils near urban and industrial areas of the coast.

Oil related compounds from motor vehicles and shipping activities continue to flow into coastal waters daily, NOAA reports. These compounds, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, have been monitored by NOAA scientists for decades so baseline data exist to help define the extent of environmental degradation.

For example, PAH levels following the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay showed concentrations at the monitoring site near the spill were the highest ever recorded.

The Department of Health and Human Services has determined that some PAHs “may reasonably be expected to be carcinogens.”

Gunnar Lauenstein is manager of the NOAA
Mussel Watch program. (Photo
courtesy NOAA)

“What is of concern is that there are contaminants that continue to be problematic, including oil-related compounds from motor vehicles and shipping activities,” said Gunnar Lauenstein, manager of the NOAA Mussel Watch program, which produced the report.

The longest continuous national contaminant-monitoring program in U.S. coastal waters, the Mussel Watch program analyzes chemical and biological contaminant trends in sediment and bivalve tissue collected at over 280 coastal sites from 1986 to present.

“The Mussel Watch Program 20-year assessment is a concise and informative review of contaminant monitoring in the nation’s coastal waters,” said Jack Schwartz with Massachusetts Marine Fisheries. “This report should well serve readers who may not necessarily be conversant with scientific literature on contaminant monitoring and fate and effects.”

The NOAA Mussel Watch scientists have monitored and analyzed 140 different chemicals in U.S. coastal and estuarine areas, including the Great Lakes.

“It’s interesting to note that pesticides, such as DDT, and industrial chemicals, such as PCBs, show significant decreasing trends around the nation, but similar trends were not found for trace metals,” said Lauenstein.

Scientist in the field packages oysters for
shipment back to the laboratory
where they are analyzed for
contaminants. (Photo
courtesy NOAA)

The report, “NOAA National Status and Trends Mussel Watch Program: An Assessment of Two Decades of Contaminant Monitoring in the Nation’s Coastal Zone from 1986-2005,” is the first that presents national, regional, and local findings in a quick reference format, suitable for use by policymakers, scientists, resource managers and the public.

“We need to ensure the safety of our coastal waters for the rich resources they provide,” said John Dunnigan, NOAA assistant administrator of the National Ocean Service. “This program shows that although our coasts are under tremendous pressure, policymakers and the public are able to work together to produce positive results.”

The report shows decreasing trends nationally of the pesticide DDT, although a majority of the sites monitored are along the Southern California coast.

Decreasing trends also were found for the industrial chemicals polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The Hudson-Raritan Estuary in New York and New Jersey, one area of the country where some of the highest concentrations of these chemicals were found, now shows 80 percent of monitored sites with decreasing trends for this pollutant.

Tributyl-tin, a biocide used as a compound to reduce or restrict the growth of marine organisms on boat hulls, was found to have greater than anticipated consequences as it affected not only the targeted organisms, but also other marine and freshwater life as well. First regulated in the 1980s, this compound is now decreasing nationally.

Flame retardants known as PBDEs are a new class of contaminants currently being evaluated by the Mussel Watch Program to determine whether they are increasing in coastal waters and what effects they may have on both marine and human health.

The program keeps collected tissue samples frozen so that overlooked or newly emerging contaminants can be retroactively analyzed, as is currently being done with flame retardants.

NOAA plans to issue a report on flame retardants in coastal waters later this year.

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SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 29, 2008 (ENS) – The latest scientific research conducted within three West Coast national marine sanctuaries is now displayed on a new website hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA and enriched by nearly 100 contributing partners.

The site, sanctuarysimon.org, integrates scientific monitoring data from Gulf of the Farallones, Cordell Bank and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries – three continuous, federally protected marine areas off California’s northcentral coast.

From the waters off Bodega Head south to Cambria near San Luis Obispo, the three sanctuaries encompass 7,130 square miles of ocean and estuarine waters.

Developed by the Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network, or SIMoN, the site makes a wealth of information about the region’s marine ecosystem easily accessible for effective management and a better understanding of the sanctuary and its resources, says NOAA, which has jurisdiction over the nation’s marine sanctuaries.

Pacific white-sided dolphins play in the waves
off the California coast. (Photo
courtesy NOAA)

“This new SIMoN Web site is a dynamic portal that provides the public and decisionmakers with valuable information about one of the planet’s richest and most diverse marine ecosystems,” said William Douros, the sanctuary system’s west coast regional director.

“This innovative resource will greatly enhance our ability to identify natural and human-induced changes in the marine and coastal ecosystems that our sanctuaries protect,” he said.

The site’s photo gallery also offers users access to more than 2,800 free, high-quality still and video images, sounds and graphics. Visitors can view the sanctuaries’ diversity of marine life, including fishes, seabirds and marine mammals, and explore a wide variety of habitats ranging from kelp forests to submarine canyons.

Other sections of the site examine the physical characteristics of the area, including geology, oceanography and water quality.

SIMoN was created in partnership with the regional science and management community to integrate scientific research and long-term monitoring data.

Collaborators include the U.S. Geological Survey, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, California Department of Fish and Game, Pt. Reyes Bird Observatory and Cascadia Research Collective.

The website will be continuously updated and enriched as additional partners in science and education join the project. Researchers from all over the world can contribute information, which will be authenticated and incorporated into the site’s verified pages.

One important message NOAA wants to convey to boaters in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is to steer clear of whales.

From March through May, thousands of migrating gray whales make their way north from breeding grounds off Mexico to feeding grounds off Alaska. Many of these whales travel directly through the busy shipping lanes off San Francisco in the Gulf of the Farallones sanctuary.

While they also migrate south through the sanctuary in the winter, gray whales, including mothers with newborn calves, swim closest to shore in the spring.

Cow-calf pairs can sometimes be seen from shore, and may even pause in the surf zone for the calf to nurse or rest.

Endangered humpback and blue whales are also at risk.

Boaters should watch for the gray whale’s blow, which looks like a puff of smoke about 10 to 15 feet high, since very little of the whale is visible at the surface. A whale may surface and blow several times before a prolonged dive, typically lasting from three to six minutes.

Boaters should not approach within 300 feet – the length of a football field – of any whale, cut across a whale’s path or make sudden speed or directional changes.

Most important, boaters should avoid getting between a whale cow and her calf. If separated from its mother, a calf may starve, NOAA warns.

Each year, thousands of ships and smaller vessels pass through the Golden Gate. Even small craft collisions with a whale can have disastrous results for both whale and vessel.

All whales are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NOAA points out, adding that some local species, such as humpback and blue whales, are also protected by the Endangered Species Act.

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MIAMI, Florida, April 15, 2008 (ENS) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, is investing $200,000 in Florida’s Miami-Dade County to expand the scope of Baynanza, an annual celebration and cleanup of Biscayne Bay that started 26 years ago.

The funding is the largest NOAA contribution ever made towards a community marine debris cleanup project. It will support the removal of marine debris, such as abandoned vessels, docks and pilings, and other large items that cannot be bagged by volunteers.

“In our role as coastal steward, NOAA wants to remove as much marine debris as we can. This grant helps Miami-Dade restore fish habitat, make boating safer, and enhance the overall experience for people enjoying the Bay,” said Conrad Lautenbacher, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

Thousands of abandoned and derelict vessels and structures litter Florida’s coastal waterways. In some cases, debris has been spreading along shorelines and across underwater habitats for many years.

In coastal South Florida, derelict blue crab traps pose a major problem. These traps can damage seagrass beds and mangrove roots, and have the potential to trap and kill fish and crabs out of season in a phenomenon known as “ghost-fishing.”

Volunteers help clean Biscayne Bay at the 25th
annual Baynanza in 2007. (Photo
courtesy Baynanza)

The county is working to clean up waters and wetlands within NOAA’s Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, two of the region’s most environmentally sensitive and highly protected marine areas.

“These derelict vessels, trash, and discarded crab traps are prevalent within the borders of what should be a highly protected area,” said engineer Carlos Espinosa, director of Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management, DERM.

“Working with the NOAA Restoration Center and the marine sanctuary is a tremendous opportunity for DERM to help reverse decades of neglect and to restore the project area to a more pristine condition,” said Espinosa.

On April 19, NOAA will take part in Biscayne Bay Cleanup Day during Miami-Dade’s Baynanza event. This year, communities will focus on shoreline cleanups, tree plantings and educational activities.

The annual Baynanza celebration was established 26 years ago to bring attention to Biscayne Bay and its importance as one of the county’s most important ecological and economic systems.

In 2007, Biscayne Bay Cleanup Day drew almost 6,300 community participants and this year even more volunteers are expected to come out and help clean up trash along the shores.

NOAA’s Marine Debris Program offers funding and technical assistance to encourage local communities to create and run projects that prevent and remove marine debris to benefit coastal habitat, waterways, and NOAA trust resources, including local fish. In addition to the ecological improvements the projects provide educational and social benefits for people in the communities.

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WASHINGTON, DC, February 21, 2008 (ENS) – More than 30 scientists will embark on a research cruise this month to the Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica. There they will combat cold and wind to study how gases that impact climate change move between the atmosphere and the ocean under high winds and seas.

The Southern Ocean Gas Exchange Experiment, a six week cruise aboard the research vessel Ronald H. Brown, is co-sponsored by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation.

Scientists will study the movement of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in an effort to improve the accuracy of climate models and predictions during the cruise, which departs February 28 from Punta Arenas, Chile.

The world’s oceans are estimated to absorb about two billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. NOAA’s research on ocean acidification resulting from carbon dioxide uptake indicates that many organisms that support marine biodiversity may be threatened by climate change in the future.

Scientists know that higher wind speeds promote faster exchange of gases, but there have been very few studies aimed at directly measuring these exchanges under real world conditions where other factors, like breaking waves, can influence the process.

“The Southern Ocean is the largest ocean region where the surface waters directly connect to the ocean’s interior currents, providing a pathway into the deep sea for carbon dioxide released from human activities,” said Christopher Sabine, an oceanographer at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, and co-chief scientist on the cruise.

“Understanding how atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed into these cold surface waters under high winds speeds is important for determining how the ocean uptake of carbon dioxide will respond to future climate change,” Sabine said.

“Our ongoing effort to understand the global carbon cycle will benefit from the data this cruise will produce about the mechanisms that govern gas transfer in this remote part of the world’s ocean,” said Paula Bontempi, manager of NASA’s ocean biology and biogeochemistry research program.

“And NASA’s global satellite observations of ocean color that reveal so much about the health of our oceans will also be improved in this region as we validate what our space-based sensors see with direct measurements taken at sea,” she said.

“We will be directly assessing the rate and mechanism by which the ocean is taking up carbon and releasing it,” said cruise chief scientist David Ho of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in New York.

Scientists from 20 universities and research institutions on the cruise plan to measure turbulence, waves, bubbles, temperature and ocean color, to see how these factors relate to the exchange of carbon dioxide and other climate gases.

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WASHINGTON, DC, January 20, 2008 (ENS) – Longline fishing fleets on the high seas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will now use special lines that scare seabirds to keep them from taking the bait set out on the long lines as food.

Bird-scaring lines, also called tori lines, are streamers that hang from a line attached at the stern of a fishing vessel. They help prevent birds from reaching the bait when fishing lines are set in the ocean.

Other newly adopted techniques include fishing at night when few birds are active and weighting fishing lines so the baited hooks sink out of reach of birds. These measures will govern fishing for tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean.

These measures will protect endangered albatross and seabird species that fly far from land. Their populations are declining faster than most birds around the world, in part due to their incidental catch in fishing long lines used to catch tuna and swordfish.

Albatross hooked on a long line
(Photo by Fabio Olmos courtesy
BirdLife International)

The new protections are the focus of international measures promoted by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, that go into effect this year.

“Some of the most vulnerable seabird populations travel entire oceans in search of food. Seabird conservation will require nations with longline fishing fleets to work together to adapt their fishing practices to avoid seabirds wherever they fish,” said Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., NOAA administrator and under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.

In November, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas adopted a requirement that the European Commission and 44 other nations use special gear and techniques to reduce the unintended catch of seabirds.

In December, the European Commission and 24 fishing nations that make up the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission set technical specifications for the use of bird-scaring lines and other techniques that help fishermen avoid hooking seabirds by accident.

The negotiations in the Pacific were particularly significant for the United States because two of the three albatross species found in the North Pacific Ocean – the Laysan albatross and the black-footed albatross – breed in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

A third species affected by fishing lines – the short-tailed albatross – breeds in Japan and is found in U.S. waters. It is listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and there are only about 2,200 short-tailed albatross alive today.

“The fate of these vulnerable seabirds is important to the United States and to our longline fishermen, who, under U.S. law, are already taking significant precautions to avoid seabird bycatch,” said Lautenbacher. “We are pleased that some of the same effective measures will now be adopted by fishermen from many other nations.”

Measures similar to those adopted by the two international organizations have proven to be effective in international waters off Antarctica.

Since they were adopted by the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources in 1991, they have reduced the unintended catch of seabirds by 90 percent. No albatrosses were unintentionally caught for the second consecutive year in 2007 in the regulated longline fisheries in these waters.

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