Nitrogen cycle in coastal waters: Hamburg Harbor becomes a nitrate hotspot

By Tim Schröder 3 August 2017(Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht) – Nitrogen compounds are an important factor in the production of algal biomass. The team led by biologist Kirstin Dähnke from the Institute of Coastal Research at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht has been carrying out extensive Elbe nitrogen measurements for this reason.These measurements have shown that regions upstream from […]

Global shift in Marine Protected Area analysis and reporting

7 September 2017 (IUCN) – The UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and IUCN have launched the Marine Protected Planet Interactive – the world’s most authoritative and ambitious platform for information about ocean protection. As of September 2017, Marine Protected Areas cover 6.35% of the ocean.Several large-scale Marine Protected Areas have been announced in […]

Fishing mortality of mako sharks ten times higher than fisheries’ estimates

By Neha Jain 5 September 2017 (Mongabay) – It’s no secret that widespread overfishing is driving many shark species to extinction. Many of these apex predators are ensnared incidentally as bycatch in longline fisheries targeting tuna or swordfish. Shortfin mako sharks — the fastest sharks in the ocean — are among the shark species that […]

Collapse at salmon farm in Puget Sound renews debate about fish farming

By Phuong Le 28 August 2017 SEATTLE (Associated Press) – A marine net pen holding 305,000 farmed Atlantic salmon collapsed recently, releasing thousands of fish into Puget Sound and renewing concerns that a new proposed salmon farm could harm wild salmon stock and cause other environmental damage. The release at Cooke Aquaculture’s facility comes as […]

Climate change may shrink the world’s fish

By Craig Welch 21 August 2017 (National Geographic) – Warming temperatures and loss of oxygen in the sea will shrink hundreds of fish species—from tunas and groupers to salmon, thresher sharks, haddock and cod—even more than previously thought, a new study concludes [responding to Models projecting the fate of fish populations under climate change need […]

Thousands of escaped farmed salmon heading to every river in Puget Sound – “It’s just like an oil spill, we are trying to contain it as best we can”

By Lynda V. Mapes 24 August 2017 (The Seattle Times) – The Lummi Nation is marshaling a mop-up of thousands of fugitive Atlantic salmon in the tribe’s territorial waters, and the Swinomish chairman has called for a shutdown of the farmed-salmon industry in Puget Sound after last weekend’s spill. Swinomish fishermen caught farmed Atlantic salmon […]

“Solar eclipse” tide not responsible for release of 300,000 Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound

22 August 2017 (Puget Soundkeeper) – On 19 August 2017, Cooke Aquaculture’s net pens near Cypress Island reportedly released over 300,000 farmed Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound waters. The company’s statement blames “exceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with this week’s solar eclipse.” But the release occurred Saturday afternoon, when charts show that tides and […]

Solar eclipse’s tides blamed for broken net, up to 305,000 Atlantic salmon dumped into waters near San Juan Islands – “It’s a devastation. We don’t want those fish preying on our baby salmon.”

By Lynda V. Mapes 22 August 2017 (Seattle Times) – It’s open season on Atlantic salmon as the public is urged to help mop up a salmon spill from an imploded net holding 305,000 fish at a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm near Cypress Island. Lummi fishers out for chinook on Sunday near Samish, south of […]

Gulf of Mexico dead zone is the largest ever measured

2 August 2017 (NOAA) – Scientists have determined this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone,” an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and marine life, is 8,776 square miles, an area about the size of New Jersey. It is the largest measured since dead zone mapping began there in 1985.The measured size is […]

Scientists confirm the existence of another ocean garbage patch that’s larger than Texas – “We discovered tremendous quantities of plastic”

By Katherine Lindemann 19 July 2017 (ResearchGate) –  A team of scientists has confirmed the existence of another ocean garbage patch, this time in a remote area of the South Pacific. Unlike the famous patch in the northern Pacific Ocean, which has long been one of the world’s most recognizable symbols of pollution, the new […]

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