The annual meeting of the international body responsible for conservation of the marine ecosystems in the Southern Ocean concluded on Friday with no progress on two contentious issues before it:…
Belize sells itself as a small-country answer to a big problem: how to keep the sea alive and the people who depend on it working. The pitch is strong. A…
Norway proposed almost doubling the catch limit for krill in the Southern Ocean during the annual conference of the intergovernmental body that manages Antarctic fisheries taking place Oct. 20-31, according…
JAKARTA — In a new report, marine activists are demanding restoration efforts from nickel miners and the Indonesian government for affected areas of Raja Ampat while also urging authorities to…
JAKARTA — Even as UNESCO hails Raja Ampat as a global conservation model, nickel mining threatens to carve up its forests and coral reefs. On Sept. 27, UNESCO designated 26…
A new study reports that the Bird’s Head Seascape off Indonesia’s West Papua serves as a vital habitat for juvenile male whale sharks, but lift-net fisheries, tourism boats and emerging…
A major treaty establishing a framework for the world’s nations to jointly manage marine conservation in international waters, which cover about half of the Earth’s surface, has reached enough ratifications…
The island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe has taken a significant step in marine conservation, announcing that it will establish eight marine protected areas in its coastal waters. The…
BENGKULU, Indonesia — Yesi held her daughter Helda tightly, but the little one still shivered for days in the tropical heat over Teluk Sepang, a bay on Sumatra’s west coast.…
In June 2023, after nearly two decades of negotiations, the international community adopted the “Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and…
San Matías Gulf, on the northern coast of Argentina’s Patagonia region, is one of the most biodiverse areas in the Argentine Sea. The Valdés Peninsula — a UNESCO World Heritage…
Lake Chad is nearly 1,130 kilometers (700 miles) from the ocean, but Nwamaka Okeke-Ogbuafor fears it is a preview of what’s ahead for African and other tropical fisheries. Straddling four…
The phrase malezi mema in Comorian loosely translates to “parenting well.” A fishers’ group of the same name on the island of Anjouan in Comoros is trying to provide a…
For nearly two decades, Alejandro González has stood on the front lines of marine conservation in Mexico, from the coral-fringed reefs of Cabo Pulmo to the remote volcanic outposts of…
The eastern Baltic cod has shrunk dramatically in size in recent decades due to rapid evolution — changes at the genetic level — caused by decades of intensive fishing, a…
A global study tracking nearly 13,000 individual marine animals has uncovered a sharp disconnect between where these animals actually spend their time and where marine protections exist. The findings raise…
These are turbulent times for the global economy and multilateralism. Uncertainty lies at every turn, yet for Antigua and Barbuda — and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like ours…
For more than three decades, Mark Erdmann has worked where many only dream of diving—on the reefs and in the tangled mangroves of Indonesia’s farthest reaches. A marine biologist by…
A Canada-based website’s listing of Indonesian islands for sale has reignited fears of privatization, long linked to conflicts between companies and coastal communities. On June 18, 2025, listings appeared for…
KARACHI — From the sands of Manjhaar Beach on the far outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, an island is just visible 10 kilometers, about 6 miles, offshore. Mist rising from the…
I have spent much of my life studying predatory fishes in East Africa’s coastal waters, but never have I been more concerned about their future. The disappearance of the western…
Vietnam’s first marine protected area, Nha Trang Bay, has lost nearly 200 hectares (494 acres) of coral reef since its creation in 2002, a new study shows. The alarming decline…
The United Nations Ocean Conference, held June 9-13 in Nice, France, saw some progress on better protecting the hundreds of thousands of species that live in marine waters and the…
I’m in Nice, France, this week attending the U.N. Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for…
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has revoked four out of five nickel mining permits in the Raja Ampat archipelago following a public outcry over mining in one of the world’s…
Samoa, an archipelagic country composed of nine islands in the South Pacific Ocean, is on the frontline of climate change. Rising sea levels, ocean warming and acidification all pose significant…
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center's Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. BUSAN, South Korea — Delegates from more than 100 nations and thousands…
The ocean has long been treated as the world’s forgotten frontier—out of sight, out of mind, and dangerously overused. Yet efforts to reverse decades of neglect are gathering speed. Last…
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. BERGEN, Norway — It’s been nearly five months since the Norwegian government…
Unprecedented numbers of emaciated dugongs have washed up dead along Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast over the past three years, prompting marine scientists to urgently investigate what’s driving their decline. Thailand’s…
Panamanian authorities seized six longliner vessels on Jan. 20 for fishing illegally in protected waters. They also opened an investigation into an additional 10 vessels that surveillance data showed had…
JAKARTA — A thresher shark conservation effort in eastern Indonesia focusing on alternative sources of income has reduced up to 90% of catches of the globally endangered species, a new…
