Tag archives for fisheries
Posted by Note: Holly Binns, director of Pew’s Southeast and U.S. Caribbean Fish Conservation campaigns, is my guest author today. She is going to provide some important information regarding the recreational fishing of red snapper. Recreational fishermen heading to the Gulf of Mexico face a conundrum if they want to hook a red snapper. Fishery managers have increased the total weight…
Last week, the New York Times published a blog and an editorial recognizing the progress made in the management of U.S. ocean fisheries. Overall, more than 100 newspapers across the country have covered a promising new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that I discussed in my most recent blog post. I want to follow up to make an…
Posted by 
Centuries of overexploitation of fish and other marine resources — as well as invasion of fish from the Red Sea — have turned some formerly healthy ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea into barren places, the National Geographic Society said in a news release.
Jud Crawford, science and policy manager of the Pew Environment Group’s Northeast Fisheries Program, is my guest author today. He is going to provide some important perspectives about the recent scientific assessment of Gulf of Maine cod. Many in New England were recently stunned by the news that the region’s prized codfish are in much deeper trouble than…
Remarkable things can happen when key stakeholders and leaders in Washington find common ground for a common good. An excellent case in point is the congressional effort to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a landmark conservation measure signed into law by President George W. Bush five years ago this January. In the mid-2000s, we…
Posted by A North Pacific Bluefin tuna fetched 56.49m yen/$736,000 at Tsukiji fish market’s first tuna auction of the year. Bluefin stocks in the Atlantic and South Pacific are depleted to fractions of their original size thanks to overfishing driven primarily by the Japanese sushi market. Many of us, who may love sushi as much as the…
Six months ago, I wrote about the historic reforms to New England’s important groundfish fisheries, which target bottom-dwelling species such as cod and flounder that have fed New Englanders for centuries. The New England Fishery Management Council adopted these changes last year to reverse the devastating impact of decades of overfishing. New England groundfish fishermen have operated…
Where is Pendik, you might wonder? That is exactly what I asked myself when I touched down in Turkey last week. Pendik is a bustling coastal town about an hour south from Istanbul, and it was the location of the 22nd meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). My colleagues from the Pew…
By Miguel Jorge Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit countless fishing communities around the world and in almost every case it’s been a situation where there is overfishing that leads to economic hardship. Too many fishermen catching too few fish and not enough money in the fisherman’s pocket. But there have been…
What’s in a name? If you’re talking about ICCAT—the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas—so much is contained in that one acronym. This body manages all the tuna and tuna-like species found in the vast ocean waters between the United States and Europe and between South America and Africa. It’s not just a faceless…
Posted by 
I’ve always loved fresh fish. As a chef, there’s nothing like cooking a striped bass or bluefish straight from the Chesapeake — watching as the skin darkens, caramelizes, and releases just a hint of the unmistakably sweet, yet salty, fragrance of the Bay. But as a sustainability advocate, I’ve also grown concerned about the health of a key food source for these and many other species along the Eastern seaboard — a small fish known as menhaden.
To truly convey what’s at stake in these unique deep-sea ecosystems, the Pew Environment Group recently put together a short video featuring many visually-stunning images of deep-sea life, as well as the barren aftermath left by high-seas bottom trawlers that have dragged their heavy nets and weights across the ocean floor. Scientists attest that this fishing method is the single most destructive fishing activity currently occurring on the high seas.
The Marshall Islands is now home to the world’s largest shark sanctuary, an area of the central Pacific Ocean four times the size of California, The Pew Environment Group confirmed in a news announcement today. (Read the full announcement.) The Washington-based conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit that works globally to establish…
Read the full “Overfishing 101″ series here. Many people have heard of bluefin tuna, even if they haven’t eaten it. Bluefin, which are among the world’s most remarkable animals, can reach 1,500 pounds, migrate across the Atlantic, dive to depths of more than 3,000 feet and swim at breakneck speeds. They have also been pursued for…
Read the full “Overfishing 101″ series here. Everyone loves a good comeback story, but sometimes a storyline emerges prematurely. Mark Twain famously responded to a press inquiry regarding his supposed demise by saying, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Similarly, declarations earlier this year that overfishing had ended in America provide a case…
Read the full “Overfishing 101″ series here. Since 1784, a five-foot wooden carving of a cod has hung from the ceiling of the Massachusetts State House—a symbolic reminder of the important place this fish holds in the hearts of New Englanders. Cod, along with other groundfish such as haddock and flounder, has supported coastal towns and economies…
Read the full “Overfishing 101″ series here. All too often, leaders in Washington focus on the short-term impacts of potential policies to the detriment of long-term benefits to our environment and economy. Ongoing efforts in Congress to weaken the federal laws that govern marine resources are a great case in point. Take Action: Ask your…
Read the full “Overfishing 101″ series here. Almost everyone has a friend or a relative who loves to tell the tale of the “big one” that got away. And more often than not, that fish grows larger and larger with every telling of the story. I have to admit, as an avid angler, I may…
Posted by 
Participants came from as far away as Tasmania, Mexico, Chile and Indonesia representing everyone from on-the-water fishermen to at-their-desks academics to take action to protect and improve fisheries around the world.
NOTE: This is a guest post from Lee Crockett, Director of Federal Fisheries Policy at the Pew Environment Group This post is the seventh in a series, “Overfishing 101.” The entire series can be viewed here. I touched on fisheries science in my last post, but here I would like to take a more detailed look at the use…
Posted by 
National Geographic Fellow Enric Sala comments on a new study, released today, which shows that 75 percent of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by human overpopulation. The proximity of the corals to human settlements means their fish populations are being depleted. The impact of humanity reduces the biodiversity of reef fishes, which in turn has a negative impact on the many services the reefs provide to humans.
Who will restore the ocean?
Posted by Ford Cochran on September 17, 2010 National Geographic Fellow Enric Sala explains why a healthy reef is a landscape of fear, how our perception of what’s “natural” in marine ecosystems has evolved, and what we can do to restore balance to the seas. By Ford Cochran National Geographic hosted a live recording of National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation at…
Can End of the Line Stem the Tide?
Posted by Ford Cochran on February 28, 2010 Must-see documentary film The End of the Line (newly-released on DVD) and British journalist Charles Clover’s book of the same name examine the imminent threat of overfishing to the world’s fisheries and marine life—and efforts to stem the tide. Among those efforts: A new website, Fish2fork, that rates restaurants on the sustainability of the seafood…
Making Waves in Washington
Posted by Ford Cochran on June 22, 2009 President Obama is grabbing the bull by the horns (and the fisheries by their quotas) and taking action on the ocean. The President swiftly responded to a request by the Joint Oceans Commission (JOC) to revise United States ocean policy. I’m pleased to see signs that the Obama administration is making the ocean a priority,…
Film: The End of the Line
Posted by Ford Cochran on June 9, 2009 Whether you live near the coast or far from any shore, if you—say—breathe, your well-being depends on a healthy ocean. Friends of the sea gathered last night at Nat Geo headquarters to commemorate World Ocean Day with a preview of the new film The End of the Line. A panel discussion with the director, marine…
