Note from the Executive Secretary | |
Dr David Freestone
Executive Secretary
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I am delighted to welcome the appointment of three experts to the Sargasso Sea Commission. These include first time appointments Elizabeth McLananhan, the former Director of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association, and Dr Cassander Titley-O'Neal, Director of the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands, and returning for his second term, Professor Murray Roberts, a deep-sea ecologist. The appointment of the three Commissioners expands the number of Sargasso Sea Commissioners from seven to eight.
I am also delighted to announce that Dr David Vousden has now finished editing the first draft of the socio-ecosystem diagnostic analysis (SEDA). This 450-page document is a major milestone in our GEF/FFEM project and it is now out for review. Our special thanks to him. It means that there will be more work than ever for our expert Commissioners, and we welcome our new Commissioners to the team.
| | GEF technical meetings held in Malmo | | |
From October 16-17, the Sargasso Sea Commission was delighted to hold a series of technical meetings for our GEF project work programme, hosted by the World Maritime University Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute in Malmo, Sweden.
This was the first meeting of Sargasso Sea stakeholders, including Commissioners, Signatories, and scientific partners, since the completion of the first draft of the socio-ecosystem diagnostic analysis (SEDA) for the Sargasso Sea. This scientific document is now under review and will be used as the factual basis for negotiations of a strategic action programme (SAP) including conservation measures for the area.
Discussions covered a range of issues including the SEDA, ecosystem valuation, causal chain analysis, and data gaps. Decisions were also taken on the future structure of the SAP. We look forward to the finalization of the SEDA, and the progression of the SAP negotiations going forward.
Image credit WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute
| | Sargasso Sea Commission hosts BBNJ Prepcom event | | |
The Sargasso Sea Commission organized a side event entitled 'Navigating the BBNJ Agreement – the Sargasso Sea Experience' at the BBNJ PrepCom on August 28th, 2025.
The event was sponsored by the governments of Bermuda, the UK, the Bahamas, Monaco, and Canada. Special thanks to Monaco and the UK for their financial support.
The event aimed to demonstrate how the work of the Sargasso Sea Commission over the last decade provided unique insights into how states making proposals for Area-based Management Tools to the forthcoming BBNJ Conference of the Parties might meet the rigorous requirements of the BBNJ Agreement.
Image credit Jérémie Adlerfligel
| | CMS range states of the European Eel meeting held in Malmo | | |
In October, the Sargasso Sea Commission Secretariat in association with the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory species, hosted the 4th Meeting of the Range States of the European Eel. The meeting was generously supported also by the Government of Sweden, the Principality of Monaco and the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute. The workshop was held 14-15 October, 2025 in Malmo, Sweden.
The Workshop was able to complete a draft of a Single Species Action Plan for the European Eel, including the objectives and co-operative actions for its conservation and recovery. This draft will now be forwarded for review and hopefully approval to the forthcoming COP of the CMS – taking place March 23–29, 2026, in Campo Grande, Brazil.
The First CMS Range States meeting on the European eel was held in 2016 in Galway Ireland. The Second and Third Meetings were held in Malmo in 2018 and 2019.
Image credit: Fae Sapsford
| Cash Trash Bash fundraiser for the Sargasso Sea Commission | |
The Sargasso Sea Commission was chosen as the 2025 local charity supported by the Cash Trash Bash initiative. Cash Trash Bash, now in its 8th year, is an initiative from a Bermudian family focused on removing marine trash from Bermuda's waters. For every pound of trash collected, members of the public are encouraged to donate $1 to the campaign. The funds are then split between a local and an international charity.
The campaign is run by Karen Plianthos, along with her two children Ophelia (6) and Grace (5). Numerous other volunteers also help collect trash every day for 1 month during the summer. This year over 1,600 pounds of trash was removed from the ocean, and over $4,700 was raised for environmental charities.
Image credit: Cash Trash Bash
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Creature Feature
Your window into the golden floating rainforest and who's in it!
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Oarfish are unique-looking pelagic fish found in all temperate and tropical ocean zones. The giant oarfish is the longest bony fish alive, growing up to 8 meters in length. While oarfish are mesopelagic and rarely seen, they linger near the surface when dying, making them a possible source for sea serpent tales.
Oarfish are silver in colour with a very long, red dorsal fin. They also have long pelvic fins, which people mistakenly believed they used to 'row' themselves through the water, giving rise to their name. Interestingly, oarfish can self-amputate their tails as a predator avoidance adaptation, sometimes only losing the very tip of the tail, and sometimes losing multiple vertebrae. Their tails do not regenerate. They feed on zooplankton and shrimp in the mesopelagic zone.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
| | Thank you for supporting our mission to protect the Sargasso Sea. We truly appreciate all of the donations and support that we have received over the years -- without which the Sargasso Sea Commission would not exist. | | | | | |
