EDFish

Selected tag(s): Oceans

Supporting climate-resilient fisheries during the UN Decade of Ocean Science

By EDF Oceans / Published: June 21, 2022

By EDF’s Jacob Eurich and Kristin Kleisner, and Kathy Mills, Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Fisheries, including the systems for harvesting, processing and marketing blue foods, are an important pillar of many economies, supporting hundreds of millions of livelihoods. Small-scale fisheries and aquaculture produce more than half of the global fish catch and two-thirds of all the blue foods we eat. Climate change continues to threaten fisheries, altering ocean ecosystems and transforming fish stocks, with climate-induced losses disproportionately impacting the regions and people most dependent on fish for protein and micronutrients—predominantly small-scale fishers in developing, small-island nations in the tropics. Read More »

Posted in International, Science/Research / Also tagged Climate change, climate-resilient fisheries, equity, fish stocks, Fisheries, Fisheries Management, Food Security, ocean ecosystems, ocean science, Sustainable development goals, tropics, UN Ocean Decade | Comments are closed

The oceans’ twilight zone? More important than you can imagine!

By EDF Oceans / Published: May 31, 2022

By Douglas Rader, Jamie Collins and Edith Widder, CEO & Senior Scientist, Ocean Research & Conservation Association

People of a certain age will recall being mesmerized—perhaps terrified!—by a television series called “The Twilight Zone,” which ran 156 episodes from 1959 to 1964. The show, which focused on people’s experiences at the edge of reality, is among the best loved and highest rated television productions of all time. Today, the edge of the unknown exists closer than you many think—in the sea, at the wonderful and strange, just-dark middle depths, where light fades and strange creatures lurk. Read More »

Posted in International, Policy, Science/Research / Also tagged Antarctic, Blue Carbon, Climate change, Fisheries, krill, mesopelagic fish, Seafood, squid, swordfish, tuna, twilight zone | Comments are closed

Blue carbon: A better tomorrow begins below

By EDF Oceans / Published: April 5, 2022

By: Kristin M. Kleisner and Jamie Collins

As we embark this year on the United Nations Ocean Decade, you may be hearing quite a bit about blue carbon. But what is it, and why is it so important for the future of our planet? Well, the oceans play a critical role in trapping carbon, and they have absorbed about a third of all human-generated carbon emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution. This is important because the carbon that human activity has released into the atmosphere acts as an accelerator of climate change.

When carbon is stored naturally in the various parts of ocean and coastal ecosystems — sequestering it, or taking it out of the atmosphere, where it could contribute to warming — we call it blue carbon. The blue carbon storage reservoir includes waters, sediments, and marine plants and animals. Unfortunately, loss of habitat, overfishing and other human impacts, including those from climate change, are reducing the ability of the oceans to trap carbon. That’s why we are exploring pathways to restore these benefits now and help to secure a better future for us all. You can learn more about blue carbon and some of the ways in which we may be able to restore key pathways using this interactive site. Read More »

Posted in Science/Research / Also tagged biodiversity, Blue Carbon, carbon, carbon sequestration, Climate change, Coastal Communities, coasts, Ecosystems, emissions, Food Security, mangroves, mesopelagic fish, Natural Climate Solutions, Overfishing, restoration, salt marshes, seaweed, seaweed farms, seaweed forests, Whales | Comments are closed

Indonesia-Philippines learning exchange: International collaboration for fisheries management

By Edwina Garchitorena / Published: December 17, 2021

Effective fisheries management is critical to food security, livelihoods for millions of people and vibrant marine life and biodiversity. By empowering communities to sustainably manage marine resources, we can build resilience to climate change, secure healthy oceans and better protect communities that are vulnerable to extreme weather events. This is especially true in the Philippines, where science-based and participatory fisheries management is still in its infancy. Read More »

Posted in International, Policy / Also tagged blue swimming crab, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Climate change, Dinagat Sound, EDF Indonesia, EDF Philippines, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Defense Fund Oceans, extreme weather, Fisheries, Fisheries Management, Fisheries Management Area, FMA 8, Food Security, Indonesia, Lampung, Leyte Gulf, multispecies fishery management, Philippines, storm surge, Surigao Strait, typhoons, West Java, women in fisheries | Comments are closed

Natural climate solutions cut a steady course through a sea of proposals for ocean carbon dioxide reduction

By Jamie Collins / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: December 8, 2021

When it comes to slowing the warming of our planet, there is no substitute for immediate, dramatic reductions in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. But emissions reductions alone won’t be enough to limit warming to the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal at the heart of the 2015 Paris Agreement, or even to the Agreement’s upper limit of 2 degrees Celsius. In fact, we’ll almost certainly need to complement emissions reductions with big investments in carbon dioxide removal, or CDR, to capture and lock away some of the carbon dioxide we’ve already emitted.

Posted in International, Science/Research / Also tagged Blue Carbon, carbon, carbon credits, carbon dioxide removal, carbon sequestration, Climate change, coastal ecosystems, coasts, Engineering and Medicine, geoengineering, greenhouse gases, mangroves, mesopelagic fish, National Academy of Sciences, Natural Climate Solutions, salt marshes, twilight zone, whales seaweed | Comments are closed

Something ‘fishy’ is happening in Congress

By Adena Leibman / Published: November 19, 2021

If you follow the goings-on of the U.S. Congress, you know that the final months of the year have become a sprint to the finish line marked by bursts of legislative energy and must-pass bills. This year is even more energetic than most. Read More »

Posted in Mid-Atlantic, New England, Pacific, Policy / Also tagged Alaska fisheries, Alaskan Crab, Bering Sea, Bering Sea crab fisheries, Build Back Better, Climate change, Coastal Communities, Congress, Conservation, Domestic, House Committee on Natural Resources, Magnuson Stevens Act, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, oceans technology, Rep. Don Young, Rep. Ed Case, Rep. Jared Huffman, snow crab, sustainability, sustainable fisheries, United States fisheries | Comments are closed