The European Union set quotas for 2008, with an 18 percent decrease for cod in most trawling areas except the North Sea, where quotas were raised by 11 percent. Scientists had pushed for cuts to less than half of 2006 levels …
… the Swedish Board of Fisheries found that no cod had spawned in the waters between Sweden and Denmark this year …
… two New Zealand fishing companies aimed to earn the Marine Stewardship Council’s environmental standard for their Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) catch …
…Australia announced plans to send planes and a ship to surveil Japanese whaling ships, and will use the photographs and video gathered in potential future legal action to force Japan to recognize a ban on hunting whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary …
… a new study suggested that the controversial idea of ocean fertilization, or dumping urea or iron into the ocean to encourage carbon dioxide-consuming algae blooms, would be ineffective …
… a new study published in Science said that warmer, more acidic waters could kill all corals in the next 50 to 75 years …
… the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sought more protections for elkhorn and staghorn coral, which used to be the dominant coral species in the Caribbean …
… scientists blamed the receding ice shelf for a spike in walrus deaths …
… Indiana University researchers found what they believe to be the wreckage of the Quedagh Merchant, the ship buccaneer William Kidd abandoned in 1699, in 10 feet of water off the Dominican Republic coast …
… and an aquarium in Japan used an electric eel to light a Christmas tree.
My weekly recap of ocean news will go on hiatus until next year, so here’s a wish for a happy New Year in advance. See you in 2008!
