The BBC has reported that the Marshall Islands government has created the world’s largest shark sanctuary, covering nearly two million sq. km (750,000 sq miles) of ocean. Under the bill, commercial shark fishing and any trade in shark products will be banned, and any sharks accidentally caught must be released alive.

“In passing this [shark protection] bill, there is no greater statement we can make about the importance of sharks to our culture, environment and economy,” said Senator Tony deBrum, who co-sponsored the bill through the Marshallese parliament. “Ours may be a small island nation, but our waters are now the biggest place sharks are protected.”

US-based Pew Environment group has also been involved in the drafting of the new legislation and has details of the new sanctuary on its website.

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The October/November issue of African Diver is now available to download. This issue marks the magazine’s third anniversary. This issue includes detailed feedback on the Seychelles shark attack that took place in August, the science behind protecting the coral reefs in South Africa and an article about dolphins in Mozambique. In addition, other features include lens choice for the Red Sea, how to avoid products made from shark and Rainer Schimpf’s marine conservation images. Seahorses and their kin are this issue’s creature feature and Amanda Jackson is profiled in the women in diving section.

African Diver magazine is a free download in pdf format.

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A study published in the Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE journal confirms that there is statistical and scientific evidence that shark populations are experiencing “widespread, substantial, and ongoing declines”. The authors of the report have developed several alternative models to quantify shark populations, which combine birth and growth rates for sharks with a variety of different methods for estimating mortality. They then used state-of-the art statistical methods to combine the uncertainty associated with each of these methods and arrive at a robust long-term population prediction for two Great Barrier Reef shark species, the grey reef shark and the whitetip reef shark.

The researchers used their population projections to see how well their models could explain differences in shark abundances between fished and unfished reefs, based on how long the unfished reefs had been protected. The results showed that shark populations are declining rapidly due to fishing.

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The October issue of Anima Mundi is now available for downloading. Subtitled “Adventures in Wildlife Photography”, it features Brazilian biologist Edelcio Muscat and Canadian bird photographer David Hemmings (with an extensive trip report on breeding birds from the freezing expanses of Churchill, Manitoba). Contents also include Part 2 of trip report from Selva Verde Nature Reserve in Costa Rica, a personal photographic portfolio by biologist Alejandro Arteaga and an illustrated essay on tropical Mantis Shrimps.

Anima Mundi is a free publication, available to download in two resolutions four times per year.

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Andrej Belic continues his testing of the Subal ND7000 housing. His preview of it was published here on Wetpixel and he has now had the time and opportunity to try it out underwater. In this review is a synopsis of Seacam and Subtronic strobes as well.

Wetpixel is also currently testing a Subal ND7000, and will add the findings of this to the Wetpixel D7000 housing review shortly.

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