Positive ocean news: October '24 edition

The Australian government is finalising an expansion of a marine park by more than 300,000 square kilometres, quadrupling its size. The move would increase the amount of the country’s seas under protection to 52% – more than any other country.

The Heard Island and McDonald Islands, south-west of Perth, are “wildlife havens”, and are home to glaciers, wetlands and Australia’s only active volcanoes. They’re reported to be one of the areas least disturbed by humans in the world.

The expansion of the marine reserve will see habitat protection zones and national park areas as big as Italy being added to its existing sanctuary zones, which have the highest level of conservation. Most waters around the two islands would also be protected from mining and new pelagic fisheries which target mackerel icefish and Patagonian toothfish.

Read the full article on the Guardian website

Greece has seen a sharp rise in the number of marine turtle nests on its beaches, recording over 10,000 nests since 2023, compared to averages of 6,000 during the 2000s.

The number of hatchlings surviving into adulthood has also increased, a key part of conservation strategies. As a result, some tagged turtles have been recorded returning to beaches around Zakynthos to nest decades later.

The number of hatchlings surviving into adulthood has also increased, a key part of conservation strategies. As a result, some tagged turtles have been recorded returning to beaches around Zakynthos to nest decades later.

The creation of a state-funded marine park on Zakynthos has contributed to the rise in nests and surviving hatchlings, alongside the conservation efforts and campaigning by groups such as Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece and the Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles for policies that protect marine turtles.

Read the full article on the Good News Network website

Californian governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill making it illegal to raise and breed octopuses for human consumption in state waters or in aquaculture tanks within the state. It will also bans business owners and operators from participating in the sale of a farmed octopus, regardless of its provenance.

The bill will come into effect in January 2025, making it the second US state to ban octopus farming.

The bill highlighted the environmental risks of octopus farming, with Assemblymember Laura Friedman, who sponsored the bill, saying, “we should be protecting our marine ecosystem to better enable marine species to rebound.”

Read the full article on the LA Times website

The seabird species were hit by avian influenza last year and have all been placed on a conservation watch list by the British Trust for Ornithology. The island was built to improve the seabirds’ habitats and aid population recovery, after many of Saltholme's breeding birds died or abandoned their nests last year.

The Teesside reserve is planning to install a new sound system which plays bird calls to attract more seabirds. Site manager Chris Francis said, "it is vital that we do everything that we can to support our seabirds’ recovery."

Read the full article on the BBC News website

A project in l’Estartit, in Spain’s Costa Brava, is helping to revive declining populations of cuttlefish by using a new approach to a traditional technique.

Cuttlefish numbers have declined on the Catalan coast because of pollution and unregulated recreational fishing. To combat this, local fisherman, Isaac Moya, and marine biologist Boris Weitzmann launched the Sepia Project, which aims to revive cuttlefish populations whilst supporting artisanal fishers.

The team attach tree branches to the shallow seabed with ropes, offering a solid place for cuttlefish to lay their eggs – a practice which is thousands of years old. The branches also act as incubators for cuttlefish eggs that become attached to fishing nets.

Local fishers then save any eggs they find in buckets of water so they can be placed on the branches that act as a nursery. Within the first two years of the project, 1.5m eggs were gathered by fishers.

Read the full article on the Guardian website

Two rare angel sharks have been tagged and released in County Kerry’s Tralee Bay, in what has been called a ‘crucial step forward’ in preserving and studying one of Europe’s most endangered species.

Although angel sharks were often caught by commercial and recreational fishers within the Tralee Bay area, populations have dramatically declined since the late 1960s. Encounters of are now extremely rare, with the species listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The tags will help improve understanding of angel sharks’ behaviour, migration patterns, and habitat preferences, with the data collected informing conservation strategies for the species in Irish and European waters.

Read more on the Oceanographic website

Stretching along 116 miles of California coast, the newly designated Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary will protect 4,543 square miles of US waters, making it the country’s third-largest national marine sanctuary.

The designation comes after decades of campaigning by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, with the Chumash Tribe to share management of the sanctuary with the Salinan Tribe and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

The sanctuary is to come into effect in December this year, supporting the US’s goal of protecting, conserving, and restoring at least 30% of its lands and waters by 2030.

Read more on the Seafood Source website