Catches by ecosystem

Explore catches by ecosystem

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Catches by ecosystem

 

When users explore reconstructed catches by Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on the Sea Around Us website, they can also view how those catches are distributed across key ecosystems.

By scrolling down on a EEZ page and selecting “Ecosystems” on the “More info” section, users can access total catches by Inshore Fishing Area (IFA), estuaries, coral reefs, and seamounts. This ecosystem lens adds critical context, revealing not just how much is caught within an EEZ, but where those catches originate ecologically—and what that means for management.

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Salomon Atoll in the Chagos Archipelago.

As Chagos governance is slated to shift, new research reveals the true scale of fishing

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Salomon Atoll in the Chagos Archipelago.

Salomon Atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. Photo by Charles and Anne Sheppard, Wikimedia Commons.

Domestic fisheries catches in the Chagos Archipelago are 25 times higher than official statistics show, according to a recent study by Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean and Sea Around Us researchers.

At a moment when the fate of the island group also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory is uncertain, a new paper in the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region highlights the importance of accounting for all fish removals to safeguard the area’s biodiversity values.

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Two specimens of chub mackerel in a basket

Mean Temperature of the Catch now available on Sea Around Us website

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Two specimens of chub mackerel in a basket

Global warming is expected to push stocks of highly migratory straddling species in the Indo-Pacific, such as chub mackerel, from EEZs toward the high seas by mid-century. Photo by Matsumomushi, Wikimedia Commons.

Sea Around Us website users will now be able to access the Mean Temperature of the Catch (MTC), as an ecosystem indicator derived from the reconstructed catches of a large fraction of the 283 Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) presented on our website.

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Saint Pierre's shore. Photo by Chantal Briand.

Industrial fisheries in Saint Pierre and Miquelon discarded 80,000 tonnes of fish, study finds

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Saint Pierre's shore. Photo by Chantal Briand.

Saint Pierre’s shore. Photo by Chantal Briand.

Destructive fishing practices and inadequate management allowed industrial fisheries operating in the waters of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to dump about 80,000 tonnes of fish back into the ocean from 1950 to 2022, with authorities failing to track the wasteful practice. This is enough fish to fill 32 Olympic-sized pools.

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Male hands holding fishing nets

Spot-on ocean protection demands collaboration between fisheries managers and conservationists

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Male hands holding fishing nets

Fishing net. Photo by Bicanski, Pixnio.

If humanity wants to continue to derive healthy nutrition from wild-caught fish – as 40 per cent of the global population currently does – it is crucial that fisheries managers and marine conservationists start using the same metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of both sustainable fisheries measures and the establishment of marine protected areas.

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Clear blue water in the shallows of an island in the Marshall Islands

Real MPA or paper park? Ailinginae Atoll

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Clear blue water in the shallows of an island in the Marshall Islands

Clear blue water in the shallows of an island in the Marshall Islands. Photo by Erin Magee/AusAID, Wikimedia Commons.

World Oceans Day (WOD), the initiative proposed in 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and officially recognized by the UN in 2008, aims to catalyze collective action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate.

Some of the yearly campaigns thousands of organizations run, inspired by this goal, are guided by the annual action theme that NGO The Ocean Project proposes for WOD. The Ocean Project, together with the World Ocean Network, led efforts to get the UN to recognize June 8th as World Oceans Day.

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Daniel Pauly and Johannes Müller.

Pauly and Müller’s Breathing Water in a Warming World available on open access

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Daniel Pauly and Johannes Müller.

Daniel Pauly (left) and Johannes Müller (right).

In a world where the dramatic effects of global warming on land dominate news headlines, there is a tendency to overlook the massive impacts of warming and deoxygenation on oceans and freshwater ecosystems. However, the effects of climate change on the species that inhabit these ecosystems are, in some respects, more drastic than the challenges faced by terrestrial animals.

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Coral reef in Raja Ampat

Real MPA or paper park? Misool Marine Reserve

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Coral reef in Raja Ampat

Coral reef in Raja Ampat. Photo by Bird’s Head Seascape / Jones/Shimlock / Secret Sea Visions, Wikimedia Commons.

World Oceans Day (WOD), the initiative proposed in 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and officially recognized by the UN in 2008, aims to catalyze collective action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate.

Some of the yearly campaigns thousands of organizations run, inspired by this goal, are guided by the annual action theme that NGO The Ocean Project proposes for WOD. The Ocean Project, together with the World Ocean Network, led efforts to get the UN to recognize June 8th as World Oceans Day.

Continue reading →

Turquoise waters in Los Roques National Park in Venezuela

Real MPA or Paper Park? Los Roques National Park

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Turquoise waters in Los Roques National Park in Venezuela

Los Roques National Park in Venezuela. Photo by Tucanrecords, Wikimedia Commons.

World Oceans Day (WOD), the initiative proposed in 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and officially recognized by the UN in 2008, aims to catalyze collective action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate.

Some of the yearly campaigns thousands of organizations run, inspired by this goal, are guided by the annual action theme that NGO The Ocean Project proposes for WOD. The Ocean Project, together with the World Ocean Network, led efforts to get the UN to recognize June 8th as World Oceans Day.

Continue reading →

Orange-dotted grouper swimming and breathing in the ocean

New report sheds light on how fish grow in a warming, low-oxygen world

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Orange-dotted grouper swimming and breathing in the ocean

Grouper. Image created with Adobe Firefly.

Aquatic animals that breathe through gills — including most fish and many invertebrates — are the backbone of life in oceans, lakes and rivers. They support biodiversity, shape food webs and sustain fisheries that feed millions of people worldwide. Understanding how these animals grow, reproduce and survive is therefore essential to understanding how aquatic ecosystems work — and how they continue to support human societies.

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Philippines_short_Valentines (3)

Swipe right for healthy oceans

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Philippines_short_Valentines (3)
In thinking about February as Valentine’s Month, we invited our social media followers to “swipe right for healthy oceans.”

In a series of four posts showcasing country snapshots and designed to mimic a dating app interface, we presented how the Sea Around Us‘ fisheries data help us explore what ocean health looks like in different parts of the world. Each post highlights key strengths and challenges, grounded in catch reconstructions, stock assessments, and nutrition data.

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Fatal Watch image

Between profit and principle: Fatal Watch exposes the human price of the global tuna industry

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Fatal Watch image

Labour and human rights abuses, overfishing, unreported, unregulated and illegal fishing, all spurred by subsidies provided to distant-water fishing fleets, are some of the most pervasive practices linked to the global seafood industry.

Witnessing and reporting on all of this are fisheries observers. Often scientists – marine biologists or ecologists –, fisheries observers are tasked by national frameworks, regional bodies, or international fisheries organizations with gathering information that supports sustainable fisheries management. Some are hired by the fishing companies they monitor.

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Turquoise waters at the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

Real MPA or paper park? Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

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Turquoise waters at the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. Image by UNESCO, Wikimedia Commons.

World Oceans Day (WOD), the initiative proposed in 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and officially recognized by the UN in 2008, aims to catalyze collective action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate.

Some of the yearly campaigns thousands of organizations run, inspired by this goal, are guided by the annual action theme that NGO The Ocean Project proposes for WOD. The Ocean Project, together with the World Ocean Network, led efforts to get the UN to recognize June 8th as World Oceans Day.

Continue reading →

Helostoma temminckii or kissing gourami with its mouth open.

Animal-welfare models fail to account for fish’s need for oxygen

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Helostoma temminckii or kissing gourami with its mouth open.

Helostoma temminckii or kissing gourami. Image by Jörn, Wikimedia Commons.


A new essay published in Issues in Science and Technology argues that current animal welfare science and policy frameworks overlook a fundamental aspect of the lives of fish and other aquatic “water-breathing” species — and calls for a shift in how governments, researchers, and industry assess humane treatment in aquaculture, research, commercial fisheries, and in the wild.

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