Peru’s 10-year ban on genetically modified crops and animals took full effect this month as the government issued regulations that spell out how the law, which was passed a year ago, will be applied. The Environment Ministry is responsible for overseeing the law, which prohibits the entry, cultivation, production and sale of genetically modified seeds, crops or livestock, but allows genetically modified ingredients in food for humans and animals. It also allows research of transgenic plants and animals in enclosed spaces, but prohibits their release into the environment. Violations of the ban are punishable with fines of up to US$14 million and confiscation or destruction of the material. The enabling regulations call for the ban to be implemented by an inter-agency advisory...
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For over a decade, fisheries experts have suspected there’s a thriving illegal trade in bluefin tuna, a large and endangered predator species that is crucial to the healthy functioning of the marine ecosystem in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. A single bluefin, which can measure up to 10 feet long and weigh 1,500 pounds, can command tens of thousands of dollars in Japan, where it is valued above all other fish for the high-quality sushi it yields. With huge profits at stake, fishing fleets have had an incentive to underreport their catches to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (Iccat), an inter-governmental fishery organization that sets quotas for tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic and adjacent seas. After watching...
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Mexico’s government has moved closer to protecting the sacred pilgrimage site of the Huichol Indians known as the Wirikuta. The Huicholes have been seeking a special status for the territory, in the northern state of San Luis Potosí, for more than two decades. But their demands have become more acute since a Canadian mining company announced plans to open a silver mine close to some of the area’s most sacred sites. (See “Silver plans and Huichol tradition clash in Mexico”—EcoAméricas, Sept. ’12.) Preparing to declare the Wirikuta a biosphere reserve, the government published a preliminary study on Oct. 15 and invited public comment for 30 days. But neither the Huichol organizations and their allies in conservation groups, nor the company, First Majestic Silver Corp...
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When the celebrated Galápagos giant tortoise Lonesome George died in June, scientists announced sadly that his Pinta Island species (Chelonoides nigra abingdoni) had become extinct. But Lonesome George might not have been the last of his kind after all, according to a study by researchers from Yale University and Galápagos National Park. The study, announced by park officials and due to be published in the journal Biological Conservation, identifies 17 tortoises on Isabela Island’s Wolf Volcano that share genetic material with Lonesome George and his Pinta Island species. The tortoises—nine females, three males and five juveniles—were analyzed as part of a research effort in which 1,600 DNA samples were taken from giant tortoises in the Wolf Volcano vicinity in 2008. DNA samples were...
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