Norway Increases Whaling Quotas Despite Decline of Whalers- Costa Rican Fishermen Detained By Colombia Over Illegal Shark Fishing
- Tracking Whale Sharks Hoped to Increase Tourism for Great Barrier Reef
Norway Increases Whaling Quotas Despite Decline of Whalers
Government officials in Norway are agitated over the steady decline of whaling vessels participating in the annual whaling hunt, despite a gradual increase in the minke whale quota over the last decade. Although the number of whaling vessels has fallen from 33 to just 19 during that period of time, the minke whale quota has risen from 549 to 1,268. All this considered, the whalers only returned to port with 41 percent of their quota last year, blaming high fuel costs, rough weather, location of hunting grounds, and processing plants already being overfilled. Environmentalists, on the other hand, point to a declining demand for whale meat in Norway, which, along with Iceland, does not observe the international moratorium on commercial whaling established in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission.
Costa Rican Fishermen Detained By Colombia Over Illegal Shark Fishing
Five Costa Rican men have been detained by the Colombian Navy following accusations that they were illegally fishing for sharks in Colombia waters. The men were apprehended in Malpelo National Park, a UNESCO marine protected area that covers 5,000 square miles of ocean surrounding Colombia. The Costa Rican vessel was found to have an as-yet-undetermined number of sharks, tuna, and mahi-mahi. This is not the first time Colombia has faced illegal fishing in Malpelo National Park; in recent past more than 2,000 sharks were illegally slaughtered by Costa Rican fishermen, and an Ecuadorian vessel was captured with more than 660 lbs of illegally caught sharks and other species.
Tracking Whale Sharks Hoped to Increase Tourism for Great Barrier Reef
Tracking whale sharks may open a new line of tourism for dive operators on the Great Barrier Reef, where recent encounters with a pod of the gentle giants have caused a stir among divers. Although a population is known to exist in the Coral Sea, the possibility of predicting their appearance on the ribbon reefs of the Great Barrier Reef is difficult. With the tracking of whale sharks, scientists would be able to not only predict when they will appear, but gain more knowledge about their lives in the deep. It is hoped that such tracking could bring the level of ecotourism success of neighboring Ningaloo Reef off of Western Australia.
