Environment Minister Greg Hunt has threatened to introduce a law to ban microbeads, the tiny particles that are found in face scrubs and body washes, if companies do not adhere to a voluntary phase-out.
As state and federal ministers met for the roundtable on plastic bags in Sydney today, Mr Hunt said the government was taking a "stronger stance" on this "important environmental issue".
"We will continue to work with companies towards a voluntary phase-out of microbeads," Mr Hunt said in a statement.

The Cayman Islands’ three world-class dive destinations have attracted scuba divers since scuba diving was invented. Known for amazing wall dives, beautiful coral reefs and visibility that often seems infinite, the Cayman Islands offer some of the best scuba diving in the Caribbean. Of the three islands, Grand Cayman is the most visited by scuba divers. Grand Cayman’s North Wall plunges deeper than 1800 metres/6000 feet and offers beautiful wall diving with opportunities to see spotted eagle rays and sea turtles.

New Florida State University research appearing today in Scientific Reports, a Nature journal, challenges a 2007 study published in Scienceclaiming that shark declines led to rising populations of cownose rays, which were responsible for the collapse of oyster and shellfish industries along the Atlantic coast.
The new research is significant since the previous study led in part to the creation of fisheries and bow-fishing tournaments for cownose rays such as the “Save the Bay, Eat a Ray” campaign that could put ray populations in jeopardy.

A group of experts from international conservation organizations is announcing a new strategy for combating the decline of sharks and closely related rays, while warning that the rays are even more threatened and less protected than the higher profile sharks.
The call for greater inclusion of rays in conservation action plans is part of "Global Priorities for Conserving Sharks and Rays: A 2015-2025 Strategy," released today in conjunction with a Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) meeting on shark conservation currently underway in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Australia’s leading marine scientists are appealing to the federal government to reject a review expected to recommend a significant reduction in the size of ocean sanctuaries and an expansion of areas permitted for commercial fishing.

The second meeting of the signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks is taking place in San José from 15 to 19 February at the kind invitation of the Costa Rican Government. It will be preceded by the first meeting of the Memorandum’s Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of John Carlson of the USA. The MOU is a non-legally binding instrument and was negotiated under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

More than 7000 tropical islands, clear warm water, vast coral reefs and mind-blowingly beautiful flora and fauna make the Philippines a true scuba diver’s paradise.
You can find almost every underwater adventure and experience here. At some dive resorts, shore diving on the house reef is popular, but divers can also hop on a day boat or live-aboard to access the sheer reef walls and atolls offshore.

Applying circular economy principles to global plastic packaging flows could transform the plastics economy and drastically reduce negative externalities such as leakage into oceans, according to the latest report by the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation, with analytical support from McKinsey & Company.

In a significant move to save one of the world’s most-treasured marine animals, Peru has approved strong regulations to protect the giant oceanic manta ray, a species particularly vulnerable to fishing activity.

President Barack Obama Monday signed into law a bill phasing out the manufacture of facewash, toothpaste and shampoo containing plastic microbeads by July 1, 2017 and the sale of these products by July 1, 2018.