Articles by Andrew Sharpless

Five-part ocean series exceeds expectations

It's hard enough to get reporters to write a story on the threats facing our oceans -- but five? The L.A. Times did just that this week with its "Altered Oceans" series (also discussed by Kif here). And I'm not just talking about a couple hundred words buried on page seven; they brought out the big guns for this one. This series is a full multimedia package: videos, graphs, and enough photos to fill the national gallery of art.

Ocean victories underreported

Last week, USA Today's Nick Jans reported on the triple ocean victory in the last four months -- three closures of federal waters totaling an area twice the size of Texas. Nick wonders how the largest act of conservation in our nation's history could have slipped below our collective radar screens. Don't blame us, Nick. We issued press releases, emailed our supporters, and I even blogged about it. Twice.

Since other news agencies treated the victories as "snoozers," Nick took it upon himself to emphasize the importance of these closures, and the threats still facing our oceans in this succinct yet informative article. Thanks, Nick.

Break in Doha talks leaves fate of fisheries uncertain

One of this week's dramas on the world stage was the news from Geneva that the World Trade Organization was forced to break off the trade negotiations known as the Doha Development Round. Key players had reached an impasse on ever-prickly agriculture tariffs and farm subsidies, and it was clear a breakthrough was not in sight. So the Director-General of the WTO recommended the move, which he later likened to a "time out" at a sporting event.

We can only hope that this is merely a time out. That's because the Doha Round contains what is in our view the single biggest thing that could be done right now to save world fisheries from irreversible collapse: eliminating government subsidies that build overcapacity and drive overfishing around the globe.

Songbirds show high mercury levels

Conservation groups have spent the last few years fighting to make sure that FDA warnings about mercury are actually shared with consumers -- and we're starting to have some real success getting the message out. Many consumers, especially expecting mothers, now know about these warnings and are closely monitoring which -- and how much -- seafood they eat in a given week to avoid mercury contamination. But as The New York Times reports, a recent study shows that mercury has spread further than previously thought.

This "eye-opening" study tested songbirds in New York and found that every one had elevated levels of mercury -- meaning that mercury is now literally finding its way into our back yards.