Record-low sockeye salmon return expected for the Fraser River

By RICHARD J. DALTON JR., Vancouver Sun VANCOUVER — Sockeye salmon are expected to return to the Fraser River in record-low numbers this season due to an unknown threat in the ocean, experts say. When the last of the sockeye return late this month, 1.37 million are expected to have made the three-month journey — […]

Pacific bigeye tuna populations threatened by overfishing

Large-scale fishing imperils staple of sushi bars the world over, group says BANGKOK, Thailand – Environmentalists want tougher restrictions on the industrial-scale fishing of bigeye tuna in the Pacific Ocean after new research showed current measures are failing and will do little to sustain stocks of a fish that is popular in sushi bars the […]

Climate change and overfishing are altering the Atlantic ocean ecosystem

By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press Writer PORTLAND, Maine – The basic makeup of the ocean waters off the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic region has fundamentally changed in the past 40 years because of climate change, commercial fishing pressures and growing coastal populations, according to a new report. The 2009 Ecosystem Status Report says fish populations […]

Fewer fin whales spotted in Biscay, prompting fears for fish stocks

Fin whales have not returned to the Bay of Biscay in their usual high numbers this year raising fears over the state of the fish stocks they feed on. Conservationists monitoring the animals’ annual migration into Biscay said the second largest whale on the planet had not appeared in large numbers this summer. While small […]

Outlook poor for Great Barrier Reef

By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living organism, is under grave threat from climate warming and coastal development, and its prospects of survival are “poor,” a major new report found on Wednesday. While the World Heritage-protected site, which sprawls for more than 345,000 square km (133,000 sq miles) […]

As cod stocks plummet, maligned pollack becomes popular in Britain

By Stephen Adams Pollack, the fish with such a poor reputation that Sainsbury’s deemed it needed a name change, has become one of the country’s most popular seafoods. Figures released by Seafish, set up by the Government to promote the fishing industry, show it is now the eighth most popular fish to eat. British consumers […]

Pollution causing widespread cancers in wildlife

By Crystal Gammon and Environmental Health News Thirty years ago, a Canadian marine biologist noticed something mysterious was happening to beluga whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary. Decades of over-hunting had decimated the population, but several years after the government put a stop to the practice, the belugas still hadn’t recovered. Two decades and hundreds […]

Illegal fishing evades U.N. crackdown

ROME (Reuters) – Illegal fishing is depleting the seas and robbing poor nations in Africa and Asia of resources, but a lack of global cooperation is undermining efforts to track rogue vessels, an environmental group said on Tuesday. The Pew Environment Group, a Washington-based think-tank, has found that a United Nations scheme to oblige ports […]

Humpback whale trapped in long line near Tonga

Images have been released showing a female whale fighting for her life after becoming entangled in a fishing net in the South Pacific. These heart-breaking images show the desperate plight of a whale trapped by equipment used in a controversial form of commercial fishing. The southern-hemisphere humpback became entangled in a long line and was […]

Graph of the Day: Trends in Marine Fishery Catches, 1950-2005

Trends in marine fishery catches as a function of fish diversity. (A) Trajectories of fish and invertebrate collapses (i.e., falling below 10% of maximum historical harvest) over the last 50 yr (♦=collapses by year, ▲=cumulative collapses). Data are shown for all (black), species-poor (<500 species, blue) and species-rich (>500 species, red) Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs). […]

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