Last week, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled in favor of oil drilling in the Canary Islands. The ruling approves permits for Repsol, a Spanish multinational oil and gas company, to search for hydrocarbons on the eastern coastlines of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote islands. This project will harm up to 25 marine areas and 82 protected species … Read more
– Scientists are predicting a slighter larger than average “dead zone” for the Chesapeake Bay this summer, meaning that nearly 2 cubic miles of the Bay will lack the needed dissolved oxygen for fish and crabs. The Gulf of Mexico, on the other hand, is predicted to have average-sized dead zone, caused by excessive nutrient … Read more
During the “Our Ocean” conference held in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, the Chilean government announced a new national policy to fight Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (IUU) fishing, as well as their commitment to the New York agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks—a move that gives the Chilean Navy increased resources … Read more
– Scientists found fossils indicating that animals have been building reefs for 548 million years, about 7 million years earlier than previously thought. This means animals starting depositing calcium carbonate shells around the Cambrian explosion. Nature – An international team of scientists found that penguins are “fully deserving of endangered status due to climate change,” … Read more
Blue Growth is a European strategy to drive the economy in the marine and maritime sector—through practices like deep sea mining, aquaculture, and more—but Oceana in Europe is advocating for the importance of long-term protection for marine ecosystems as a mean to instill sustainable economies and profitable fisheries in the long run. This article originally appeared … Read more
You may not have heard of sawfish, an incredibly unique looking family of rays. As a flat fish with a long toothed snout (rostrum) lined with teeth that looks like a saw, sawfish have earned their name. Despite their large size (up to 20 feet long!) and those intimidating teeth, sawfish are in trouble. Fortunately, … Read more
– NOAA found that delisting the central north Pacific population of humpback whales from the Endangered Species Act could be warranted after a positive 90-day review. The state of Alaska issued a petition in February to delist this population. Alaska Dispatch – A new study found that exposure to crude oil affects swimming performance in … Read more
Earlier this month, President Obama announced his intentions to expand protection for the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, as well as his commitment to fight seafood fraud and illegal fishing. Like Oceana in North America, Oceana in Europe campaigns for the establishment and expansion of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) throughout the Baltic and elsewhere … Read more
You may have heard of the elusive vampire squid, a species that emits mucus covered in bioluminescence to trick its predators, or the dumbo octopus, the deepest-living of all the octopus species. Creepy and otherworldly as they may seem, each of these spineless creatures plays an important role in ocean ecosystems. Science Friday declared this … Read more
Bycatch, the capture and waste of non-target fish and ocean wildlife, costs fishermen and the marine environment in more ways than one. In addition to being ecologically wasteful, discarding fish is akin to throwing money into the ocean. Today, Oceana released a new report that spotlights the economic losses from bycatch—an amount that could reach … Read more
We have already protected over 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
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