加载中…调整航道以保护加州近海鲸鱼
(2013-01-07 13:19:27)
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杂谈 |
分类： 环境与能源 |
2013.01.04
加州海岸附近的圣巴巴拉海峡内一头在货轮附近的蓝鲸
华盛顿——加州近海繁忙的航道，其中包括跨越三个国家海洋保护区的航道，将接受调整以保护濒危的鲸鱼免受船舶撞击。
2012年11月，管理全球航运的国际海事组织（International Maritime Organization，IMO）宣布已采纳三项建议，以提高航行安全并减少旧金山湾（San Francisco Bay）、圣巴巴拉海峡（Santa Barbara Channel）和洛杉矶港（Los Angeles Port）与长滩港（Long Beach Port）附近的船舶撞击事件。这些地区的船舶也穿越三个由美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration，NOAA）管理的国家海洋保护区，这些保护区是蓝鲸、座头鲸和长须鲸觅食和聚集的地方。
这三个保护区分别是科戴尔浅滩（Cordell Bank）、法拉隆斯海湾（Gulf of the Farallones）和海峡群岛（Channel Islands）国家海洋保护区。
美国国家海洋和大气管理局的国家海洋保护区办公室西海岸区域主任威廉·杜罗斯（William J. Douros）表示：“这是一个得到国家海洋和大气管理局的研究结果支持的双赢局面，可以加强对濒危鲸鱼和自然资源的保护，同时增进海事安全。”他说：“我们为航运业和国际海事组织决定支持这些调整方案感到高兴。”
海岸警卫队第11区指挥官、海军少将卡尔·舒尔茨（Karl Schultz）表示，航道调整“平衡兼顾了我国港口内及港口间商贸流通的安全性和高效性与国家海洋和大气管理局减少船舶撞击鲸鱼事件的目标”。
行动缓慢的鲸鱼非常容易受到船舶撞击，因为它们的许多觅食区和洄游区与航道交叠。国家海洋和大气管理局表示，2007年在圣巴巴拉海峡及其周边地区，确认或疑似死于船舶撞击的鲸鱼（全都是蓝鲸）有四头。2010年，在旧金山湾区以及沿加州海岸中北部的其他区域，确认或疑似死于船舶撞击的鲸鱼有五头（两头蓝鲸、一头座头鲸和两头长须鲸）。
国家海洋和大气管理局表示，延长旧金山湾附近的三条航道预计可减少科戴尔浅滩和法拉隆斯海湾国家海洋保护区内船舶与鲸鱼的碰撞。根据国际海事组织的决定，航道延伸能让船舶在穿过主要渔场时在专门航道内航行，以此减少渔船和商船之间的相互影响，从而增进这一区域的海事安全。
计划在圣巴巴拉海峡和海峡群岛两个国家海洋保护区进行的航道调整将缩小现有航道的总宽度，并将南向航道往北移动一海里。国家海洋和大气管理局说，这一调整将让船舶远离蓝鲸和座头鲸觅食区。
航道调整预计将于2013年生效。蓝鲸、座头鲸和长须鲸受《濒危物种法》（Endangered Species Act）、《海洋哺乳动物保护法》（Marine Mammal Protection Act）和《国家海洋保护区法》（National Marine Sanctuaries Act）的保护。
2007年，国家海洋和大气管理局的国家海洋保护区办公室调整了马萨诸塞（Massachusetts）海岸附近斯特尔威根海岸国家海洋保护区（Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary）内的航道。这一调整现在对保护区内的濒危鲸鱼起到了保护作用，并已将船舶撞击鲸鱼的风险降低了81%。
美国有着悠久的保护野生动物的历史，而且美国也在国际保护野生动物领域走在前头。联邦政府颁行的《濒危物种法》是保护野生动物工作的主要法律依据。
1973年通过的《濒危物种法》扩大了联邦政府对濒危动植物的保护并为各州政府保护野生生物提供援助。该法旨在保护濒危物种和渐危物种赖以生存的生态系统，并且建立一项计划以保护濒危物种和渐危物种以及执行旨在保护濒危物种的国际公约。
此外，美国鱼类和野生生物管理局（U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service）的野生生物无国界项目（Wildlife Without Borders Program）还创立了极度濒危动物保护基金（Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Fund），为非洲、亚洲、南美洲和大洋洲保护极度濒危物种的项目提供资金。
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/article/2013/01/20130104140636.html#ixzz2HGR2C5Go
Shipping Lane Changes Aim to Protect Whales off California Coast
02 January 2013
A blue whale near a cargo ship in the Santa Barbara Channel off the California coast
Washington — Busy shipping lanes off the California coast, including routes that cross three national marine sanctuaries, will be adjusted to protect endangered whales from ship strikes.
In November 2012, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which governs shipping worldwide, announced it had adopted three proposals to improve navigational safety and to reduce ship strikes on the approach to San Francisco Bay, the Santa Barbara Channel and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Vessels in these areas also travel through three national marine sanctuaries, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where blue, humpback and fin whales feed and congregate.
The sanctuaries are the Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and Channel Islands national marine sanctuaries.
“This is a win-win situation, backed by NOAA research, that allows for enhanced protection of endangered whales and natural resources while at the same time increasing maritime safety,” said William J. Douros, West Coast regional director of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. “We are pleased with the shipping industry and the IMO's decision to support the proposed amendments.”
Rear Admiral Karl Schultz, 11th District Coast Guard commander, the modifications to traffic lanes “balance the safe and efficient flow of commerce within and between our nation's ports, with NOAA's goal of reducing whale strikes from vessels.”
Slow-moving whales are highly vulnerable to ship strikes because many of their feeding and migration areas overlap with shipping lanes. In 2007, four whales (all blue whales) were killed by confirmed or likely ship strikes in and around the Santa Barbara Channel, NOAA said. In 2010, five whales (two blue, one humpback, and two fin whales) were killed by confirmed or likely ship strikes in the San Francisco area and elsewhere along the north-central California coast.
Extending the three lanes in the approach to San Francisco Bay is expected to reduce interactions between ships and whales within Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones national marine sanctuaries, NOAA said. According to the IMO decision, the lane extensions will improve maritime safety in the area by keeping vessels on a dedicated route through prime fishing grounds, which will reduce interaction between fishing vessels and commercial ships.
The proposed vessel lane changes in the Santa Barbara Channel and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary narrow the overall width of the existing lanes and shift the southbound lane one nautical mile north. This change will move vessels away from an area used by feeding blue and humpback whales, NOAA said.
The vessel lane changes are anticipated to take effect in 2013. Blue, humpback and fin whales are protected by the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and National Marine Sanctuaries Act.
In 2007, NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries worked to shift shipping lanes in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Massachusetts. This modification now protects endangered whales in the sanctuary and has reduced the risk of ships striking whales by 81 percent.
Wildlife conservation has a long history in the United States, and the United States also is at the forefront of international efforts to protect wildlife. The federal Endangered Species Act is the main legal foundation for these activities.
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 broadened the federal protections for endangered animals and plants and extended aid to state governments for wildlife protection. The act seeks to conserve the ecosystems on which endangered species and threatened species depend, establish a program to conserve endangered and threatened species and carry out international conventions intended to protect endangered species.
In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Without Borders Program created the Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Fund to provide funding for projects that work to protect critically endangered species in Africa, Asia, South America, and Oceania.
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2013/01/20130102140589.html#ixzz2HGR7vnCt
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