Microplastics may be accumulating at a high rate in endangered Galápagos penguins’ food web
The model predictions showed a rapid increase in microplastic accumulation and contamination across the penguins’ prey organisms resulting in Galápagos penguin displaying the highest level of microplastics per biomass, followed by barracuda, anchovy, sardine, herring, and salema and predatory zooplankton.
Belizean fishers want changes in policy and practice to revert declining catch trends
During a series of workshops and meetings held in June and December 2023, Belizean fishers endorsed the findings of the stock assessments carried out by the Sea Around Us, which show that commercially important species such as conch and lobster are overfished
Toxic chemicals found in oil spills and wildfire smoke detected in killer whales
Toxic chemicals produced from oil emissions and wildfire smoke have been found in muscle and liver samples from Southern Resident killer whales and Bigg’s killer whales.
PICES Symposium brought together science from all around the world
Several IOF members presented at the symposium, with Research Associate Dr. Anna McLaskey, winning the best oral presentation in the Biological Oceanography Committee section.
Sea Around Us Project Manager joins Sustainability, Predictability and Resilience of Marine Ecosystems Program Committee
Dr. Maria ‘Deng’ Palomares, has been invited to become a member of the international steering committee for the “Sustainability, Predictability and Resilience of Marine Ecosystems” (SUPREME) program, which is led by the United States of America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and endorsed by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (UNDOS).
Climate change will have an adverse impact on trophic amplification in marine food webs
Climate-driven changes in ocean environmental conditions — ocean warming, deoxygenation and acidification — are projected to affect the physiological functions of marine organisms, their geographic distributions, biological life cycles and total biomass.
New FCRR: Understanding the fishers to change the fishery in the bottom trawl industry in India
The report unravels the drivers and motivations that entice fishers and the fishery to start, engage in, and stop bottom trawling in India. Understanding the nuances within communities rather than viewing them as one entity is paramount for designing equitable policies. Moreover, the study highlights a pressing reality: fishers do not always want to fish and are sometimes forced to remain in the bottom trawl industry. Recognizing and addressing these insights are paramount in effectively constraining bottom trawling.
Market-based solution makes the case for blue carbon
Over 120 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent could be sequestered every year by 2050 by applying a market-based solution (MBS) to global fisheries that would allow fishers to decide whether – at certain times – it is more profitable to go fish or to remain at port.
New FCRR: Implementation of CITES Appendix II listing for seahorses in the context of export bans and suspensions
Despite measures taken by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), most dried seahorse exports appear to have gone underground, and smuggling is now the norm. The report explores the many reasons driving this illegal trade and then identifies ways forward.
World Oceans Day: ‘In one word, what does the ocean mean to you?’
Discover what the ocean means to us here at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries!