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Tag: overfishing

Barndoor skates, once a textbook example of overfishing, have recovered enough to allow fishing

Posted on October 19, 2018October 19, 2018 By David Shiffman
Science

Barndoor skates were once thought to be so overfished that a highly-publicized paper from 1998 noted that they had been “driven to near extinction without anyone noticing.” One of the largest skates, barndoor skates can reach over 5 feet in wingspan, which is large enough that their diet includes small sharks like spiny dogfish; for a skate, that’s about as close as it gets to charismatic megafauna!

Recently, NOAA Fisheries announced that Barndoor skate populations off the Northeastern United States had finally recovered enough that fishing for them could resume. This move comes after a 2009 NOAA Fisheries report showed that the species had begun to recover enough that they could be removed from the species of concern list, though they remained protected at the time. “This is good news,” Mike Ruccio, a Supervisory Fishery Policy Analyst for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, told me. “Rebuilding overfished stocks is one of the cornerstones of the US domestic policy on fisheries.”

Read More “Barndoor skates, once a textbook example of overfishing, have recovered enough to allow fishing” »

Angry Canadian Crabs and Extinct Australian Sea Stars: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, September 27(8)th 2018

Posted on September 28, 2018 By David Shiffman
Uncategorized

  It’s a special Friday morning edition of Thursday Afternoon Dredging because I was traveling! Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow Nova the White Shark, a great white shark tagged in Canada by OCEARCH, on twitter! The day after Nova was tagged, I spent a day with the OCEARCH team- check out this Facebook live interview. … Read More “Angry Canadian Crabs and Extinct Australian Sea Stars: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, September 27(8)th 2018” »

Cleaning beaches and saving right whales: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, September 13, 2018

Posted on September 13, 2018 By David Shiffman
Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow marine biologist (and research tech in the lab I’m in) Wade VanderWal on twitter! The science behind the International Coastal Cleanup. By George Leonard, for the Ocean Conservancy blog. Here’s a plastic pollution reduction program that works! The hidden lives of deep-sea creatures caught on camera. By Amy Maxmen, for … Read More “Cleaning beaches and saving right whales: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, September 13, 2018” »

Plastic Eating Worms and Scientists Running for Office: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, August 16th, 2018

Posted on August 16, 2018 By David Shiffman
Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet):  Follow underwater engineer Amy Kukulya, as seen on Shark Week, on twitter! (And have you seen my review of Shark Week 2018?) Marine worms are eating plastic now. By Michael Allen, for Hakai Magazine. Predatory coral bring down jellyfish by working together. From MongaBay news updates. Spoils (long reads and deep dives): … Read More “Plastic Eating Worms and Scientists Running for Office: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, August 16th, 2018” »

Floridian flamingos and fishing in the twilight zone: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, March 1st, 2018

Posted on March 1, 2018 By David Shiffman
Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet):  Follow Kristina Tietjen, a marine conservation biologist working in Kiribati, on twitter! A case for wild flamingos calling Florida their home. By Joann Klein, for the New York Times. The underwater damage left behind by hurricanes. From NPR’s Weekend Edition. Even corals have microbiomes. By Jason Goldman, for Hakai. Life of an albatross. … Read More “Floridian flamingos and fishing in the twilight zone: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, March 1st, 2018” »

Make for the Planet with Conservation X Labs and the Earth Optimism Summit!

Posted on April 11, 2017 By Andrew Thaler 2 Comments on Make for the Planet with Conservation X Labs and the Earth Optimism Summit!
Conservation

Invasive species, overfishing, ocean plastics, wildlife tracking, and measuring ecosystem services, are some of the most daunting challenges in conservation.While these challenges require a combination of social, commercial, and regulatory cooperation to address, they can also be tackled through technological innovation, which can bypass some of the largest hurdles to implementing practical, timely solutions.

On April 21, 2017, 18 teams of conservationists, technologists, makers, and hardware hackers will gather in Washington DC and tackle five conservation challenges selected by a panel of experts at the Make for the Planet, part of the Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism Summit. Over three days, teams will work to develop prototypes, strategic frameworks, and model systems that address specific issues within the broader challenge prompt of terrestrial species invasion, overfishing, ocean plastics, wildlife tracking, and ecosystem services.

Read More “Make for the Planet with Conservation X Labs and the Earth Optimism Summit!” »

Ocean Conservation Priorities for 2041

Posted on January 7, 2016January 2, 2016 By Andrew Thaler
Uncategorized

On January 1, 2016, the Southern Fried Science central server began uploading blog posts apparently circa 2041. Due to a related corruption of the contemporary database, we are, at this time, unable to remove these Field Notes from the Future or prevent the uploading of additional posts. Please enjoy this glimpse into the ocean future while we attempt to rectify the situation.


Another year, another set of ocean conservation priorities. As with the last 5 years, there will be some new ones, and some repeats. The biggest issues shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, plastics have been an issue forever and global norming is rapidly taking over the broader ocean conversation. For a refresher, check out our priorities for 2036, 2037, 2038, 2039, and 2040.

Sea Level Rise Induced Habitat Loss: This has been a big one on the docket the last few years. As the ocean rises many species are experiencing dramatic loss of habitat, especially sensitive coastal nursery grounds. Although we’ve known about this for a while, we haven’t even begun to quantify the extent of damage to marine populations. Salt inundation is also compromising coast terrestrial habitats, driving essential species further inland.

Read More “Ocean Conservation Priorities for 2041” »

Media coverage of the Yates Supreme Court case isn’t treating illegal fishing seriously

Posted on November 6, 2014 By David Shiffman 1 Comment on Media coverage of the Yates Supreme Court case isn’t treating illegal fishing seriously
Conservation, Science

This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Yates vs. the United States. Commercial fishermen John Yates was caught with dozens of illegally caught grouper, he destroyed much of the evidence of this crime, and he was charged under a law designed to prosecute people for destruction of evidence. He is now suing the government for overreach.

The question of whether a law most commonly known for being used to deal with destruction of financial records can also be used to deal with destruction of evidence of illegal fishing is an interesting one. The Obama administration claims that the law was designed to be a generic Federal destruction of evidence ban, and it has also been used, according to a USA Today article, to “go after the destruction of cars, cash, cocaine, child pornography- even murder weapons and bodies.” It seems to me that it is an appropriate role of government to write regulations to ensure that our shared natural resources are sustainably exploited, it is an appropriate role of government to enforce violations of those laws, and it is an appropriate role of government to punish people for destroying evidence of those violations. A much bigger problem, however, is with much of the media coverage of this case.

Read More “Media coverage of the Yates Supreme Court case isn’t treating illegal fishing seriously” »

Tweets from the Society for Conservation Biology: Marine conservation sessions

Posted on July 29, 2013 By David Shiffman
Conservation

davesquare

SCB logoThe Society for Conservation Biology’s International Congress for Conservation Biology took place from July 21-25th in Baltimore, MD.  Over 1,500 scientists and conservationists from more than 60 countries participated. Below are selected tweets from marine conservation (and related) sessions. Talks are in no particular chronological order.

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World’s leading experts say there’s a problem with false balance in conservation journalism; Steve disagrees

Posted on July 4, 2013July 16, 2013 By David Shiffman 20 Comments on World’s leading experts say there’s a problem with false balance in conservation journalism; Steve disagrees
Science

davesquare

False balance in the media occurs when a journalist  gives equal coverage, and therefore the perception of equal validity, to both sides of a story. While this sounds preferable to today’s hyper-politicized media, sometimes both sides of a story aren’t equally valid. For example, when the overwhelming consensus of the expert medical community says that vaccines do not cause autism but a famous former actress says they do,  giving both sides equal coverage can be not only frustrating, but harmful to public health. The same is true of early reporting on whether cigarettes are bad for you. Giving equal coverage of the global community of expert climate scientists and spokespeople  for the oil and gas industry who claim that climate science isn’t “settled” can also be problematic, as can coverage of other scientific topics.

Image via http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/sciencetoolkit_04
Image via http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/sciencetoolkit_04

Though it is discussed less frequently in this context,  overfishing and marine conservation issues can also feature some fairly egregious examples of false balance. Coverage of a proposal to list great hammerhead sharks under the Endangered Species Act in yesterday’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel provides a useful case study.

Read More “World’s leading experts say there’s a problem with false balance in conservation journalism; Steve disagrees” »

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