Oceans Day 2011 addressed several issues related to marine biodiversity, including the ecosystem approach, payment for ecosystem services (PES), invasive marine species, ocean acidification, coral bleaching and fish stocks depletion.

Auckland-born marine scientist Stephen Lyon is an unlikely candidate for the job of creating the world's largest shark sanctuary - he has had a crippling fear of sharks since age 5.

As the European Commission proposes an outright ban on shark finning, the senior vice-president of the European Parliament's fisheries committee warns fellow MEPs not to water down the plans.

Large scale "geoengineering" solutions to climate change will not reverse rising acidity in the oceans which damages marine life, conservationists have warned.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issued a call at the UN climate talks in Durban for countries to urgently address the issue of ocean acidification, caused by greater levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The Australian Government announced today the proposed establishment of the world's largest marine protected area in the waters of the Coral Sea that fall within Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone.
Environment Minister Tony Burke said the Coral Sea was recognised across the world as a marine region of significance for its unique biodiversity. And in Australian waters the environment is in near pristine condition.
The proposed Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve covers approximately 989,842 square kilometres - an area of ocean more than half the size of Queensland.

Local scuba divers will ‘Dive Against Debris’on December 7 at Mamutik Island,Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, Borneo.
As part of Borneo Divers’ commitment to protect the ocean, trained divers not only remove underwater debris such as plastic bottles, fishing line and other debris, but also identify and document everything they see underwater in a larger effort to prevent marine debris.

One of Asia's most prestigious hotel chains said Monday it would stop selling shark fin from January, in a move hailed as a historic breakthrough by campaigners to protect the threatened predators.
The owner of the Peninsula Hotels group said the decision was made "in recognition of the threat facing the global shark population and in line with the company's sustainability vision".

ICCAT protects silky sharks, leaves porbeagles vulnerable and finning ban weak
Fishing nations at the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) have acted on one of three shark conservation proposals.  ICCAT Parties adopted protections for silky sharks, based on a proposal from the EU, Brazil, and the US.  Proposals to protect porbeagle sharks and to strengthen the ICCAT ban on shark finning (slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea) were defeated.

Delegates at an international conservation meeting agreed Saturday on a measure mandating that silky sharks accidentally caught in fishing gear be released back into the sea alive, marine advocacy groups said.
The 48-member International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), however — ending a weeklong meeting in Istanbul — failed to reach consensus on other threatened shark species, the groups said.