A unique panel of business, government, conservation and academic leaders has agreed a global strategy for aligning ocean health and human well-being. The Blue Ribbon Panel, which includes 21 global experts from 16 countries, emphasizes that without action to turn around the declining health of the ocean, the consequences for economies, communities and ecosystems will be irreversible.

Local scuba divers, the Sooke Sea Cadets and Wilson Diving were involved in Dive Against Debris on Sunday, September 22, from the Government Wharf to the Rotary Pier, Canada.
As part of the Sooke Sea Cadets and Wilson Diving’s commitment to protecting the ocean, trained divers not only remove underwater debris such as rope, plastic bottles, and fishing line, but also identify and document everything seen underwater in a larger effort to prevent marine debris.

Many subalpine lakes may look beautiful and even pristine, but new evidence suggests they may also be contaminated with potentially hazardous plastics. Researchers say those tiny microplastics are likely finding their way into the food web through a wide range of freshwater invertebrates too.
The findings, based on studies of Italy's Lake Garda and reported on October 7th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, suggest that the problem of plastic pollution isn't limited to the ocean.

The health of the world’s oceans is deteriorating even faster than had previously been thought, a report says.
A review from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), warns that the oceans are facing multiple threats.
They are being heated by climate change, turned slowly less alkaline by absorbing CO2, and suffering from overfishing and pollution.
The report warns that dead zones formed by fertiliser run-off are a problem.

Environmental issues affecting the land and ocean and their inter-connectedness, will be the focus of some 250 delegates attending the Second Global Conference on Land-Ocean connections in Montego Bay, St. James.
Staged by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the conference is being held from October 2 to 4, at the Hilton Rose Hall Hotel, under the theme: ‘Building Bridges through Partnerships’. The delegates are representing approximately 70 different countries.

A TOTAL of 1,609 kilograms or about 1.6 tons of garbage were picked Friday, September 20, from the Panagsama Beach in Moalboal, Cebu in what was considered the biggest coastal cleanup in town.
The cleanup, organized by Johan Blixt of Neptune Diving Adventure and as part of the activities lined up by Project AWARE Foundation, gathered around 116 people, excluding divers from different resorts in Moalboal, a southern town in Cebu.

Following months of careful planning and coordination, the Malaysia Day Dive 2013 (MDD) concluded on a high note with a total of 64.5kg of marine debris successfully collected from in and around the WWII shipwreck of the Hiyoshi Maru, about 30km off the Santubong coast.
A stinking mess of abandoned fishing nets piled high on the boat ramp may not be anyone’s idea of the catch of the day but for the 15 volunteer divers taking part, it was a beautiful sight because it meant these nets would no longer pose a danger to ocean life.

Cathay Pacific's policy banning cargoes of non-sustainable shark fin will not come into effect until next year, about 18 months after it was announced, marine experts drawing up the guidelines say.
The experts defended the carrier's drawn-out approach, saying Cathay had "grasped a serious nettle" and that its stance would be more effective for marine conservation in the long term.
Cathay said on September 4 last year it would no longer carry shark fin from unsustainable sources, saying it expected to implement the policy within "approximately three months".

There is no easy way to tackle the issue of marine litter: it is complicated and has many causes, impacts and inputs. As a high percentage of marine litter comes from land based sources, EU legislation is possibly the best way to address the problem and look for solutions.

Twelve months before the entry into force of CITES regulations on shark and rays, the European Union approves a 1.2 million euro project to ensure their effective implementation. Brazil, China, Germany, Japan and the United States have also offered support and technical assistance.
The 178 Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) are preparing for the implementation of the shark and ray listings that they adopted at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16) in March 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.