Blog
When fisheries and marine conservation go hand-in-hand: A Local Conservation Leader’s Perspective on Managed Access in Belize
By Blue Parks Intern Maya Green Featured Image: A handmade hope sign hangs from a tree in Punta Gorda, a small town in southern Belize. Punta Gorda is home to the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, and Port Honduras Marine Reserve is located just off its coast. Photo Credit: Carolyn Henri Just off the…
Read MoreNOAA Shirks Responsibility for Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary as Marine Life Declines
Featured Image: At the close of the day, the sanctuary’s waters and sky field a palette of colors. Photo- Anne Smrcina/NOAA Stellwagen Bank, nestled in the ocean between Cape Cod’s curled arm and the New England coast, is such an important and iconic part of our coastal ocean that more than 30 years ago its…
Read MoreTubbataha Reefs Natural Park Ranger Team Earns International Ranger Award
To truly safeguard marine life and restore our ocean, Biden’s proposed sanctuary around the entirety of the Pacific Remote Islands must provide a high level of protection and eliminate commercial fishing in line with the existing marine national monument.
Read MoreStakeholder engagement essential for successful designation of Highly Protected Marine Areas in Scotland
Featured Photo: View from the village of Elgol to the Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. (Credit: Daniel Callaghan) Blog By Marine Conservation Institute Blue Parks Intern Daniel Callaghan The United Kingdom (UK) has the second highest percentage of country waters designated as fully or highly protected marine areas in the world at…
Read MoreAfter 50 years of National Marine Sanctuaries, can we please put the real meaning of the word ‘sanctuary’ into the program
It’s been 50 years since the passage of the National Marine Sanctuary Act in 1972, and we have reason to ask, ‘How effective are US marine sanctuaries at conserving marine life in US oceans?” Are they doing the job of protecting and conserving our nation’s most valuable marine ecosystems? Unfortunately, the answer to that question…
Read MoreDid Millenia of Fish Poop Help Shape a New Seamount off the Coast of California?
“The oceans deserve our respect and care, but you have to know something before you can care about it.” – Sylvia Earle Move over boring geological processes – there’s a new seamount in town that scientists say could have been shaped by a surprising source: fish poop. Seamounts are colossal underwater mountains that usually form…
Read MoreAnother Earth Day Comes and Goes
I’ve been celebrating Earth Day since 1970 when I was in high school; and now I am a 70-year old man. I’ve seen a lot of Earth Days come and go, some with a fanfare of government announcements and others with an insipid nod to Mother Earth. I get that there are a lot of…
Read MoreFor Us and Future Generations
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau My son was born four months ago, and I will never think about ocean conservation the same way again. A biologist by training, I have been studying and working to protect our ocean for almost 15…
Read MoreBlue Parks earns UN Ocean Decade endorsement
Last week, Marine Conservation Institute’s Blue Parks initiative was endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (“UN Ocean Decade”). Blue Parks joins the UN Ocean Decade network of endorsed actions engaged in the common vision of the science we need for the ocean we want. “The UN Ocean Decade…
Read MoreProtection in the Pacific Remote Islands: Fifteen Years in the Making and Still Counting…
On March 21st, President Biden hosted the White House Conservation in Action Summit, where among other conservation actions, he directed the Secretary of Commerce to consider expanding the marine national monument around the Pacific Remote Islands by initiating a National Marine Sanctuary designation. This is the third President to recognize the conservation importance of these…
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