Marine conservation through

education,  volunteerism

and political action. 

~~~~~~ NEW BOOK  COMING SOON ~~~~~~

The Swordfish Hunters - Thomas Armbruster, MD 

A personal account, an emotional snapshot of the danger, the fatigue and the exhilaration of the hunt for giant fish over the deepest canyons of the North Atlantic. 

about the foundation 

   SandyHook SeaLife Foundation was formed by Dr. Thomas Armbruster, a marine biologist and physician, to promote marine conservation through public education, volunteerism, and political action, focusing on highly migratory predators (sharks, swordfish, tuna and billfish), sustainable fisheries and marine animal populations. 

   To fulfill the foundation's mission, Dr. Armbruster looks for volunteer opportunities to partake in field work with specific marine populations; outcomes are then published. His first book, The Crimson Broadbill- Commercial Swordfishing the NW Atlantic, is his personal story of life as a commercial swordfisherman. The book received praise within the marine science community and is recommended reading by the U N Atlas of the Oceans. An article, White Shark Chronicles, was published after diving with great whites off the Mexican coast.  The article is featured in the May 2008 issue of "Biology Digest." Future studies include sea turtle rehabilitation and research on giant bluefin tuna migration. 

    A highly effective means of conveying a message to a large number of people, the SSF team plans to translate Dr. Armbruster's next book The Swordfish Hunters to film. The project is gaining momentum as noted Hollywood actor, author and conservationist, Peter Coyote is now onboard with others to follow. We invite your participation. Please contact us for more information.  

   SandyHook SeaLife Foundation is a member of Blue Frontier Campaign’s Blue Movement, a national conference of marine environmental groups based in Washington, D.C.  The organization  provides a political forum for its members.    

Photographs courtesy of Kyle Murdoch

Now available!

White Shark Chronicles

 Thomas Armbruster, MD

Diving with great white sharks off Guadalupe Island, Mexico - the feature article in 

Biology Digest  May 2008. 

To read an excerpt of the article go to the  PROJECTS page.

For a reprint contact us:  SHSLFoundation@aol.com

ocean briefs!

June 2009:

Obama unveils ocean protection plan

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2009 (AFP) - President Barack Obama unveils ocean protection plan, the first U.S. national policy for sustainably
managing the country’s oceans, drawing praise from environmentalists who said the move was long overdue.

For the full story:

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-12-obama-ocean-policy/

*************************************************

NCMC EMAIL ACTION NETWORK
Atlantic Big Fish

6/16/09

SPECIAL CONSERVATION ZONE DESIGNATED
IN THE GULF OF MEXICO
TO PROTECT BLUEFIN TUNA

On June 12, 2009, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released its Final Amendment I to the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) plan, officially designating a vast area of the western Gulf a special conservation zone to protect breeding bluefin tuna from human-induced impacts. Western Atlantic bluefin tuna are severely depleted, and this area is the western bluefin's only known spawning ground. The designation is a "Habitat Area of Particular Concern" or HAPC. HAPCs are not required to have any specific management measures and a HAPC designation does not automatically result in closures or other fishing restrictions. Rather, the areas are intended to focus conservation efforts and bring heightened awareness to the importance of the habitat.

To see the Gulf of Mexico bluefin HAPC boundaries, see this interactive map (under species-lifestage, select bluefin tuna and then HAPC) http://sharpfin.nmfs.noaa.gov/website/EFH_Mapper/HMS/map.aspx

NMFS received a joint request in 2007 from the National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) and the Tag-a-Giant Foundation to consider establishing a new HAPC for spawning bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico. The HAPC will coincide with the area identified in a petition submitted to NMFS in June 2005 (by NCMC, Oceana, Blue Ocean Institute, NRDC and Monterey Bay Aquarium) and based on new electronic tagging studies by Dr. Barbara Block of Stanford University. Amendment I and supporting documents are available on the NMFS web site http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/EFH/index.htm.