fisheries

For the ninth straight month, Earth has obliterated global heat records — with February, the winter as a whole and the world's oceans setting new high-temperature marks, according to the European Union climate agency Copernicus.The latest record-breaking in this climate change-fuelled global hot streak includes sea surface temperatures that weren't just the hottest for February, but eclipsed any month on record, soaring past August 2023's mark and still rising at the end of the month.And February, as well the previous two…

Federal authorities have closed Canada's only known live coral reef in the Pacific Ocean to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fishing.Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the indefinite closure came into effect on Feb. 14 for the Lophelia Reef, located in the Finlayson Channel of British Columbia's Central Coast, about 500 kilometres northwest of Vancouver and 200 kilometres directly east of Haida Gwaii.The department says the reef was first discovered in 2021 and is the "first and only" known live coral reef in…

Map of the ten IFCA regions, with the Northern Eastern IFCA and Eastern IFCA on the east coast and the Cornwall IFCA in the south-west. Credit: Marine Policy (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106034 Rebuilding trust in fisheries governance will be vital to create a sustainable industry post-Brexit England, according to new research. Strong trust…

Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. This weekly newsletter is part of a CBC News initiative entitled "Our Changing Planet" to show and explain the effects of climate change. Keep up with the latest news on our Climate and Environment page.Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Thursday.This week: Christmas trees have the potential to spread unwanted critters What has 2 (or 3) wheels and helps reduce oil consumption? Here's why food waste is a major climate change issue Christmas trees…

All three shark-fishing tournaments remaining in Nova Scotia have been cancelled this summer, a potentially permanent end to annual events dating back 30 years.This year, Fisheries and Oceans Canada  (DFO) stopped issuing the science licences used to authorize the derbies and organizers cannot swallow DFO conditions that would have allowed them to continue."The bottom line is we're not going to be able to hold the tournaments any longer," said Bob Gavel, organizer of the Yarmouth Shark Scramble, largest of the derbies. It…

A study suggests a worm named after late-night comedian Conan O’Brien may be contributing to the decrease in Caribbean spiny lobster landings. (AI-generated image of “worm that looks like Conan O’Brien.” See an actual image of Carcinonemertes conanobrieni below.)A nemertean worm, Carcinonemertes conanobrieni, discovered by a Clemson University biologist, is suspected to negatively impact the reproduction of Caribbean spiny lobsters, thereby contributing to their decreased numbers. The worm’s effect on the lobster’s…

Sea lions and dolphins that swim off California’s central coast are dying. Toxic algae blooms off the state’s coast are believed to be stranding and even killing the marine animals at alarming rates, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Can the Government Change Social Media? | Gizmodo InterviewThe Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute has received over 1,000 reports of sick and dead marine mammals from June 8 through June 14, according to a recent report from the NOAA’s Fisheries…

Thousands of fish littered the shores of Quintana Beach and Bryan Beach in Texas this past weekend after low oxygen in the water killed off fish in the region, ABC13 News reported.Strange New Worlds' Melissa Navia Talks About Star Trek Fan Reactions | io9 InterviewThe die-off began on Friday and continued until Sunday. According to officials from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the low oxygen affected an area large enough to have depleted water quality for thousands of marine animals in that part of the Gulf.…

Deep beneath the sparkling surface of the Pacific Ocean, in the vast expanse between Mexico and Hawaii, lies an area known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). At the floor of this marine region, between 12,000 and 18,000 feet below sea level, is a wide and mucky abyssal plain dotted by seamounts, that covers about 1.7 million square miles. There, it is very cold and exceedingly dark. No light reaches that deep. Temperatures hover below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Food is scarce. Yet still, the sediments of the CCZ are far…

Fishing for Atlantic herring may seem worlds away from restrictions on power plant emissions or responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. But a case before the U.S. Supreme Court could affect all those activities and more by altering how federal agencies apply scientific expertise in carrying out their regulatory duties. On 1 May the high court agreed to hear a case brought by four family-owned herring businesses. They argue that the National Marine Fisheries Service…