Latest Fisheries science Stories

Largest study of marine protected areas links social, ecological systemsKINGSTON, R.I.  -- In one of the most comprehensive global studies of marine reserves, a team of natural and social scientists from the University of Rhode Island and other institutions has found that community involvement is among the most important factors driving the success of marine reserves."We make a big mistake thinking that a marine reserve is just about coral, fish and other aquatic organisms,"...

You can conserve fish and eat them too, according to a fisheries economist at UC Santa Barbara, along with a team of experts."We found that if you have the key spatial (location) information on fish, you can put the Marine Protected Areas in the right places, thus increasing conservation and making the fisheries more profitable," said Christopher Costello, economist and professor with UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.Information on fish, from...

Catch share programs result in more consistent and predictable fisheries but do not necessarily improve ecological conditions, according to a new study published online this week by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Employed by nations around the world, catch shares "“ a management system that divides up and allocates percentages, or shares, of the total allowable catch to individual fishermen or fishing groups "“ have generated controversy as to whether they...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Catch share programs result in more consistent and predictable fisheries but do not necessarily improve ecological conditions, according to a new study published online this week by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Employed by nations around the world, catch shares - a management system that divides up and allocates percentages, or shares, of the total allowable catch to individual fishermen or fishing groups - have...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lee Crockett, director of Federal Fisheries Policy at the Pew Environment Group, today issued the following statement in response to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) release of its draft policy on the use of catch shares in federal fisheries. "NOAA and its Catch Shares Task Force recognize that catch shares are not a one-size-fits-all fisheries solution and not all fisheries can or should be managed by them. In...

Studies conducted in California and elsewhere provide support for the use of marine reserves as a tool for managing fisheries and protecting marine habitats, according to biologists at the University of California, Santa Cruz.A recent study in the Gulf of California, for example, confirmed the validity of a key concept behind marine reserves--the idea that offspring produced in a protected area can replenish the stocks of harvested species outside the reserve."It seems really obvious,...

Nutrients in the AtlanticLarge-scale distributions of two important nutrient pools "“ dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic phosphorus (DON and DOP) have been systematically mapped for the first time over the Atlantic Ocean in a study led by Dr Sinhue Torres-Valdes of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. The findings have important implications for understanding nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles and the biological carbon pump in the Atlantic Ocean.Tiny...

Southern Species like Atlantic Croaker May Become Common in New England WatersAbout half of 36 fish stocks in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the last four decades, with some stocks nearly disappearing from U.S. waters as they move farther offshore, according to a new study by NOAA researchers.Their findings, published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, show the impact of changing coastal and ocean...

An Australian method for assessing the environmental impact of marine fisheries has caught the eye of fishery management agencies worldwide.Aspects of the 'ecological risk assessment' (ERA) method have been adopted in the US, Canada, Ecuador, and the Western and Central Pacific, and by the international eco-labeling organization the Marine Stewardship Council.The method was developed in research led by Dr Tony Smith and Dr Alistair Hobday from CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Flagship in...

Major shifts in fisheries distribution due to climate change will affect food security in tropical regions most adversely, according to a study led by the Sea Around Us Project at The University of British Columbia.In the first major study to examine the effects of climate change on ocean fisheries, a team of researchers from UBC and Princeton University finds that climate change will produce major shifts in productivity of the world's fisheries, affecting ocean food supply throughout the...