9/22/20 – “This week NOAA Fisheries and our partners will celebrate National Aquaculture Week. NOAA Fisheries and its predecessor agencies have been involved in aquaculture for more than 125 years, pioneering fish culture methods and stock enhancement techniques to replenish wild stocks. Many culture, hatching, and rearing techniques currently used by the industry worldwide were developed in NOAA labs, such as the Milford, Connecticut lab for mollusks; the Manchester, Washington, lab for salmon; and the Galveston, Texas lab for shrimp.”
9/21/20 – “Shellfish and seaweed growers in Maine are in line for a new round of federal coronavirus relief funds. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue says the USDA is expanding the list of producers who can qualify for its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to include aquaculture businesses nationwide. The executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, Sebastian Belle, says the state’s growing aquaculture sector missed out on the program’s initial funding, but now can join farmers and ranchers to apply for a share of the latest $14 billion allotment. “The impact on particularly our shellfish growers was so big in the marketplace that we knew particularly some of the new smaller growers were likely not to going survive this. And that’s what really drove our advocacy with the delegation and at the national level with the secretary,” he says.
9/21/20 – In Maine, Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) are one of the most valuable fisheries in U.S. waters, the target of deep-sea draggers and divers on dayboats. But compared to a seasonal fishery, an aquaculture crop has the key advantage of a year-round supply and steady pricing. In an attempt to build a fledgling scallop farming industry, Maine shellfish farmers started trialling a Japanese technique called ear hanging in 2017. Taking advantage of a sister state agreement with Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, growers in Maine are working to establish semi-automated commercial aquaculture operations.
9/15/20 – “Just a few minutes down the road from the entrance of Dodge Point Preserve is a delightful oyster farm; a small sign and flag at the road’s edge are all that indicate where you should turn. Flanking either side of the unpaved driveway are piles of oyster shells and oyster farming equipment… Welcome to Glidden Point Oyster Farm. Just past the parking area is a classic wood barn with the small farm store and onsite dining. There are a limited number of tables, and this place is popular, so be sure to reserve a table in advance. Otherwise, you’ll have to take your oysters to go.”
9/15/20 – “Off the coast of Portland, Maine, an aquaculture startup that raises shellfish is also working on a more radical project: raising kelp in the open ocean, then sinking it to the seafloor to sequester the carbon inside. The company, called Running Tide, argues that the approach could be essentially a permanent way to deal with the excess carbon in the atmosphere. Like trees, seaweed forests suck in carbon from the air as they grow. But while carbon in forests on land can sometimes be lost—as in California, where more than 2 million acres of trees have burned so far this year—kelp that sinks to the bottom of the ocean can stay there for centuries.”
9/14/20 – “With a quarantine cluster full of people who don’t trust shellfish, I was left to my own devices as the sun set on a very weird year in my life. I shucked and slurped down legitimately 30 oysters — each cold, firm, and briny — before I tapped out and passed the whole operation over the fence to our neighbors. They’re not the “self shucking” sort and were delighted. They also now basically perceive me as a survivalist, because after 30 oysters I was able to pretend to have some level of expertise with popping them open.”
9/2/20 – “The Portland Fish Exchange is launching a new oyster sorting and bagging operation inside its cold, cavernous auction warehouse in hopes of growing the state’s aquaculture economy and diversifying a business plan that’s taken a beating since local ground fish landings collapsed. On Wednesday, the Exchange received the first of what it hopes will be many oyster deliveries. Two employees measured, sorted, bagged and tagged five 100-count bags of Eastern oysters harvested by Running Tide, a two-year-old aquaculture company that operates a hatchery in Harpswell and grows oysters, clams and scallops at three coastal Maine locations.”
8/27/20 – “Atlantic Sea Farms, the first commercial seaweed farm in the United States, has produced more than 450,000 pounds of kelp this year, doubling its 2019 numbers. Since 2009, the company has aimed to diversify work options for Maine’s coastal communities and promote the domestic growth of seaweed products over imported products – both missions that CEO Briana Warner believes has helped it navigate continued growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
8/19/20 – “The Maine Aquaculture Association will receive $64,885 in federal funds to help aquaculture producers create a plan for how to survive the pandemic. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business Development Grant program. ‘This vital grant to the Maine Aquaculture Association is going to be used where it is needed most—assisting the Maine aquaculture businesses who provide our state with shellfish, finfish and sea vegetables,’ USDA Rural Development State Director Timothy Hobbs said in a news release.”
8/18/20 – “Where do Americans consume their seafood? Americans spent roughly $102 billion (€85.5 billion) on seafood in 2017, and 65 percent of that was spent in restaurants and other foodservice outlets, leaving many to conclude, incorrectly, that more seafood is sold in restaurants than at supermarkets and other retail outlets. The new study finally answers the question of where greater volumes of seafood are sold – retail or foodservice – and the winner is retail by a wide margin.”
8/4/20 – “Seafood netted some historic firsts in the nation’s new dietary guidelines. [. . .] ‘This is by far the strongest they’ve come out for seafood in all of the U.S. dietary guidelines history, and at virtually every point in the lifecycle from babies to pregnant and lactating moms to adults. I was really amazed,’ said Dr. Tom Brenna, a professor of pediatrics, chemistry and nutrition at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas/Austin and at Cornell University. Along with taking a whole life approach for the first time, Brenna said the advisers also considered nutritional requirements for children under 2 years of age. ‘The general idea is that kids should be breastfed, that’s the recommendation to six months of age. And starting at six months when you’re introducing finger foods, solid foods, the recommendation is to include seafood right from the beginning,’ he said.”
7/30/20 – PORTLAND, Maine — “A new study forecasts Maine’s aquaculture industry will grow, but the state needs more skilled-workers to sustain it. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute published a report in partnership with the Maine Aquaculture Association and Educate Maine, with support from FocusMaine to identify and plan for the future of aquaculture.” Click here to download the full workforce development report.
7/31/20 – “The Maine Aquaculture Association (MAA) and Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA) are collaborating on an effort to encourage seafood businesses, industry organizations, restaurants, and consumers to utilize the hashtag #EatMaineSeafood across social media platforms. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media websites and applications to identify messages on a specific topic. It categorizes posts on social media like Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. People can follow a hashtag to see all the posts that are sorted under that hashtag. A hashtag helps to elevate a common message, and its success can be measured via user-engagement.”
Press Release: Federal Fisheries Advisory Committee Recommends Formation of National Seafood Promotion Council
7/23/20 – The Maine Aquaculture Association welcomes the recent recommendations of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC) to the Secretary of Commerce to form a National Seafood Promotion Council. After a year of stakeholder interviews and researching agricultural and other types of marketing and promotional efforts, MAFAC issued its findings in a report titled, Establishing A National Seafood Promotion Council. Read the full press release here.
07/15/20 – “The federal government document used more often by US nutritional experts than any other to provide dietary guidance will advise women to eat eight to 12 ounces of seafood per week before and after pregnancy, if the US departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services (HHS) follow the suggestions of its 20-person advisory panel.”
NEW RESEARCH REVEALS SURPRISING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SALMON SPECIES — HELPING CONSUMERS DECIDE WHICH ONES TO SERVE FOR DINNER
07/09/2020 – “Stefanie Colombo, an assistant professor of Aquaculture at Dalhousie University’s Agriculture Campus, wanted to shed some light on the murky area by exploring the nutritional differences between salmon [ . . . ] Dr. Colombo found that the more expensive wild Sockeye, which can be $31.50/lb, and wild Chinook had the most nutrient-dense and highest omega-3 content. But she also discovered that farmed Atlantic salmon, which costs about $12.50/lb, had the lowest mercury content, had a high nutrient density, is more affordable and available on both of Canada’s coasts.”
6/23/20 – A Bremen farmer recently harvested her first crop of sugar kelp, which she describes as nutritious, tasty, and good for the environment, from her new aquaculture operation in Muscongus Bay. Cold Moon Sea Farm grows and harvests sugar kelp at a location 300 feet off Hog Island. Owner Sarah Wineberg Thorpe markets the product under the name Swell Seaweeds. “It is a species that is native to Maine and is fascinating in a lot of different ways. It grows in bays, coves, and harbors, and variations of the species look very different from one another,” Wineberg Thorpe said.
6/10/20 – Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Bri Warner is named a 2020 EatingWell Food Hero! “Where most saw kelp as a slimy sea plant, Warner saw it as a savior [. . .] Kelp takes in and sequesters this greenhouse gas: according to one study, kelp forests may remove 20 times more carbon from the atmosphere than land-based forests. And seaweed makes a lot of sense in Maine. Kelp is harvested in the spring, which is a slower season for the local lobster fishery, and the additional revenue could help cushion the blow if lobster stocks fall, as they are predicted to due to warming waters.”
5/24/20 – Atlantic Sea Farms of Saco started out growing seaweed, but is now trying to grow a Maine industry. The company began in 2009 as commercial seaweed farming operation called Ocean Approved. It began to expand its mission in 2018, later changing its name to reflect that, and now partners with about two dozen fishermen and women up and down the Maine coast. The fishermen grow the seaweed in their offseasons, then sell it to Atlantic Sea Farms, which produces kelp-based products for sale online, in Whole Foods and other stores, and for use by several health-focused casual restaurant chains.
5/19/20 – Kelp farming is positioned as a form of insurance, offering lobstermen such as Baines some of the financial security off-season fishing once did. He is one of the 24 “partner farmers” working with Atlantic Sea Farms, which was founded in 2009 under the name Ocean Approved as the first commercial seaweed farm and nursery in North America. (Baines’s daughter, Jesse, works for the company.) Atlantic cultivates seeds and gives them to partner farmers, assists with the design and layout of the kelp farms, and coaches farmers throughout the season – from setting up the farm in the winter to the harvest in spring, complementary to lobster’s summer to fall season. Because Atlantic Sea Farms seeks experienced lobstermen who already have equipment and know-how, start-up costs tend to be lower than those who are beginning from scratch.
5/13/20 – Chris Davis co-owns Pemaquid Oyster Co., which has farmed oysters on the Damariscotta River since the 1980s. “We started an online seafood program and that drew a lot of interest,” Davis said. Customers can place orders for pickup from a company facility at 1005 Bristol Road in Bristol. Nonetheless, Davis said the pandemic and resulting restaurant closures have had a significant impact. “We are all feeling it right now. Most of our sales go to restaurants,” Davis said.
5/7/20 – Section 1. Purpose. America needs a vibrant and competitive seafood industry to create and sustain American jobs, put safe and healthy food on American tables, and contribute to the American economy [. . .] By removing outdated and unnecessarily burdensome regulations; strengthening efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; improving the transparency and efficiency of environmental reviews; and renewing our focus on long-term strategic planning to facilitate aquaculture projects, we can protect our aquatic environments; revitalize our Nation’s seafood industry; get more Americans back to work; and put healthy, safe food on our families’ tables.
5/7/20 – Maine is in line to get $20.3 million to help its battered seafood industry weather the COVID-19 storm. The award comes out of the $300 million in federal funding included in the CARES Act to help the U.S. fishing industry survive pandemic-related economic losses. Maine’s award was the fifth-highest out of 31 states, trailing only Alaska, Washington, Massachusetts and Florida. It’s unclear how the funds will be split among the 18,000 licensed fishermen, seafood dealers, processors, aquaculture operators and charter fishing operators that make up Maine’s seafood industry, which nets an estimated $788.2 million a year in revenues. The sector has been especially hard-hit by the pandemic.
5/7/20 – MAA has advocated for the state’s aquaculture industry since 1978. In more recent years, the state has seen an increase in the number of aquaculture-related businesses. Most notably, shellfish and sea vegetable farms in addition to several new land-based RAS projects have developed. With this recent growth, MAA has continued to strengthen its stance as the state’s leader in supporting up and coming aquaculture businesses and their employees. [ . . . ] MAA is committed to growing a sustainable future for Maine’s seafood industry and the people who rely on it, and we are proud to have them as a Strategic Partner of GAA.
4/29/20 – Portland, Maine – ‘Maine Seaweed Week’ has been a way for harvesters and restaurant chefs to introduce people to a new food; now organizers have pivoted [. . .] Seaweed harvesters like Spartan Sea Farms are delivering their product directly to consumers. “This is really a first time, unique opportunity to get your hands on a big bag of fresh kelp and really start playing around with it.” Ken Sparta, with Spartan Sea Farms, says seaweed can be plugged into a lot of different recipes. “We started delivering directly, and we gave out recipes and started a recipe book, and all of our customers have started connecting with us, and sharing their recipes, so it’s been really great.” [. . .] To find some of those recipes, or restaurants taking part in the event, click here.
4/26/20– Atlantic Sea Farms doesn’t sell raw kelp because “if kelp doesn’t taste good, people aren’t going to eat it,” Warner said. Instead, it sells ready-to-eat blanched, shredded kelp that can be tossed into any dish; and pureed kelp cubes, good for smoothies but also handy for sauces, baked goods and salad dressings. Its fermented seaweed salad is a preservative-free alternative to imported Japanese products; its Sea-Chi is a sea-based take on kimchi; and I can attest that its Sea-Beat Kraut makes a great addition to a Rueben sandwich.
4/24/20 – With the restaurant sector temporarily shut down, markets for local seafood products have taken a huge hit. Like many others who depend on small businesses, working waterfront families and the coastal communities they support are struggling to make ends meet. Let’s do our part to support them by purchasing local seafood. Take it home and experiment with a new dish or recipe. Celebrate local food and the folks who produce it for you literally in your backyard.
4/24/20– Today our show is about the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Maine’s fishermen and aquaculture farmers. Like so many small businesses, marine industries have been hit hard by the pandemic. National and global seafood markets for Maine fish and shellfish have almost entirely dried up, and people are scrambling for ways to keep their businesses afloat.
4/17/20 – In January 2020, Maine EPSCoR’s Research Infrastructure Improvement Track 1 project, the Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network (SEANET), was officially completed. However, the legacy of the program will live on through the continued interdisciplinary research carried out by institutions such as the Aquaculture Research Institute (ARI), which is SEANET’s named legatee.
4/13/20 – To encourage local seafood consumption at home, the Maine Aquaculture Association has created a series of recipes and short instructional videos as part of a new series titled “Sea Farm to Table.” The growing library of creative dishes includes a blueberry and mint smoothie using frozen Maine kelp from Atlantic Sea Farms, a company that partners with Maine lobstermen to grow kelp during the off-season.
3/27/20 – Mere Point Oyster Company is trying out delivery service and is teaming up with other fishermen and businesses to offer customers a one-stop shopping experience. Oysters, clams, scallops, little necks, mussels, and other shellfish are ready to be dropped off. “If you’re in your house and you are locked in there you are going to be able to get food because the food producers, whether it be the farmers, or the fishermen, or the oystermen, or the shellfish farmers or the clam diggers, they are going to get you your food,” said Devereaux. “[It] gives people a sense of ease during troubling times like right now.”
3/26/20 – “There definitely appears to be growing interest among aquaculturists and wild harvesters alike” in directly marketing their products, DMR spokesman Jeff Nichols said. DMR worked on producing the flier together with Sea Grant, the University of Maine and NOAA Fisheries. “We will also be sharing it and building on that information in the near future,” Nichols said.
1/23/20 – Maine lobstermen and commercial fishing families have turned to aquaculture to boost revenue and diversify their businesses. According to data from the Department of Marine Resources, roughly 50 commercial lobster license holders also hold aquaculture leases, meaning that one in every six Maine aquaculturists also captains a lobster boat.
1/20/20 – The Maine Aquaculture Association has kicked off a new video series focused on telling the personal stories of aquatic farmers throughout the state to increase public visibility and underscore how aquaculture complements existing marine industries in coastal communities.


- There are four types of vertical currents in the oceans: coastal upwelling, equatorial upwelling, the upwelling in the southern ocean and the vertical currents of the Meridional Overturning Circulation--the ocean conveyor belt--that absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere and moves tropical heat around the Earth.
- Vertical currents are critical to the storage of heat in the ocean from summer to summer. This heat, when lost by the tropical regions of the oceans helps to moderate the Earth's climate.
- The waters that form these currents may take up to 1,600 years to travel through the "full circle" of the ocean general circulation, or OGC, before becoming part of an upwelling as a vertical current. Reported in the Journal of Physical Oceanography, a study by Francois Primeau demonstrated that waters in the upwellings in the Pacific and Southern oceans had been moving through the global ocean general circulation for about 1,600 years.
- The vertical currents of coastal upwellings occurs near the eastern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Winds blowing along the coasts cause the flow within the Ekman Layer to move perpendicularly to the wind direction--to the left in the southern hemisphere and to the right in the northern hemisphere--to direct its flow offshore, which forces water up from depths of 200 to 400 meters. The equatorial upwelling also occurs in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as vertical currents about 5 degrees north and south of the equator and trade winds move through the area on either side of the equator.
The conflict between the Ekman transport, flowing south, south of the equator and north, north of the equator, and the surface winds causes a surface divergence at the equator and forces water up from depths of 150 to 400 meters. The upwelling in the Southern Ocean occurs when the geostrophic flow from the North Atlantic deep water reaches the Southern Ocean at depths ranging from 1,000 meters to 4,000 meters. It then rises as vertical currents because of changes in the balance of the ocean's horizontal pressure gradient and Coriolis force when the currents approach the southern pole. It enters the Ekman Layer and moves into the Pacific's general circulation. The vertical currents of the Meridionial Overturning Circulation are found on both coasts of the Atlantic and the Pacific.
- The ocean is the largest reservoir of carbon dioxide on the planet, able to hold 50 times more CO2 than the atmosphere. Over the years, studies have show that vertical currents supply the "overturning" part of the ocean's circulation and, when carbon dioxide is absorbed into the ocean, either becoming part of the "soup" of sea water or by mixing, but not being absorbed by the water, these currents carry the CO2 into the depths and keep it there for long periods of time.


The steam-powered trawler arrived next, in 1881. Whenever fitted having an otter trawl, devised in 1892, it enabled fishermen to haul in six times the catch of a ship that is sailing. Quickly arrived filleting devices, echo-sounders and spotter planes. Then Clarence Birdseye, a fur-trapper that is american creator, create a system for freezing seafood. This offered the entire world the seafood little finger and established the factory ship that sailed not even close to house and processed the catch from huge trawlers from the seas that are high.
Next came the cool war, whoever primary casualty might have been fish. The technology created by America’s workplace of Naval Research developed to obtain the Soviet Union’s submarines and conceal NATO’s ended up being soon put to make use of when you look at the quest for haddock, herring and each other form of underwater victim. From then on came satellites sufficient reason for them worldwide placement systems and thermal pictures, allowing fishermen to obtain the places where hot and cool waters collide, which can be where plankton grow and fish gather. Now a myriad of technologyвЂ”acoustic fish-finders, broad-swathe mapping of this seabed, computerised track plotters and so onвЂ”make it feasible to locate most fish larger than a guy’s forearm.
There goes that Leviathan
The greatest people have already been the first to ever get. The fish tend to be smaller and younger as a result, in over-exploited waters. Among those caught within the Pacific, the typical period of an English sole dropped from about 34cm when you look at the 1960s to 30cm in 2002, a Pacific barracuda from almost 80cm when you look at the 1950s to 65cm in 1970, a bocaccio from over 50cm into the 1970s to nearer 45cm within the 1990s. A big cod is now a rarity in the north-west Atlantic whereas record-sized cod 2 metres long and up to 96kg (211lb) in weight were recorded in Massachusetts in the 19th century, and an average of 4.5kg per fish was common in living memory. As soon as the top seafood have left, smaller varieties end up being the catch that is new. вЂњFishing downвЂќ the food internet, given that training is famous, led to the length that is average of caught off the west coastline of Newfoundland falling by way of a metre between 1957 and 2000, based on an article by Daniel Pauly and Reg Watson, of this University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre, in Scientific United states in July 2003.
When shares of familiar seafood are exhausted in familiar fishing grounds, guy turns towards brand brand new seafood in brand brand new places. Distant-water vessels from such nations as Taiwan, Southern Korea and Russia have now been ploughing oceans that are far-flung because the art of freezing seafood became easy. вЂњKlondikersвЂќ, huge factory vessels from eastern European countries, started initially to arrive in international waters when you look at the 1990s. Spanish ships, after the traditions associated with medieval Basques, fish all over the globe. Vessels from Bulgaria, Asia, Japan, Mexico, Poland and Romania can all be located far from your home.
Ever smaller, ever rarer
There they go about saying whatever they did inside their very own waters. Having caught virtually all the northern bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and several of the seafood off other coasts, the nations of this eu, for instance, have actually negotiated legal legal rights to seafood in seaside waters down west Africa. Now shares of octopus, lobsters, tuna as well as other fish in this an element of the Atlantic are dangerously low, leading to the impoverishment of regional fishermen. Because of this, lots of people are considered driven to such hopeless measures as consuming bushmeat from jeopardized pets and sail that is setting available ships within the hope of illegally settling in European countries.
Rich-country customers of Senegalese shrimps or Omani lobsters are no doubt pleased with regards to entrГ©es. Other people may require an encouragement that is little buy seafood hitherto unknown for them. Numerous types are consequently renamed when it comes to retail trade: bocaccio, a type of rockfish, becomes Pacific red snapper, Patagonian toothfish becomes Chilean, or Australian, sea bass, and dogfish becomes stone salmon.
Creeping things innumerable
In Uk fish-and-chip stores coley and pollock are increasingly found in host to cod, as well as in United states fast-food outlets Alaska pollock is just about the basic. However in 2008 shares of Alaskan pollock shrank by half, leaving what’s thought to be the whole world’s food fishery that is largest poised regarding the brink of collapse. This may be a normal fluctuation. Therefore could the disappearance of chinook salmon through the waters off Ca and Oregon this past year; the people throughout the spawning period was 88% below its all-time saturated in 2003.
Many fish-watchers, nonetheless, are uneasy. They see way too many signs of overfishing, and too little of data data data recovery. The most present items of concern is a tiny, shrimp-like creature called krill, which can be now being fished in a way that is big. Krill invest their times within the depths regarding the ocean, increasing at in what they believe to be the safety of darkness to snack on phytoplankton night. In reality, they have been apt to be hauled away by fishermen, particularly when these are typically when you look at the waters of Antarctica. Krill try not to find yourself on dishes in restaurants, except maybe in Japan or Russia, however they are increasingly sought after due to their essential fatty acids, due to their enzymes (used in medication), for feeding to fish that is farmed specially to provide the flesh of salmon a red look, as well as use as seafood dinner. Now a strategy was developed that allows trawlermen to process them at sea before their enzymes decompose. This implies vessels can remain much longer far from slot and increase the dimensions of their annual catch several times.
Which are the crazy waves saying?
Nobody believes krill are yet put at risk, but nobody completely knows them. It really is understood, nevertheless, that lots of whales and seals and penguins go on them. Which is understood that the plankton they eat cling to the underside of packed ice, ice that could begin melting as conditions increase. Driving a car is the fact that damaging the krill populace shall set in train a few modifications http://cupid.reviews/ which will impact other animals.
It is, most likely, what exactly is occurring various other places, though frequently the changes begin in the apex of this meals internet. Typically, this might be a fish-eat-fish affair, with vegetarians like krill using their spot at underneath (phytoplankton are flowers, whereas zooplankton are pets). Hence the hunting that is relentless of sharks from the united states of america’ Atlantic shore has rendered them not able to вЂњperform their ecosystem part as top predatorsвЂќ, when you look at the terms of Julia Baum of Dalhousie University. The upshot is just a huge upsurge in the amounts of their victim, particularly ray, skate and smaller sharks. Cownose ray, which might come to be over a metre wide, are increasing by about 8% per year. The shellfish they eat, such as scallops, oysters and clams, have been devastated with some 40m of them now looking for food off the East Coast.
One class let me reveal that no types must be fished to your point in which the ecosystem is unbalanced. That summary barely calls for the fish-fed brain of Jeeves. Another is the fact that, to steadfastly keep up a stability, big вЂњapexвЂќ fish may be since crucial as tiny. Many seafood just simply simply take years before they truly are mature sufficient to spawn: cod, three to four, sturgeon 20, orange roughy 32. In addition they may be long-lived: cod may survive to 30, if they’re fortunate, and sturgeon to 100. Destroy the seafood at the very top and you’ll get an explosion of smaller ones below, gobbling up much more meals than will be eaten by a couple of big seafood of the identical weight that is total. And fish that is big more and better-quality fry. Make the top and then leave the young, a common concept of fisheries managers desperate to reconstruct shares, may consequently be a blunder. In that case, it isn’t their just one.
This informative article starred in the report that is special associated with printing version underneath the headline «Plenty more fish within the ocean?»


In early July we received a message from colleagues working along Central American nesting beaches that an adult female olive ridley sea turtle I captured on September 26, 2006 off the coast of El Salvador was re-sighted nesting on Playa Chacocente, a beach inside the Rio Escalante-Chacocente Wildlife Refuge in Nicaragua.
Not only is it exciting to learn that this turtle is healthy and reproducing, but its also interesting to see that six years later she is nesting not too far from where she was captured in 2006. It’s hard to infer much from two data points over the course of six years, but this kind of anecdotal information augments other data we have been collecting, and it helps us form hypotheses as to the home ranges and migratory behavior of this species. I originally hand-captured this turtle (pictured below) as part of a multi-disciplinary NOAA oceanographic research cruise called STAR.
Although still nothing close to historical abundances, the Pacific olive ridley is doing relatively well off the coast of Central America — a region known as the eastern tropical Pacific. This oceanographically dynamic area is the study region I’m focusing on for my PhD dissertation work. Positive notes from the field like this one will help guide future at-sea sampling efforts.
For a bit more information on Playa Chacocente, read SEE Turtles Research Associate Paula von Weller’s 2010 blog about her visit to the Refuge.
Awesome Lindsey! Way cooler than a message in a bottle. This positive information is motivation to complete your PhD!


WWF-Pakistan data shows that 12 boats using new equipment and practices caught only six turtles in 2018-22, and released them safely by trained fishers.
The use of modified fishing gear and increased awareness have led to fewer deaths of turtles, sharks, dolphins, and whales in Pakistani waters, while fishers’ incomes have increased and nearly all bycatch fishing techniques have been abandoned.
Shakil lives in the coastal village of Ibrahim Hyderi, in Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi, and is one of 700 people who have received training from WWF-Pakistan under its Sustainable Fisheries Entrepreneurship Project.
Shakil remembers saving a threatened green turtle in early January 2023. He and other fishermen had set up a fishing net and were eagerly awaiting the catch when they felt something moving. They carefully removed the net and witnessed the turtle flipping back into the water.
Shakil attended a workshop in 2018 that changed his mindset and gained knowledge of the ecological functions of turtles, sharks, and whales, as well as the dwindling numbers of these animals. They were also taught techniques how to safely release animals that get caught accidentally in their nets while they are fishing – often referred to as bycatch.
The project aims to reduce bycatch fishing techniques and create additional livelihood opportunities to make fishing on Pakistan’s coast more sustainable. Before 2012, 28,000 turtles and 12,000 dolphins were caught every year in fishing gear in Pakistan’s waters, and nearly all entangled dolphins would die due to suffocation, says Muhammad Moazzam Khan, WWF-Pakistan’s technical adviser for marine fisheries.
The Third Pole quotes Khan as saying that 21,000 fishing boats, 13,000 in Sindh and 8,000 in Balochistan, are employed along Pakistan’s coastline. The majority employ gillnets, seine nets, and trawling— fishing techniques that capture marine animals without regard for their species and result in significant bycatch.
“To encourage fishermen to use sustainable fishing methods, we are collaborating closely with government agencies. Changing the gear or altering current practises also requires some funding, so we have enlisted the help of business to fund these conservation initiatives,” Khan added.
Particularly detrimental to Pakistan’s marine ecosystems are gillnets. They cover large areas of the ocean with impenetrable walls of fine-meshed netting, which frequently entangle the targeted fish species as well as large marine animals and young fish.
UN regulations and agreements under the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission stipulate that drift gillnets should not be more than 2.5 kilometres long, but Pakistani fishers use nets that are 15 to 20 kilometres long, leading to a 40–70% decline in fish populations. A study found that bycatch in the country’s gillnet fisheries between 2012 and 2015 was 40–70%.
WWF-Pakistan started a “crew-based observer program” in 2012 to educate skippers on the safe release of endangered marine species. In the past 11 years, 113 whale sharks, 42 sunfish, seven dolphins, five whales, seven sharks, 96 mobulids (manta and devil rays), 34 sea snakes, 21 giant squid, and thousands of marine turtles have been released from nets in Pakistan’s waters.
We later realised that a rescue and safe release programme was insufficient, as Khan claims. As a result, WWF-Pakistan began working on altering the fishing equipment. “In 2015, we experimented with sub-surface gillnets [where nets are set more than two metres below the surface], integrating local knowledge and using scientific data. This was very successful because it reduced the bycatch of cetaceans—whales, dolphins, and porpoises—by 98%.”
All 700 tuna-fishing boats in Pakistan switched to using these sub-surface gillnets between 2016 and 2019. Khan continues, “Some fishers in Iran, Oman, and India also use this method.”
Then, according to Nadeem Shaikh, senior officer for community development at WWF-Pakistan, modified longline gear was introduced in 2018. This technique uses a single fishing line with up to 4,000 baited hooks strung along it, rather than a large net.
Traditional longline fishing, which was used before the adoption of gillnets, had high rates of bycatch. Turtles were particularly prone to encountering the lines, and the WWF project provides fishers with “circle” hooks to use alongside J-shaped hooks.
It also urges fishers to use bait that is less likely to attract non-target species, and trains them to set the lines deeper, at over 70 metres, in fishing grounds where turtles and sharks are less likely to encounter them.
WWF-Pakistan data shows that 12 boats using new equipment and practices caught only six turtles in 2018-22, and released them safely by trained fishers. No incidents involving whales, whale sharks, or dolphins were reported.
Kiani, a University of Karachi professor, describes longline fishing and sub-surface gillnets as “suitable fishing practices”. He believes that entanglement of threatened and endangered species has been reduced where the WWF-Pakistan measures have been adopted, but there is still a need to raise awareness and regulate fishing practices. These methods provide jobs for up to 1.8 million people.
Shaikh from WWF-Pakistan claims that poverty and trouble accessing basic necessities are still widespread in the fishing community where he was raised. According to him, longline fishing is a crucial strategy for increasing fishers’ incomes.
Muhammad Ali is one of three fishermen from Ibrahim Hyderi who had longline fishing installed on their boats in 2018 through WWF-Pakistan’s Sustainable Fisheries Entrepreneurship Project. This has changed his life, with his income more than trebling. Longline fishing in deep waters has allowed him to catch larger fish in greater quantities, which he can sell at a good rate.
It costs around PKR 900,000 (USD 3,400) to install longline equipment on a boat, with WWF-Pakistan contributing half of the cost. In the past two years, 15 boats have been fitted with longline gear, and 65 boats in Ibrahim Hyderi and Rehri Goth in Karachi now use longlines, changing the lives of around 980 fishers.
Shaikh’s calculations show that 980 fishers earn almost three times more than their counterparts still using gillnets. However, only 4% of Pakistan’s fishing fleet has moved to one of the more sustainable methods.
To shift all fishing vessels to longlines and sub-surface gillnets, it may not be possible, but government departments and the corporate sector are working to sensitize fishers to adopt sustainable fishing practices. A change in gear or modifications to existing practices also requires funding.
With the provision of appropriate fishing gear, education, and capacity-building programmes for fishers, marine scientist Kiani is optimistic that “we can help revive the dwindling populations of marine species, of which some are on the verge of extinction.”


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Diversity, distribution and population size structure of deep Mediterranean gorgonian assemblages (Menorca Channel, Western Mediterranean Sea)
|Authors:||Grinyó, Jordi ; Gori, Andrea ; Ambroso, Stefano ; Purroy, Ariadna ; Calatayud, Clara ; Dominguez-Carrió, Carlos ; Coppari, Martina; Lo Iacono, Claudio ; López-González, Pablo J.; Gili, Josep Maria|
|Citation:||Progress in Oceanography 145: 42-56 (2016)|
|Abstract:||Gorgonians are a key group of organisms in benthic marine communities with a wide bathymetric and geographical distribution. Although their presence on continental shelves and slopes has been known for more than 100 years, knowledge concerning the ecology of deep gorgonian species is still in a very preliminary stage. To overcome this situation, gorgonian assemblages located at 40–360 m depth were studied over a large geographical area on the continental shelf and upper slope of the Menorca Channel (Western Mediterranean Sea). A quantitative analysis of video transects recorded by a manned submersible and a remotely operated vehicle, were used to examine the diversity, distribution and demography of gorgonian species. Results showed high gorgonian diversity within this depth range (a total of nine species were observed) compared to Mediterranean coastal areas. Gorgonian assemblages on the continental shelf and upper slope were mostly monospecific (respectively 73% and 76% of occupied sampling units contained one single species), whereas shelf edge assemblages were highly multispecific (92% of occupied sampling units contained several species). This contrasts with the monospecificity of Mediterranean coastal gorgonian assemblages. Gorgonian populations on the continental shelf were mostly dominated by small colonies (88% of measured colonies) with few intermediate and large colonies (12% of measured colonies). In deeper areas small colonies were still dominant (60% of measured colonies), but intermediate and large colonies were much more abundant (40% of measured colonies). This suggests high recruitment rates on the continental shelf, but perturbations (trammel nets, long lines and strong storms) may limit the presence of intermediate and large colonies. Conversely, on the shelf edge and upper slope a more stable environment may allow colonies to reach larger dimensions. The identification and ecological characterization of these deep assemblages further extends the current knowledge about Mediterranean gorgonians, and is fundamental in improving the management and conservation of deep benthic ecosystems|
|Description:||15 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, 1 appendix supplementary data https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2016.05.001|
|Publisher version (URL):||https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2016.05.001|
|Appears in Collections:||(ICM) Artículos|
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Lobsters live on the sea bed and inhabit the coastal area from the intertidal zone down to depths of approximately 120 metres. Lobsters are a solitary animal, except during mating time, spending most of their time within the protection of some kind of shelter.
The lobster is a nocturnal animal and emerges from the shelter at dusk to feed.
- sea urchins
- marine worms
The lobster will also feed as a scavenger.
Fishing for lobster
If you're interested in fishing for lobster, you should contact the Fisheries and Marine Resources Department. You will also need to adhere to the following guidelines:
- if you wish to catch and sell lobsters, you must possess a commercial fishing licence which are limited in number
- there is a limit on the number of pots commercial fisherman can work and all pots must be tagged
- all parlour pots must be fitted with an escape gap allowing undersize lobsters to exit the pot. This stops them from being damaged by larger lobsters or by rough handling from the fisherman
- parlour pots are banned from the offshore reef ‘Les Minquiers’. This is an important location for the recruitment of juvenile lobsters
- the minimum size allowed for a caught lobster is 87mm
Biology and Regulations in Jersey- European Lobster


Program 6 'Movements and habitat use by marine apex predators'
Program 6 will have three projects designed to monitor the movements of apex predators in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park using widespread arrays of acoustic receivers installed and maintained by other funding programs (e.g. IMOS, ARC). One project will focus on the movement and habitat use of large predatory fishes (e.g. sharks and coral trout) in reef environments. New knowledge about the scale of daily and seasonal movements will establish a minimum viable size for no-take areas to offer effective protection to these mobile animals. A second project will focus on the movement and habitat use of coastal fish populations, with an emphasis on inshore shark populations. The latter are under considerable pressure from commercial netting and the study will seek to identify critical habitats (e.g. juvenile shark nurseries) that may require higher levels of protection to ensure sustainable populations. The third project will map the movements and habitat use of pelagic environments by foraging seabirds seeking an oceanographic explanation for the decline in seabird numbers observed in many breeding colonies.
- Project 6.1 'Maximising the benefits of mobile predators to Great Barrier Reef ecosystems: the importance of movement, habitat and environment'
- Project 6.2 'Drivers of juvenile shark biodiversity and abundance in inshore ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef'
- Project 6.3 'Critical seabird foraging locations and trophic relationships for the Great Barrier Reef'


| May 17, 2010
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has already spewed plumes over ecologically sensitive reefs, part of a stalled marine sanctuary proposal that would have restrict drilling in a large swath of the northern part of the vital waterway.
| May 27, 2010
Marine scientists have discovered a massive new plume of what they believe to be oil deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico, stretching 22 miles from the leaking wellhead northeast toward Mobile Bay, Alabama.
The discovery by researchers on the University of...
| Jan 10, 2010
Not being recognized at work can be awkward. There is typically a pause, followed by a stammer, and maybe some blushing. The exchange seldom involves automatic weapons.
Unless you are Carrie Curran, harbormaster at Fort Eustis.
A machine gun-carrying...
| Jan 11, 2010
| 7:54 PM
— Maybe it was the training. Maybe it was a loss of appetite. The approaching holidays, perhaps?
Whatever the reason, Curtis, a 2-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever, was acting generous.
Sitting in the cramped cabin of a dead rise fishing boat...
| Mar 30, 2011
| 8:43 PM
A coalition of community groups will kick off Outdoor Heritage Month with a Laurel Highlands Green Drinks networking event on Friday at Art Works in Johnstown.
Casual and comfortable is how Kristin Sewak, executive director of Natural Biodiversity,...
| May 9, 2011
| 9:07 PM
I experienced my coolest fieldtrip ever in the spring of 1956.
I was enrolled in Mr. Gilbert's sixth-grade class at the Lindbergh School at Orange Avenue and 23rd Street in Costa Mesa.
Gilbert's class visited the white cliffs of … Dover? No, it...
| Jan 3, 2011
John Olguin, whose enthusiasm for the ocean made him a perfect teacher for generations of youngsters who visited the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, has died. He was 89.
Olguin, the longtime director of what was then called the Cabrillo Marine...
| Jul 16, 2010
To the negative impact on the environment we have witnessed for the last 90 days, as a result of the oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico, a note of hope: the Southern California Giant Kelp Restoration Project.
This project was launched in 2001 to reestablish...
| Aug 2, 2010
Two weeks after crews wrestled temporary control of the geyser of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, BP as early as Monday could begin the first step in a weeks-long process to permanently jam the blown-out well.
But here in this fisherman's paradise,...
| Jan 12, 2011
| 3:23 PM
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The Scripps Institution of Oceanography announced Wednesday it will partner with a private firm to deploy a $25 million global greenhouse gas observation network over the next five years.
The network will provide scientists with...
| Jan 17, 2011
| 4:00 PM
Organizers hope the new Green Drinks Laurel Highlands networking group set to make its debut in Johnstown Jan. 26 will help connect like-minded residents to spark new environmental projects in the region.
"The idea is to get people together and get...


Shark fin option trade merchants association
Hide caption Shark fins dry out in the sun in Taiwan. We love animals and documenting them. But not all scientists agree that banning shark fins would be the way to protect sharks.
We're courteous but unyielding. Sharks ban Hong Kong China. Hide caption Up to 2 million hammerhead sharks are traded in the shark fin industry every year, according to the Pew Environment Group. After the Chinese Communist Party banned shark fin at official dinners in to fight "extravagance," the trade dropped significantly the following year, though Kao says that drop has mostly shark fin option trade merchants association off.
A shark is caught in a fishing net in Indonesia. Once we go in, we have a game plan, and we stick to that game plan. Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player.
We want to capture images that folks can look at and be drawn into with curiosity first, and then let the magnitude of the situation be revealed. Two bipartisan bills, one in the House and one in the Senatewould make it illegal to possess, buy, sell or transport shark fins in the United States. Paul Hilton hide caption.
A green area means you can film openly with no political ramifications. Photos and videos usually show grim images of fishermen hauling sharks up the sides of boats, slicing off the animals' fins, then letting them slide back into the ocean — and certain death. We love animals and documenting them.
Despite increased public awareness, shark fin option trade merchants association operations are still open for business in many countries, new images show. A shark is caught in a fishing net in Indonesia. Like Shiffman, she's skeptical of the idea that the U. A study in the journal Marine Policy estimates that between 63 and million sharks are killed each year, including those killed for their fins. Hide caption The shark fin trade has been increasing to accomodate the growing popularity of shark fin soup.
House and Senate politicians introduced similar bills last year, but they didn't make it out of committee. We're courteous but unyielding. Like Shiffman, she's skeptical of the idea that the U. Two bipartisan bills, one in the House and one in the Senatewould make it illegal to possess, buy, sell or transport shark fins in the United States. Several conservation groups, including the nonprofit Oceana, responded to Shiffman's shark fin option trade merchants association against the ban in Marine Policysaying that if the U.


GLEC Continues Support for USEPA National Coastal Condition Assessment
October 8, 2014
Through two competitive task order awards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has selected GLEC as subcontractor to EnviroScience Inc. to provide field sampling and training and logistics support for the 2015 National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA). The NCCA phase of the EPA’s ongoing National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS) will provide statistically valid estimates of the ecological condition of Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes coastal waters by analyzing aquatic communities, water quality data, and associated ecological data. GLEC field crews will sample approximately one third of the 1,000 plus NCCA sites in 2015, including all of the western Great Lakes. GLEC personnel will train state, tribal, and contractor field crews, help develop lab and field operational methods, monitor survey progress, and coordinate shipping of field supplies from GLEC’s Traverse City, Michigan headquarters. GLEC provided similar services for the 2010 NCCA and has supported the NARS program since it began in 2003.


By Deborah Smith Science Editor
IT IS such a toxic place scientists have dubbed it the moat of death. The water is as acidic as vinegar. Poisonous carbon dioxide bubbles up from the ocean floor. And temperatures can reach 80 degrees near hot vents.
When a Sydney researcher, Adele Pile, ventured to this hostile area around an active volcano in the Pacific, she saw countless carcasses of fish, prawns, squid and other sea creatures.
But then she and two colleagues, who were travelling in a small submersible craft, also noticed flashes of red amid the dead bodies carpeting the moat floor. "We saw there were these flame-red bristle worms climbing over everything," said Dr Pile, of the University of Sydney.
It was the first time animal life had been found in such an inhospitable environment, she said. "Any life swimming into this pit immediately dies, except these amazing scavenging worms."
Dr Pile was part of an international team that made two expeditions last year to the Vailulu'u volcano near Samoa, which was discovered in 1999.
In the past four years a dome-shaped volcanic cone 300 metres high has emerged in the centre of Vailulu'u's crater, which sits 1000 metres below the sea surface.
Named Nafanua after the Samoan goddess of war, the cone could reach the surface within 40 or 50 years at its rate of growth.
On the first expedition, the team found hundreds of purple and blue eels living near the summit, a region they dubbed Eel City. Dr Pile said the eels fed on shrimp swept in by currents.
On the second expedition she made three trips to greater depths in the three-person submersible, including to the toxic region at Nafanua's base.
Each eight-hour trip was like sitting inside a refrigerator, she said. The scientists wrapped up to keep warm because the submersible was the same temperature as the water outside, which was as low as 2 degrees. They took a picnic lunch, but avoided drinking because there were no toilet facilities.
The most exciting part, Dr Pile said, was after the submersible had been dropped to its target position in the dark and the lights were turned on. Apart from the finger-sized worms, the fizzing fields of carbon dioxide emissions were an interesting sight.
"It looked like champagne bubbles in a glass," she said. The explorers' discoveries are reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr Pile also ventured to the outside slopes of Vailulu'u.
About 900 metres below the surface were a wide range of sea stars and corals. "We found beautiful normal sea communities," Dr Pile said.
Closer to the lip of the volcano, however, the number of species was vastly reduced.


The primary purpose of this division is to build up understanding and knowledge of the marine environment in the country.
The services of a multi disciplinary team is available to undertake research and consultancy work to both national and international marine organizations, offer advice to fishermen, farmers, industrial managers and, if required monitor maritime developments for coastal management. The principle activities of the division are as follows,
- Joint research expeditions are conducted in the Indian Ocean with International Oceanographic Institutions to study the monsoon circulation and other oceanographic parameters within our EEZ.
- Joint research expeditions are conducted in the Indian Ocean with International Oceanographic Institutions to study the monsoon circulation and other oceanographic parameters within our EE .
- A mineral exploration programme is conducted off Beruwela to identify and evaluate deposits of heavy mineral concentrations, principally Monazite, Ilmenite, Rutile and Zircon with the funding of the United Nations Revolving Fund.
- Monitoring sea level changes, measuring currents, temperatures, waves, tides and salinity and location areas of ocean energy potentials around the country are being conducted. The division also investigates on the distribution and transportation of nutrients, trace metals, organic matter and other biological assessment in oceanic and coastal waters.
- The division is planning to set up a National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC) for the benefit of the public and investors in the field of Oceanography.


I may have mentioned this in the past but I fucking hate the ocean. Ironic seeing as how I’ve spent 30 years of my life living within driving distance of it but let me tell you this, O, my brothers (and sisters), I don’t wade out past knee deep water because scary shit lives in the ocean and once you’re in the tide, you’re immediately shunted to the bottom of the food chain. There is shit down there below the surface that is much better suited to moving swiftly and eating the ass out of anything without the streamlined biological design to get the hell out of the way, namely you and me or anything else built for walking around solid ground. The majority of this planet is covered in it and we haven’t explored more than 20% of the god damn thing so it’s completely reasonable to suspect that there are substantial discoveries in the field of marine biology to be made. I’m talking unseen species of fish and mammals that we’ve never seen because they live really deep or there’s plenty of room for them to hide since light doesn’t penetrate the water anymore once you’ve hit the abyssopelagic level of the deep, about 13,000 feet down. Shit gets real spooky down there. What’s more, while tin foil hat types keep their cameras pointed at the sky looking for UFOs, there’s a whole class of unidentified objects that exist down there under the ocean, the so-called USO, the Unidentified Submerged Object and that’s what tonight’s entry into the countdown is about. Crazy shit going on under the ocean that nobody can identify.
In Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu, Cthulhu lies dead but dreaming on the sunken isle of R’Lyeh. In the story, a ship sails to an actually very specific set of coordinates located south west of the southernmost tip of South America where R’Lyeh suddenly rises and Cthulhu pretty much makes everyone his bitch and leaves the lone survivor a raving lunatic. It’s a great story but check this shit out. A mere 950 miles from these actual coordinates, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration detected something on underwater microphones that pretty much freaked everybody out. They call it Bloop and it’s frightening. Bloop is a powerful, massive sound that oceanographers are at a loss to explain. Through deep analysis of Bloop’s audio profile, they’ve ruled out the possibility of the sound being of human origin, like a submarine or a bomb. Nor is it an earthquake or a volcano. As a matter of fact, the audio profile matches that of an animal but it’s several times louder than the largest known animal in the ocean, the blue whale. Since it’s discovery, Bloop has been heard several times and in other parts of the ocean other huge, unexplained sounds have been detected, specifically one they’re calling The Slow Down and another heard in the equatorial Atlantic called Julia. It’s likely we’ll never find out the source of these things. 50% of the Earth’s oceans exist in the abyssal plane, way too fucking deep and vast for most equipment to go before it’s positively fucking crushed by the pressure.


Jellyfish April 24, 2016 at informally named “Enigma Seamount” at a depth of ~3,700 meters:
From April 20 to July 10, 2016, NOAA and partners will conduct the three-cruise Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information of unknown and poorly known areas in and around the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
See also: Sea creature, nearly 600 mya, wobbles current classifications of life
Brainless jellyfish shows purpose
Cornelius Hunter: Okeanos Explorer Searches The Deep Sea In this far away land the mission has found all manner of strange life forms never before seen.
Follow UD News at Twitter!


The UAE Mangrove Soil Carbon Sequestration Project is a follow up to the National Blue Carbon Project, commissioned by the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative ( on behalf of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi ( This project provides a trial to test determination of mangrove soil carbon sequestration rates across the Emirates using radiometric dating techniques This and prior projects improve understanding of carbon storage and the other services that coastal and marine Blue Carbon ecosystems provide across the United Arab Emirates.
The overall goal is to better understand the near-term vulnerability of the UAE given changes in climate and human use in the coastal zone. The outputs of the effort represent a contribution to the development of a national framework on near-term coastal zone planning, policy, and information dialogues regarding climate change. There are three major objectives: (1) Acquire the various types of physical databases necessary as inputs to a CVI; (2) develop the coastal vulnerability index for the entire UAE coastline to identify those portions at highest risk from climate change and illustrate the nature of that risk; and (3) develop an interactive “CVI Inspector” tool to visualize the results of the assessment for subsequent use in near-term coastal management and planning at the emirate and national levels.
‘Blue Carbon’ refers to the functional attributes of coastal and marine ecosystems to sequester and store carbon. Blue Carbon ecosystems of the UAE include mangrove forests, salt marshes and seagrass beds. Another potential Blue Carbon ecosystem identified as a result of this project is cyanobacterial “bluegreen algal” mats (hereafter referred to as algal flats). When these ecosystems are destroyed, buried carbon can be released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. In addition to their climate-related benefits, Blue Carbon ecosystems provide highly valuable ‘Ecosystem Services’ to coastal communities; they protect shorelines, provide nursery grounds for fish and habitats for a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species, and support coastal tourism. They also have significant cultural and social values.


Let's Dance Organic Cotton Cushion
Inspiration - This is coastal living with an edge. Take the ocean breeze into your home. Let’s Dance Cushion is inspired by the sea and the ecology of marine algae.
The Scientific Story - We create this design with microscopy images of
Size & Composition - 40cmx60cm. This cushion front cover is printed on organic cotton and is finished by hand in Scotland. Back side: cotton. Let’s Dance comes with certified cruelty-free feather pad. Other types of inserts are available upon request.
Merging textiles, sustainability and science - This is a sustainable product showcasing a design inspired by nature. Look great, discover the unseen beauty of the ocean and support important environmental research. Ten precent (10%) of our profits go towards marine research institutions and ocean literacy programmes.
Comes inside a fabric bag for protection and storage and the booklet sharing the science story. Free UK standard shipping. Worldwide shipping.


A federal advisory group Monday recommended Washington and Oregon kill up to 85 California sea lions at the Bonneville Dam to protect salmon and steelhead spring runs. Several members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sea lion task force did not support the lethal removal recommendation.
NOAA fisheries service biologist Garth Griffin says previously states have removed 37 California sea lions over a three-year period. He says if states could logistically take 85 sea lions per year, there would be a dramatic drop in predation.
“It’s an authorization that we feel comfortable would have no impact on the population structure of California sea lions,” Garth says.
The number of California sea lions feeding at the Bonneville Dam has decreased in 2011 (PDF). The Army Corps of Engineers attributes the drop to previous California sea lion takes.
NOAA has authorized removing California sea lions from the Columbia River since 2008. The Humane Society of the United States challenged that policy in court.
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MAS mission aims to make historic Atlantic crossing
Plymouth University news: Plans have been unveiled to design, build and sail the first full-sized autonomous vessel across the Atlantic Ocean in 2020, conducting research experiments using drone technology as it does so.
Crowdfunder campaign launched for Mayflower Autonomous Research ship
Plymouth University news: A Crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help raise £10 million for the Mayflower Autonomous Research ship, which aims to sail across the Atlantic in 2020.
An unmanned voyage in the wake of the Mayflower
Autonomous technology has the potential to change the face of the marine, maritime and shipping sectors. Mayflower Autonomous Ship, Plymouth University.


Codes of practice and manual of procedures for consideration of introductions and transfers of marine and freshwater organisms
Prepared by the ICES Working Group on Introductions and Transfers of Marine and Freshwater Organisms and by the Working Party on Introductions of the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission. Introductions or transfers of marine and freshwater organisms in support of aquaculture or various fishing initiatives have been increasing in numbers quite rapidly in recent years. This document, prepared as a more detailed follow-up to the Codes of Practice (reported in CRR 130, 1984) related to these movements which were prepared by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC), addresses some of the concerns and provides advice related to proposed introductions or transfers. Areas covered are inspection and certification, quarantine, pathology, genetics and ecology. Universal concerns in the above mentioned areas which are common to any introduction or transfer are outlined, as are those related to importations or other movements which are part of established commercial practice or those related to scientific study at research facilities. Specific examples of protocols, mainly related to controlling disease organism spread, are included as are items related to the methods of handling requests for introductions either at the national or international level.
Published under the auspices of the following ICES Steering Group or Committee


Seabed methane seeping is widespread around the world, affecting the ocean and the global carbon cycle. Natural gas hydrate (NGH) is an important physical way to have leaked CH4 sequestration. Hydrate formation kinetics is one of the key factors affecting methane capture efficiency. Varied dissolved CH4 concentrations due to different methane flux differences may affect the kinetic characteristics of hydrate formation, which is necessary to be unveiled. In this work, the effect of initial dissolved CH4 concentration on hydrate formation in static system was investigated by constructing different CH4 leakage flux conditions in simulated “Haima” cold spring environment. The experimental results showed that the increase of initial dissolved CH4 concentration accelerated hydrate formation, while the obvious promoting effect may depend on the higher dissolved CH4 concentration. Morphology experiments showed that under the condition of relatively high concentration of dissolved CH4, a large number of flocculent hydrates formed in the liquid phase, and induced the growth of CH4 hydrate toward the liquid phase. Combined with CH4 gas consumption analysis, it is believed that this phenomenon was related to the formation of porous CH4 hydrate. The results obtained in this study have important reference significance for understanding the mechanism of hydrate formation and evolution in the CH4 seeping environment.
Keywords CH4 hydrate formation, dissolved methane concentration, morphology, â€œHaimaâ€ cold seep


Fun Fair at YMCA Hong Kong of Christian College (13 Dec 2014)
Today, we visited YMCA Hong Kong of Christian College for their International Fun Fair. The Fun Fair, themed as Ocean Odyssey, had attracted over 3000 visitors and we were very lucky to encounter ocean and shark lovers. Kids enjoyed taking pictures with our cute shark outfits and making delicate sand bottles. This was a really good opportunity to spread the message and to educate our next generation about shark conservation.


Environmental change has been consistently warming the sea, which ingests the vast majority of the warmth caught by ozone harming substances in the air, for a long time. This warming is changing marine biological systems and directly affecting fish populaces. About portion of the total populace depends on fish as an indispensable wellspring of protein, and the fishing business utilizes more the 56 million individuals around the world.
My ongoing investigation with associates from Rutgers College and the U.S. National Maritime and Environmental Organization found that sea warming has just affected worldwide fish populaces. We found that a few populaces profited by warming, yet a greater amount of them endured.
By and large, sea warming diminished catch potential – the best measure of fish that can be gotten a seemingly endless amount of time after year – by a net 4% in the course of recent years. In certain districts, the impacts of warming have been a lot bigger. The North Ocean, which has huge business fisheries, and the oceans of East Asia, which bolster probably the quickest developing human populaces, experienced misfortunes of 15% to 35%.
In spite of the fact that sea warming has just provoked the capacity of sea fisheries to give food and salary, quick decreases in ozone harming substance discharges and changes to fisheries the board could diminish a significant number of the negative effects of kept warming.
How and for what reason does sea warming influence fish?
My colleagues and I like to state that fish resemble Goldilocks: They don’t need their water excessively hot or excessively cool, however on the money.
Put another way, most fish species have developed tight temperature resiliences. Supporting the cell hardware important to endure more extensive temperatures requests a ton of vitality. This transformative system spares vitality when temperatures are “perfect,” yet it turns into a difficult when fish wind up in warming water. As their bodies come up short, they should redirect vitality from looking for food or dodging predators to keeping up essential real capacities and scanning for cooler waters.
Consequently, as the seas warm, fish move to follow their favored temperatures. Most fish are moving poleward or into more profound waters. For certain species, warming extends their extents. In different cases it gets their extents by decreasing the measure of sea they can thermally endure. These movements change where fish go, their wealth and their catch potential.
Warming can likewise adjust the accessibility of key prey species. For instance, if warming causes zooplankton – little spineless creatures at the base of the sea food web – to sprout early, they may not be accessible when adolescent fish need them most. On the other hand, warming can some of the time improve the quality of zooplankton sprouts, consequently expanding the efficiency of adolescent fish.
Seeing how the mind boggling effects of warming on fish populaces balance out is vital for anticipating how environmental change could influence the sea’s capability to give food and pay to individuals.
Effects of recorded warming on marine fisheries
Maintainable fisheries resemble sound financial balances. On the off chance that individuals live off the premium and don’t excessively exhaust the head, the two individuals and the bank flourish. On the off chance that a fish populace is overfished, the populace’s “head” contracts an excessive amount to create high long haul yields.
So also, weights on fish populaces from natural change can decrease populace development rates, much as a financing cost decrease diminishes the development pace of investment funds in a ledger.
In our investigation we joined maps of authentic sea temperatures with evaluations of verifiable fish bounty and misuse. This permitted us to survey how warming has influenced those financing costs and comes back from the worldwide fisheries ledger.
Washouts exceed victors
We found that warming has harmed a few fisheries and profited others. The washouts exceeded the victors, bringing about a net 4% decrease in reasonable catch potential in the course of the most recent 80 years. This speaks to a total loss of 1.4 million metric tons beforehand accessible for food and pay.
A few areas have been hit particularly hard. The North Ocean, with huge business fisheries for species like Atlantic cod, haddock and herring, has encountered a 35% misfortune in economical catch potential since 1930. The waters of East Asia, neighbored by probably the quickest developing human populaces on the planet, saw misfortunes of 8% to 35% across three oceans.
Different species and locales profited by warming. Dark ocean bass, a well known animal varieties among recreational fishermen on the U.S. East Coast, extended its range and catch potential as waters beforehand excessively cool for it warmed. In the Baltic Ocean, adolescent herring and sprat – another little herring-like fish – have more food accessible to them in warm a very long time than in cool years, and have additionally profited by warming. Be that as it may, these atmosphere victors can endure just so much warming, and may consider decays to be temperatures keep on rising.
The executives supports fishes’ strength
Our work proposes three empowering bits of news for fish populaces.
Initially, very much oversaw fisheries, for example, Atlantic scallops on the U.S. East Coast, were among the strongest to warming. Others with a past filled with overfishing, for example, Atlantic cod in the Irish and North oceans, were among the most defenseless. These discoveries recommend that forestalling overfishing and modifying overfished populaces will upgrade strength and expand long haul food and salary potential.
Second, new examination proposes that quick atmosphere versatile administration changes can make it workable for fish to take care of people and produce salary into what’s to come. This will require logical organizations to work with the fishing business on new strategies for surveying fish populaces’ wellbeing, set catch confines that represent the impacts of environmental change and set up new worldwide foundations to guarantee that administration stays solid as fish move poleward from one country’s waters into another’s. These offices would be like worldwide associations that oversee fish, swordfish and marlin today.
At last, countries should forcefully check ozone harming substance emanations. Indeed, even the best fishery the executives changes will be not able to make up for the 4 degree Celsius sea temperature increment that researchers venture will happen before this current century’s over if ozone harming substance discharges are not decreased.