“At FishWise, we feel strongly that it’s important for a company to annually report on the status of its sustainable seafood program, even after a goal has been achieved, to ensure that the program stays on track. In many ways, transparency into how well a company is maintaining a credible seafood program is just as important as publicly disclosing progress on forward-facing goals and initiatives.”
… as climate change alters the chemistry of the world’s oceans, scientists and fishermen are just beginning to understand how this economically, culturally, and ecologically important species will be impacted.
Each year around 650,000 whales, dolphins and other marine mammals are unintentionally caught and killed in fishing gear worldwide. Under the new rule, foreign fishermen must meet the same marine mammal protection standards applied to U.S. fishermen or their fish will be banned from the lucrative American seafood market.
Sardine stocks are at historic lows and might get worse, according to The Maritime Exclusive, “The sardine fishery closure is the second in as many years; it was closed mid-season last year due to low stocks, but it has since fallen further, and is expected to be down by 30 percent over last year by summer.”
Governments that call themselves civilized have been largely ignoring the outlaw aspects of the oceans for centuries. The question is how much longer normal mayhem will continue, as the limits of the globe become ever clearer. “Like the Wild West,” is how Mr. Young described the maritime realm. “Weak rules, few sheriffs, lots of outlaws.”
When you buy a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich, you might notice the little blue label that tells you the fish you’re about to eat is certified as environmentally sustainable. That sounds like good news for the environment, for fish, and for… Read More ›
One of the most spectacular fisheries collapses in U.S. history occurred off the West Coast in the 1950s, when hundreds of boats severely overfished a Pacific sardine population already in decline from a natural down-cycle. The resulting crash decimated the… Read More ›
Washington—The Pew Charitable Trusts launched groundbreaking technology today that will help authorities monitor, detect, and respond to illicit fishing activity across the world’s oceans. The development of Project Eyes on the Seas, as the system is known, furthers a long-term… Read More ›
Americans eat more seafood than just about anyone else. Most of it is imported from abroad. And a lot of it — perhaps 25 percent of wild-caught seafood imports, according to fisheries experts — is illegally caught. The White House… Read More ›
It seems that every week brings another story of U.S. Coast Guard or other maritime law enforcement giving chase to foreign fishermen who have snuck into U.S. waters in the Gulf of Mexico to fish illegally. Foreign illegal fishing in… Read More ›
Neptune 911! 