ENVIRONMENT
Protect Our Seas
News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
Elizabethan wreck found in quarry
Workers dredging for aggregates in a Kent quarry lakebed last April were surprised to come across the remains of what has turned out to be a rare Elizabethan-era ship . The hull timbers lay about 300m inland on a Dungeness headland , and the quarry team was quick to call in experts from Wessex Archaeology , while the county council requested support and funding from Historic England . More than 100 hull timbers were recovered , with analysis confirming them as English oak hewn between 1558 and 1580 .
Ice babies in their billions
A research team has found the world ’ s largest known fish breeding area to date . A towed camera system photographed and filmed thousands of nests of icefish of the species Neopagetopsis ionah on the seabed in the Weddell Sea , Antarctica . The density of the nests and the size of the entire breeding area suggest a total number of about 60 million icefish breeding at the time of observation . A team led by Autun Purser from the Alfred Wegener Institute published their results in the scientific journal Current Biology . The findings provide support for the establishment of a Marine Protected Area in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean .
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PHOTO : WESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY
PHOTO : ALFRED WEGENER INSTITUTE , PS124 OFOBS TEAM
A long way from ‘ job done ’
After a positive conclusion to 2022 , Shark Trust MD Paul Cox looks to the challenges that lie ahead for shark conservation
As I write it ’ s my first week back after an extended Christmas break . I wasn ’ t really sure whether I needed to come back at all . Having had various conversations with friends and family over mince pies starting along the lines of “ I read in the paper that sharks are now protected from fishing …”, I wondered if I ’ d missed something and I was no longer needed .
But don ’ t worry , we ’ ve still got jobs and I can start the new year bleating on about overfishing all over again ! The source of the optimism , upon further digging , was some over-enthusiastic reporting ( or maybe overenthusiastic reading ) of the outcomes from the CITES meeting in November . It ’ s certainly true that an unprecedented 87 new species were added to Appendix II of CITES last year . And that consequently 95 % of the species involved in the Shark Fin trade now face increased regulation . But we are , I ’ m afraid , a long way from “ job done ”.
CITES ( Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ) is one of many tools available to aid conservation of species . In simple terms , once a species is ‘ listed ’ then any trade across international borders should only be possible with a permit proving it ’ s come from a sustainable source . That
should have a major impact on shark fisheries . It makes it more difficult to export products and it places a requirement on fishing nations to demonstrate sustainable practice . However , it ’ s by no means a panacea .
Firstly , CITES is a trade agreement , not a fisheries agreement . Between CITES listing and sustainable fisheries there are many stages , a lot of players and plenty of possible loopholes . Secondly , shark fisheries , despite what ’ s commonly reported , are not solely about fins . There are burgeoning markets in a variety of shark products – especially meat – which impact on a far wider pool of shark and ray species than those covered by this agreement . While these latest CITES listings provide a valuable shove in the right direction , there ’ s plenty of work to do before we have science-based fisheries management at all scales for all species .
Meanwhile , in the other big Christmas shark story , Steven Spielberg , head in hands , has apparently been airing his regret over the impact of Jaws on shark populations . Well , Steven , please don ’ t be too hard on yourself . I think there were other factors at play . But if you ’ re looking to assuage your guilt , I know a very busy shark conservation organisation that can always do with donations .
www . sharktrust . org