Archives

Shark meets ray. Photo by Andy Mann

18
May
2016

Life’s Better in the Bahamas Shark Sanctuary

by Katie Flowers and Demian Chapman Category:

You have likely heard it somewhere before, an impressive piece of information shared tirelessly and sometimes incorrectly attributed to the impacts of shark finning only: “100 million sharks are killed every year.” Although this is an alarming number, it’s actually more factual to look at the range from the larger study estimating exploitation rates of sharks: 63 million – 273 million sharks killed annually. One hundred million is thus a conservative estimate, and the shark fin trade is not fully responsible for those landings. Data aside, the more important question now is what can we do about these losses? The answer may partially lie in the Bahamas. Before the study mentioned above even came out, the island nation made a progressive choice by fully protecting its sharks from fishing in 2011. Bahamians had put two and two together: many shark species in their waters live there either partially or year-round, and these sharks are worth big bucks alive – a 2007 estimate of $78M US in the Bahamas alone. The Bahamas is one of the best places in the Caribbean and arguably the... read more +

Oil pollutes Clifton Bay in The Bahamas. Photo courtesy Save the Bays website.

Oil pollutes Clifton Bay in The Bahamas. Photo courtesy Save the Bays website.

16
May
2016

Marc Yaggi: Keeping the Magic of the Bahamas

by Marc Yaggi Category:

Growing up in landlocked Pennsylvania, I always was enamored with the marine environment. The Bahamas in my mind were a magical and mythical archipelago of sun-soaked beaches, friendly people, and crystal clear turquoise waters full of a vibrant kaleidoscope of fish. The islands captured our imagination through vehicles like Splash, Thunderball, and Flipper. People around the world have a vision of the Bahamas as paradise. Now having been to the Bahamas a few times over the past decade, I see that all of those things are true.  However, when you look closely, you can see that some of the magic of the Bahamas is getting tarnished. I recently spent a day on Clifton Bay in New Providence with my friends Joseph Darville, Rashema Ingraham, Paco Nunez, and others from Waterkeepers Bahamas, Save the Bays, Clifton Waterkeeper, Bimini Waterkeeper, and Grand Bahama Waterkeeper.  Before joining the Waterkeeper team, I snorkeled at the same reef I had snorkeled about eight years ago.  It was very obvious that the reef had undergone significant stress, as there were fewer fish and the coral... read more +

11
May
2016

Louis Bacon accepts TRCP’s award with remarks about conservation successes and future

Category: ,

On April 27th, Louis Bacon, Founder and Chairman of The Moore Charitable Foundation and its affiliates accepted The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) Lifetime Achievement in Conservation award. In his acceptance speech, he touched on TRCP and conservation successes – and sounded a warning bell about what the conservation movement needs to do in order to guarantee the basic human rights of clean air and water to all people. His remarks in full are published here: I am very, very honored to be here for this prestigious award… an award that is all the more meaningful for me coming from an organization that was founded in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, the childhood hero of mine and of course our country’s first hero of the conservation movement. I am doubly honored tonight to share the awards with two modern-day heroes in today’s conservation movement – Senator Heinrich and Senator Risch, recognized for their political leadership and continuing the environmental legacy of President Roosevelt. You know, for me it is kind of easy to channel TR, given that I live right... read more +

A CAFO stores toxic hog waste in an open pit.
6
May
2016

Environmental Injustice is Toxic

by Marc Yaggi Category: ,

Imagine a world where many times when you walked out your front door, you immediately were accosted by the overwhelming stench of animal waste.  Imagine a world where you couldn’t invite friends to your home for fear their eyes and throats would burn from the fetid stench.  Imagine a world where your health, and the health of your family, was at risk every day because the air you are breathing is saturated with toxic chemicals and bacteria. This world is a reality for people like Elsie Herring, who lives in rural North Carolina near a hog factory farm where she has endured a form of discrimination that rarely draws much attention.  Polluting industries and industrial-waste sites often are located in low-income communities, especially communities of color that offer the least political resistance. These massive factory farms generate enormous amounts of untreated animal waste, which is stored in giant cesspools and sprayed on fields until they are so saturated that the waste runs off and pollutes nearby streams and rivers – streams and rivers that local communities use for... read more +