Stay informed

EDF and partners convened an international task force of crustacean fishery scientists and managers from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United States in the summer of 2020: the Crustacean Task Force.

By Vrinda Suresh, Julia Mason and Doug Rader  During the last two weeks of August 2022, delegates from across the globe gathered in New York City for the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Conference, or IGC5, to develop a new treaty to protect biodiversity in offshore waters, called the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, or …

Sustainable seafood grown in United States federal waters is one step closer to being on the menu today as Congress considers a new bipartisan measure — the Science-based Equitable Aquaculture Food Act, or SEAfood Act.

EDF statement by Sepp Haukebo, Senior Manager, Global Fisheries Initiative

Local conservationists in The Bahamas scored a rare victory over mining interests. But the proposal to mine limestone in an ecologically valuable island is not dead yet. 

Local conservationists in The Bahamas scored a rare victory over mining interests. But the proposal to mine limestone in an ecologically valuable island is not dead yet.

EDF’s Executive Vice President for Impact, Angela Churie Kallhauge, reflects on the outcomes of the annual United Nations climate conference.

Study finds that spills of ammonia as a shipping fuel could negatively impact certain habitats and species more than others, and that the likelihood and gravity of such spills are highly dependent on ship type, hole size, temperature or even time of the day. 

More studies and data are needed to shape the regulatory standards for farming seafood offshore in United States federal waters, according to a new report published in the scientific journal Marine Policy. 

Three new reports examine the potential of blue carbon pathways to act as natural climate solutions. By Kristin Kleisner, Monica Moritsch and Jamie Collins To address the climate crisis we need to explore every avenue possible, investigate innovative solutions, and even look to the oceans for answers. The oceans already serve the planet as a …

A new video from EDF tells the story of the small-scale fishing communities in the Los Ríos region of southern Chile, who depend on an important but often overlooked fish species known as Pacific sierra.

Marine mammals like whales, dolphins and seals are some of the most charismatic and beloved creatures living in the sea. The Marine Mammal Protection Act, which turns 50 this month, is the reason many of them are still around.

The House Natural Resources Committee today, with support from policymakers from coast to coast, passed H.R.4690, the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act. H.R. 4690 amends and reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), which governs fishing in federal waters.

EDF’s Climate-Resilient Fisheries Toolkit brings together the best available knowledge, research and experiences from around the world to serve you in your efforts to build a brighter future for the marine environment and coastal communities.

EDF’s new publication, Technologies for Climate-Resilient Fisheries, identifies four primary climate challenges for oceans and the technologies available to meet them.

Environmental Defense Fund’s Fishery Solutions Center today released its new Climate-Resilient Fisheries Toolkit, providing fishing communities and partners with tools and resources to help them achieve their goals of resilient and sustainable fisheries in the face of climate change.

By Christopher Free and Willow Battista Earlier this spring, 1.5 million livestock died in the Horn of Africa. The immediate culprit was a severe, prolonged drought spurred by the growing effects of climate change. It’s a sign of weakening food systems in a warming world. But while land-based food systems are carbon-intensive and increasingly unstable,

EDF, together with regional partners, works toward healthy ecosystems and oceans that benefit coastal communities. These organizations held the virtual seminar, “Climate change-resilient fisheries in the Caribbean,” with a focus on Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

A multi-sectoral Aquatic Blue Food Coalition formally launched at the United Nations Ocean Conference this week, a key milestone towards realizing the full potential of blue foods to help end malnutrition and build nature-positive, equitable and resilient food systems.

In recognition of the critical work ahead at the UN Ocean Conference, Environmental Defense Fund, WWF and the Blue Food Assessment launched a video series today to call on governments, civil society and the private sector to fully recognize the diversity of small-scale actors, the crucial role they play in global food security and the contribution they make to livelihoods and economies around the globe.

By EDF’s Jacob Eurich and Kristin Kleisner, and Kathy Mills, Gulf of Maine Research Institute Fisheries, including the systems for harvesting, processing and marketing blue foods, are an important pillar of many economies, supporting hundreds of millions of livelihoods. Small-scale fisheries and aquaculture produce more than half of the global fish catch and two-thirds of …

By Bavidra Mohan, Director of Acumen Academy, and Jeff Young, Senior Manager, Global Capacity Development, Environmental Defense Fund The small-scale fisheries sector is a powerful example of our interconnectedness. Small-scale fisheries employ 90% of all fishworkers globally, supplying nearly half of the world’s fish catch each year. In addition to feeding coastal communities, seafood harvested …

By Douglas Rader, Jamie Collins and Edith Widder, CEO & Senior Scientist, Ocean Research & Conservation Association People of a certain age will recall being mesmerized—perhaps terrified!—by a television series called “The Twilight Zone,” which ran 156 episodes from 1959 to 1964. The show, which focused on people’s experiences at the edge of reality, is …

By Eric Schwaab, Rod Fujita and Jacqui Vogel Climate change is already transforming the distribution and abundance of fish stocks around the world. Warming temperatures, lower pH levels and many other factors are causing many fish species to shift to better habitats and others to shrink in abundance. This is problematic for the communities that …

By: Kristin M. Kleisner and Jamie Collins As we embark this year on the United Nations Ocean Decade, you may be hearing quite a bit about blue carbon. But what is it, and why is it so important for the future of our planet?  Well, the oceans play a critical role in trapping carbon, and they …