A year before deep-sea mining could begin, calls for a moratorium build
LISBON — Should we mine the seabed, a part of the world rich in resources, but less mapped than the surface of the moon? A growing number of politicians, scientists…
WTO ban on ‘harmful’ subsidies won’t impact small-scale fishers, Indonesia says
JAKARTA — Small-scale fishers in Indonesia will be exempt from an end to “harmful” subsidies agreed by governments at the World Trade Organization. Indonesian negotiators citing existing fishing quotas that…
Experts fear end of vaquitas after green light for export of captive-bred totoaba fish
International wildlife trade regulator CITES recently decided to allow an aquaculture company in Mexico to export captive-raised totoabas, a large fish categorized as being in danger of extinction under Mexican…
Podcast: How marine conservation benefits from combining Indigenous knowledge and Western science
Today we’re taking a look at two stories that show the effectiveness of combining traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge and Western science for conservation and restoration initiatives. Listen here: Earlier this…
Study: Marine governance in Indonesia pursues exploitation over sustainability
JAKARTA — Decades of unsustainable marine governance in Indonesia have benefited extractive land-based economic activities, costing the environment and marginalized communities whose livelihoods depend on the ecosystem, a new paper…
Dig, dump, repeat, then watch the forest grow: Q&A with mangrove restorer Keila Vazquez
CHELEM, Mexico — In Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, a few words describe the most common occupations: fisher, merchant, mother. Over the past decade, the port town of Chelem has seen the…
In Costa Rica, unlicensed fishers and regulators unite over a common enemy
PUNTA UVA, Costa Rica — Every morning, just after dawn, small-scale fishers Ettel Lattouche and Rafael Hernández head to the beach with their fishing gear to eke out a living.…
Nickel, Tesla and two decades of environmental activism: Q&A with leader Raphaël Mapou
GORO, New Caledonia – Known widely as the “Madagascar of the Pacific,” New Caledonia is coated in remnant Gondwana rainforest and surrounded by reefs rich in marine life that constitute one…
All eyes on Tesla as it invests in a troubled nickel mine
GORO, New Caledonia — On the south side of Grand Terre, the largest and principal island of New Caledonia in the south Pacific, mountains rise like a spine out of a…
Beyond boundaries: Earth’s water cycle is being bent to breaking point
Freshwater’s life-giving benefits are being gravely threatened by humanity’s manipulations of the hydrological cycle, impacting the climate and biodiversity, and undermining Earth’s operating system.
‘The return of land to Indigenous people is key’: Q&A with Shinnecock Kelp Farm’s Tela Troge
When is seaweed much more than seaweed? In the United States, seaweed farms are sprouting up all over the country, but on the east end of Long Island, New York,…
WTO finally nets deal curbing fisheries subsidies, but tables key bits for later
Talks aimed at curbing harmful subsidies for fisheries concluded in Geneva in the first multilateral trade agreement the World Trade Organization (WTO) has struck in almost a decade. The body’s…
Podcast: New whale calls and dolphin behaviors discovered with bioacoustics
Today we’re looking at two stories that show how bioacoustics research is helping us better understand the lives of marine mammals — and we take a listen to some of…
Sea restoration projects quilt a ‘mosaic of habitats’ with striking results
After years of scallop dredging and fish farming, Loch Craignish, a coastal inlet near Argyll, Scotland, was in disrepair. The dredging had destroyed parts of the seafloor, effluent had polluted…
Indonesia issues long-delayed rules to protect migrant fishing workers
JAKARTA — Indonesia has issued a much-anticipated decree to boost the protection of Indonesian deckhands working aboard foreign commercial and fishing vessels. The move comes in response to a pending…
In Sri Lankan waters, endangered but unprotected rays encounter a killing field
COLOMBO — When fishermen in southern Sri Lanka recently caught a giant oceanic manta ray, they needed a backhoe to haul it out of the water once they reached land.…
Environmental paradise or dystopian debacle? Promise and peril of futuristic island communities (commentary)
In an ideal world, perhaps we can learn how to live in coastal areas while coping with climate change and perhaps even pursue cutting-edge technologies in tandem with innovative island…
Ray care center: Indonesia’s Raja Ampat a key nursery for young reef mantas
JAKARTA — Researchers have confirmed that a lagoon in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago, a popular dive site, is a nursery for newborn and juvenile manta rays, cementing the area’s status…
Indonesia should take a leadership role in the Global Plastics Treaty (commentary)
March 2 marked a historic day for the global effort to eradicate plastic pollution. The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) finally passed a draft resolution to create an international, legally…
‘Tendrils of hope’ for the ocean: Q&A with conservationist Charles Clover
In 2004, Charles Clover published a book called The End of the Line that painted a dismal view of our oceans due to rampant overfishing. The book, as well as…
Noise pollution spooks whales the way predators would, study finds
Generally, the word pollution conjures images of billowing smokestacks, oily water and trash-filled highway medians. But for whales, dolphins and porpoises, a subtler and perhaps more sinister source of pollution…
First Nation reclaims territory by declaring Indigenous protected area in Canada
Persistent rain couldn’t dampen the high spirits of Mamalilikulla First Nation members and their guests on a dark day in May. As lowering clouds played hide-and-seek with soaring mountains, the…
Bangladeshi coastal communities plant mangroves as a shield against cyclones
SATKHIRA, Bangladesh — Over the past three decades, Moyna Rani Mondol, who lives right on the coast in Bangladesh's southwestern district of Satkhira, has lost her home around 10 times…
A year since X-Press Pearl sinking, Sri Lanka is still waiting for compensation
COLOMBO — A year since the sinking of the cargo ship the X-Press Pearl, Sri Lanka continues to clean its beaches of the plastic pellets that the vessel was carrying,…
‘Why sharks matter’: Q&A with author and shark biologist David Shiffman
In the introduction to his new book, conservation biologist David Shiffman quotes Senegalese forestry engineer and conservationist Baba Dioum: “In the end we will conserve only what we love; we…
Podcast: Indigenous, ingenious and sustainable aquaculture from the distant past to today
On this episode we discuss Indigenous peoples’ long relationship with — and stewardship of — marine environments through the lens of aquaculture. Listen here: Coastal cultures have often enjoyed abundant…
Indigenous oyster fisheries were ‘fundamentally different’: Q&A with researcher Marco Hatch
In the 18th century, when European ships sailed into the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the Northwest coast of the Atlantic Ocean, they raved about the “wilderness” of the…
Community participation trumps penalties in protecting seascapes, study suggests
Conservationists have long recognized the significance of engaging locals in safeguarding the ecosystems they live off, but assessing those relationships can be hard because of time and resource constraints. Now,…
How will climate change impact cold-water corals? Mostly through food loss, study says
Between 1869 and 1870, the H.M.S. Porcupine sailed into the North Atlantic Ocean and scraped a dredge along the seafloor. When the sailors pulled the dredge back to the surface,…
Riders of the lost waves: Surfing, and saving, Brazil’s pororocas
Surf enthusiasts and volunteers are mapping out hotspots of a spectacular form of surfing on Brazil’s northern coast, in a bid to both preserve the practice and help boost tourism…
