You are here: Home » Policy
Category: Policy
Emily Tripp Senior Writer Discovery channel’s “Shark Week” has been going strong for 24 summers. It has gained more than 20 million viewers every year since 1995. While it’s safe to say that this series promotes shark education, there are many who worry that there isn’t enough emphasis on conservation. With show titles like “Rogue Sharks”, “Killer Sharks” [...]
Henry Workman Marine Science Today Writer Whaling, a longtime source of economic independence for the nation of Iceland, is at the center of an ongoing debate which puts economic policy in direct conflict with environmental concerns. Despite international efforts made to improve the status of endangered species such as the fin whale, Iceland’s commercial whale [...]
Emily Tripp Senior Writer A new study presents alarming assessments of economically important fish. Top global fisheries experts provided an analysis of 61 species of “scombrids” (tunas, bonitos, mackerels, swordfish and marlins and more) that classified seven of these species as threatened with extinction and four as “near threatened” for the ICUN Red List of [...]
The Obama Administration announced that June is National Ocean Month! The National Ocean Council is conducting a set of public listening sessions and NOAA is sponsoring four of these sessions. For more information, read the full story by NOAA. Copyright © 2011 by Marine Science Today, a publication of OceanLines LLC
Emily Tripp Senior Writer Scientists have begun to uncover extensive seafood labeling fraud in supermarkets and restaurants. The use of gene sequencers proved that in many cases cheap fish is being substituted for expensive species, and overfished species are being sold as species that are still abundant. Some of the most common label “mix-ups” include: Yellowtail for mahi-mahi [...]
NOAA will host a constituent briefing on it’s announcement that Atlantic Bluefin Tuna do not warrant species protection under the Endangered Species Act this afternoon at 2:00. When more information is available about the effects of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill and the new stock assessment from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna [...]
Emily Tripp Senior Writer Shark fin soup, what was once a delicacy in China, is now becoming increasingly popular among the middle class and other Asian nations. While it is still the most popular in China, it is also spreading to the West; European demand has grown significantly in the past few decades. Unfortunately, the [...]
What was possibly the worst maritime oil spill in history began one year ago in a poorly drilled well deep in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion killed 11 workers and sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, causing a leak that spewed 206 million barrels of oil before it was capped, 87 days later. A [...]
NOAA Fisheries and the National Fish Habitat Board recently announced the release of Through a Fish’s Eye: The Status of Fish Habitats in the United States 2010. Through a Fish’s Eyes provides an important information on the challeneges and opportunities facing fish and their habitats. The report examines human effects on fish habitats throughout the United [...]
Today is the 35th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act! It began in 1976 as a way to provide for the conservation and sustainable management of fisheries. To read thoughts about this special day from Eric C. Schwaab, NOAA’s Assistant Administrator for Fisheries click here. To learn more about the act check out NOAA’s website. Copyright © 2011 by [...]