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Marine protected areas (MPA) are a conservation tool that sets aside part of the ocean to protect it for long-term conservation, similar to the way a state or national park functions on land. These MPAs are an effective way to preserve biodiversity by protecting ecosystems. But how are they utilized by people, and do they …

Traditional aquaculture paired with modern science could make for environmentally friendly, sustainable fishing. 

Study co-authored by EDF characterizes human engagement in California's marine protected areas (MPA) network and identifies traits associated with higher human engagement.

By Ruth Driscoll-Lovejoy and Amy Folkerts Ocean farmers are making a splash in the sustainable seafood market — and they don’t need state-of-the-art facilities to do it.  Thimble Island Ocean Farm in Connecticut is a commercial seaweed and shellfish farm and serves as an innovation hub for GreenWave, a nonprofit replicating and scaling regenerative aquaculture.

By Julia Mason and Sarah Weisberg What will it take to create climate-resilient fisheries? Fisheries scientists and managers across the US have been sensing a change in the air — and not just the highest temperatures ever recorded, although they probably contribute. There’s a growing sense of climate urgency in fishery management conversations and agendas.

By Lucy Vogt, EDF Seafood Policy Intern Last month, Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW) welcomed environmental businesses, leaders, and shakers — and one brand-new intern. CHOW investigated the intersection between the ocean and the climate by facilitating conversations about ocean opportunities. Even though the ocean covers more than 70% of the earth, produces 50% of …

Study co-authored by EDF scientists distills 8 lessons from emerging climate-informed US fisheries management efforts.

By EDF’s Jose Ingles, Jimely Flores and Rod Fujita, and Joseph Warren, Stony Brook University Small fish have a big role. Fisheries for sardine, herring and anchovy species collectively produce more yield than any other fisheries worldwide and account for about one-third of total global catches arriving in ports. These fisheries span the globe and …

EDF’s delegation to the climate talks taking place in Bonn, Germany from June 5 to June 15, 2023 give us some insights into the issues they're following.

Environmental Defense Fund led a participatory study to assess how vulnerable recreational fisheries in the Caribbean will be to climate change.

Smartphone-based catch reporting and the SmartPass camera system have been implemented to generate reliable estimates of total effort and total catch in Lampung’s blue swimming crab fishery.

Around the world, 3 billion people depend on fish as a vital source of nutrition. As the climate changes and the global population grows, artisanal fishers are on the frontlines in the fight to address food insecurity and protect marine ecosystems for generations to come.

The following statement was issued by Eric Schwaab, Senior Vice President of People and Nature at Environmental Defense Fund, in response to the recent decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down the regulation governing the electronic monitoring program used by for-hire fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico.

By Ming Sun, Stony Brook University, and Adityo Setiawan, Environmental Defense Fund From warming ocean waters to increased acidification and rising sea levels, it’s no wonder that fish are on the move to find suitable habitat! Climate change is creating dramatic shifts in species’ distributions and affecting their productivity. Fisheries managers who try to ensure …

EDF has been working with partners to make our fisheries more climate resilient. This work includes identifying solutions and developing tools so that fishery managers and fishermen can adapt to changing oceans.

By Nathan Willse, Stony Brook University, and Harlisa Harlisa, Environmental Defense Fund Crustacean fisheries offer enormous opportunities as high-value and potentially resilient alternatives to over-exploited finfish stocks. However, rising global demand for crustacean products and rapid environmental change call for an increased focus on the sustainable management of crustacean stocks. While landings, the catch received …

As global populations grow and fish populations shift or even shrink, one thing is clear: offshore aquaculture in the United States is a matter of when not if. We talked to some experts to better understand what we know, what we need to know, and where we go from here.

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.