Around the Gulf . . .

The Florida state cabinet recently approved a preliminary request from environmental officials to require telecommunications cables to be installed away from sensitive coral reefs in the future. Currently nearly a dozen fiber-optic cables are located along Florida’s southeast coast. According to environmentalists, any movement of the cables along the seafloor disrupts the natural habitat and causes damage to the coral reefs, which may take hundreds of years to heal. Under the new rules, expected to go into effect in early 2003, the cables will be channeled through designated gaps in the reefs.

In an effort to reduce the likelihood of whales becoming trapped in gillnets, the National Marine Fisheries Service has enacted a rule banning the nighttime release of gillnets off the coast of Georgia and Florida. The restriction is in effect from November 15th through March 31th of each year, the height of whale migration season, and extends from Savannah, Georgia to Sebastian Inlet, Florida.

Around the Nation

In December, the State of Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted new regulations prohibiting genetically engineered salmon from marine fish farms. The ecological consequences of an unintentional release of genetically engineered salmon is still unknown, although the introduction of a modified salmon species poses a significant risk to the endangered native salmon. In addition to the ban, the regulations require the development of new procedures to prevent escapes from fish farms and improved disclosure of drug and pesticide treatments.

The Assistant Administrator of the EPA, G. Tracy Mehan, has reaffirmed the EPA’s commitment to watershed management. Watershed management is a place-based approach which focuses management efforts within defined boundaries to protect aquatic ecosystems. A Watershed Management Council has been created to facilitate the implementation of the watershed approach into the Office of Water’s various programs. The Council membership will consist of representatives from the Headquarters and the Regional offices.

Around the World

In an action designed to prevent future oil spills in European waters, the European Union banned single-hulled carriers of heavy fuel oil, tar, bitumen, and heavy crude, from its ports. The ban expanded the EU’s previous blacklist that prevented 66 of the oldest and most unsafe ships from entering European ports. These sweeping regulations are in response to the November 19th sinking of the Prestige, which spilled 5.3 million gallons of oil off the coast of Spain.