fish decline – Page 5 – Desdemona Despair

On 1 January 2016 and 2 January 2016, 6,540 common murre carcasses were found washed ashore near Whitter, Alaska, translating into about 8,000 bodies per mile of shoreline — one of the highest beaching rates recorded during the mass mortality event. Photo: David B. Irons

January 17, 2020

Huge “hot blob” in Pacific Ocean caused mass starvation in largest seabird die-off – “The magnitude and scale of this failure has no precedent”

By Michelle Ma 15 January 2020 (UW News) – The common murre is a self-sufficient, resilient bird. Though the seabird must eat about half of its body weight in prey each day, common murres are experts at catching the small “forage fish” they need to survive. Herring, sardines, anchovies and even juvenile salmon are no […]

Global pattern in the cumulative development of coastal hypoxia in the periods before 1969, 1970-1989, and 1990-2015. Each red dot represents a documented case related to human activities. Green dots are sites that have improved. Since the 1960s, the global number of hypoxic systems has about doubled every ten years up to 2000. Data: Based on Diaz and Rosenberg (2008), Diaz, et al. (2010), and Conley et al. (2011). Graphic: Laffoley and Baxter, 2019 / IUCN

December 10, 2019

Oceans losing oxygen at unprecedented rate, experts warn

By Fiona Harvey 7 December 2019 MADRID (The Guardian) – Oxygen in the oceans is being lost at an unprecedented rate, with “dead zones” proliferating and hundreds more areas showing oxygen dangerously depleted, as a result of the climate emergency and intensive farming, experts have warned. Sharks, tuna, marlin and other large fish species were […]

Repparfjord is near the northernmost point of Norway. On 30 November 2019, Norway greenlit a copper mine that will dump two million tons of tailings in Arctic fjord each year. Photo: Thomas Nilsen / The Barents Observer

December 9, 2019

Norway greenlights copper mine that will dump two million tons of tailings in Arctic fjord each year – “Dumping of mining waste will kill every living thing on the ocean floor in the immediate area and disturb spawning grounds over a much greater distance”

ByThomas Nilsen 30 November 2019 (The Barents Observer) – “Allowing this to happen with a protected national salmon fjord doesn’t make sense at all,” said Silje Lundberg, head of Naturvernforbundet. The organisation is the Norwegian branch of Friends of the Earth. Lundberg said the planned dumping of tailings from the copper mine to the fjord […]

Map showing average surface sea temperature in the Sea of Okhotsk, compared with the late 1800s. Data: Berkeley Earth. Graphic: John Muyskens / The Washington Post

November 18, 2019

The climate chain reaction that threatens the heart of the Pacific – “When are the fish coming?”

By Simon Denyer and Chris Mooney 12 November 2019 SHIRETOKO PENINSULA, Japan (The Washington Post) – Lined up along the side of their boat, the fishermen hauled a huge, heavy net up from swelling waves. At first, a few small jellyfish emerged, then a piece of plastic. Then net, and more net. Finally, all the […]

Southern resident orca J16 makes a rainbow while surfacing in Puget Sound. Photo: Miles Ritter

October 16, 2019

Orca task force adds 13 recommendations at final meeting as “biological extinction” looms

By Bellamy Pailthorp 8 October 2019 (KNKX) – Their goal is clear: to prevent Puget Sound’s iconic Southern Resident killer whales from going extinct. Solving that problem is anything but simple. The task force convened by Gov. Jay Inslee to save the orcas added 13 new recommendations this week, at its final meeting. The additions […]

Global fisheries subsidy amounts by category and grouped by a) low and high HDI country groups; and b) developed and developing, for 2018 (constant USD). Graphic: Sumaila, et al., 2019 / Marine Policy

October 10, 2019

The sea is running out of fish, despite nations’ pledges to stop it – Major countries that are promising to curtail funding for fisheries are nevertheless increasing handouts for their seafood industries

By Todd Woody 8 October 2019 (National Geographic) – As global fish stocks that feed hundreds of millions of people dwindle, nations are scrambling to finalize by year’s end an international agreement to ban government subsidies that fuel overfishing. Yet as negotiations at the World Trade Organization resume this week in Geneva, Switzerland, new research shows that governments have […]

Aerial view of Frying Pan Lake in Alaska. If the proposed massive Pebble Mine, located between two prime salmon spawning streams, is ever built, Frying Pan Lake, would disappear beneath a giant pile of tailings. Bristol Bay is one of the world’s greatest fisheries. Photo: SeattlePI

October 10, 2019

Battle over Bristol Bay mine: Native, fisheries groups sue Trump – “There’s simply no precedent for open pit mining coexisting with sockeye salmon on the scale proposed by the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay”

By Joel Connelly 8 October 2019 (SeattlePI) – Five Bristol Bay native and fisheries groups sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, seeking to restore Clean Water Act protection and block a giant open pit copper-goldmine proposed cheek-by-jowl with the world’s greatest sockeye salmon fishery. The suit was filed on National Salmon Day. The U.S. Environmental […]

Aerial view of damaged mangroves from a 2019 monitoring trip in the Gulf of Carpentaria. A cascade of impacts including rising sea levels, heatwaves and back-to-back tropical cyclones has created 400km of dead and badly damaged mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria. A cascade of impacts including rising sea levels, heatwaves and back-to-back tropical cyclones has created 400km of dead and badly damaged mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Photo: Norman Duke

October 3, 2019

Shocked scientists find 400 km of dead and damaged mangroves in Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria – “We are getting these compounding effects that we just didn’t expect”

By Graham Readfearn 3 October 2019 (The Guardian) – A cascade of impacts including rising sea levels, heatwaves and back-to-back tropical cyclones has created 400 kilometers [249 miles] of dead and badly damaged mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria, a scientific monitoring trip has discovered. Prof Norman Duke, of James Cook University, spent 10 days […]

A herd of musk ox graze in an area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Photo: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge / AP

September 13, 2019

Trump administration opens huge wildlife refuge in Alaska to drilling – “This destructive, unlawful plan would sell off one of America’s last great wildlands to the highest bidder”

By Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin 13 September 2019 (The Washington Post) – The Trump administration on Thursday said it would seek to open up the entire coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, picking the most aggressive development option for an area long closed to drilling. In filing […]

Aerial view of cargo ships stranded on the Lena river in Siberia, 27 August 2019. In the regional capital of Yakutsk, the Lena river water level dropped so suddenly that hundreds of cargo ships and smaller boats were left stranded in the sand. It was this summer’s unusual heat that caused the record drought. Photo: Ruslan Ochirov

August 27, 2019

World’s largest permafrost river dries to a record low – “The abnormal heat recorded in Eastern Siberia in July and August, combined with lack of precipitation caused extremely shallow waters”

27 August 2019 (The Siberian Times) – Lena River fleet cannot sail after abnormal heat causes 2.5 metre water level drop. The current water level means critical delays in the summer ritual delivering vital supplies to Arctic settlements in Yakutia, Russia’s biggest region. Most of its remote corners are only accessible via water, with the […]