Mongabay series: Oceans

o matter if it’s crab cakes in Maryland or fish tacos in L.A., Americans are eating more seafood than ever. In most cases, the fish doesn’t come from U.S. waters…

America's Atlantic coast will remain off limits for oil and gas drilling for now. Following uproar from coastal communities and environmental groups, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it was reversing its…

overnments have been establishing enormous marine protected areas (MPAs) spanning hundreds of thousands of square kilometers where fishing is restricted. And the United Nations last June began work developing an…

The rising demand for fish, combined with unsustainable fishing practices, has put tremendous pressure on wild catches. Aquaculture -- cultivation of fish and shellfish -- has been trying to fill…

The current global coral bleaching event began in the Pacific Ocean in the middle of 2014. By October 2015, as the current El Niño event was just beginning to gain…

We dump a lot of trash into the world's oceans — so much that there’s a massive trash vortex swirling around in the North Pacific, as you’ve probably heard. A…

The US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a final rule Wednesday listing the Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species will be…

Official estimates substantially underestimate global fisheries catch, according to a new study published this week in Nature Communications. Researchers have found that between 1950 and 2010, the “true” global fisheries…

risanto sorted his catch in a humid, non-descript concrete building that whirred and hummed as pumps moved water through hundreds of acrylic cubes containing brightly colored tropical reef fishes. A…

Helicopter over a forest supplanted by a mature oil palm plantation and it will look verdant from the sky. The ocean surface over a bombed-out reef still glimmers aquamarine. But…

Douglas McCauley began his career as a fisherman but later transitioned to marine science. He now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Sloan…

eef fish may take longer to recover from overfishing than previously thought. While smaller fish with short life spans tend to rebound quickly in protected reefs, larger, slow growing fish…

o offshore oil exploration will be permitted along the Belize Barrier Reef or within the country's seven World Heritage Site areas, the government of Belize announced this month. The UNESCO…

id-November marks the start of California’s commercial Dungeness crab season and in the month that follows, crab fishermen spend long hours along the coast checking their crab pots, repairing gear,…

The final story in a three-part series exploring changes in Indonesia's network of marine protected areas through the lens of Wakatobi National Park. Read the first and second articles. his…

he sea is not our natural environment, but we’ve learned to enjoy it, seeking pleasure from the waves and cooling waters. Spending time in this environment, humans inevitably come into…

This is the second story in a three-part series exploring changes in Indonesia’s network of marine protected areas through the lens of Wakatobi National Park. Read the first one here.…

This is the first story in a three-part series exploring changes in Indonesia's network of marine protected areas through the lens of Wakatobi National Park. Read the second story here.…

Scientists with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, have caught and tagged two adult speartooth sharks (Glyphis glyphis) in a remote corner of Australia…

n the waters off Madagascar, scientists have at last encountered living members of a species of whale known only from old, dead specimens. Shaped like a sleek torpedo, with unusual…

uba, home to about one-fifth of the world's roughly 500 shark species, moved to protect the fishes last week. The Cuban government released a "National Plan of Action" to conserve…

New research suggests methane deposits that have been frozen in the seabed off the coasts of Oregon and Washington for thousands of years might have begun to melt and bubble…

Already known the world over for its famous moai statues, Easter Island might soon become just as recognized for ocean conservation. Chilean president Michelle Bachelet has announced a new marine…

Many wild fish stocks are under substantial strain, with overfishing being one of the primary stressors. In the U.S., the world's second largest seafood importer, the government has recommended that…

Dolphins are often collateral damage of the fishing industry — they get entangled in fishing gear targeted at other fish species, and often sustain injuries and die. But what happens to such accidentally-trapped…

ndustrial fisheries have depleted our oceans in just a few decades, according to a stark new report by WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Released last week, the…

One night nearly four years ago in Mahachai, a gritty port town near Bangkok, Akaradetch Seri was down on his luck. A fight with his girlfriend had left him out…

An Indonesian artist is preparing to put in place the second in a series of giant underwater installations meant to serve as a home for fish and raise awareness about…

n the wake of renewed revelations of slavery aboard Thai-run fishing vessels in Indonesian waters and the discovery of people-smuggling camps and migrant mass graves near the Malaysia-Thailand border, Thailand’s…

On July 16, all five countries bordering the Arctic Ocean — the United States, Norway, Canada, Denmark, and Russia — signed an agreement that prohibits commercial fishing in the international…