Oceans

Caribbean islands are as diverse as those who inhabit them, and the culture, economy, and lifestyle on each island influence how people use their ocean resources. However, federal fishery managers in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico generally set most fishing rules by treating the locations as a single unit. A new proposal would deal with that issue by providing unique fishery management... Read More

Schools of Atlantic herring are hypnotizing to watch. Like many other small fish, they gather in enormous numbers—ranging from thousands to more than a million—and swirl in morphing shapes as they divide and reunite in their efforts to avoid lunging predators. Read More

The Outback has a new icon, joining Uluru (or Ayers Rock), Kakadu National Park and the Daintree Rainforest: The newly announced North Kimberley Marine Park, off the coast of Western Australia, completes a network of protected areas that will be known as the Great Kimberley Marine Park. Read More

For a deep-sea coral that can survive for centuries, not every day is remarkable. But today is special for those corals that live in the deep waters off the U.S. mid-Atlantic states. Read More

This 90-second video was produced by The Pew Charitable Trusts for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s “100&Change” competition, which will award $100 million to fund a single proposal that promises measurable progress in solving a significant problem of our time. In this video, manager Julie Janovsky describes Pew’s proposal to combine... Read More

Caribbean islands are as diverse as those who inhabit them, and the culture, economy, and lifestyle on each island influence how people use their ocean resources. However, federal fishery managers in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico generally set most fishing rules by treating the locations as a single unit. A new proposal would deal with that issue by providing unique fishery management... Read More

Schools of Atlantic herring are hypnotizing to watch. Like many other small fish, they gather in enormous numbers—ranging from thousands to more than a million—and swirl in morphing shapes as they divide and reunite in their efforts to avoid lunging predators. Read More

The Outback has a new icon, joining Uluru (or Ayers Rock), Kakadu National Park and the Daintree Rainforest: The newly announced North Kimberley Marine Park, off the coast of Western Australia, completes a network of protected areas that will be known as the Great Kimberley Marine Park. Read More

For a deep-sea coral that can survive for centuries, not every day is remarkable. But today is special for those corals that live in the deep waters off the U.S. mid-Atlantic states. Read More

A recent research project funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts has found that productivity—the rate of reproduction—of marine predators declines sharply when their supply of prey, such as forage fish, drops below about a third of maximum capacity, that is, the number of individuals of a species that can be supported indefinitely by a given environment. Read More

For 90 minutes, Sandra Brooke sat in the chilly darkness of a titanium sphere as she dropped more than 8,000 feet into the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica. When she and another scientist in the small submarine reached the bottom, where two of the Earth’s tectonic plates meet, their onboard pilot flipped on the outside lights. Read More

In October the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees our nation’s fisheries, passed up a chance to take a major step toward EBFM. In revising a set of guidelines called National Standard 1—a critical reference for fisheries managers as they implement the nation’s primary fishing law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management... Read More

The Pew Charitable Trusts today joined several environmental groups in praising the announcement by the French government of its expansion of the Réserve naturelle nationale des Terres australes françaises, a marine reserve in French-controlled sub-Antarctic waters of the southern Indian Ocean. Read More

The Pew Charitable Trusts commends today’s action by President Barack Obama to protect federal waters in the northern Bering Sea and Bering Strait off the west coast of Alaska. Read More

The Pacific bluefin tuna has been overfished for decades and has seen population declines of 97 percent, but a management proposal to be considered by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) would not improve the status quo and must be rejected by member governments, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. Read More

This 90-second video was produced by The Pew Charitable Trusts for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s “100&Change” competition, which will award $100 million to fund a single proposal that promises measurable progress in solving a significant problem of our time. In this video, manager Julie Janovsky describes Pew’s proposal to combine... Read More

Shark sanctuaries are useful tools for coastal and island governments seeking to reduce shark mortality in their waters. Read More

See penguins, seals, whales, and more unique animals in this series of photos by Pew marine fellow and acclaimed photographer John B. Weller. These stunning scenes of life in Antarctica underscore what’s at stake if the world doesn’t act now to protect the Ross Sea, Weddell Sea, and East Antarctic waters. Read More

EU fisheries are in trouble. Currently, nearly 50 per cent of fish stocks are overfished in the North Sea and Northeast Atlantic—and more than 90 per cent in the Mediterranean Sea. We explain the dire consequences for both the European Union economy and marine environment if overfishing continues and lay out a plan of action for how fisheries ministers can end overfishing—and how you... Read More

Since 2006, The Pew Charitable Trusts Global Ocean Legacy project has worked with indigenous groups, community leaders, government officials, scientists and other organizations to help protect the ocean; a part of the planet that is key to some island cultures and marine life. The Global Ocean Legacy campaign has aided in the creation of nine major marine reserves: Palau, Chagos, Coral Sea,... Read More