Thousands of farmed salmon escape into the Pacific – after the powers that be said it wouldn’t happen

Farmed fish have escaped into the Pacific, threatening wild salmon, photo courtesy of NOAA

Contrary to assurances by fish farming concerns, thousands of farmed Atlantic salmon have escaped into the Pacific Ocean. They escaped from a damaged net pen at a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm off Cypress Island in Washington’s Puget Sound on Saturday, This has sparked fears that the farm-raised fish could threaten wild Pacific salmon.

International court says Japan’s whaling is illegal

In a stunning decision and a victory for whales and whale enthusiasts, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague announced their binding decision today in the landmark case of Australia v. Japan, ruling that Japan’s JARPA II whaling program in the Antarctic is not for scientific purposes and ordering that all permits given under JARPA II be revoked.  Sea Shepherd Conservation Society USA and Sea Shepherd Australia, both of which have directly intervened against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, applauded the decision.

Japanese whaling fleet scaled back for this year’s “Whale Wars”

Encouraging news. The Japanese whaling fleet, which traditionally departs by November 19th and returns in April, made a late departure today from Japan with a scaled back whaling fleet.

Seems that the market for whale meat has dropped significantly, with over 5,700 tons of frozen whale meat – almost a year’s worth – still in storage. This has forced the whalers to make drastic cuts in the number of ships due to lack of financing due apparently the reduction in whale meat sales.

The Steve Irwin and Bob Barker leaving port for the 2010-2011 anti-whalng campaign

Sea Shepherd activist given suspended sentence

Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune

After months in a Japanese prison and a trial watched from around the world, anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune has been given a suspended sentence by a Japanese court.

Bethune, a member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was convicted of assault and obstructing Japan’s whaling fleet in the Antarctic. Bethune was found guilty by the Tokyo District Court of illegally boarding a Japanese whaling ship,  trespassing, vandalism and possession of a knife. Bethune pleaded guilty to all charges except assault.

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