Last Thursday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York concluded that three men owe $54,883,550 in restitution to the South African government after illegally harvesting rock lobsters off its coast for years.
The director of International Ocean Conservation for the Pew Environment Group, Karen Sack, explained, “This is the largest ever restitution awarded by a US court under the historic Lacey Act, one of the oldest American conservation laws that protects plants and wildlife by establishing civil and criminal penalties for a wide array of violations, and most notably prohibits trade in wildlife, fish and plants that have been illegally taken, transported or sold.”
A United States magistrate judge in Manhattan made the most recent finding, the case will next go to a Judge at the U.S.…

On Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a new initiative to protect the world’s ocean from pollution, over-fishing, rising sea levels and acidification.
“The seas and oceans host some of the most vulnerable and important ecosystems on Earth, but the diversity of life they host is under ever-increasing strain,” Ban told delegates assembled in Yeosu, South Korea. The crowd was gathered to increase public awareness about the dangers facing the ocean and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Ban praised the achievements of the Law of the Sea, which was first opened for signatures in 1982. “Among its principles, the Law of the Sea recognizes that all ocean issues are related and that they need to be addressed as a whole,” the Ban said.…

By Mera McGrew
In 2004, Debbie Salamone, then a reporter at the Orlando Sentinel, was standing in waste-deep water in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., when she became a member of an exclusive club.
“I saw this big fish jump out of the water next to me and the next thing I knew, the shark was on the back of my foot,” she recalled in an interview with Mission Blue. “I was kicking as hard as I could to get away and it just bit down harder.”
Just as suddenly as the shark clenched its jaws around her foot, it let go. Salamone had to be helped out of the water. “I really only had the courage to look back once because there was blood all over – on the sand and washing out with the waves,” she recalled.…

By Mera McGrew
Applause echoed through the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory just after 10:30 p.m. (PDT) on Sunday, August 5. “Touchdown confirmed,” said engineer Allen Chen. “We’re safe on Mars.” Chen was referring to the successful landing of the NASA rover, Curiosity, on Mars.
At a time when fundamental research and exploration budgets are being slashed, this recent Hollywood landing is a reaffirmation of American ingenuity. But why limit this brain muscle to space? The reality is that much of the game-changing creativity and engineering that has propelled Curiosity to Mars could also be used to better understand the world’s Ocean, whose depth and diversity remain largely unexplored.
“I wouldn’t take a penny away from the space program,” said ocean advocate, National Geographic explorer-in-residence and Mission Blue founder Dr.…