The numbers concerning shark finning, like so many other ecological calamities, are devastating. Rather than recap all of the sobering data here, you can click on these informative links to learn more. No longer a luxury available only to the super-wealthy, shark fin demand has escalated and shark killings have jumped in kind. Scientists have shown that some shark populations have shrunk by as much as 95%, much of which can be attributed to increased fin harvesting. Luckily, for us and the sharks, a global movement to ban the shark fin trade has taken hold and gathered momentum. Hawaii became the first state to ban the sale or possession of shark fin products in 2010 (The law went into effect this past summer). Hawaii’s precedent-forming law built on the current federal laws, which outlaws shark finning in American waters or by American-chartered boats, but did not forbid the sale or possession of imported fins. California, Oregon, and Washington, and Guam soon followed suit. The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, a US territory, also passed a law banning the practice. Toronto, Canada’s largest city, has also recently enacted a shark fin ban. Last month, Canada’s Parliament considered a federal ban. This month, President Obama signed into law the Shark Conservation Act, which tightened loopholes and strengthened the current federal anti-finning laws. With this new legislation, as well as pilot programs in the states mentioned above that could serve as test labs for the effectiveness of overall bans, the time for a national ban on shark fins may be approaching.

Amidst the growing restrictions, some Asian groups have grown irritated with what they see is an unfair, targeted attack on their culture. While it certainly is vital to respect other cultures and their practices, these protests make fairly obvious straw man arguments. If one particular cultural practice clearly, inarguably produces a deleterious effect (as shark finning does), a legal restriction against that practice is not a blanket condemnation of the culture as a whole, and the practice’s cultural importance is not enough reason to allow it to continue. Despite such protests, general sentiment is beginning to  (very) gradually shift in Asia as well, where the consumption of shark fin soup is far more prevalent and entrenched in the culture. Recently, NBA star Yao Ming appeared in a Chinese commercial exhorting his compatriots to abstain from eating shark fin. Hong Kong-based Peninsula Hotel Group, one of the most prestigious hotel chains in Asia, recently announced that it would stop serving shark fin soup at all of its banquet functions. Today, NTUC Fairprice, Singapore’s largest supermarket chain, announced another historic landmark in the fight against finning: it will eliminate all shark fin products by the end of the first quarter of 2012. While these milestones will not spell the end of shark finning any time soon, as there are still no laws anywhere in East Asia limiting shark fin harvesting, it appears we are gaining momentum and heading in the right direction.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone (blue is more our color anyway), but if you resisted the urge to get trampled while looking for marked-down toasters and plasma TVs at 4 AM, not to worry! You can still get a great gift for your friends and family without the added insanity of post-Thanksgiving shopping. Without leaving your computer, you can give your loved ones the gift of an Ocean Champions membership.

Everyone loves the ocean, and your thoughtful gift will not only bring joy to the lucky recipient, but every dollar will go to helping preserve ocean habitats and fighting for a strong ocean policy in DC. For as little as $25 dollars per year, new members will receive exclusive access to our website’s member area, where they can connect with other Ocean Champions, email updates on our events and activities, download ocean themed wallpapers and e-cards, and the satisfaction of helping protect our oceans. In addition to being great gifts, memberships are easy to give! Just click here to sign up your new Ocean Champion, and enter their name, email, and address in the “In Honor of” section, and we’ll handle the rest. Instead of another electronic gizmo, necktie, or (heaven forbid) fruitcake, give those closest to you the gift of clean, healthy oceans!

Happy Holidays!

Recently, David Wilmot and I had the opportunity to get a tour of the Marine Mammal Center just outside San Francisco.  I was incredibly impressed with the facility itself, which has grown significantly from humble roots, and with the great work they’re doing there.  The Center rescues, rehabilitates and releases stranded or injured marine mammals, focusing on pinnapeds (elephant seals, sea lions and harbor seals), and they’re responsible for 600 miles of northern California’s coast.  Soon their geographic scope will increase further, as they’re expanding to Hawaii to care for endangered monk seals.

Over the course of an average year, they might hospitalize and treat 500 injured animals.  Not surprisingly, the number of patients is increasing, and recently they’ve treated as many as 1700 animals in a year.  In a very real way, these animals are sentinel species for ocean health (and for human health issues as well).  Many of the hospitalizations are due to injuries from marine debris, toxic buildup from feeding on mercury-laden fish, and to epilepsy caused by toxic algal blooms.

The great work the Marine Mammal Center does is a result of many factors, including the generosity of donors – large and small – and the strong leadership of its Board and Executive Director Jeff Boehm.  It also comes from a passionate and committed volunteer force.  Currently, about 1,000 volunteers carry out a wide array of duties that range from leading tours, cleaning the facilities and feeding the animals, all the way to conducting basic medical procedures and rescuing the stranded animals. Truly incredible stuff.

You can help support their work by clicking here.

We do.  And so should you.

It’s easy to get angry about what you see in Washington, D.C. and to turn away from all things political as a result.  Unfortunately, disavowing the system won’t exempt you from its effects, and if you care about the ocean, there are real risks to disengagement.  Outcomes in the political arena can have a bigger impact on ocean health – in good ways and bad – than in any other domain.

You probably already know that Ocean Champions is the only ocean group that plays politically.  That means we’re the only ones who provide direct support to pro-ocean candidates to help them win their elections AND to let them know that they are being helped BECAUSE of their good ocean work.  Both of those concepts matter.  We also run campaigns to try and take out the bad guys when we can.

Bottom line, if we want healthy oceans, we have to win the political battle.  Right now there are 30 ocean champions serving in Congress, but that isn’t enough.  Ocean Champions is aiming to elect 40 in 2012, but to get that done we need the support of the ocean community.  So whether you like politics or not, I implore you to care about ocean politics.  If you care, please join and support Ocean Champions (and ask your ocean-loving friends to join).  Your contribution will help elect 40 good guys and send a signal that their ocean votes matter.

The more people who care about ocean politics, the more champions we can help elect.  As the number of champions in Congress grows, so will the health of our oceans.

Today I turn 23. With every birthday there is a certain amount of expectations for the new year, and a time to reflect. At midnight, I found myself with a glass of wine and my best friend, trying to figure out how I got to where I am today.

I’ve just graduated from Stanford University as a Marine Biologist.  I am now in graduate school with a focus in Marine Policy. Throughout my career I have been determined to seek opportunities to gain experience in the field. I earned my PADI Divemaster as soon as I became of age, completed numerous individual and group research projects at institutions across the world, and have had many conversations with those at the top of their field to soak in their advice. It all seems like a blur, but I keep the childhood sense of wonder and amazement close to my heart to guide me through.

I remember the first time I went SCUBA diving. I was 12 years old and on vacation with my family in Turks and Caicos. Our hotel had a one day Beginner Scuba Class. After using my persuasive skills (at least those of a very eager 12-year-old), my parents allowed me to try it out. I can still hear my heart beating deep within my chest, under all of that equipment, as I waited by the side of the hotel pool. Along the concrete edge we all stood, myself (a small child) in the middle of six other beginners (tall and middle-aged men). Although I felt out of place among the other students, once I plunged into the sea I felt right at home. I instantly relaxed as I saw the way that the sunlight entered the water in a scattered and beautiful pattern. The colors and diversity of everything astounded me. You can actually hear the parrotfish chomping down on the coral. You can see the clownfish moving in and out of its anemone home. You can watch as a cleaner wrasse enters a grouper’s mouth unharmed and feeds on parasites. A sense of wonderment overcame me as I realized that all of this, the busyness, the beauty, the bountifulness, is happening all the time. When I drive to the grocery store, while I’m sleeping, even when I’m blowing out candles on my birthday cake, there is a whole world that is continuously working and living. To me it’s funny how NASA spends so much money on exploring space; how people are so interested in finding another world, when all they had to do was look under the surface.

Diving inspired me to pursue an education and career in Marine Science. Last winter I attended a seminar by a local coral expert from The Coral Reef Alliance. He showed photos of destroyed coral communities in the Caribbean. Entire ecosystems had been degraded by coral bleaching, trawling, and other human induced threats. I’ve seen pictures like this before, but it wasn’t until he started saying the names of the sites that it became truly personal. All of a sudden I realized that these were pictures of some of the first dive sites I ever visited. I was shocked to see that the exact places that motivated me to pursue my major, that gave me the energy to work hard at all hours, and that led me to so many adventures, were gone. I instantly became depressed, imagining that my friends and family would never have the chance to see the places that caused such a strong response in me, and they would never truly understand why I am who I am today.

Until recently, I hadn’t considered myself a conservationist. I loved the ocean for what it was, the wonders deep inside it, the perfect vacation spots, the questions it sparked. Yet through my studies and the stories I’ve heard from people all around the world, from scientists to fishermen, I’ve realized that it’s not okay to love the ocean and ignore the opportunities to channel that passion into doing something positive to protect it. I’m 23 and I’ve already lost something that had one of the biggest impacts on my childhood and sparked the passion for my career path. Yet, I still have hope that everything won’t be lost, that my friends, family, both present and future, will be able to dive into that turquoise colored water and explore all the fascinating wonders below the surface.

On Tuesday, the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the Administration’s National Ocean Policy (NOP). It was a tough one for the ocean, but that was easy to anticipate given the Majority’s stated goal of taking down what they refer to as “the President’s irrational ocean zoning plan.” Some of the arguments used against it were effective (note: effective doesn’t mean “fact-based”), but many were so far over the top as to be comical, including:

• Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA) drew the interesting conclusion that the national ocean policy would result in the death of all U.S. land use planning, and was a tool being used by the “radical left” to force the entire population into dense urban cores.  Hmm.  The National Ocean Policy would do this?
• Congressman Steve Southerland (R-FL) intimated that the NOP would strip him of ALL his rights. Okayyyyyyyyy…
• Christopher Guith, representing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, argued that the national ocean policy would halt certain risky activities viewed as potentially damaging, and  asserted that a better approach would be to charge blindly ahead and deal with any resulting environmental catastrophes after they happened.
• Jim Gilmore, from the At-Sea (fish) Processors Association argued that the NOP intends to coordinate ocean uses with protection of critical habitat, as though that were a bad idea.

Extremism aside, the arguments used against implementing the national ocean policy can be grouped into a few general categories.  Fortunately, the NOP had plenty of Congressional defenders at the hearing as well.

Argument 1: It should be created through the legislative process rather than by Executive Order. Well, all those who support the NOP would prefer that it become law.  However, as Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) noted in his testimony, powerful individuals like former Natural Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (who we helped defeat) prevented previous NOP bills from even getting a hearing.  As the current leadership is also hostile to the NOP, an Executive Order is a good way of aligning the activities of the executive branch to move forward on an opportunity when Congress fails to act.

Argument 2: It will cause ocean zoning, which is assumed to be bad. This refers to Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP), which is a tool proposed within the National Ocean Policy.  CMSP collects and assembles the data to enable  thoughtful planning for where each ocean use could and should be carried out, and where multiple or specific types of uses would cause damage.  Sounds truly evil, right?  I also find it funny that several Congressman argued that the very idea of zoning was ludicrous.  I’m guessing these guys would be OK with siting elementary schools in their district between prisons and strip joints.  In addition, as Jim Lenard, a panelist representing wind energy argued, CMSP would gather the data to determine whether certain activities would even be profitable in various locations, saving industry time and money.

Argument 3: It creates additional beaurocracy and regulatory burdens. This is flawed on many levels.  First, Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) pointed out that the NOP imposes no new regulations.  As an Executive Order, it works within current law.  What it does is provide a mechanism for the 20 different federal agencies with ocean jurisdiction to coordinate analysis and decisions. This mechanism is the National Ocean Council (NOC), which is made up of the heads of all the relevant federal organizations with ocean jurisdiction.  That’s right – no new departments or agencies were created, the NOP simply creates a forum for the stakeholders to plan together.  So, it isn’t additional beaurocracy, and, as Jim Lenard pointed out, the NOP actually simplifies and streamlines the current process, which forces users to individually engage each of the relevant agencies and often results in redundant and incongruous activities with long delays.  Lenard pointed to the “smart from the start” program that used the collaborative framework to reduce the permitting time for offshore wind energy by 2 years.

At the end of the day, the National Ocean Policy is really about all the major stakeholders in ocean resource management working together, gathering relevant data and planning together. Yes, it is grounded in a conservation philosophy (which is why environmental groups love it), but it seeks to balance resource development with long term sustainable management of those resources.  Today, decisions are made by stakeholders independently and in a vacuum, and the oceans have suffered from this schizophrenic approach.  The National Ocean Policy’s coordination and collaboration would allow ocean economies to thrive, and ocean jobs to grow while protecting critical habitat and species, and enabling healthier oceans in a way that both environmentalists and users should embrace.  As Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) pointed out, opposing ocean planning is like opposing the use of air traffic controllers!

Everyone would agree that sharks are amazing creatures – these powerful predators of the sea have been around for almost 450 million years, surviving through a few mass extinctions. Sharks have been the ultimate survivors – until now, that is. Many people are fearful of sharks, but thanks to overfishing, it’s sharks that should be afraid of people. One of the biggest threats to sharks can be found in a practice called “finning,” but now, one of the largest consumers of shark fins, California, is taking steps to ban this horrendous practice.

Shark finning is a gruesome and inhumane process that involves cutting off the fins of a live shark and dropping the rest of the body back into the ocean where the shark drowns or bleeds to death. Shark meat is not worth as much, so the body is thrown overboard to make way for more fins, which can sell for $600 per pound. Many of these fins are used for shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy – the soup itself can run as much as $100 a bowl.

Finning has destroyed shark populations in recent years: up to 73 million sharks are killed each year only for their fins. Scientists now say as many as 90% of the sharks in the open oceans have disappeared. Because they’re large apex predators, sharks are slow to mature, so they haven’t been able to bounce back from the overfishing, and if we continue at our levels of fishing and finning now, sharks could be gone within a generation. There’s some good news for sharks, though – throughout the world, people are recognizing this threat, and finning and the sale of shark fins has been banned in many countries, as well as in Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. Now California, the largest consumer of shark fins outside of Asia, is also beginning to step up.

Assembly Bill 376, introduced by Assemblymembers Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and Paul Fong (D-Cupertino), would ban the possession, sale or distribution of shark fins. People holding a commercial fishing license would be exempted, but it would be illegal for restaurants and retail outlets to have fins. Violators would be guilty of a misdemeanor and face fines from $100 to $1,000. The bill, which was approved by the Assembly 65-8, will now be sent to the Senate floor after passing through committee. Previously, the bill was held in suspense file for 10 days, which is a holding place for bills that carry appropriations over a specified dollar amount. Last Thursday, however, the bill was voted out of committee, marking a huge victory for all in support of this important bill.

Banning shark fins just makes sense: it’s not just bad for the sharks and marine ecosystem, but also is bad for human health. The fins are loaded with mercury and heavy metals that are 42 times higher than safe levels for humans. All of these facts make it obvious why the tide has been turning on this issue and the number of supporters of the California bill continues to grow. These supporters range from celebrities such as basketball superstar Yao Ming and actress Bo Derek to organizations like the Asian Pacific American Ocean Harmony Alliance and many more.

It’s exciting to see this bill picking up steam, and we’ll be following its progress as it is discussed on the Senate floor. Of course, it’s important for our elected officials to know we support getting rid of this cruel practice, so to all you Californians, make sure you continue to let your Senators hear your feelings on the issue. This is one huge step in preserving our oceans for future generations, so let’s get this bill passed!

We at Ocean Champions know our supporters and friends are beautiful specimens of the human form and are of course in top physical shape. That’s why we’re excited to be once again sponsoring the Long Bay Sprint Triathlon, which will take place at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC! This fun event is back for a second year and promises to offer both great views of the beach and ocean as well as a great opportunity to get some exercise while hanging out with fellow ocean lovers.

The tri will take place on November 5 and will include a ½-mile ocean swim, 14-mile bike ride, and 3.1 miles of running. The race will be enjoyable for experienced triathlon participators and beginners alike, as the main goals are to provide a fun way to get out and enjoy the outdoors while raising environmental awareness – both things we can all get behind! Huntington Beach State Park will provide the perfect setting for the tri, as it includes 3 miles of pristine beaches and many salt marshes (which are incredibly productive ecosystems). In fact, you can experience the park in many different ways if you take the trip to South Carolina for the triathlon, from camping and hiking to fishing and boating.

This great environmentally-themed sprint triathlon was created and is now directed by Rob Grimes. Rob has been involved in triathlons for over 15 years and started racing at the local level, where he says he knew almost everyone. However, as the races grew bigger, he realized he missed smaller, more intimate races that didn’t make you run with thousands of strangers. That’s why he created the Long Bay Sprint: to have a race that was small enough that “people didn’t get lost in the numbers and one where they would also get recognized for their achievements.” In 2010, he added the environmental awareness aspect of the race, which focuses mostly on ocean protection. It’s obvious why we chose to partner with Rob on this great event!

We’d love to see all of you out there in November, not only to participate in some healthy competition, but to also just have fun and remember why we love the oceans. We believe that ocean health is linked directly to human health, so this is a great way to connect the two. And don’t worry: you still have about two and a half months to train (as if you needed it)!

You can sign up for the triathlon online here. We’ll see you in November!

As you might have noticed from our blog, fighting toxic algae has been a major priority of Ocean Champions for years. These harmful algal blooms (or HABs) are nasty occurrences that destroy ecosystems, kill marine life and cost millions of dollars of damage in economic and health problems. The blooms have been causing big problems for many coastal areas for years, and they keep growing. Cleaning up these coastal waters is important to the critters that live there as well as to all of us who love and want to protect the ocean.

Everyone can agree that they don’t like dead zones mucking up their waterways, so HABs bills have generally enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress. Last year, Ocean Champions worked with our friends in Congress to help pass H.R. 3650, Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2009, out of the House. Senators (and ocean champs) Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced the companion that nearly made it out of the Senate. Since then, we haven’t stopped fighting for cleaner coastal water, and that’s why we’re pleased that in this 112^th Congress, H.R. 2484, Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2011 has been introduced.

The newest HABs bill has passed out of Committee and is on its way to the House floor. Like the HABs bill in the 111^th Congress, H.R. 2484 would implement research strategies and provide for a comprehensive action plan to reduce and address HABs and hypoxia. Under this bill, increased emphasis will be placed on developing technologies to control and respond to HABs and the dead zones. We were encouraged to see all members of the Committee agreeing on the core provisions of the bill. Of course, this bill is not without its faults, and there are some issues that concern our champions in the House. But we’ll continue to work with our champs in the House and Senate to produce the strongest bill possible to address this growing problem.

In the end, it’s important to remember that this bill has the opportunity to help clean up our coasts and strengthen both our marine environment and coastal industries. That’s why we’ll be fighting for it, and we’ll need your help. We’re very pleased that even during these times when environmental issues are often put on the back burner (or attacked outright!), this bill is picking up speed. But with many priorities competing for their attention, Members of Congress need to hear from constituents like you that clean coastal water is important.

For most Americans, our massive agricultural sector ensures that food is relatively inexpensive, readily available, and shortages are unheard of.  Unfortunately, this abundance now comes at a very high cost to the health of our oceans. Every day, thousands of gallons of farm waste, like runoff herbicides, pesticides, and excess fertilizer, end up in coastal waters, profoundly upsetting these delicately balanced ecosystems. Nitrogen, a key ingredient in fertilizer, is particularly detrimental.

According to the journal Bioscience, over half a million tons of nitrogen washes away from America’s farms and end up in our oceans. Incredibly, nearly fifty percent of the nitrogen applied to crops in the United States is surplus to the needs of the plants. The Rodale Institute estimates that this excess nitrogen fertilizer costs farmers an estimated $270 million dollars per year.  The addition of excess nitrogen to an ecosystem can lead to a phenomenon called hypoxia, in which the dissolved oxygen saturation is too low to sustain much life. Faster-moving animals such as fish can navigate away from these areas, but less mobile creatures such as clams and urchins, cannot escape and die en masse.

The result is a “dead zone,” an empty column of water essentially devoid of any life. The dead zone problem is steadily growing, as well. The UN’s Environmental Program Year Book says that the number of global dead zones has doubled every decade since 1960, and that our oceans now feature 400 of these ecological disaster areas. Because the Mississippi River, a waterway that flows through many of our most productive farming states, empties into it, the Gulf of Mexico is particularly at risk to suffer from hypoxia and subsequent dead zones. Recently, one dead zone was measured at 20,000 square kilometers. While the situation is dire, there are steps we can all take to dial back the dead zone disaster.

Buying organic products (or growing your own fruits and vegetables) is one such simple step. Organic methods do not rely on synthetic herbicides or pesticides (like atrazine, the most common herbicide used in American agriculture, which has been banned in the EU for years and has been shown to disrupt reproduction in certain plants and animals), and they drastically reduce the amount of nutrients that run off into waterways. Increased consumer demand for organic products, along with the 2008 Farm Bill being the friendliest ever to organic farmers, shows that we can be cautiously optimistic about restoring life to these unfortunate dead zones.

For lots of useful information on organic agriculture, visit the Organic Farming Research Foundation’s website at: ofrf.org
And the Rodale Institute’s website at: rodaleinstitute.org