Citizens Urge EU to Better Manage Marine Protected Areas
particularly concerning MPAs, the world will be looking at the ambition of Commissioner Kadis’s Ocean Pact. However, a recent leaked draft suggests it will hardly change the status quo for EU MPAs and will not even mention destructive fishing or bottom trawling.Vera Coelho, deputy vice president at Oceana in Europe, said – on behalf of participating civil society organisations: “Citizens are calling for change – the continuous destruction by bottom trawling happening in marine protected areas is a problem that the EU cannot ignore any longer. The European Ocean Pact must finally
White House Aims to Eliminate NOAA Climate Research
proposal, saying it would leave communities vulnerable to extreme weather, threaten ocean species and harm commercial fisheries.“This is ludicrous! Whether you live on a coast or in the heartland, these proposed cuts to NOAA will impact you,” Beth Lowell, an executive at conservation group Oceana, said in an email. “Congress must act to stop the dismantling of NOAA that would directly threaten the millions of Americans that depend on healthy oceans for their jobs, businesses, and seafood dinners.”Commerce Department officials did not respond to requests for comment.Under the proposal
The Information Age is Transforming Fishing Worldwide
production. Chinese fishing exerts huge influence on the oceans. Observers estimate that China’s fishing fleet may be as large as 800,000 vessels and its distant-water fleet may include up to 17,000 vessels, compared to 300 for the U.S.According to a study by the nonprofit advocacy group Oceana using Global Fishing Watch data, between 2019 and 2021 Chinese boats carried out 47 million hours of fishing activity. More than 20% of this activity was on the high seas or inside the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of more than 80 other nations. Fishing in other countries’ waters without
'Catastrophic' California Offshore Oil Spill Kills Fish, Damages Wetlands
drilling in the state by 2045.Offshore drilling was restricted in the state after a devastating 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara that dumped 80,000 barrels into the ocean. More recently another spill off Santa Barbara in 2015 sent as much as 2,400 barrels onto the shore and into the Pacific.Oceana, an ocean conservation group, also called for an end to offshore oil and gas drilling.Jacqueline Savitz, Oceana's chief policy officer, said in a statement: "This is just the latest tragedy of the oil industry. It's well past time to prevent future oil spills by permanently protecting
Nine US States Seek to Stop Atlantic Seismic Testing
for comment.The other attorneys general are from Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. They joined a suit by conservationists filed earlier this month by groups including the Coastal Conservation League, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Oceana.(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
US Government Sued Over Atlantic Seismic Testing
no seismic tests have been known to cause whale beachings. A spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency within the Commerce Department, declined to discuss ongoing litigation.Plaintiffs in the lawsuit also included the Southern Environmental Law Center, Sierra Club, Oceana, the Center for Biological Diversity and the North Carolina Coastal Federation.Lawmakers from South Carolina and coastal mayors held a news conference on Tuesday in Charleston to address the issue.U.S. Representative-elect Joe Cunningham, a Democrat, said drilling threatens fishing industries, jobs
Newly Formed UES Seanic Wins First Contract
(UES) and Houston headquartered Seanic Oceans Systems has secured its first contract in Tunisia, a region which neither firm had previously operated in. As part of the merger between their parent companies ATR Group and Centurion Group last year, the newly formed business of UES Seanic will support Oceana Subsea on a decommissioning campaign in Tunisia, North Africa. UES Seanic was formed on January 1st this year with 11 personnel based in the UK and a further 43 in Houston. The merger sees the company operating globally with locations in Aberdeen, Houston and Singapore with distribution
Obama Bans New Drilling off Alaska, Part of Atlantic Shore
groups have opposed offshore drilling and would fight the Trump administration's attempts to open it up. "The people of the Atlantic coast have refused to allow their way of life to be compromised," said Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Florida-based ocean conservancy group Oceana. She said the Obama administration move to protect the Atlantic coast was a "smart business decision" since it would protect the lucrative tourism and fishing industries of East Coast communities. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici; Additional
Obama Administration Bars New Oil, Gas Exploration off Alaska
plan, which built on a similar decision in March when the government removed much of the Atlantic ocean from oil and gas leasing for five years. "This is excellent news for our oceans, from the Arctic to the Atlantic," said Jacqueline Savitz, deputy vice president for U.S. campaigns of Oceana, an international advocacy group. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Cynthia Osterman, G Crosse
February 2026
