Saving Seafood

Subsidies, fragmented enforcement hampering progress on fighting illegal fishing, research finds

August 17, 2026 — A study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia has found that industrial-scale illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing accounts for as much as 15 percent of global marine wild capture and is estimated to be worth between USD 6.2 billion and USD 12.2 billion (EUR 5.4 billion and EUR 10.5 billion).

The study, titled “Casting light on the workings of illegal fishing markets,” found that roughly two-thirds of illicit seafood trade by value originates in West Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, with the bulk of the illegal catch consumed in North America, Europe, and East Asia.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Studies document impact of warm streams on juvenile salmon

July 6, 2026 — New studies at the University of British Columbia confirm the increasing heat stress for juvenile salmon at this vulnerable stage of their lives.

The studies by UBC’s Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Lab document how young fish cope with heat differently than older fish and that current methods of measuring that stress underestimate the risks these fish face in warming waterways.

The study exploring the biological mechanisms that influence heat tolerance was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. The study examining swimming performance and survival at different temperatures was accepted by the journal Conservation Physiology.

UBC researchers focused in these two studies on juvenile Chinook salmon, but have

previously examined thermal tolerance in all life stages of sockeye and adult coho, adult Chinook, and adult pink, said studies leader Scott Hinch, a professor of fisheries conservation at UBC. Similar conditions have been observed in Alaska, Washington state, Oregon and California, he said.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Newly discovered virus linked to large-scale Pacific oyster die-offs

August 21, 2025 –A previously unknown virus in farmed Pacific oysters may hold the key to mass die-offs in the multimillion-dollar industry, according to research from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada.

“We’ve recently seen annual mass die-offs in B.C. and elsewhere of Pacific oysters,” Kevin Zhong, a research associate in UBC’s Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, said. “Often, we don’t know the cause.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Ocean warming will scramble fish species diversity, Rutgers study finds

May 18, 2022 — Climate change effects in the ocean are already shifting fish populations, and a new study by Rutgers University scientists predicts changes in the food web could prevent those species from thriving in their new geographic ranges.

The study, published 13 April in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, points out how climate-driven changes to food web relationships could change over time. Using computer modeling for hundreds of fish populations over 200 years of warming, the researchers showed that species-by-species predictions of fish movements are likely overestimating their ability to adapt to changing conditions.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Warming oceans could set off cross-border fish fights

January 31, 2022 — Tensions between countries are likely to rise with the global temperature as valuable fish stocks fleeing warmer waters cross into different national boundaries, a new study suggests.

The climate crisis will push 45 per cent of the world’s shared fish stocks away from historic habitat ranges and migration routes by 2100, posing a challenge for international co-operation, said senior author William Cheung.

“Fish don’t recognize political boundaries,” said Cheung, associate professor with the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries.

Fishing allocations, who gets what and how much, are political constructs based on an existing range of conventions and treaties, but these agreements are going to have to adapt to new realities if global emission rates continue, Cheung said.

Overall, climate change is pushing transboundary stocks to fishing grounds closer to the Poles and in many cases, the shift is already happening, he said, adding shifts on the Pacific coast of Central America and West Africa will occur primarily along the equator.

Read the full story at the Toronto Star

Study finds aquaculture production vulnerable to climate change

December 16, 2021 — Unchecked global warming could reduce global aquaculture production by as much as 16 percent by 2090, a new study from the University of British Columbia Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries shows.

Marine aquaculture, or mariculture, could double its output by 2050, from a current 30 million metric tons (MT) per year live-weight to 74 million MT, but UBC’s researchers modeled that estimate against climate change scenarios and found climate change to be a more serious threat to the industry than expected.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

‘Sticky questions’ raised by study on coral reefs

August 12, 2021 — A new UBC study on the impact of climate change on coral reefs is raising sticky questions about conservation.

It found coral in more polluted and high traffic water handled extreme heat events better than a more remote, untouched reef.

The new study, conducted with researchers from the Republic of Kiribati’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource Development, focused on two atolls in the Central Pacific, located 59 kilometers apart.

“Because of El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which causes ocean temperatures to fluctuate along the equator from year-to-year, these  experience heat stress more often than reefs in other parts of the world,” says the study’s lead author Sara Cannon, a Ph.D. student at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the department of geography.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Billions in fishing subsidies finance social, ecological harm, report finds

July 7, 2021 — A new report shows that the world’s top fishing nations are using subsidies worth billions of dollars to exploit the high seas and the waters of other nations, including some of the world’s least-developed countries.

Published by researchers at the University of British Columbia and supported by the NGO Oceana, the report takes a shrewd look at “harmful fishing subsidies,” payments made by governments that allow fishing fleets to operate beyond their normal capacity. The researchers found that 10 countries — China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, the U.S.A., Thailand, Taiwan, Spain, Indonesia and Norway — spent more than $15.3 billion on harmful fishing subsidies in 2018, which has likely contributed to a number of social, economic and ecological issues.

About 60% ($9.2 billion) of these harmful fishing subsidies used by these 10 nations were spent on domestic fishing, while 35% ($5.4 billion) was spent on traveling long distances to fish in the waters of 116 other nations. The remaining 5% ($800 million) was spent on fishing in the high seas, which are parts of the ocean beyond any nation’s jurisdiction.

China was found to be the top provider of harmful fishing subsidies, worth about $5.9 billion, followed by Japan at $2.1 billion and the European Union at $2 billion.

Kathryn Matthews, chief scientist at Oceana, says the report shows the scale and magnitude of harmful fishing subsidies, which can transfer the risk of overfishing from one place to another.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Study identifies major barriers to financing a sustainable ocean economy

June 9, 2021 — Financing a sustainable global ocean economy may require a Paris Agreement-type effort, according to a new report from an international team of researchers led by the University of British Columbia.

That’s because a significant increase in sustainable ocean finance will be required to ensure a sustainable ocean economy that benefits society and businesses in both developing and developed countries.

The report, published today—on World Ocean Day—identifies major barriers to financing such a sustainable ocean economy. This includes all ocean-based industries, like seafood production, shipping and renewable energy, and ecosystem goods and services, such as climate regulation and coastal protection.

“The size of the ocean economy was estimated at around $1.5 trillion in 2010, and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, was projected to increase to $3 trillion in 2030,” said lead author Dr. Rashid Sumaila, a professor at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Canada Research Chair in Interdisciplinary Ocean and Fisheries Economics.

Read the full story at PHYS.org