Saving Seafood

High seas have become ‘safe haven’ for labor abuse, illegal fishing: study

April 6, 2022 — Coastal regions off West Africa, the mid-Atlantic near Portugal and waters off Peru are the riskiest spots for illegal fishing and labor abuse, with most occurring aboard vessels registered to China and other countries with poor anti-corruption oversight, a new study has found.

The study, published in Nature Communications, found that nearly half of more than 750 ports assessed worldwide are linked to either labor abuse or illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

The high seas have become “a safe haven” for illegal fishing, with millions of tons of such fish caught every year, authors wrote, incorporating an online survey of experts that revealed the pervasive nature of these practices.

Researchers found that vessels that engage is such activity also often have labor abuses on board, including practices such as forced labor, debt bondage and poor conditions.

Read the full story at The Hill

 

A sustainable ocean economy is achievable, new paper finds, but barriers are high

June 18, 2021 — A paper published in Nature Communications, “Financing a sustainable ocean economy,” was among a long list of articles, announcements, and pledges that appeared on 8 June, commemorating World Oceans Day.

The paper’s authors, a group of international economists and ocean policy experts, found that public and private investment lags far behind that needed to ensure a thriving, resilient, and sustainable ocean economy.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Coral reefs need fish urine to thrive

August 17, 2016 — SEATTLE — Coral reefs offer many fish species camouflage and a variety of nooks and crannies in which to hide. In return, fish offer their urine.

It’s not exactly a symbiotic relationship, but it’s a pretty good deal for both parties. When they pee, fish release phosphorous, a vital nutrient. They also excrete nitrogen in the form of ammonium through their gills, another important food for coral.

New research suggests a lack of fish pee explains the lack of nutrients surrounding coral in waters where commercial fishing is common.

The research was published this week in the journal Nature Communications.

“Part of the reason coral reefs work is because animals play a big role in moving nutrients around,” lead study author Jacob Allgeier, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, explained in a news release.

“Fish hold a large proportion, if not most of the nutrients in a coral reef in their tissue, and they’re also in charge of recycling them,” Allgeier said. “If you take the big fish out, you’re removing all of those nutrients from the ecosystem.”

Read the full story at UPI

Slow and fast, but not furious: Researchers trace how birds, fish go with the flow

October 6, 2015 — Fish and birds, when moving in groups, could use two “gears”—one slow and another fast—in ways that conserve energy, a team of New York University researchers has concluded. Its findings offer new insights into the contours of air and water flows—knowledge that could be used to develop more energy-efficient modes of transportation.

“Some beautiful physics is at work in schools and flocks, with each individual creating a wave in the fluid while also ‘surfing’ on the wave left by its upstream neighbor,” says Leif Ristroph, an assistant professor in NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences who led the study.

The study, which appears in the journal Nature Communications, employs an innovative methodology—one that mimics infinitely large schools or flocks within the confines of a New York City laboratory.

Read the full story from Phys.org