EPA Bans Sewage Discharge From Cruise Ships

Federal environmental regulators have given final approval to a rule that bans cruise ships and large cargo vessels from releasing all sewage into the state marine waters along California’s 1,624 mile coast from Mexico to Oregon and surrounding major islands, creating the largest Coastal No-Discharge Zone in the Nation. 77 percent of the State’s population lives on or near the coast and annually, over 150 million visitor-days are spent at California beaches.

Fish Farms at Sea: The Ground Truth from Google Earth

The fishing industry is notorious for underreporting the number of organisms that are being fished out of the world’s oceans every year. A study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, is the first to estimate seafood production using satellite imagery. Researchers used Google Earth to count and measure the number of coastal fish farms in 16 countries on the Mediterranean Sea.