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The MAP News, 189th Ed., 30 September 2007
Dear Friends,
This is the 189th Edition of the Mangrove Action Project News, 30 September 2007.
For the Mangroves,
Alfredo Quarto
Mangrove Action Project
"Man did not weave the web of life. He is merely a strand within it, and whatever he does to the web he does to himself." (From Chief Seattle - Native American after whom Seattle was named)
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Contents for MAP NEWS, 189th Edition, 30 September 2007
FEATURE STORY
Lampung Declaration Against Industrial Shrimp Aquaculture
Reduce Shrimp Consumption and Stop Expansion of Global Aquaculture Industry
MAP WORKS
Pre-Order Your 2008 MAP Children's Art Calendar
Check Out MAP's New Adopt A Program On MAP's New Website!!
New Ecological Mangrove Restoration Workshop In Florida
Senegal
Flooding Risk From Global Warming "Badly Underestimated"
Côte d'Ivoire
Acacias Come to the Service of Mangroves
Kenya
Kenyan Coast Dwellers Tangled In Battle To Grow Mangroves
Mozambique
Mozambique To Boost Prawn Farming Output
Thailand
Shrimp business faces woes on three fronts
Thai Shrimp Farmers In Fury Over Wal-Mart Intentions
Indonesia
Saving RI coral a good thing, says NGO
Malaysia
Malaysia looks at tougher rules to save coastal birds
Vietnam
Shrimp certification boost for Vietnam exports
India
***ACTION ALERT!!!***
Please Support Dalits' Call Against Aquaculture
***ACTION ALERT!!!***
Stop Port Construction; Save Ridley Sea Turtles Sept-Oct 2007
Gifts from the mangroves
Indian shrimp exporters are celebrating US Tariff Reduction
Bangladesh
Documentary screening"Badabon-er Katha": A tale of the Sundarbans
Sweet water prawn brings farmers back to business
China
U.S. exempts first Chinese farmed seafood producer from import restrictions
Brazil
Aquaculture Certification: the perspective of social organizations
2 Recent Storms Show Forests Help Blunt Hurricanes Force
Mexico
A Passing In The Mangroves
Mangroves & Sea Turtles Threatened By Continuing Eological Crimes Of Bahia Principle
The Bahamas
Bimini--Endangered Species Threatened By Bimini Bay Resort
San Salvador, Another Island Under The Gun Of Development
US Virgin Islands
Mangrove Cleanup Gets A Third Nod In US Virgin Islands
USA
Chinese catfish imports slip through cracks in US food safety system
Inspections Of Chinese Food Imports Questioned
Organic By Any Other Name
Wild shrimp vs. farmed
EUROPE
Organic Label May Mislead Shrimp Consumers
STORIES / ISSUES
World Watch Report: Oceans in Peril
ESA launches new project to protect biodiversity
UN Adopts Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Climate, carbon, conservation and communities
Campaign to get Aussies to eat their own seafood
CONFERENCES / WORKSHOPS / PUBLICATIONS
The Role of Physical Processes in Mangrove Environments
AQUACULTURE CORNER
WWF kicks off process for certifying pangasius aquaculture products
Multinational firms precipitate Chile's salmon farm crisis, seminar told
No vote on BC organic aquaculture standards
Canada Salmon Farms Drawing Heavy Criticisms
Fish billionaire in plea to save wild salmon
Fish Farming Growth Rate Rapid & Problematc
AROUND THE CORNER
Holy Mackerel Gives Brth To Charlie Tuna, Jr.!
Note: MAP's Executive Director joined a gathering of international NGOs from Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and N. America to address the issues of industrial shrimp farming. The following declaration was drawn up by participants meeting in Lampung, located in SE Sumatra, Indonesia.
Lampung Declaration Against Industrial Shrimp Aquaculture
Declaration of representatives of local communities, NGOs, social movements and researchers from 17 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, meeting in Lampung, Indonesia, on 4-6 September 2007 to address the continuing expansion and associated impacts of industrial shrimp aquaculture. (6 September 2007) WALHI
Lampung, Indonesia
6 September 2007
We, representatives of local communities, NGOs, social movements and researchers from 17 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, had a meeting in Lampung, Indonesia, on 4-6 September 2007 to address the continuing expansion and associated impacts of industrial shrimp aquaculture.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of its devastating effects, the industry continues to increase and spread into new lands and countries while leaving behind degraded land and impoverished communities.
The continued conversion of wetlands, especially mangroves, into shrimp ponds contributes to climate change by releasing stored carbon in the soil into the atmosphere and by nullifying the mangroves function to sequester carbon. Shrimp farming is also responsible for removing green belts, which protect coastal communities from disasters such as hurricanes, storm surges, tsunami, etc. The recent expansion of the industry into salt flats, mud flats, and lagoons, which are part of a coastal ecosystem, is equally destructive.
We are concerned that farmed shrimps are promoted as healthy food while consumers are not provided with full information of the dangers to their health that may be caused as the result of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and other chemicals that are used in the various phases of shrimp production.
We call upon people in consuming countries to greatly reduce their consumption of imported farmed shrimps, all of which are produced at the expense of environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, loss of peoples livelihoods, cultural diversity and security, and violation of human rights including murder.
We demand that governments take cognizance of these issues and implement the 1999 Ramsar Convention Resolution VII.21, which calls on governments to suspend the promotion, creation of new facilities and expansion of unsustainable aquaculture activities harmful to coastal wetlands.
We further demand that retailers also take the responsibility of limiting consumption of farmed shrimp, instead of the current practice of promoting it.
We urge the International Financial Institutions, such as the World Bank, ADB and the IDB, and Intergovernmental Agencies to stop the promotion and funding of industrial shrimp aquaculture.
Presently, the industry, with the support of certain international NGOs, is trying to improve its public image by developing certification processes and misleading labels such as 'Ethical Shrimp' and 'Organic Shrimp' to mask ecological damage, human rights violation, widening income gap, loss of jobs and other real problems caused by the industry. Such schemes ignore the rights to food security and sovereignty of the communities where shrimp is produced and do not provide space for local communities.
We therefore urge consumers, retailers, NGOs and governments to reject all the certification schemes developed thus far and those currently in development.
List of those who have signed on to the declaration as of 6 September 2007 (pdf, 3p, 390KB).
For more information, please contact:??Riza Damanik ?WALHI's Manager for Coastal and Marine Campaign Affairs?Telephone: +62-(0)21-791 93 363?Fax: +62-(0)21-794 1673
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Reduce Shrimp Consumption and Stop Expansion of Global Aquaculture Industry South-North Consultation held in Lampung, Indonesia from 46 September. The main theme of the meeting was the negative impact of expansion of shrimp aquaculture industries to the various aspects of the communitys life. (6 September 2007) WALHI
PRESS RELEASE
Lampung, September 6, 2007. The South-North Consultation was held in Lampung, Indonesia from 46 September. The international event was attended by the representatives of local communities, NGOs, social movements and researchers from 17 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. The main theme of the meeting was the negative impact of expansion of shrimp aquaculture industries to the various aspects of the community's life.
The expansion of ecological and negative impacts to the social,, cultural and economic lives of the coastal communities in Indonesia and in other countries due to expansion of aquaculture industries globally must be immediately halted. The government, in this regard, must implement the peoples mandate to ensure food security and sovereignty as well as sustainable environment, said Riza Damanik, WALHIs Manager for Coastal and Maritime campaign affairs.
Expansion of aquaculture industries in various countries has been encouraged by two factors: (1) high consumption rate in the Northern countries; and (2) the financial assistance provided by international donor agencies such as the World Bank, ADB, IDB. In addition, such expansion of shrimp aquaculture industries is supported by various certification schemes which disregard the principle of justice especially toward the Southern countries. Moreover, shrimp aquaculture activities cause ecological damages, damage to biodiversity, loss of livelihoods, and violation of human rights.
Pursuant to RAMSAR Resolution No. VII. 21, each government must suspend the expansion of shrimp aquaculture industries. Ecological and other problems caused by expansion of shrimp aquaculture industries globally are not only the problems of shrimp producing countries but they are also the responsibility of the global communities.
Changing the consumption pattern and stopping expansion of shrimp aquaculture industries globally are the ways to materialize food security and sovereignty, and empower and restore the local communities' lives. International support, as demonstrated by the representatives of local communities, NGOs, social movements and researchers from 17 countries in the South-North Consultation held in Lampung is the realization of the government's obligation to guarantee food security and sovereignty for all the people of Indonesia. Such urgent realization of the two above matters is a precious moment to uphold the nation's dignity. Now or never, said Riza Damanik. ??Contact:?M. Riza Damanik, WALHIs Manager for Coastal and Marine Campaign Affairs?Hp. 0818 77 3515
Order Your 2008 MAP Children's Art Calendar
Please early order your 2008 MAP Children's Art Calendar now!
From: mangroveap@olympus.net
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Check Out MAP's New Adopt A Program On MAP's New Website!!
Adopt a Program Section
MAP's new Adopt-a-Program has been posted to the website. Please help MAP by forward the link to anyone who might be interested in donating!
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New Ecological Mangrove Restoration Workshop In Florida Scheduled
The full announcement about the 6th "Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration Training Course", March 3-6, 2008, Hollywood, Florida, is now available at www.mangroverestoration.com.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training workshop, March 3-6, 2008, Hollywood, Florida.
The sixth "Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training workshop will be held at the Anne Kolb Nature Center, in Hollywood, Florida, USA, March 3-6, 2008. The training site is within a 500 ha mangrove restoration project at West Lake Park operated by Broward County. The award-winning project was designed by Roy R. "Robin" Lewis III, who will be teaching the course.
The workshop includes an introduction to mangrove forest ecology, management options and problems, and restoration design issues. The class programs are all given in a PowerPoint format, and each student is provided with a print out of the presentation and additional handouts including monitoring reports for typical restoration projects. Case studies of 5 successful mangrove restoration projects, and several unsuccessful projects, are discussed. Field trips are taken within the 500 ha West Lake Park mangrove restoration project (now 18 years old) and a new project just five years old, for a comparison.
The emphasis is on cost-effective successful mangrove management and restoration, and cost figures for typical projects are discussed and explained. The hydrologic restoration of mangroves is emphasized as the best approach to successful restoration at minimal cost (see Erftemeijer and Lewis 2000; Lewis 1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2005; Lewis and Marshall 1998; Lewis and Streever 2000; Lewis et al. 2005, Stevenson et al. 1999; and Turner and Lewis 1997, for further discussion about hydrologic restoration of mangroves). Planting of mangroves is discussed in light of the many failures of this alone to successfully restore mangroves.
Cost for the course not including travel to Ft. Lauderdale, lodging or food is $800, due by January 1, 2008 to Coastal Resources Group, Inc., P.O. Box 5430, Salt Springs, Florida, USA 32134-5430. Two qualified students will be allowed to attend for free, and can apply at any time for the two fee-waived positions. This course is organized by the Coastal Resources Group, Inc., and will be taught in conjunction with the Mangrove Action Project . Lodging close to the training site is available at the SleepInn in Dania Beach, Florida. Reservations need to be made early. Each participant is responsible for making their own reservations.
More information can be provided by Robin Lewis at and www.mangroverestoration.com .
Senegal
Flooding Risk From Global Warming "Badly Underestimated"
The Mangrove Man
By Matthew Shaer The Christian Science Monitor
Thursday 30 August 2007
Abdoulaye Diame is on a crusade in his native Senegal to save a plant crucial to curbing floods, filtering seawater, and regulating tides.
Fayako, Senegal - First the old man traces a slow, sprawling circle in the sand. Then gingerly, like a master painter, he fills out his portrait: a dozen triangles for waves, a smattering of rectangles for buildings, and a jagged line for the shore. "A few years ago," he says, "the water was down there."
For emphasis, he turns in his chair, and points at the beach. It is an unusually hot day, and half of the 50-odd residents of this small island are huddled under a small grove of palms at the center of the island. "We lived in those buildings for a while," he says. "The tide came up, so we pulled back to here." He marks the middle of a circle.
"The mangroves were a barrier against the water," explains Abdoulaye Diame, peering down at the old man's illustration. "When the mangroves started dying, the water started rising."
Mr. Diame, a Senegalese scientist, is a liaison between Fayako and the mainland. But in this part of Senegal, he is known mostly as a tireless advocate for the mangrove tree - one of the earth's vital and unheralded natural resources. With their thick copses and interconnected roots, mangroves are essential for purifying sea water, regulating the tides, balancing underwater ecosystems, and mitigating the effects of floodwater damage. For many West Africans, they are also a source of fuel and a support to marine life.
They are regarded locally with almost spiritual reverence.
But they're disappearing rapidly. By most estimates, more than half the world's mangroves have already been destroyed. The remaining plants, which grow in tropical and subtropical zones from India to Southeast Asia, die at a rate of 1 to 2 percent a year - largely because of pollution and the increasing salinity of some coastal waters.
In Fayako, a town located deep in Senegal's verdant Sine Saloum Delta, the effects are clearly visible. As the mangroves have vanished, locals are finding fewer fish to eat and no firewood to burn. More ominously, the tide rises a bit higher each year.
So Diame is trying to halt the destruction through a combination of reforestation and grass-roots activism. Each week, he pilots a boat around the serpentine tributaries of the delta, stopping at small towns to inspect progress on planting sites and help residents manage the remaining mangroves. He harangues village elders about proper tending. He works to introduce new agricultural techniques.
If he turns out to be successful, his program could become a model for other mangrove conservation efforts around the globe.
Diame is a tall man with broad shoulders and a steely stare that reflects the deeply personal nature of his work. He maintains roots in the region, where he was born and where he graduated from high school. In 1993, he traveled to Russia to attend Moscow State University, earning degrees in physical oceanography and geography. When he returned to Senegal, he set about using his new skills to help solve some of the delta's most pressing ecological problems. Chief among them: the precipitous drop in the mangrove population, caused in part by the polluting runoff from luxury resorts in the area.
"We tried to approach it in two different ways," Diame says. "We wanted to begin replanting the mangroves, but we also wanted to teach people here about how they could help."
The first step was to establish a center in Foundiougne. By the late 1990s, Diame had secured enough funding from Western organizations to begin work on a small complex outside town. He also began working with the Mangrove Action Project (MAP), a US-based nongovernmental organization with offices around the globe. Today, Diame acts as an advisor for MAP and a coordinator for the Western African Mangrove Network, which has staff in Nigeria and Ivory Coast.
But Diame is most devoted to the Sine Saloum Delta, an area where most of his family still lives. His office, which started as a single concrete building, is now a full research facility - with conference rooms, a dining hall, and thatched bungalows for visitors. Diame keeps many local residents on retainer to help with everything from fieldwork to cooking.
"One of the really important things is getting local people involved in the process of restoration," says Alfredo Quarto, the executive director and cofounder of MAP. "They have to own it."
Mangrove preservation efforts became something of a cause célèbre in the years following the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. The temblor triggered a deadly tsunami in Southeast Asia, and many groups began focusing on the plant's effectiveness in limiting floodwater damage. Former President Bill Clinton, for instance, has become involved with an initiative called Mangroves for the Future, and every year a host of NGOs pour money into restoration efforts.
"Mangroves have so many functions: They filter out impurities; help prevent hurricane damage; they can sequester enormous amounts of carbon in their roots," says Mr. Quarto. "It's obvious that we need to save them. But the efforts have largely been a failure."
One reason, says Roy R. Lewis III, a scientific advisor to MAP, is that many groups simply dump money into affected areas, without monitoring how it's being spent. "It's a waste," says Mr. Lewis. "We're not dealing with applied management. The funding agencies are not facilitating local education. They're not even following up."
On a warm, cloudy summer morning, Diame drives through the center of Foundiougne, stopping his jeep near the town's dock. Dozens of children dart around his legs; he jokes with them in a mixture of French and Wolof, the local tribal dialect. He chats with a store owner. When the crowd dissipates, Diame walks to the edge of the dock and points to a small grove of mangroves on the shore. A few signposts poke out of the water, each marked with a large red X.
"This is an education project," he says. "It is different from actual reforestation - these were planted to sensitize people to the mangroves. We tell them, 'You can't use these for firewood anymore. You can't trample them, or play in them. You have to take care of them.' "
This is Diame's big gambit: If he can teach people to respect the plants, he will have taught them how to save their villages. So with the help of a handful of villagers, he compliments reforestation efforts with the creation of small displays around the delta. He brings residents of Fayako to tour the replanting sites. He teaches them to find alternate sources of wood.
So far, he's been moderately successful. The destruction along the delta, he says, has leveled off, and some of the reforestation efforts have taken root. But more important, Diame has succeeded in creating a practical approach to conservation. He has raised a general awareness of the plight of the Sine Saloum Delta - an awareness that originates in the local community.
"It's a start," says Diame. "For the people here, it's a good start."
From: Joseph Ingoldsby landscapemosaics@verizon.net
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Côte d'Ivoire
Acacias Come to the Service of Mangroves
Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)
NEWS
13 August 2007
Posted to the web 13 August 2007
By Fulgence Zamblé and Michée Boko
Abidjan
Mangroves, it could be said, have perfected the art of multi-tasking. Found along tropical coastlines, these trees and shrubs may prevent soil erosion, while their roots create breeding places for various marine species. So, when a particular mangrove forest is shown to have been reduced by two thirds in less than 20 years, there is major cause for concern.
At the start of the 1990s, the mangroves around Ebrié lagoon in southern Côte d'Ivoire extended over 15,000 hectares. By last year, the area of the forests had shrunk to 5,000 hectares, according to government figures -- a loss attributed to the growing demand for wood on the part of coastal communities.
"The overexploitation of the mangroves of Abidjan (the commercial capital) has led to the disappearance of numerous plant and animal species," says Environment, Water and Forests Minister Daniel Ahizi Aka.
However, a non-governmental organisation based in Abidjan, SOS Forests (SOS Forêts), is trying to stop this destruction, through the 'Restoration of the Biodiversity and Planning of Coastal Zones' project.
The initiative is aimed at planting five hectares of acacia trees at each village around the lagoon to provide communities with an alternative source of wood, so that residents will no longer be dependent on mangroves for their domestic energy needs.
"We have chosen the acacia because it's a species that grows quickly. Communities will therefore be able to use the wood after a few months to satisfy their needs concerning wood for cooking," Mathieu Egnankou of SOS Forests told IPS, adding that this would enable mangrove forests to be restored, while "fish species in the process of disappearing will be able to reproduce, and the crocodiles will be able to return."
After a pilot phase of more than a year, the project is now being extended -- and has already started to yield results in the village of Abatta.
A recent visit by IPS to this community found a group of young men and women busy collecting dead wood in the new plantation, a measure to ensure that it too is used sustainably.
For the moment, explained one of the youths, they "are banned from uprooting or chopping down trees. Each family of the village comes here to gather wood for the week; it's now our only source of energy."
Initially, there was some resistance to the venture, with village residents fearing that they would find themselves without wood.
"But as the project evolved, we became aware that it was important for us and for the future of our children to participate in the project, to contribute to protection of the environment," Charles Agba, a member of the initiative's pilot committee in the Abatta area, told IPS.
Seven other villages are also being targeted for acacia planting.
In addition, the 'Restoration of the Biodiversity and Planning of Coastal Zones' project aims to have communities start using stoves that are more energy efficient -- this amidst widespread reluctance to make greater use of gas, considered both dangerous and expensive.
"It costs between 20 and 50 dollars to buy a cylinder of gas, which is excessive for many Ivorians. We are already used to firewood, and this suits us well," said Bernard Kassi, who lives in Bingerville, in the south.
According to the 2006 United Nations Human Development Report, almost 15 percent of Ivorians live below a dollar a day -- and close to 50 percent on less than two dollars per day.
Energy-efficient stoves enable two pots to be warmed by a single fire, the heat of one pot being transmitted to the second. According to Egnankou, families can reduce their consumption of wood by half with the improved stoves.
The project has a cost of 45,800 dollars, and is being financed by the United Nations Development Programme though the Global Environment Facility -- a fund that assists developing nations with environmental protection.
Egnankou warns, however, that much more needs to be done to guard Côte d'Ivoire's plant and animal life.
"There is practically no policy for protection of the environment in Côte d'Ivoire today," he said, also bemoaning the country's inability to ensure implementation of environmental policy.
From: "Elaine Corets" ecorets@gmail.com
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Kenya
Bangkok Post Sunday July 22, 2007
Kenyan Coast Dwellers Tangled In Battle To Grow Mangroves
Conservationist and UN person of the year 2003 Guddy Birkigt tends to her mangrove nursery at Malindi, in the Kenyan coastal region in May 2007. Mangroves are an important breeding ground for fish as well as a means to fight coastal erosion. But in Kenya, and the rest of Africa, efforts to restore mangrove forests remain minimal, with officials and inhabitants slow to pick up on the need to protect the country's coastal forests. Photo courtesy AFP.
by Sophie Nicholson
Robinson Island, Kenya (AFP) June 05, 2007
Standing in a muddy expanse of gnarled remains of dead mangroves, Guddy Birkigt sighed, explaining that her long fight to replant the watery forest was far from over. "I came here as a tourist before it was destroyed and there were mangroves everywhere. Then, when I came a few years later, I couldn't believe what I saw," said Birkigt, staring across the bleak landscape just a few hundred metres (yards) from the pristine white beaches and coconut trees of nearby Robinson Island, off Kenya's northeastern coast.
"It was this picture that motivated me," said the half-Kenyan, half-Sikh activist.
Beyond the damaged mangrove trees and across shallow basins of water, mountains of salt sparkle in the distance.
Since squatting the island more than 20 years ago, Birkigt has fought a running battle with local salt works which razed acres of mangroves and let out highly salty water that pollutes rivers and continues to kill the coastal forests.
She is also battling government officials seeking to take over the land for development.
Birkigt, who was named UN Kenya Person of the Year in 2003 for her conservation efforts in Robinson Island, has since led the replanting of more than one million mangroves with the help of UN funds.
Her efforts are one of only a handful of Kenyan projects aimed at sensitising coastal dwellers of the need to protect the sources of their main building materials and fuel and the value of a balanced ecosystem.
Mangroves are an important breeding ground for fish as well as a means to fight coastal erosion. Scientists say they can offer protection from typhoons and even tsunamis.
The mangrove forests provide homes for crustaceans, and according to some experts, havens for about 40 percent of the 1,092 bird species in the country, including migrant birds.
Mangrove planting and management has a long history in Southeast Asia, where hundreds of forests have been destroyed by aquaculture.
But in Kenya, and the rest of Africa, efforts to restore mangrove forests remain minimal, with officials and inhabitants slow to pick up on the need to protect the country's 54,000 hectares (133,380 acres) of coastal forests.
"Efforts however need to be made so that countries in the WIO (Western Indian Ocean) region do not go the Southeast Asia way," warned Johnson Kitheka from the United Nations Environment Programme.
Kenyan environmental officials say mangrove management is currently confined to controlling activities which harm the environment, such as unsustainable harvesting, pollution and ecologically-damaging salt mining practices.
But critics say the government is not doing enough.
"The challenge is to balance the conservation and the need for economic growth," said environment official Stephen Katua, pointing out that industries which damage mangroves, such as salt mining, also boost the local economy.
"When it comes to (environmental) education, there are quite a lot of gaps to be filled," he added.
Down the coast from Robinson Island, south of Mombasa, is Kenya's only mangrove-dedicated institute, including a project to replace mangroves cleared by a lime production facility.
James Kairo, who heads the Mangrove Rehabilitation Programme in Gazi Bay set up in 1991, said he faced an uphill task.
"It is very difficult to convince somebody that the fish they eat on the table breeds in mangroves," he said.
"The government is not managing, people are not planting."
Back on Robinson Island, Birkigt, who has no scientific background, admitted that her plants do not always prosper.
"We just plant any species to see what takes. We've tried some places and we failed," she said.
But she is determined to continue, and is now seeking official protection for the island.
Her community-based association also runs a nursery school, has sponsored eight village children through university, and is building an eco-tourism venture to help sustain some 500 locals.
After writing numerous letters to nearby salt works, Birkigt finally convinced one company to allow her to replant mangroves on its land.
Local Margaret Ngala, whose land was taken over when the salt works moved in more than a decade ago, now breaks salt blocks in the blistering heat.
But whenever she has a free moment, she plants new mangroves under Birkigt's guidance. Together with her brother Furaha, she has planted more than 200,000 seedlings.
"Every time I wake up I go out with my family to plant mangroves," Furaha said.
Source: Agence France-Presse
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Mozambique
Mozambique To Boost Prawn Farming Output
Mozambique says it will invest more than $8.6 million over the next five years to develop prawn farming, according to their official news agency. Mozambique officials hope to increase their country's production of prawns from 1,000 tons to 2,000 tons per year.
From Xinhua News Agency
Thailand
-- Source: Bangkok Post World News 22/07/2007 12:18:08
Shrimp business faces woes on three fronts
The Thai shrimp industry is going from bad to worse because of a domestic oversupply, the baht's strength, and the latest government intervention scheme to shore up domestic prices.
''We're not against the government's efforts to help shrimp farmers, but we see the mortgage scheme is just a short-term solution and it is not the right way to help farmers nationwide in the long run,'' said Poj Aramwattanont, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association.
''The mortgage scheme has distorted the genuine prices of shrimp and is not compatible with the world's business practices.''
The Farmers Assistance Policy Committee is preparing to spend 300 million baht for a three-month shrimp-pledging programme, starting next month. The project aims to assist small and medium-sized shrimp farmers by restricting each one to pledging Vannamai shrimp worth no more than two million baht. The pledging price will be 10-20% higher than the market price. The pledging price for large-sized shrimp will be 40 baht per kilogramme, for middle-sized shrimp 120 baht, and for small-sized shrimp 105 baht. According to Mr Poj, given their perishability, shrimp that have frozen for too long in storage after being mortgaged cannot be processed into quality products.
As well, he said, the government's subsidy scheme had destroyed the cluster system under which farmers and exporters promoted contract farming to expand the industry in the longer term.
Mr Poj said his association proposed that the government could make more of a difference for farmers if it helped to reduce the production costs, particularly the cost of shrimp feed, and improve the quality of shrimp breeds, while also cutting infrastructure costs such as electricity and oil.
As well, the association has proposed that the government try to persuade farmers to adjust their production to comply with market demand through information dissemination and efficient business plans through co-operation with related parties.
Local shrimp farmers have been facing falling prices since April and shrimp market prices have now dropped below farmers' production costs. Market prices for white shrimp are now about 50-60 baht per kilogramme for 100 heads per kg, compared to 90 baht last year, while production costs average 70 baht per kg.
The market prices of Thai shrimp were also found to be lower than those of other exporting countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia for the first time in several years, despite the better quality of Thai shrimp.
Market prices for white shrimp in Vietnam, for instance, are now about 90 baht per kilogramme for 100 heads/kg. The sharp price drop was attributed mainly to an oversupply, the strong baht, and US requirements of a continuous bond (C-bond) on shrimp exports from countries subject to anti- dumping duties. The bond _ a 100% bank guarantee _ results in double trade protection measures against Thai shrimp exports.
Thai exporters have paid more than six billion baht for C-bond guarantees over the last two years. Thailand's shrimp production is forecast at about 530,000 tonnes this year, nearly the same amount as last year. The country is the world's largest shrimp producer, with exports worth 86 billion baht, or 338,410 tonnes, last year.
Mr Poj said exports would be harder hit this year due to the baht's strength. In a bid to promote exports, the association has proposed that the government allow operators to deal in dollars and help subsidise certain costs such as electricity bills and interest rates for industry, which uses high local content.
Source or related URL: BANGKOKPOST
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www.Seafoodnews.com
News Summary August 23, 2007
Thai Shrimp Farmers In Fury Over Wal-Mart Intentions
Last month we ran a story article that was widely publicized, suggesting that Wal-Mart's demands for certifying shrimp could not be met by many Thai shrimp farms; and that some suppliers were purchasing shrimp ponds to control quality. Well Thai shrimp farmers have reacted with fury, saying that it is totally wrong to suggest that farmers are misusing antibiotics, and further demanding that the Thai government stand up on their behalf. A large number of shrimp farmers organizations are demanding the government react to these kinds of charges. Thai shrimp farmers are under a lot of price pressure these days due to the strong bhat, and the reaction suggests that the issue of who pays for the costs of shrimp farm certification is still very much up in the air.
In other news, also from Thailand, a scandal has broken out over fish sellers who have dyed puffer fish to resemble salmon, and then sold it. 15 people have died and 115 have been injured due to illegal sales of puffer fish, says a report. Puffer fish is not legal to sell in Thailand.
John Sackton, Editor And Publisher , Seafood.com News Email comments to jsackton@seafood.com
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Indonesia
Saving RI coral a good thing, says NGO
Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia has invited countries in the Asia Pacific region to help safeguardits marine and coastal resources -- and the move is expected to bring good things, politically and ecologically, an Indonesian NGO said.
"We're glad our government addressed the issue of preserving our marine biological resources at the APEC meeting," U.S.-based The Nature Conservancy Indonesia program said.
"And we hope this initiative will be followed with concrete measures," the
NGO's country director Rili Djohani said.
During APEC, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono invited the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor to establish a multilateral partnership called the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI).
The initiative would involve a marine area stretching from the middle part of Indonesia to the Solomon Islands and up to the Philippines. The area includes the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The CTI is aimed at protecting marine biological resources in the triangular shaped region, which is home to 76 percent of the world's coral species and 50 percent of its reef fish species.
The 5.7-million- square-kilometer area is the global center of marine biodiversity, with more than 600 coral species and 3,000 fish species, many of which are endemic.
The marine area, with an estimated total per annum value of around US$2.3 billion in resources, supports the livelihood of 126 million people and provides food for millions more.
Rili said she was optimistic CTI would be successful. She said she was sure the program would help recover the marine area, parts of which were being degraded by destructive fishing and coastal developments.
From ecorets@gmail.com
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Malaysia
Malaysia looks at tougher rules to save coastal birds
11 Sep 2007
By Clarence Fernandez
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Malaysia vowed on Tuesday to toughen environmental rules for coastal development projects after a study showed a drop in bird numbers following reclamation that destroyed their homes in mangroves and wetlands. Farms, homes and industry have sprung up along Malaysia's coasts, depriving migratory birds of key winter homes, leading to a 22 percent fall in the number of shorebirds recorded in the two decades to 2006, conservation group Wetlands International said.
Malaysia will tighten environmental regulations to avoid similar future mistakes, Environment Minister Azmi Khalid said.
"Of course, wetlands, people have turned that into prawn farms, fish farms, without regard," he said at a function in the Malaysian capital.
"But today we are aware, my god, we have done the wrong thing. So now governments are very aware of this. All approvals are now being looked at very seriously by all state governments."
The state of Malaysia's vanishing wetlands mirrored the situation with its 189 river basins, just half of which were still intact, while another five percent were too polluted for even a fish to survive, Azmi said.
"In the process of development we have overlooked these issues," he added.
The move for closer scrutiny was part of a growing government consensus that environmental policy needed to be overhauled, Azmi said. He also said there were concerns the environment ministry did not have enough say in projects from highways to town planning.
"I'm told that inputs from the environment ministry are minimal, up to only the environmental impact assessments (EIAs), which is not enough. We don't have enough enforcement powers."
The format of Malaysia's environmental impact assessments dated to the 1970s and the ministry would consider revising it if necessary, Azmi added.
Environmentalists welcomed the move for closer scrutiny, but said that unless Malaysia identified and protected critical biodiversity areas in its development plans, wetlands would still be at risk from property developers who saw them as a bargain.
"Some people doing development like to go and grab the cheap areas which may be state land, or where they drain wetlands, because they feel they can get them for free or cheaply," Faizal Parish of the Global Environment Centre, a Malaysian non-profit group, told Reuters.
Wetlands International said Malaysian coasts were key wintering grounds for endangered species such as the Nordmann's Greenshank, which numbers between 500 and 1,000 birds, and the Chinese egret, whose population ranges from 2,600 to 3,400.
The group's two-year survey, ending in 2006, studied 134 sites in Malaysia, recording more than 105,000 birds.
The worst-hit region was the coast of the northern state of Perak, which saw an 86 percent decline from a similar survey in the 1980s. There were also dramatic falls on the west coast of Johor and in Selangor, the area around the Malaysian capital.
Source: Reuters
From: "Elaine Corets" ecorets@gmail.com
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Vietnam
Shrimp certification boost for Vietnam exports
May 29, 2007 Author: Neil Merrett
Source: www.foodproductiondaily.com
Vietnam's drive to boost exports of its sea-food products received a boost this week, as a number of processors have been honoured for their aquaculture practices, the country's ministry for fisheries revealed yesterday.
Sao Ta Foods and Viet Hai Seafood join six other companies in the country now certified with the Global Aquaculture Alliance's (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification.
During the last few years in particular there has been growing scientific concern that fish stocks both within the EU and on a wider global scale are on the brink of collapse.
As such, aquaculture fish farming has become increasingly important to processors in the sea food industry as populations of popular species like Cod and Tuna undergo rapid decline.
With Vietnam keen to boost the reputation of its shrimp to tap demand in markets like the US, the promise of greater safety and sustainability could push demand for the country's produce.
The GAA is a non-profit trade organisation that encourages greater responsibility in fish and shell food farming. To this end, BAP certification is given to companies that meet specific hygiene and source requirements for greater sustainability.
Although it is currently suffering from anti-dumping duties imposed by the US, exports are seen as the key to success for the country's shrimp industry, as well as the wider sea food market as a whole.
The Fisheries Ministry has said that it wants to see double-digit annual growth in the business by 2010. The aim is to increase output to more than 2.1 million tonnes - from around 1.4 million tonnes currently - and increase export turnover to US$2.5bn (1.8bn) from US$1.7bn (1.2bn).
However, not everyone is as optimistic of Aquaculture's benefits for declining fish populations. While accepting that aquaculture could play some role in encouraging sustainable fishing environmental group the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) believes that fish farming alone cannot offer a long term solution to declining fish stocks.
They are also concerned that it could also encourage some fishers to break agreed quotas on fish stock that can be caught.
From: awitowska@fwwatch.org
India
***ACTION ALERT!!!***
Please Support Dalits' Call Against Aquaculture
Date: 20 Aug 2007
Dear friends,
A four nation Fact Finding Mission (FFM) composed of medical doctors and social activists was organised recently to look into the impacts of an industrial aqua farm in Tamil Nadu (India) and the human rights violations against Dalit villagers protesting against it.
The team, convened by Tamil Nadu Women's Forum and Malaysia-based Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific, visited Kolathur (population: 4000) and nearby areas including the Chinna Aqua Farm, and held extensive discussions with villagers, particularly women.
Based on its findings, the Dalit community called for immediate closure of the illegal shrimp pond, and urged the District Administration to withdraw the nuisance cases filed against villagers, investigate the complaints of police atrocities and compensate villagers for livelihoods lost due to pollution.
Please support the struggle of the Dalit community by signing on to the online petition letter.
The petition letter will automatically send the petition letter to different government officials and institutions in India and encourage them look into the case.
If you wish to download the documentation of the fact-finding mission, please follow this link: PDF FILE
Kindly pass on this letter to your friends and networks.
In solidarity,
PCFS Secretariat
From: Russ Cullinane cullinan@indo.net.id
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***ACTION ALERT***!!!
Stop Port Construction; Save Ridley Sea Turtles Sept-Oct 2007
If TATA Steel goes ahead with the project at the proposed site, the port would not only seal the fate of the Olive Ridley sea turtles of Orissa but also pave the way for one of the biggest ecological disasters along the eastern coast of India .
As sea turtles are migratory creatures, we feel that the entire world should be concerned over this looming threat and the failure of Indian authorities to safeguard their breeding and nesting grounds.
--Biswajit Mohanty, Coordinator of Operation Kachhapa, Orissa, India
The Olive Ridley sea turtle offers one of natures greatest spectacles. Each year, Olive Ridleys return from their inter-oceanic migrations to the beaches where they were hatched. Hundreds of thousands congregate and mate in the offshore waters. Then, as if on cue, the females lumber ashore to lay their eggs. Their arrival -- by the hundreds of thousands on a given beach -- is heralded by the Spanish term for this remarkable event, the arribada.
Arribadas occur in only three locations worldwide. One of the largest is on the coast of Orissa state in India. To protect the endangered sea turtles, the Gahirmatha coast is designated a Marine Sanctuary. The Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, a Ramsar wetland site, offers further protection for a mangrove forest ecosystem, which is a nursery for a wealth of marine life. The Olive Ridleys depend on the fertility of the mangrove ecosystem for food each year when they congregate for mating and the arribada.
How is it possible that the Orissa state government is permitting construction of a massive deep-water industrial port less than 15 kilometers from the Olive Ridleys nesting beaches? If completed, the Dhamra port will be one of the largest in South Asia, with 17-kilometer channels dredged deep and wide enough to accommodate Panamax and Capesize vessels. Environmental organizations and local fishermens unions are asking the international community to help them stop construction of the Dhamra port at this location where its impacts on the sea turtles could spell extinction and its impacts on local fishermen could spell ruin.
Threats to Turtles and Fishing Communities
Sea turtle hatchlings break out of their sandy nests at night and must quickly find their way to the sea. They move across the sand toward the brighter horizon, the moon- and star-lit ocean. Artificial light from ports and populated areas disorients the hatchlings and they may never reach the sea. Artificial light also disorients the nesting females. In fact, the Wildlife Society of Orissa charges that illumination from a mega-port at Dhamra could cause the Olive Ridleys to abandon the Gahirmatha beaches entirely. And go where?
Dredging for the ports ship channels and construction of a 750-meter jetty will change sedimentation patterns, and these will affect the shape, dimensions, sand grain size and vegetation of the nesting beaches. These disturbances may also inhibit nesting.
Pollution, oil spills and ballast water discharged from the giant cargo ships would contaminate the nearby mangrove ecosystem, affecting the entire marine food chain. Local fishermen, whose livelihoods depend on the health of these fish breeding and spawning grounds, have joined the fight against the Dhamra port. K. Allaya, General Secretary of the Orissa Traditional Fishworkers Union, charges, The Dhamra Port Project has ignored the basic livelihood needs of local communities, taking away their land, their fishing grounds and the productivity of the sea on which thousands depend.
The port project's Environmental Impact Assessment was done in 1997, but environmental organizations charge that it lacks any analysis of impacts on turtles and port site ecology.
Corporate Responsibility
TATA Steel, a very influential company in India, is building the Dhamra port in a joint venture with the engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro, with financial support from the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). Although TATA originally maintained that they would reconsider the port site if it is established that Olive Ridleys are present in the area, they have ignored the findings of a team from North Orissa University that unequivocally established the presence of turtles there. As evidence, the research team recorded over 2,000 fresh turtle carcasses at and near the port site. Adding to the area's ecological significance, they also found several rare species, among them horseshoe crabs and snakes and frogs seldom found on the Indian mainland.
As a member of the U.N.'s Global Compact for Corporate Responsibility, TATA Steel is pledged to the Precautionary Principle. With the survival of rare and ancient species hanging in the balance, this is a time to practice precaution.
How We Can Help Environmental organizations and fishing unions in Orissa urge us to help them stop construction of the Dhamra port by sending letters to TATA Steel and Orissa government officials.
#3/07 Stop Port Construction; Save Ridley Sea Turtles
Requested Action: Please write polite letters to the officials listed below.
* Express your appreciation for the establishment of protected areas along the Orissa coast, including the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary and the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, which are critical to the survival of the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtle and a wealth of marine life.
* Urge the Orissa government to continue to protect this ancient and endangered species and preserve the livelihoods of local fishing communities by revoking its approval for the Dhamra port.
* Urge TATA Steel to apply the Precautionary Principle as required by the Global Compact and to uphold its reputation for environmental responsibility by relocating its port facility to a site where it will not threaten endangered species, critical ecosystems and fishermens livelihoods.
Addresses (postage from the US is 90 cents)
Mr. Ratan Tata
Chairman, TATA Sons
Bombay House
24, Homy Modi Street
Bombay: 400001 INDIA
Email: cooffice@tata.com
Fax : (022) 6665 7724 or 6665 7725
Shri Naveen Patanaik
Chief Minister, Orissa
Naveen Nivas,
Aerodrome Gate,
P.O.-Bhubaneswar-751001
Dist.-Khurda (Orissa) INDIA
Fax: 2535100/2590833
Email: cmo@ori.nic.in
From: "Paula Palmer" paula@globalresponse.org
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Editor's Note: Though this article by and large expresses views on mangroves that are supportive of conservation, the idea of using mangrove genes to genetically modify rice or other food crops to make these more salt tolerant is of grave concern. In order to better deal with rising sea levels, some researchers are choosing to follow a GM path to raise food crops that are salt tolerannt. However, this begs the questionare GM plants a problem once released into the environment? Who can really say if the affected environment will be GM tolerant?
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:13:00 +0530
Gifts from the mangroves
VIJAYSREE VENKATARAMAN
Every major Hindu shrine has a sacred tree, which is revered as much as the presiding deity. At Chidambaram's Nataraja temple, the honour goes to the thillai tree, a mangrove species (botanical name Exocoeria agallocha). Temp le sculpture depicting the tree dates back to the second century A.D, but the thillai grows in abundance in the Pichavaram wetlands nearby.
Over 100 different plant species fall under the category of mangroves sharing unique characteristics that help them grow on land where rivers meet the sea. Apart from minimising damage to life and property during a tsunami, scientists at the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation for Research say that mangroves could have other gifts to give.
Legend has it that a dip in the Chidambaram temple tank will cure the ailing. As indigenous wisdom about a plant's medicinal properties is often a starting point for scientific research, mangroves seem particularly ripe for "bio-prospecting." Though it is too early to say if researchers will strike pharmaceutical gold, an initial screening of thillai extracts indicates the presence of compounds with anti-HIV, anti-cancer and anti-viral properties. These compounds are also active against mycobacteria - microbes that cause diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis - under lab conditions, says Dr. Ajay Parida, Executive Director, Biotechnology division, MSSRF.
Mangrove extracts could lower the use of chemicals in pest control.
Despite growing in wetlands, the leaves of the thillai have few larval infestations, indicating the presence of terpenoids that act as natural pesticides. Some mangrove species inhibit the growth of mosquitoes.
Mangroves produce a range of novel compounds, including phenols of medicinal value, that help them live in a harsh natural environment, and serve as a treasure trove of natural products, says Prof. K. Kathiresan of Annamalai University's Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology. But conserving the unique ecosystem of the mangrove forest in all its biodiversity is our first challenge, he emphasises.
Geneticists have long been intrigued by the mangroves' exceptional ability to withstand salt stress but global warming brings a new urgency to understanding this salt tolerance. Food crops that grow in salty soil could become necessary for our survival because the indiscriminate use of fertilizer has turned agricultural tracts saline as well. Inspired by the fact that Avicennia marina can thrive in salt concentrations as high as 90 grams per litre (seawater has 35 grams of sa lt per litre) MSSRF scientists have developed transgenic paddy, a crop variety with mangrove genes in the rice genome, which is currently being assessed for biosafety and environmental impact in a limited field trial at Kalpakkam. The venerable mangrove could bail us out again.
From: Martin Keeley mangrove@candw.ky
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To read these stories or to search prior news, go to www.Seafoodnews.com
Indian shrimp exporters are celebrating US Tariff Reduction
News Summary Sept 11, 2007
Today?s Main Stories: Indian shrimp exporters are celebrating as the Dept. of Commerce reduced the final tariff rate on Indian shrimp from 10.54% to 7.22% for the period from Aug. 2004 to Jan. 2006. Importers will get refunds, provided the companies were not part of the SSA settlement. For those companies that settled with the SSA duty rates will remain at 10.17%. Indian exporters are hopeful that in the current administrative review, they can eliminate tariffs entirely as they hope to get a WTO decision similar to Ecuador?s. However, the tariffs have caused a big reduction in Indian shrimp exports to the U.S.
From: "Seafood.com News" seafoodnews@seafood.com
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Bangladesh
Documentary screening"Badabon-er Katha": A tale of the Sundarbans Ershad Kamol, The Daily Star, August 20, 2007
The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, lies on the Southwestern coastal areas of Bangladesh, forming a seaward fringe of the delta. The Sundarbans is intersected by a complex network of waterways, mudflats and small islands covered with mangrove forests, and presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes. The area is known for its wide range of fauna. There are about 334 species of trees and plants and 450 species of animals in this forest a repository of diversity. Of these, there are 47 species of mammals, 270 species of birds, 45 species of reptiles and 200 species of fish.
A documentary film on the Sundarbans, titled Badabon-er Katha, was premiered on August 18 at National Museum Auditorium. Under the supervision of Manzarehassin Murad, Moynul Huda has directed the documentary. It is a joint venture by Steps Towards Development and Rupantor.
The documentary presents the scenic beauty of the Sundarbans in different seasons, as well as the dependency of humans to the forest for making their living.
Badabon-er Katha begins with images of spectacular beauty of the majestic forest. The documentary features the diverse lifestyles of people living in the Sundarbans, including fishermen, honey collectors and others. Badabon-er Katha also highlights some natural and man-made changes that are fast becoming threats to the existence of the Sundarbans.
Prior to the screening of the film a discussion was held. Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed, Dr. Ainun Nishat (country representative of The World Conservation Union Bangladesh), Ranjan Karmokar (executive director of Steps Towards Development), Swapan Guha (CEO of Rupantar), filmmaker Manzarehassin Murad and director of Badabon-er Katha, Moynul Huda spoke at the event.
Referring to the Sundarbans as the "only sweet-water mangrove forest in the world", Dr. Ainun Nishat said, "Three points of the forest are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. However, this rare heritage site is under threat."
Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed said, "This documentary will be a record of the Sundarbans, if ever the largest mangrove forest in the world is lost."
From: "zakir kibria" zakir.kibria@gmail.com
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Sept. 24, 2007
Sweet water prawn brings farmers back to business
Farmers demand technical support
Correspondent, Satkhira
Ashrafuzzaman Moina is back to his farm, producing environment friendly sweet water prawn in North Katia village in Satkhira Sadar upazila. Photo: STAR Cultivation of prawn in sweet water is expanding in different areas of Satkhira district as it is environment friendly and also more profitable than shrimp cultivation in saline water.
It can bring about a revolution in commercial fishery in the country as it can be cultivated without destroying the environment and ecology while shrimp cultivation in saline water is detrimental to the environment. Prawn, locally known as 'golda', brings more profit as its price is higher. The yield is also more than that of shrimp, farmers said.
They said many people who abandoned shrimp cultivation after incurring losses due to virus attack are now showing interest in golda cultivation as it can be grown along with other crops. There is less risk of virus attack, they said.
'Golda' is being cultivated in 6411 enclosures, ponds and water bodies covering 5805.71 hectares in the district this year. Its cultivation covered 5207 hectares last year, district fishery officials said.
Golda farms now cover 2754.41 hectares in Sadar upazila, 1385 in Kalaroa, 1128.45 in Tala and 364 hectares in Debhata upazila, they said.
Production of golda is 408.29 kilograms per hectare against 265 kilograms of shrimp, said Zakir Hossain, an expert of WorldFish Center which is providing technical support to farmers.
He said it ensures environment friendly cultivation by saving trees and paddy fields in surrounding areas, keeping other fish species intact in the water body.
Golda cultivation in sweet water can revolutionise the fishery sector and increase export earnings from it manifold without destroying the environment, farmers and fishery experts said.
This has brought many shrimp cultivators back to the profession after years of heavy loss, Zakir said ..
From: "zakir kibria" zakir.kibria@gmail.com
China
U.S. exempts first Chinese farmed seafood producer from import restrictions
September 19, 2007
WASHINGTON: Federal health officials have allowed a major Chinese producer of farmed shrimp to resume shipping to the United States, making it the first to be exempted from June restrictions put in place over drug contamination worries.
Zhangian Guolian Aquatic Products Inc. Ltd. is so far the only Chinese exporter to seek and gain exemption from the Food and Drug Administration import restrictions on five types of farmed seafood, an agency spokeswoman said Wednesday. The restrictions affected about 700 Chinese seafood-exporting firms.
The FDA put in place the countrywide restrictions after repeated testing of Chinese imports turned up contamination with drugs unapproved in the United States for use in farmed seafood. Beyond shrimp, the restrictions covered eel and three types of fish catfish, basa and dace.
The FDA allowed the company to resume exports after inspecting its processing plant. It also received third-party analyses of five consecutive shipments of shrimp that showed they were free of antibiotic residues, FDA spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings said. The Chinese government also certified Zhangian Guolian complies with Chinese regulations.
The Chinese government intends to use the company as a model, Rawlings said. The FDA expects other companies to seek similar exemptions.
Zhangian Guolian is one of China's largest exporters of farmed shrimp, according to the FDA.
Source: Associated Press
Brazil
Note: The following statement was made by Soraya Vanini Tupinambá of Brazil who attended and spoke at the recent FAO conference on aquaculture and certification.
Abstract Aquaculture Certification: the perspective of social organizations
Soraya Vanini Tupinambá
ICSF International Collective in Support of Fishworkers
The crisis of unsustainability of many aquatic cultures demands that certification be considered as a possibility for pushing or driving this activity in a direction toward sustainability. A suite of other essential initiatives which complement certification are necessary, such as land-use planning, water management, environmental control, among others. At this moment we are here open for discussions, however, we point out the low value attributed to social and environmental aspects in aquaculture certification schemes which have been heretofore developed. Another existing great limitation is the low effective participation of the interested parties, above all of the human groups impacted by aquaculture developments. Analyzing the development of aquaculture in Brazil, beginning at the end of the 90's, one sadly observes the repetition of the same trajectory of unsustainability of countries such as Ecuador, Honduras, and others of the South. One hopes now that the certification standards, when adopted by the countries, consider national legislations and watch carefully so as to avoid the installation of processes which legitimize environmental and social damages left by previous cycles of aquaculture development, while pushing forward new production cycles. The production crises in the shrimp culture industry and in other aquatic cultures are mirrored in the example of shrimp farming in Brazil , simultaneously a crisis of ecological and economic nature. Our participation in dialogues on certification intends to contribute to the identification of elements of unsustainability in the global development of aquaculture, presenting new directions for contemplation on a wide range of public and private initiatives, and never omitting citizen initiatives in defense and in affirmation of the rights of traditional populations and small producers.
Translated by Elaine Corets ecorets@gmail.com
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September 7, 2007
2 Recent Storms Show Forests Help Blunt Hurricanes' Force
By MARC LACEY
TEGUCIGALPA
" There is no way to stop hurricanes, but two fierce storms that slammed ashore recently on the Caribbean coast of Mexico and Central America show the importance of forests and mangrove swamps in slowing them and lessening their human toll.
"The trees secure the ground and offer a buffer from the storms," said the Rev. José Andrés Tamayo, a Roman Catholic priest and leading Honduran environmental advocate. Forested areas are shrinking, particularly in Central America, and the environmental degradation is one of the reasons that even what would be a run-of-the-mill rainstorm elsewhere can cause deadly floods and mudslides here.
Hurricane Felix, with 160 mile-an-hour winds, burst ashore on Tuesday in one of the most forested areas of northern Nicaragua and southern Honduras. Although the storm devastated coastal communities, authorities were crediting the trees with sapping it of some of its strength.
"The forests are obstacles for the advance of hurricanes," said President Manuel Zelaya Rosales of Honduras. The bodies of 24 Miskitos, whose fishing boat had capsized, were found Thursday near the coast of Honduras, said a federal lawmaker for the Honduran region, Carolina Echeverría. Dozens of people were missing. Damage reports have yet to come from at least 70 percent of the villages and towns along the Nicaraguan coast, said a federal disaster official, Jorge Ramón Arnesto Soza.
The hurricane has killed at least 71 people.
In Honduras, Mr. Zelaya acknowledged that hurricanes had become more dangerous with the deforestation that has ravaged the countryside. "We're trying to correct this, but it will take a decade or more." In fact, Honduras has suffered the greatest percentage of forest loss of any country in Latin America. Studies show that it has lost more than a third of its forest cover since 1990.
Father Tamayo mobilizes local residents to stop illegal logging by blocking highways and bridges and taking over logging operations in Olancho Province, which has the largest reserves in the country. His group, the Environmental Movement of Olancho, takes on interests, including landowners and illegal loggers. "If we don't get serious we're going to turn into a second Haiti," he said. Haiti, which has been stripped of trees, remains a cautionary tale. The difference between the lush forests in the Dominican Republic and the rocky hillsides on the other side of Hispaniola in Haiti is clear. Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 caused 19 deaths in the Dominican Republic and hundreds in Haiti.
On Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, Ann Snook, of the Nature Conservancy said she was in her house in Bacalar when Hurricane Dean roared through on Aug. 21. The forests helped weaken it, she said, potentially saving lives.
From: ecorets@gmail.com
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Mexico
A Passing In The Mangroves
Dra. Gina Holguin, the Mexican mangrove researcher that so many mangrove scientists knew, passed away last July after a long illness. Her ashes will be dispersed on the mangroves at Balandra Lagoon in Baja California Sur, Mexico on August 21, 2007 by her family after a memorial service at her research center (CIBNOR) in Mexico. May she rest in peace.
Sincerely,
Yoav Bashan
Distinguished Professor of Microbiology
From: Yoav Bashan bashan@email.arizona.edu
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Mangroves and Sea Turtles Threatened
Aug. 24, 2007
By Rob Nelson:
After hurricane emily and wilma the hotel Gran Bahia Principe Akumal declared sections of mangrove destroyed in square shapes, this was unbelievable after hurricane Dean we were concerned about what would follow.
The Caribbean sea retreated and an unusual amount of turtles made tracks along the whole of the Aventuras Akumal Beach, we managed to save turtles and nests amongst trucks and heavy machinery. Disguised as a clean up operation the construction of the Gran Bahia Principe's new beach included hundreds of tonnes of sascab (the raw cement ingredient) This was imported from the current golf project and deposited on top and all over a fragile natural environment.
When filming the after math of the hurricane and the abundance of new turtle nests we were ordered by security members to leave the 'ZONA FEDERAL' an area of no ownership Juan Pablo Montoya and myself members Society of Akumals's Vital ecology (S.A.V.E) gathered litter bags and juvenile turtle and saved what we could.
After 2 day's of litter collecting, turtle saving, nest marking and now environmental concern security and management became extremely hostile.
On day 3 we approached the same area and the security and management prevented Juan Pablo Montoya and myself from walking well within the Zona Federal this resulted in actions by a group of Gran Bahia Principe representatives that caused injuries to my head, elbow, ankle.
Fortunately i have everything on video including the turtles, dumping of sascab & the assault.
Akumal in Mayan means 'home of the turtle'
(With a few subtitles)
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Mangroves & Sea Turtles Threatened By Continuing Eological Crimes Of Bahia Principe
Aug. 24 2007
PRESS RELEASE
The waves of Hurricane DEAN hammered the pristine coastline of Quintana Roo starting at aprox. 5:00 PM Ag. 20, to aprox. 8:00 AM August 21. This monster storm packed more intense storm force for us here in the Akumal area then we had in 2005 with both Hurricanes Emily and Wilma. We will use as an illustration the violation of the FMZ, Federal Maritimo Zone's set back rules by the hotel Bahia Principe from Spain, located on the beach of Aventuras Akumal, 100 km. south of the city of Cancun, on the most south of the 3 beaches that make up the Akumal area (Half Moon Bay, Akumal Bay, and Aventuras Akumal Bay). Aventuras Akumal beach is the second most popular turtle laying beach on the Yucatan coastline, right after the very famous Xcacel/Xcacelito with nests of loggerheads and greens turtles, both on the worlds endangered species list. We have seen already the decline of the loggerhead nests these past few years caused by something, we can only imagine that it is the addition of tourist activities, lights on at night, construction on the beach buffer zone, etc.
The FMZ beach zone is an area of vegetation bordering the body of water that we know as the Caribe. It states that there is to be 20 meters starting from the high level wave mark left untouched and belonging to the public.
Also I would like to state that with the oncoming monster hurricanes, the empty beach zones (as is the law) will help us citizens that live next to the beach not have the neighboring hotels palapa /swinging beds /beach furniture crashing against our homes.
In Cuba this area is by law over 50 meters, here in Mexico it is only 20 meters, when in Costa Rica it must be over the 200 meter mark.
They are important for our protection, THEY ARE THE LAW.
From: "Nancy DeRosa" cenotes@prodigy.net.mx
The Bahamas
Bimini--Endangered Species Threatened By Bimini Bay Resort
One of the websites chronicling Bimini's plight has been updated to showcase some of the Threatened & Endangered species that are facing additional pressure due to the Bimini Bay Resort & Casino's development.
Please note that this list is not a complete listing of all threatened and endangered species around Bimini, there are actually more plants and animals that have been documented in the affected areas than seen on this webpage.
Also, since the information for this webpage was produced, there have been addition sightings & captures of Smalltooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata) in the North Sound lagoon. Researchers in Bimini captured two Smalltooth Sawfish this summer within the areas that Bimini Bay plans to develop. One of the sawfish was fitted with a radio-transmitter, and subsequent data collected has shown that the individual undoubtedly uses Bimini's North Sound lagoon as a refuge.
Please see WEBSITE for more information on this issue.
Also, please note that the Environmental Impact Study produced by the Bimini Bay Resort & Casino stated that there were no species recognized as Threatened or Endangered within their Land Use Plan boundaries. This is just one of many claims made in their EIS that is completely false.
More on this can be seen in the May 2002 issue of the Bahamas Journal of Science.
For more information, please see www.savebimini.org
AND
www.restrictbiminibayresort.org
From: "Bimini News" bimini.news@gmail.com
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San Salvador
San Salvador, Another Island Under The Gun Of Development
By J Johnson
Pigeon Creek is the only tidal body here on the island of San Salvador. Because of this it is of vital importance to our ecosystem here. 85% of the islands ecosystem actually depends on this area. Everything from juvenile fishes to an array of birds. The Gerace Research Center has been on San salvador for years, and there is an overwhelming amount of research that is done in this area that not only brings a better understanding of wetlands here on San Salvador but to the Bahamas and the world.
There are current studies going on in the mangroves about the small crabs that live in them as they have never been studied and have been found to be a very rare and unique species. There are 17 species of sea birds found in this region and 14 of those species (more than 1/2 or any other island in the Bahamas) can be found here in San Salvador.
Unlike the other Islands of the Bahamas San Salvador's ecosystem is self contained. Which means that we don't have any outside systems lending support or helping ours. If our fish or conch are destroyed there are no currents coming from the Atlantic ocean to replenish lost stock or gene pools like the current that runs pass Andros and down through the Exumas. And the nursery for all our baby fishes is Pigeon Creek.
Scientists now are discovering the importance of Wetlands and how they function. But investors are now coming into our Country to cut into our wetlands to build Marinas and golf courses destroying the natural beauty of our islands. If they were asked the question, could you build this project in the Florida Everglades, or Yellow Stone, I wonder what their response would be? And we have to ask ourselves if they cant do it there, then why are we allowing them to do it here?
As stated in a report by the BEST Commission dated 2005 (paraphrasing) "The islands of the Bahamas should be developed with an emphasis on their individual uniqueness to their ecosystems, economy and sociology." Why has the government not followed this? How can the Minister of tourism stand behind companies like Montana Holdings when Bahamians are being raped of land and have no say as to the development or direction of growth on their island.
Why is it that there is no liaison between the government and the Bahamians of the different islands being butchered by these investors? How does the government know that they are meeting the needs of the people, if they never ask if they desire these disasters on their islands. Are our leaders chosen by the people naive enough to believe that every island wants to look like Nassau. That we all want 5000 room hotels and 200 slip Marinas? Has it ever occurred to them that there is a whole other market of tourists out there who are dying for peace and quite, tranquility and serenity? Who doesn't want the traffic jams and thousands of people clustering around them on the beach? Who wants to look out at the landscape and see the natural wonders of our country, and not miles of beach AND condos. Has it ever occurred to the powers that be that some of us like our little Islands Little? And so do our guests that have been coming here for years.
Has the government looked at the impact that these projects have on existing productive businesses on the island? A survey was started on San Salvador about 2 years ago asking guests that visit the Pigeon Creek area on eco tours there if they would not mind seeing condos and yachts in the area after experiencing the wonder of the place over 2000 guests from Paris to New York, Brussels to Milan, Florida to California-- all said no. Not ONE guest thought it would be nice to see.
Investment and foreign dollars are needed for the growth of any Nation. However it should not be to the destruction of the natural wonders of that country, or it's people. What Jobs do these people really provide; how many San Salvdorians will be employed as their Lawyers, Accountants, Engineers? We will however be afforded the opportunity to be maids or busboys, janitors or space cleaners. Is this the governments ambition for its people? I know it's not mine.
The last thing I would like to see is the same disaster that is taking place in Rum Cay, which WAS the Jewel of the Bahamas'or the disasters at Bimini and Guana Cay-- take place in San Salvador. I refuse to stand by and watch my island destroyed by corporate greed with only the paid off few Bahamians coming out with some profit after selling there birth right for 30 pieces of silver.
Please, I beg all Bahamians on all family islands-- don't let these people determine the course and future of your island! The Destiny of that piece of rock God gave you should be determined by your communities working with the government. Not some one sitting in Nassau with no idea of what you want and what's best for your island, and definitely not some corporate giant looking to get fat off of your birthright (Sun, Sand, and Sea).
PLEASE NOTE that we have already had a number of town meetings (more than 4) and the island came to the decision that out of all the areas we want to protect and turn into national parks, dive sites, cays with the iguanas and birds-- the choice was made that Pigeon Creek be the first place to become a park. This was said with the blessings from the local fisherman as well, and usually they are the strongest opponents to the marine parks because they are unsure of how it will affect their fishing. They do however agree to protect Pigeon Creek because even they understand its importance to the island and their livelihood.
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US Virgin Islands
Mangrove Cleanup Gets A Third Nod In US Virgin Islands
September 18, 2007
I am excited to announce the Virgin Islands Mangrove Research and Conservation Coalition's (VIMRCC) third cleanup and monitoring effort. Please come join us for a land and water based cleanup of the Cas Cay Mangrove Lagoon Marine Sanctuary on Saturday September 29, 2007 from 8 am until 2pm. We have had great success in the effort to keep our mangrove habitats pristine through help from volunteers. As part of the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup, we will be participating in a worldwide effort to beautify and improve the health of our oceans.
Remember to bring water, sun protection, clothes you don't mind getting dirty, and your friends to the Virgin Islands Ecotours Saturday morning at 8. Hope to see you there!
Sophia McKenzie VIMRCC coordinator
Phone: (817) 300-0828
Email: Sophia.mckenzie@yahoo.com
USA
Chinese catfish imports slip through cracks in US food safety system
By Stephen J. Hedges
As United States federal regulators scrambled last month to contain a pet food contamination outbreak, officials in some Southern States had a different concern: Noticing that catfish imports from China had skyrocketed, they began testing the imported fish. What they found surprised them - two banned antibiotics.
The discovery pointed to a deep flaw in the nation's food safety system, as the Chinese catfish had already entered the US legally and were on their way to grocery stores and restaurants. "We continue to find it in the food shipments coming into Alabama," said Ron Sparks, Alabama's agriculture commissioner. "And if it's coming into Alabama, it's coming in everywhere else."
The discovery enabled Alabama and Mississippi to put "stop sale" orders on the catfish, tying up more than 700,000 pounds of fish in Alabama alone. But without these last-minute tests, the fish would have been eaten by any number of consumers, despite the presence of the banned antibiotics.
No country highlights the gaps in America's food import system - with just 0.9 per cent of shipments inspected upon arrival in the US in fiscal year 2006 - as much as China, a rapidly industrializing, mass-exporting country whose food safety controls lag those of Western nations.
In April alone, the US Food and Drug Administration turned back 257 Chinese import shipments, far more than from any other country, FDA records show. At least 137 of them involved food rejected for reasons like "filthy," "salmonella," or because it contained banned ingredients. A good portion of the rejected Chinese shipments each month includes fish and seafood, such as catfish, shrimp, mahi-mahi, tilapia, eel and yellowfin tuna.
Source: Chicago Tribune
From: icsf@icsf.net
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Inspections Of Chinese Food Imports Questioned
from Seafood.com Aug. 23, 2007
Energy and Commerce subcommittee of the House has sent a letter to the FDA demanding a report on inspections, rejections, and lab tests for all Chinese food products for the past six years. The committee is particularly concerned about seafood, and it appears to us that a group in the seafood industry is lobbying congress to force a ban on all Chinese seafood imports. The letter to the FDA threatens that kind of action. This is coming from the same people who pushed successfully for shrimp tariffs, and unless the broader seafood industry responds forcefully, there is a danger that seafood will be banned as a warning to China, while all other food and ingredient manufacturers remain untouched.
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Organic By Any Other Name
from today's Seafood.com newsletter:
Finally, how can a company sell organic shrimp in the U.S. when there is no 'organic shrimp' standard. Easy. Just name your company 'organic'. The Blue Horizon Organic Seafood Company is introducing 'Blue Horizon Organic Brand Shrimp' in Whole Foods and Wild Oats markets in Colorado. The items are all ready meals made with organic shrimp grown in Ecuador and organic vegetables. I don't believe they can be sold this way in California, which passed labeling requirements restricting the use of 'organic' when applied to seafood.
From: "Elaine Corets" ecorets@gmail.com
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5 September 2007
Wild shrimp vs. farmed
By John Fiorillo
Wild American Shrimp Inc. (WASI) on Tuesday touted a new study it said shows U.S. wild-caught shrimp is nutritionally superior than farmed shrimp.
The study, conducted by ABC Research of Gainesville, Florida, compared the nutritional profile of U.S. wild-caught pink, white and brown shrimp against pond-raised whites from Indonesia and Thailand, and farmed black tigers from Vietnam.
Researchers found wild shrimp provides significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, iron, protein, zinc, vitamin B12, and calcium than its farmed-shrimp cousins.
"A three-ounce serving of the pink and brown wild-caught shrimp contained up to 30 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin B12, while the pinks had significantly higher levels of omega-3," said Marge Condrasky, a dietician and assistant professor for the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at Clemson University in South Carolina.
Wild shrimp is higher in trans fats and mercury, according to data from study.
The latest study follows other efforts by WASI to support scientific research to distinguish wild-caught shrimp from imported pond-raised product. This past year, WASI has focused research and efforts in four key areas: quality, taste, authenticity [DNA testing], and nutrition.
Source: IntraFish Media AS
Organic Label May Mislead Shrimp Consumers
Note from Editor: The following article about Blue Horizon Organic and Naturland's "success" with the new 'certified' shrimp product line is disturbing, mainly because those of us who know more background about the German certifier, Naturland, know that there are many deep-rooted social and ecological problems still inherent in the so-called "organic" process that Naturland purports to engender and the products that are derived from that flawed process.
The introduction of Naturland's certified shrimp into the Swedish markets may have led to an increase in sale and consumption of non-certified shrimp, as people again let down their guards about the problems of shrimp farming which prior to Naturland's "organic" ads and acceptance into the Swedish markets had slowed down in Sweden because of local activists had earlier launched a successful consumer awareness campaign there.
These and other issues provide good reason to question the 'organic' labels that are being bandied about by retailers eager to earn their dollars.
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24 August 2007
by Ben DiPetro
One month after it launched its new line of organically certified Shrimp Skillets line, Blue Horizon Organic says sales are going well and the product is finding its way on to more supermarket shelves.
"There's great feedback from retailers," Blue Horizon's Jaap Langenberg told Intrafish. "With all the press about seafood and issues with aquaculture and seafood in other countries, what the consumer is really looking for is something they can trust. This is raised organically and grown organically.
The company's Shrimp Skillets are certified organic by Germany-based Naturland, and come in four varieties: shrimp and penne Alfredo; shrimp and penne alla vodka; shrimp and scampi rotini; and shrimp and pesto farfalle. Each package can feed two people, is prepared on the stovetop and sell for a suggested $9.99 ( 7.41).
"This is the future of seafood and we're leading it," said Blue Horizon CEO and founder John Battendieri. "Sustainable practices, such as strict organic shrimp farming, are intended to make our products the healthiest, safest choice in seafood, one that ensures the well being of our rivers and oceans, and their future fish stocks."
Blue Horizon says all its seafood products are sourced in strict compliance with conservation policies.
Source: INTRAFISH.COM (password required)
World Watch Report: Oceans in Peril
Sept. 23, 2007
Our planet's oceans are in deep, deep, peril, says a new report from Greenpeace and the World Watch Institute. The only road to recovery may be to declare 40 percent of the world's oceans off-limits to human exploitation to ensure the restoration of life in depleted areas.
Read more about it at: worldwatch website
From: Mike Hagler
Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace New Zealand
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ESA launches new project to protect biodiversity
9 January 2007
The world's biodiversity is vanishing at an unprecedented rate around 100 species every day due to factors such as land use change and pollution. Addressing this threat, world governments agreed through the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to reduce significantly the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. To support this initiative, ESA has kicked off its new DIVERSITY project.
Biodiversity, the variety of life including ecosystems, species, populations and genes, is of grave importance for sustaining the planet's six billion people. The loss of biodiversity threatens our food supplies, energy and medicines. For instance, up to 80% of the world's population currently relies on plant and animal-based medicines for their primary health care needs. The sustainable use of biodiversity's components will not only save ecosystems and species, but it may also save the foods and medicines of tomorrow.
"The United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD) agreed on a set of headline indicators to assess the progress made towards this target. DIVERSITY will make a contribution to the required monitoring efforts that will help us to determine whether we are making progress and which management and policy measures are most effective and thereby support decision-making," the UNCBD Secretariat Robert Höft said.
DIVERSITY project services and products are being developed to relate to the different areas where Earth observation (EO) technology may contribute to the conservation and monitoring activities of the different actors involved in UNCBD in Central America. ESA has identified four main users: the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Secretariat of the UNCBD, the Centro American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD) and MarViva.
Based on the initial user requirements, the following products and services will be generated covering the entire Centro American region, one of the main biodiversity reserves in our planet: Mesoamerican biological corridor change detection maps; coral reef maps; ocean water quality monitoring services; and mangrove maps. The projects will also investigate wildlife migration processes from the Galapagos Islands to Cocos Island. Finally, the project will provide a global map of dry lands based on existing global datasets to the UNCBD.
The DIVERSITY project, developed under ESA's Data User Element (DUE) programme, is being carried out in collaboration with the UNCBD Secretariat and UNESCO, which, in addition to being a user, is also the main coordinator between the users and contractors selected by ESA.
"With this activity, ESA and UNESCO are aiming to derive a working methodology," UNESCOs Mario Hernandez said. "We plan to start deriving biodiversity indicators, which means that for the first time we will go one step further in Earth observation measurements "
MarViva, a non-governmental organisation working to promote a more sustainable use of coastal and marine resources in oceanic and coastal areas in Latin America and the Caribbean, will use various DIVERSITY products and services to study the Galapagos and Cocos Islands in the Tropical Eastern Pacific Marine Corridor.
"We have the responsibility to use these products correctly and to offer this valuable information to key organisations and decision makers for their goal of improving the quality of life, keeping the tremendous diversity of the region protected and making sustainable use of our marine resources, for our future generations," MarVivas Michael Rothschild said.
Because the development of these products requires different expertise, a consortium of four organisations' GeoVille Austria (prime contractor), Norway' Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, the UK's Marine Spatial Ecology Lab and France's Collecte Localisation Satellites' has been chosen to take the leading role in the technical development of the services and products.
"DIVERSITY responds directly to key concerns expressed through the Convention process regarding the future integrity of natural ecosystems, the survival of species and the goods and services they offer to humankind," the UNCBDs Höft said. "It also demonstrates the responsible role of the private sector in offering tools and services for the benefit of the global community."
Source: European space Agency
From ecorets@gmail.com
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UN Adopts Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
From: UNNews@un.org
New York, Sep 13 2007 3:00PM
The General Assembly today adopted a landmark declaration outlining the rights of the world's estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlawing discrimination against them a move that followed more than two decades of debate.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been approved after 143 Member States voted in favour, 11 abstained and four " Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States" voted against the text.
A non-binding text, the Declaration sets out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues.
The Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions and to pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations.
It also prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them, and their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social development.
General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour have all welcomed todays adoption.
Sheikha Haya said the importance of this document for indigenous peoples and, more broadly, for the human rights agenda, cannot be underestimated. By adopting the Declaration, we are also taking another major step forward towards the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.
But she warned that even with this progress, indigenous peoples still face marginalization, extreme poverty and other human rights violations. They are often dragged into conflicts and land disputes that threaten their way of life and very survival; and, suffer from a lack of access to health care and education.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban described the Declarations adoption as a historic moment when UN Member States and indigenous peoples have reconciled with their painful histories and are resolved to move forward together on the path of human rights, justice and development for all.
He called on governments and civil society to ensure that the Declarations vision becomes a reality by working to integrate indigenous rights into their policies and programmes.
Ms. Arbour noted that the Declaration has been a long time coming. But the hard work and perseverance of indigenous peoples and their friends and supporters in the international community has finally borne fruit in the most comprehensive statement to date of indigenous peoples rights.
The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues estimates there are more than 370 million indigenous people in some 70 countries worldwide.
Members of the Forum said earlier this year that the Declaration creates no new rights and does not place indigenous peoples in a special category.
2007-09-13 00:00:00.000
For more details go to UN News Centre at www.un.org/news
To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: radio.un.org/
From: biodiv_civsoc@yahoogroups.com
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04 September 2007
Climate, carbon, conservation and communities
What if there was a way to reduce climate change, protect wild species and improve livelihoods in developing countries?
Well, in principle, there is. But as a new briefing paper by IIED and WWF-UK shows, careful planning and community involvement will be key to reaping the potential of this combined solution to multiple problems.
The growing market for carbon trading is opening the door to projects that bring benefits for climate, conservation and communities by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
When forests are felled or burned, the carbon they contain is released to the atmosphere where it contributes to climate change. Overall this accounts for about 18 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions but efforts to avoid deforestation are not yet recognised in the Clean Development Mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This could change at December's UNFCCC meeting in Bali, Indonesia, where developing nations with large areas of forest will argue that wealthy nations that have contributed most to climate change should compensate them for keeping forests intact.
As the briefing paper shows, any efforts to reduce carbon emissions by protecting forests or planting trees must involve local communities and take account of their needs, and must also consider the impacts on biodiversity conservation.
The financial benefits that will arise from trading emissions-reductions could contribute greatly to local development. However, there are concerns that governments, private companies and others will capture these benefits to the exclusion of local communities, which often lack rights to access and control forest lands that they have used for generations.
Other issues that must be considered include the risks that poor people will be displaced to make way for lucrative carbon-storing plantations and that reducing deforestation in one area or nation will lead to more deforestation elsewhere.
The briefing paper warns that new initiatives to tackle climate change "have yet to include the lessons from the past few decades of biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management. As yet, they pay scant attention to governance issues and the rights of poor local people, particularly those with limited livelihood diversification options and those critically dependent on forest resources".
The briefing paper is available as a PDF, please click on the 'View PDF report' link to download
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Mike Shanahan, Press Officer
International Institute for Environment and Development
Email: mike.shanahan@iied.org
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Campaign to get Aussies to eat their own seafood
11 September 2007
The Queensland Seafood Industry Association (QSIA) has launched a new marketing campaign in Cairns, in far north Queensland, to encourage people to buy Australian-caught produce.
The campaign will include television commercials and see seafood workers hit the streets and restaurants to promote Australian seafood.
The Federal Government's given the QSIA nearly $500,000 in funding to launch the campaign in Cairns.
The association's president Neil Green says the campaign will eventually be rolled out across the state.
"We'll have people on the ground and we'll be talking to consumers and restaurants in particular and we'll be highlighting why they should be using Australian product, not imported products," Mr Green said.
"We'll be going into major retailers, certainly the wholesalers like Woolworths and Coles and by doing this we're hoping to add value back to fisherman's pockets."
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corp.
From ecorets@gmail.com
CONFERENCES / WORKSHOPS / PUBLICATIONS
The Role of Physical Processes in Mangrove Environments Manual for the preservation and utilization of mangrove ecosystems-
Authors: Yoshihiro Mazda, Eric Wolanski and Peter V. Ridd
This book
1) highlights the importance of physical processes to the researchers and engineers in the developing countries, who are endeavoring to maintain the mangrove environment,
2) makes coastal physical and biological researchers recognize the peculiarity of mangrove physics and the link between physics and biology to maintain environmental health, and
3) provides a manual for preserving and utilizing the mangrove environment.
Total pages: 617 pages
Distribution: without charge
Publication: March 2007
Publisher: Terra Scientific Publishing Company
Contact: Professor Y. Mazda
Department of Marine Science, School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University
E-mail: mazda@scc.u-tokai.ac.jp
From: mazda@scc.u-tokai.ac.jp
WWF kicks off process for certifying pangasius aquaculture products
Aug. 21, 2007
Pangasius producers and buyers, as well as other stakeholders from throughout the world will meet in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from September 26-27 to begin developing standards for certifying Pangasius aquaculture products one of the fastest growing types of aquaculture.
The main purpose of the meeting will be to identify and agree on the six to eight main environmental and social impacts related to the farming of tra and basa the two key market species in the Pangasius family. The process, called the Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue, will continue through 2008, when participants will meet to develop credible, measurable and voluntary standards designed to minimise the key impacts they identify in September. Once finalised, the standards will be handed off to a new or existing certification entity to manage the system.
We are excited about starting this process, said Dr. Flavio Corsin, who will coordinate the dialogue for World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Pangasius farming is one of the fastest growing types of aquaculture in the world. It is critical to minimize Pangasius farmings impact on the environment and society, while also accommodating the market demand for this type of fish.
The Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue is one of six dialogues initiated by the WWF. Dialogues are underway for developing standards to certify salmon, shrimp and tilapia aquaculture products. New dialogues for trout and molluscs will begin in the fall. Each dialogue group is a network of producers, members of the market chain, researchers, nonprofit organisations, government officials, and investors. They use a transparent, multi-stakeholder process to develop the standards. WWF used a similar process to create standards for forestry, fisheries and agriculture.
The f