Assorted oceanic events and issues

ECO-NEWS, WEEK 9

The International Whaling Commission denied a request by Denmark to allow aboriginal hunting of humpback whales off of Greenland. (Independent Online)

Multinational support is growing for a trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna -- but Japan doesn't care. (Washington Post)

The US will "embargo" wild-caught Mexican shrimp, after learning that some fishers there aren't using devices to prevent sea turtles from drowning in trawls. (Pretoma)

Reports from the Maine Fishermen's Forum on Friday. (Bangor News; check the paper or website on Monday for news of Saturday -- I hear it was interesting)

Ocean acidification is being recognized as a serious and growing global problem (Sydney Morning Herald)

...despite efforts to debunk it (CO2 Science Magazine). [As the speaker on this topic said at the Fishermen's Forum, "Prove me wrong and I'll be grateful.]

California may ban the use of ocean water as power-plant coolant, as sea life is sucked in with it. (San Jose Mercury News)

On the human ecology of baaaad dead zones in the Baltic Sea. (National Geographic)

Pythons, beetles, Montana, Walmart, United We Fish

ECO-NEWS, WEEK 8

Florida now has a hunting season for large invasive reptiles. (Miami Herald)

Wal-Mart pledged to make its suppliers majorly reduce their greenhouse-gas emission, sparking much debate.

Montana's government intends to ban mining and drilling in its part of the trans-border Flathead Valley, following British Columbia's lead. (Missoulian)

A major cement maker promised in court to cut its emissions of airborne toxins. (Earthjustice)

Living on Earth: nuclear waste, bark-beetle battling, tennis balls, the Chagas Islands, and the intensifying fight over US fishery management. Plus some lovely prose about herons.