business

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Fishing industry joins with 39 lawmakers who wrote to the FDA this week asking the agency to stop its approval process for the genetically modified salmon. They cited concerns about "human health and environmental risks" from the AquAdvantage salmon. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell slammed the idea of allowing genetically engineered salmon to be sold in supermarkets. "We are concerned genetically engineered salmon could jeopardize the health of wild-salmon stocks."

Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska): Serious health and environmental questions regarding the fish cannot be adequately evaluated by the public, Begich wrote. Led by Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), the senators complained to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg that the agency is using the wrong process for evaluating the safety of the modified fish and that the public is being left out.  read more »

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Interview: “Blood Dolphins” Star Lincoln O’Barry

Ric O'Barry has been a leader against the cruelty inflicted upon dolphins since his days working with them during the 1960s television series "Flipper." One of the areas of the world that O'Barry, along with his son Lincoln, have targeted over the past few years is Taiji, Japan where a spot called "The Cove" became the basis of an Academy Award-winning 2009 documentary about their efforts to stop the slaughtering of dolphins. With their new three-part Animal Planet mini-series, "Blood Dolphins," the O'Barrys pick up where "The Cove" left off with the team again trying to save the lives of innocent dolphins from senseless slaughter. Besides Taiji, the men travel to the Solomon Islands, which has been labeled one of the worst areas in the world for killing dolphins for profit. Our Jim Halterman talked with Lincoln O'Barry earlier this week about the dangers of bringing cameras to further document the dolphin trade as well as how one part of the dolphin - its teeth - is viewed in some regions as more valuable than actual currency.

Jim Halterman: Your dad has been involved with saving dolphins for decades and now you're involved with his activism. Was this never a question that this was your path in life?  read more »

The Nordic spokesman for the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) contrasted Danish people's response to the whale's plight to Denmark's policy on whaling. "Everyone wants to save the whale of the Vejle fjord but no one can. Everyone can save the thousands of whales brutally killed each year but no-one wants to," said Morten Rasmussen. Denmark was set to back whaling nations at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission being held in Morocco from June 21, 2010. Sea Shepherd, the exception out of 7 billion people, in 6 consecutive missions, have saved a total of 1899 whales: 83 in 2005/2006, 500 in 2006/2007, 483 in 2007/2008, 305 in 2008/2009, 528 in 2009/2010 in 31-day mission (cutting Japanese whaling fleet’s quota by half, and whalers cut anti-whaling boat Earthrace/Ady Gil in half, and skipper/anti-whaler jailed).

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A former Japanese whaler comes forward to the Guardian UK. Read 'Mr. Whale's' testimony

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Escalating: with >200 crew, Japanese whaling fleet set sail to kill. “Maybe Japanese whalers thought that their mission of slaughter would go unnoticed because this hunt is not taking place in an IWC sanctuary? Or maybe Japan believes that the deal will go through and by the time the fleet reaches port in August commercial whaling will once again be authorized by the IWC?"

A Japanese whaling fleet left port this week with a quota to kill 260 whales in the North Pacific. Three harpoon ships and two research vessels left ports in Japan yesterday, carrying more than 200 crew. The fleet aims to kill 100 minke whales, 100 sei whales, 50 Bryde's whales and 10 sperm whales before late August.  read more »

How Much Oil Has Leaked Into the Gulf of Mexico? (PBS NewsHour)

The hole dug 3 to 4 miles into fragile Earth crust that no one can seal... The Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues to gush while many of the coastal animals are currently in their reproductive seasons.

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A dead turtle floats on a pool of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana.

A laughing gull coated in heavy oil wallows in the surf June 4, 2010 on East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident is coming ashore in large volumes across southern Louisiana coastal areas.

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In Tokyo court on trial today stands a New Zealander detained in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary waters when delivering a citizen’s arrest. An international case all about whales. Who is guilty: whalers who killed 507 whales? Or anti-whaler who risked his life and lost his boat to have helped save 528 whales? The 1000-ton whaling vessel Shonan Maru 2 who cut 17-ton-fibreglass anti-whaling boat in half? Key witnesses are missing: the slaughtered whales packaged for the meat market and the saved whales [some are being hunted to extinction] who are free and happily enjoying the blue oceans and nursing their offspring. Remember, oceans and sea life do not only belong to all of us regardless of cultural background, but more so to our children, and children’s children. If the anti-whaler is guilty, who is not? The Ocean is dying...

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UN News Centre: Conference on saving world’s fish stocks opens at UN Headquarters
24 May 2010 – A five-day conference on fish conservation opened at United Nations Headquarters in New York today amid warnings that three quarters of the world’s fish stocks are in distress and nearing depletion while marine ecosystems continue to deteriorate.

The conference chairman David Balton, United States Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries in the Bureau of Oceans, cited over-fishing, the effect of fishing on the marine environment and the need for further assistance to developing countries as among the forum’s main issues.

The conference is reviewing implementation of the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement that established a legal regime for long-term conservation and sustainable use of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks. It will provide an opportunity for countries to consider new measures to tighten implementation of the legal regime.  read more »