News

Rubbish has been washing up on its isolated beaches in the Pitcairn chain at a rate of several thousand bits of plastic a day. Link to full article below. 

Climate change will cost Pacific island countries and territories about $60 million in lost tuna-related revenue by 2050, Johann Bell, senior director of Pacific tuna fisheries at Conservation International, reportedly told the Pacific Islands News Association.

All mining operations, on land or at sea, cause environmental damage. Research strongly suggests that deep-sea mining will result in the loss of biodiversity...Such efforts could protect fragile marine environment from impacts of mining. Link to full article below.

International fleets are putting pressure on the world’s shark populations, whose natural habitat is largely located in industrial fishing areas — where no legal protection exists, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.Link to the full article below.

A single use plastic ban and importation levy comes into force in Tuvalu from the beginning of August to help deal with waste in the small remote islands. Link to full article below. 

Security has been beefed up at caves where moa bones are at risk of being pillaged, as the government moves to make it illegal to trade remains of the extinct bird. Link to full article below.

A gradual restriction on the use of plastics starts in New Caledonia today. Per capita New Caledonians have reportedly used more than 200 plastic bags each year. Link to the full article below.

Samoa's campaign to save its national bird, the manumea, was jointly launched on the weekend by New Zealand's Prime Minister. Link to full article below

The head of the United Nations body responsible for ocean conservation says indigenous Pacific knowledge can help define the science needed to save the ocean. Link to full article below.

Representatives from five Pacific island countries have been in Nadi this week to begin the development of regional and national plans to implement the European Union (EU) funded Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership (PEUMP) programme Bycatch and Integrated Ecosystem Management (BIEM) compone