August 23, 2008
Fisheries Regulators Choose Short-term Economic Interest Over Species Survival
Washington, DC, August 22, 2008 − Today the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Horseshoe Crab Management Board once again failed to take the necessary action of approving a moratorium on horseshoe crab fishing in key states. In doing so, they acquiesced to the short-term interests of a few crab fishermen while ignoring the immediate and long-term needs of an imperiled shorebird, which relies on the crabs’ eggs for its survival.
Instead of imposing a ban on horseshoe crab take, the board opted to maintain current fishing quotas, still permitting each state to take 100,000 male crabs per year.
From the Surfbirds galleries. Red Knot, Cook Co.,IL, Montrose Point 5-24-08 © Paul Dacko
“By maintaining harvest levels rather than adopting a temporary moratorium on all horseshoe crab take, the Commission has dangerously underestimated the needs of both the crab and the Red Knot,” said Darin Schroeder, Vice President for Conservation Advocacy at American Bird Conservancy. “The ASMFC Management Board has failed to live up to its responsibility as an environmental steward, and ignored the Red Knot’s economic benefits. Each year birdwatchers flock to beaches in Delaware, New Jersey, and Virginia to see the staging birds. Soon, there could be no more knots to watch, and it will be too late to act.”
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Posted by Surfbirds at 6:10 PM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2008
Humpback whale on road to recovery, reveals IUCN Red List
Some large whale species, including the humpback, are now less threatened with extinction, according to the cetacean update of the 2008 IUCN Red List. Most small coastal and freshwater cetaceans, however, are moving closer to extinction.
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Posted by Surfbirds at 1:53 PM | Comments (0)
New study shows hen harriers and waders can live together.
Rising numbers of birds of prey need not spell disaster for threatened species of ground nesting birds, contrary to repeated claims that the two go hand in hand. In fact, numbers of curlew and lapwing actually increased at the same time as hen harriers flourished in the absence of illegal persecution during a study on a grouse moor in the south of Scotland during the 1990’s.
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Posted by Surfbirds at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)
Donors champion lapwing's cause
Donors are stepping in to help the rare sociable lapwing recover its numbers.
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Posted by Surfbirds at 1:32 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2008
Trawling: a major threat to albatrosses
A study of trawl fishing in South Africa suggests that around 18,000 seabirds may be killed annually in this fishery, highlighting trawl fisheries as a major threat to seabirds, especially several species of albatross already facing a risk of extinction.
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Posted by Surfbirds at 9:08 AM | Comments (0)
