- Commonwealth nations agree on coordinated actions to protect oceans
- UN begins negotiations for treaty to protect high seas biodiversity
- Sweden developing marine spatial plans for its territorial waters and EEZ
- Northern Ireland soliciting public comment on draft marine plan until mid-June
- Belgium to begin soliciting comments on draft marine spatial plan in July
- New study published on marine spatial planning (MSP) for blue growth
- Trump administration opening up additional areas for wind energy in US Northeast
- Study estimates warming ocean could reduce global fish catch
- Researchers report catches from deep sea trawling grossly underreported
- Report examines ways to increase ocean food production sustainably
- US NOAA publishes global list of fisheries and their risks to marine mammals
- Only 2 percent of world’s oceans in strongly implemented, fully protected areas
- New tool analyzes how well important biodiversity and ecosystem services are represented in marine protected areas (see a webinar on this work on June 14)
- Free paper provides primer for how to use social media for fisheries science and management
- Experts requested for assessments of natural values and benefits and sustainable use of wild species
- Report proposes increases in foreign aid for solid waste management to improve quality of life for world’s poorest people and dramatically reduce plastic entering the ocean
- IOC/UNESCO MSP website updated to include extensive MSP glossary, downloadable versions of three major MSP publications, summaries of and status reports on MSP initiatives in 68 countries, longer descriptions of MSP activities around the world, an updated version of the IOC MSP guide, and more MSP-related resources from around the world
And we like to include a few lighter news and resources items every month. There was a lot of fascinating stuff to choose from this month, including:
- Lots of lists and photos of awesome, crazy deep sea creatures this month! Check them out here, here, here, and here
- Companies are developing food packing you can eat after you’ve eaten its contents
- Europe’s plastic bag bans may indeed be working to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean
- Manta rays like to check themselves out in front of mirrors
- A cool new weather app can show you global wind, waves, swell, and sea temperature
- Scientists just discovered 1.5 million penguins on some remote Antarctic islands
- The freediving Bajau people of southeast Asia may have developed genetic adaptations, including enlarged spleens, that help them freedive to depths over 200 feet
- Satellite technology is being developed to detect all sorts of things – including subsurface conditions, methane leaks, and maybe even ocean plastics someday.