Greenpeace attacks IOTC efforts
World Fishing | 13 May 2013
Greenpeace International has accused the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) of lacking in action to halt the decline of the region's vulnerable tuna and taking measures to protect sharks.
 Indian Ocean | Fish | Fisheries | Marine Management

Oman Joins Ramsar, Designates Nature Reserve
biodiversity-l.iisd.org | 06 May 2013
2 May 2013: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) has reported that the Government of Oman has acceded to the Convention, becoming its 167th contracting party. The wetland Qurm Nature Reserve was designated as its first Ramsar site.
 Indian Ocean | Blue Carbon | Conservation

New Fisheries Act Lays Basis For Sustainable Fisheries In Mozambique
World Wide Fund For Nature | 02 May 2013
The Mozambican Parliament has by consensus approved a new Fisheries Act which will address rights-based management of fisheries, mainly for the direct benefit of local fishermen and pro-poor conservation.
 Indian Ocean | Fisheries | Policy

Israeli scientists discover why soft corals have unique pulsating motion
EurekAlert | 24 Apr 2013
Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have discovered why Heteroxenia corals pulsate. Their work, which resolves an old scientific mystery, appears in the current issue of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the US).
 Indian Ocean | Coral | Research

Bloom: Photosynthetic pods for mid-ocean living
smartplanet.com | 05 Apr 2013
Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that float around the water surface, harnessing sunlight to make energy for themselves. Like plants, they use chlorophyll to produce oxygen while absorbing carbon dioxide. So, with impending sea level rises, French architecture firm Sitbon Architectes designed a livable, phytoplankton farm to be installed in the Indian Ocean.
 Indian Ocean | Climate Change | Plankton

Ancient pool of warm water questions current climate models
EurekAlert | 04 Apr 2013
(University College London) A huge pool of warm water that stretched out from Indonesia over to Africa and South America four million years ago suggests climate models might be too conservative in forecasting tropical changes.
 Indian Ocean | Pacific Ocean | Climate Change | Research

SGP Seychelles Launch of the Community-Based Adaptation Programme
sgp.undp.org | 20 Mar 2013
Adapting to climate change involves reducing exposure and sensitivity to the effects and increasing the capacity of local communities in the face of such adversity. The first steps to community-based adaptation to climate change in the Seychelles were taken on 18 January 2013 by the official launch of the AusAID funded Small Islands Developing States(SIDS) Community Based Adaptation (CBA) programme.
 Indian Ocean | Climate Change | Small Island Developing States

Third Ramsar Site in United Arab Emirates
Ramsar Convention | 19 Mar 2013
The UAE has designated its third Wetland of International Importance, effective 10 March 2013 and located in the emirate of Sharjah. The Mangrove and Alhafeya Protected Area in Khor Kalba, a National Protected Area, is located in the far east of the country near the border with Oman and comprises coastal subtidal, intertidal (sand beach, mangroves, mud and tidal channels), supratidal sand, salt marsh and saline flats.
 Indian Ocean | Blue Carbon | Conservation

Australia's new marine protected areas: why they won't work (opinion)
theconversation.edu.au | 15 Mar 2013
On land and in the sea, were losing sight of what nature conservation is about. Weve become dangerously focused on protected areas, but rarely consider what theyre supposed to achieve. One result is that biodiversity is declining almost everywhere while protected areas expand.
 Indian Ocean | Pacific Ocean | Conservation | Governance | Marine Protected Area

All exports of Maldives pole and line caught tuna to carry MSC certificate
fishupdate.com | 15 Mar 2013
The International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF) has praised a new initiative that will see all exports of Maldives pole-and-line skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) caught in the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fishery carry a 'Validation Certificate'? issued by the MSC client, the Maldives Seafood Processors and Exporters Association (MSPEA).
 Indian Ocean | Fisheries | Seafood Certification