EDFish

Seaweeds to the rescue, redux

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest and even excitement about how seaweed might be able to help save us from climate change.

I appreciate the newfound exuberance for seaweed, and wholeheartedly agree that seaweeds do a lot for society and the planet. A similar awakening to the wonders of seaweed occurred in the 1980s, but it is now a distant memory. Let’s revisit the past so we can figure out how to create the conditions that will drive the restoration of seaweed forests and the expansion of seaweed farming at scale so they can contribute to carbon drawdown while benefiting people and nature. Read More »

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In South America’s Humboldt Current, this collaboration to build more climate-resilient fisheries brings together two great fishing nations

By Kristin M. Kleisner and Mauricio Galvez

Along the Pacific coast of South America, a powerful ocean current brings to life one of the most abundant and productive ecosystems on the planet. The Humboldt Current System spans from southern Chile to Ecuador, pulling cold, nutrient-rich water from the ocean depths to the surface. Read More »

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Cell-based, cultured… or something else? The new seafood labeling challenge.

By Tom Neltner, J.D., Environmental Defense Fund Chemicals policy director

Meat and seafood derived from animal cells grown outside the animal are likely coming to your kitchen table. The process involves culturing cells in tanks and combining them into a consumable product using extrusion, 3-D printing or other processes commonly used in food industry. The product is nearly identical to conventional meat and seafood. Read More »

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How knowledge-sharing will improve multispecies fisheries

In many fisheries, many species are caught at the same time. These are called multispecies fisheries, and the fact that they catch many species together, with the same gears, means that the different species are caught at the same rate. The trouble is, some species are productive enough to withstand high catches while others are not. So as a result, the low-productivity species get fished out, reducing overall yield, markets for diverse species and economic and ecological resilience — resulting in serial depletion. While many single-species fisheries are becoming more sustainable thanks to science-based management strategies, multispecies fisheries often face greater sustainability challenges, and these challenges will grow in the face of climate change. Read More »

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Hope for the oceans in a time of COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic gives us all pause about what the future holds. Our focus and attention are on all those hurt by this terrible disease. But for many of us, this is also a time of deep reflection about society and the world we’ll inhabit when this scourge is over. So for me, it’s also a moment to reflect on the prospects for the ocean, one of the planet’s fundamental life-support systems — making it vital to human health and well-being. Read More »

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Fishery Managers Look to the Future

By Dovilė Meliauskaitė

A tool found in corporate boardrooms may soon help future-proof our fisheries.

Climate change presents new challenges to the ocean and the fishermen and fishing communities that rely on healthy ocean ecosystems. In many areas, fishermen are already seeing changes in range and abundance of a variety of species, often well outside of normal fluctuations. And scientists are grappling  with making sense of increased ocean acidification, declining dissolved oxygen levels, warmer water and how those changes are affecting productivity, availability and endangered species interactions. New approaches are urgently needed to prepare for climate change impacts on fishing communities and fishery management, including along the U.S. West Coast. Read More »

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