Harbor Branch Oceanographic get pearl grant

The Florida Legislature has awarded a grant to Harbor Branch oceanographic Institute to set up a queen conch pearl production and create a new industry. Early attempts to culture pearls from the queen conch had not been successful, however researchers at Harbor Branch a division of Florida Atlantic University developed a seeding technique, and produced more than 200 queen conch cultured pearls. Read more...

Summit to tackle human impact on ocean environment

In Nagoya, Japan the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) opened, the conference document describes the “urgent need to assess and monitor the impacts and risks of unsustainable human activities on marine and coastal biodiversity”. International governments will decide on measures to reduce the impact of humans on the oceans environment. The CBD is widely supported and was ratified by 193 countries. Read more...