Category: Asean

Global Fishing Watch commends the Republic of Marshall Islands’ leadership toward fisheries transparency

KOROR, THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU, April 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — KOROR, THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU – The Republic of the Marshall Islands has committed to sharing its vessel monitoring data on Global Fishing Watch’s public map, bolstering ocean governance and promoting compliance throughout some of the world’s richest fishing grounds. This momentous decision was announced on April 14, 2022 at the seventh Our Oceans Conference by the Honorable John M. Silk, Minister of Natural Resources and Commerce for the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The declaration marks the first Pacific island nation to make its fishing activity visible to the world.

The partnership agreement was signed between the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority (MIMRA) and Global Fishing Watch, symbolizing the two organizations’ dedication to advancing transparency of fishing activities in the Pacific Islands region, home to the world’s most productive tuna fisheries.

All vessels flying the Marshall Islands’ flag and foreign vessels fishing in its fishery waters will appear on Global Fishing Watch’s map through the integration of the government’s vessel monitoring system (VMS) data. These vessels primarily target tropical tuna species of the Western and Central Pacific ocean, which hold environmental, economic and cultural significance across the region’s island nations—around half of the world’s tuna catch comes from these waters.

“There is real value in open data when it comes to monitoring the ocean,” said Glen Joseph, Director of the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority. “By making its fishing activity visible on the Global Fishing Watch map, the Republic of the Marshall Islands is helping demonstrate compliance. We hope the data-led insights complement already existing monitoring, control and surveillance tools to validate what is being reported by flag States and strengthen the way fisheries are managed.”

“Global Fishing Watch is honored to be partnering with the Marshall Islands to build greater transparency of fishing activity in the Pacific,” said Tony Long, chief executive officer of Global Fishing Watch. “This progressive decision will help facilitate accountability and good behavior in the region and support a more sustainable future by strengthening fisheries monitoring.”

“Our partnership with Global Fishing Watch is an important element of our regional commitment to combat IUU fishing,” said the Honorable John Silk, Minister for Natural Resources and Commerce, Republic of the Marshall Islands. “In 2018, Marshall Islands’ President Hilda Heine set out a bold vision of an IUU-free Pacific by 2023. Other Micronesian presidents signed onto that challenge the following year. To achieve this ambitious goal, we must harness innovative technologies to protect our marine resources and the livelihoods of Pacific people.”

Global Fishing Watch uses publicly broadcast automatic identification system data to track close to 70,000 commercial fishing vessels operating globally. Adding VMS data, which is required by many governments, provides an even clearer view of global fishing activity. The data can assist fishers abiding by the rules through faster, more efficient port entry and provide opportunities to implement regulatory and market incentives to reward them.

A country of coral islands and atolls spread out over 750,000 square miles (1.94 million square kilometers) of ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines, the Marshall Islands relies heavily on revenue from the tuna industry–well over one-third of the government’s domestic revenue comes from the tuna sector.

As a member of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and one of eight Parties to the Nauru Agreement, this independent small island developing State recognizes the importance of collaboration to secure sustainable fisheries. Enhanced monitoring and regional solidarity across FFA’s 17 Members has led to a decrease in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing throughout the Pacific, according to a recent quantification study which, in part, used Global Fishing Watch data to examine vessel activity throughout the region’s waters.

 

MIMRA’s fisheries MCS systems are state-of-the-art, and are backed by the resources of the FFA’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre. Their monitoring systems build on an innovative management approach used by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement that caps regional fishing activity to support conservation and economic goals. With Global Fishing Watch now available to support and complement existing efforts, the Marshall Islands is taking the next step toward embracing fisheries transparency.

“Transparency can help vessel operators publicly demonstrate compliance and show their commitment to implementing relevant conservation measures,” added Tony Long. “We believe the Marshall Islands’ pioneering leadership will encourage other Pacific nations, as well as industry stakeholders, to embrace transparency in support of enhanced ocean governance.”

 

The Marshall Islands joins a growing group of countries that are already publicly sharing their VMS data through Global Fishing Watch, including Belize, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Peru. Transparency of its fishing activity demonstrates the Marshall Islands’ steadfast commitment towards compliance and will help amplify management and coordination efforts undertaken by the FFA. Global Fishing Watch’s international program to advance ocean governance through greater transparency is made possible with the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.

###

Global Fishing Watch is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea. By creating and publicly sharing map visualizations, data and analysis tools, we aim to enable scientific research and transform the way our ocean is managed. We believe human activity at sea should be public knowledge in order to safeguard the global ocean for the common good of all.

globalfishingwatch.org

Attachments

• Our Ocean Conference 2022
• The Republic of the Marshall Islands

Kimberly Vosburgh
Global Fishing Watch
KIMBERLY@GLOBALFISHINGWATCH.ORG

Second Proxima film to list on the entertainment stock exchange (ESX.io,) allowing fans to buy into the film
Not since ‘The Six Sense’ reveal will audiences be this shocked

LOS ANGELES, April 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Home School, the first in an eight-film franchise of supernatural thrillers starring two-time Kids Choice Award winner Charli D’Amelio, will be produced by EGOT nominee (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) Ryan Kavanaugh—directed by F. Javier Gutierrez.

Kavanaugh has brought more than 200 feature films, and 40 TV shows to audiences worldwide, and this will be the second film to list on the entertainment stock exchange, esx.io.

Award-winning visionary horror film director F. Javier Gutiérrez (Before the Fall, Rings) has come on board to direct. Home School marks the live-action feature film debut of D’Amelio, the first TikTokker to accrue 100 million followers on the platform. Production is set to begin July 2022.

Charli shot to global fame on TikTok after posting dance videos in 2019. Since exploding on the app, Charli has parlayed her success into other ventures. She appeared in a 2020 Super Bowl ad for Sabra Hummus and danced in a Jennifer Lopez music video. In September of last year, Hulu launched The D’Amelio Show docuseries, starring Charli and her family, which has already been picked up for a second season. Charli co-created her own clothing line Social Tourist and has worked with major fashion brands, including Louis Vuitton and Prada. Charli was also the youngest star to appear on Time Magazine’s NEXT list.

In Home School, Charli will play ‘Mira,’ a 17-year-old who moves to a different town to live with her aunt after her mother passes away. After arriving in what seems like the all-too-perfect town, Mira soon discovers that her mother’s death and her own future are intertwined supernaturally.

“As soon as I read Home School, I knew it was for me. I connected with the character, Mira, the story, the script, and the team. I knew if I was going to do a movie, it needed to be something fun, edgy, and fresh,” Charli says. “While the role will certainly be challenging and push me to learn to act and become Mira, it’s a fun ride and meant to be fun to make and fun to watch. I also wanted to make sure I surrounded myself with a great team.”

“When Ryan and I met while developing The Crow remake with Luke Evans, we knew we wanted to foster a creative partnership further. I’m thrilled for Home School to mark our first official project together,” explains director F. Javier Gutiérrez. “With its compelling visuals and a strong psychological element, I think Home School has the potential to be a modern classic. I can’t wait to work alongside Charli and the Proxima team.”

Gutiérrez, a two-time nominee for the best European Fantastic Film award, shot to movie fame with his horror film, Rings, the third installment of The Ring franchise, that opened #2 at the U.S. box office and was praised by Koji Suzuki, author of The Ring novels. His short Brasil, won top honors and numerous awards, including winning the Universal Studios Film Master Award for Best European Director. After its North American premiere at AFI Fest, the film came to the attention of the U.S. industry, landing #3 on the Hollywood International Watchlist. That same year, Before the Fall got an offer for a remake from the late legendary filmmaker Wes Craven. Early in his career, Gutiérrez established himself as a horror filmmaker to watch when his first short film, Brasil, which he directed, wrote, and produced in 2002, also won the Sitges Film Festival, one of the world’s foremost international festivals, specializing in fantasy and horror.

“We’ve been developing this project for a few years to bring something new and exciting to the screen,” says Ryan Kavanaugh. “Having Javier direct and Charli star is the perfect package. We are going for ‘The Sixth Sense’ meets ‘Get Out,’” said Kavanaugh.

Home School is written by Casey Giltner, a Minneapolis-based screenwriter whose script On the First Day of Christmas was featured on the 2021 BloodList and was recently picked up by Village Roadshow and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. SVP of Production at Proxima, Daniel Herther, who shepherded the development of Home School, will be producing as well. Kavanaugh’s partner Bobby Sarnevesht and Marc, Heidi, and Dixie D’Amelio will serve as executive producers.

Charli D’Amelio is repped by UTA’s Steve Cohen and Kevin Yorn of Morris, Yorn, Barnes, Levine, Krintzman, Rubenstein, Kohner, Endlich & Gellman. Proxima and Kavanaugh are repped by Neil Sacker of Sacker Entertainment Law. F. Javier Gutiérrez is represented by UTA’s Michael Sheresky and Nick Shumaker of Anonymous Content. Stephen Clark of Lichter Grossman Nichols Adler Feldman & Clark negotiated the deal on behalf of F. Javier Gutiérrez.

About Proxima and Ryan Kavanaugh
Founder of Proxima Media, the controlling shareholder of Triller, Ryan Kavanaugh is one of the most accomplished, prolific, and honored executives in entertainment industry history. Using an intelligent financial model of film finance, he was dubbed the creator of “Moneyball for movies.” He produced, distributed, and/or structured financing for more than 200 films, generating more than $20 billion in worldwide box office revenue and earning 60 Oscar nominations. He is the 25th highest-grossing film producer of all time. His productions include Fast and Furious 2-6, 300, Social Network, Limitless, Fighter, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, and Mama Mia! Kavanaugh and Proxima pioneered an innovative finance deal for post-bankruptcy Marvel, making the studio and finance structure that led to Marvel Cinematic Universe. He built the SVOD (streaming) category with Netflix, which boosted that company’s market capitalization from $2 to $10 billion. Kavanaugh is the co-founder of Triller, one of the three fastest-growing creator platforms. He recently led the acquisition, merger, and re-launch of the social media and music app.

He also created the powerhouse television company, now known as Critical Content, producing hit shows like Catfish on MTV and Limitless on CBS, which he sold for $200M. The company had 40 television series across 19 networks before its sale. Kavanaugh has earned several achievements and awards, from Variety’s Producer of the Year Award to The Hollywood Reporter’s Leadership Award, from Fortune’s 40 Under 40 Most Influential People in Business to Forbes’ Fortune 400, Billion-Dollar Producer by the Daily Variety and the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Vanity Fair.

About Entertainment Stock Exchange (“ESX”)
Entertainment Stock X (ESX), a first-of-its-kind platform allowing users and fans to invest in film and entertainment projects via the Jobs Act, is an innovative platform for financing entertainment. The company fills the need for new and more efficient financing for filmmakers. ESX allows filmmakers to generate a valuable direct marketing relationship with fans and will enable fans to invest in film for the first time. More information is available on ESX.io

Media Contact

Michelle Vieyra
Jive PR + Digital
202-415-7714
michelle@jiveprdigital.com
www.jiveprdigital.com

New York, April 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Open Society Foundations are appalled by today’s Turkish court decision to sentence Osman Kavala—the business leader and philanthropist—to life in prison, even though no credible evidence was ever presented to substantiate the baseless charges against him.

“Today a Turkish judge ruled against Osman Kavala even though there is not a shred of legitimate evidence against him,” said Mark Malloch-Brown, the president of the Open Society Foundations. “This bogus trial has utterly failed to meet the most basic standards for fairness and procedural justice.”

The court in Istanbul also sentenced seven other defendants to 18 years in prison each. The cases against these defendants were also without any merit.

Osman Kavala was first arrested and detained in October 2017. The government has held him, without conviction prior to today, for more than four years.

During that time, Turkish prosecutors have bent over backwards to try to keep Kavala in prison, even having him re-arrested in February 2020, after a previous trial ended with him being briefly released.

“This is not about justice,” added Malloch-Brown. “It is about trying to intimidate and silence anyone who might speak up in defense of human rights in Turkey, including all independent civil society groups.”

In December 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Kavala’s detention was unjustified, and that the case against him was designed to silence him and to dissuade other human rights defenders from speaking out.

Turkey has so far defied the ECHR ruling.

Kavala is an established businessman and philanthropist, known for his support of human rights, the arts, and culture in Turkey. He also served as a board member with Open Society’s foundation in Turkey. (Open Society Turkey shut its doors in 2018 due to harassment from the Turkish government.)

Kavala is expected to appeal the court ruling.

“It is long past time to end this legal farce,” added Malloch-Brown. “Osman Kavala should be released and his name cleared immediately.”

Office of Communications
Open Society Foundations 
(212) 548-0378
media@opensocietyfoundations.org

HELSINKI, Finland, April 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dual Miners has recently earned the distinction becoming the first company ever to introduce an extraordinary range of endothermic cryptocurrency mining rigs. A team of investors working towards making crypto mining simple and profitable. Others have argued that cryptocurrency mining is becoming increasingly difficult, but a new announcement from Dual Miners, which is currently releasing worldwide, the world’s first dual-miner hardware, which uses both SHA-256 and Scrypt to mine.