Page 4 - Ocean Image News Today

July 14 is Shark Awareness Day, an annual reminder to raise awareness of these incredible creatures that roam the oceans. Sharks and rays belong to a group of fish known as elasmobranchs, which includes over 1,200 species. Sadly, in 2023 more than one-third of these species are at risk. Sharks and rays, in contrast to […]

A recent study found that locally managed marine areas in Fiji strengthened the mechanisms believed to advance conservation efforts but ultimately led to few social, economic or even ecological benefits. Based on these results, the authors suggest reevaluating community-based marine management projects to understand how they can be modified for success. Published in Nature Sustainability, […]

How do you make people care about protecting marine habitats and wildlife? You tell stories, says Enric Sala, an explorer-in-residence and founder of the Pristine Seas project at the National Geographic Society. “We need to show people how wonderful and awesome the ocean is, what a miracle it is to have an ocean full of […]

On April 29, a team of scientists sailed on a research vessel to the chilly waters of the Barents Sea in the Arctic. They aim to find new marine species around cold seeps — cracks on the seafloor from which hydrogen sulfide, methane and other gases bubble up. Near these fissures, species, including soft corals, glass […]

Forests of golden kelp, a type of brown seaweed that grows in cooler waters, weave along the coastline of southern Australia. But many people aren’t even aware that it’s there, says Adriana Vergés. “I live in Sydney — it’s Australia’s largest city — and it has absolutely gorgeous kelp forests,” Vergés, a professor of marine […]

Through their numbers and influence, EU lobbyists have stymied efforts to impose appropriate catch quotas and limit the use of destructive fishing gear.

For half a century, industrial tuna fishing vessels have borne scrutiny for catching animals they haven’t meant to: “bycatch,” in fisheries lingo. Purse seiner vessels, which provide most of the world’s canned tuna, have drawn conservationists’ particular ire for their indiscriminate ways. They operate by dropping a massive cylindrical net and cinching it together at […]

COLOMBO — The fishers in Illuppaikadawei village in the northern district of Mannar mostly use fence fishery, where they erect a series of poles and tie a net around them during high tide. When the tide retreats, the fish get trapped in the net. “We prefer to set up these traps near the seagrass beds, […]

A landmark agreement for a legally binding treaty aimed at protecting biodiversity and ensuring the sustainable use of resources in international waters has at last been reached by U.N. member states. The deal, more than 15 years in the making, was finalized on the evening of March 4 at U.N. headquarters in New York. Talks […]

International delegates attending the eighth annual Our Ocean Conference in Panama March 2-3 have pledged billions to protect the world’s oceans. Participants made 341 commitments worth nearly $20 billion, including funding for expanding and improving marine protected areas and biodiversity corridors. Previous Our Ocean conferences have generated more than 1,800 commitments worth approximately $108 billion. […]