Drawing lines in the sea : the laws that govern traffic on the world’s oceans can be as difficult to shape as water

Since World War II, however, the term has increasingly referred to law enforcement operations, as a means to enforce trade sanctions, to prevent the movement of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and particularly in the Caribbean Sea, to prevent the smuggling of illicit drugs. Such ambiguity should allow flexibility when deciding whom should be targeted, as well as allowing states with veto powers in the UN Security Council, which may legitimately ship nuclear weapons and materials, to avoid being targeted as long as they do not export WMDs to rogue states or non-state groups or individuals.2 The ISPS Code was created under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and is part of the 1974 Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) concerning the safety of merchant ships.

Meta-analysis of movements in Atlantic leatherback turtles during the nesting season : conservation implications

Despite decades of conservation efforts on the nesting beaches, the critical status of leatherback turtles shows that their survival predominantly depends on our ability to reduce at-sea mortality. Although areas where leatherbacks meet fisheries have been identified during the long distance movements between 2 consecutive nesting seasons, hot-spots of lethal interactions are still poorly defined within the nesting season, when individuals concentrate close to land. Here we report movements of satellite-tracked gravid leatherback turtles during the nesting season in Western Central Africa, South America and the Caribbean Sea, which account for about 70% of the world population. We show that during and at the end of the nesting season, leatherback turtles have the propensity to remain over the continental shelf, yet sometimes perform extended movements and may even nest in neighbouring countries. Leatherbacks exploit coastal commercial fishing grounds and face substantial accidental capture by regional coastal fisheries (e.g. at least 10% in French Guiana). This emphasises the need for regional conservation strategies to be developed at the ocean scale—both at sea and on land—to ensure the survival of the last leatherback turtles.