Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy

5 Ways Harmful Fisheries Subsidies Impact Coastal Communities

Michael Crispino Fisheries & Aquaculture

Our planet’s health—and our own well-being—is dependent on a vibrant ocean rich with natural resources. Oceans provide but must also thrive. Sustainable fishing can be an effective way to balance the needs of people and nature by protecting complex, interconnected ecosystems while providing food security and livelihoods for coastal communities.

Read more → (4 minute read)


'Zombie in the Water’: New Greenpeace Report Warns of Deadly Ghost Fishing Gear

Olivia Rosane Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution

Discarded plastic fishing equipment, dubbed "ghost gear," is especially dangerous to marine life because it was designed to trap and kill it.

Read more → (3 minute read)


New Report from Security Think Tank Calls For Greater Transparency in Global Fishing

Our Daily Planet Fisheries & Aquaculture

A new report from the Stimson Center, a global security think tank concludes that globally the fishing industry — particularly fishing vessels that ply waters far from their home (“the distant water fleet”) — is unsustainable and the only way to reign it in is through much greater transparency so that these vessels’ movements and catches can be more closely monitored by governments and NGOs.

Read more → (3 minute read)


China approves seaweed-based Alzheimer's drug. It's the first new one in 17 years

By Julie Zaugg and Jared Peng, CNN Fisheries & Aquaculture

Authorities in China have approved a drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, the first new medicine with the potential to treat the cognitive disorder in 17 years. The seaweed-based drug, called Oligomannate, can be used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's, according to a statement from China's drug safety agency.

Read more → (3 minute read)


5 Ways Sustainable Seafood Can Benefit People and the Environment

Emily Petsko, Oceana Fisheries & Aquaculture

Oceana works to save the oceans and feed the world, and we can't do that without sustainable seafood. We help our oceans thrive by promoting fishery policies that follow science-based quotas, reduce bycatch, put an end to overfishing and protect fragile habitats. These tactics not only help marine life flourish — a win in its own right — but also ensure that our oceans can continue to nourish the people who need it most.

Read more → (7 minute read)


New report shows increasing momentum behind sustainable seafood

Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries & Aquaculture

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), responsible for the world’s leading sustainable seafood ecolabel and certification programme, has today published a report showing continued growth in the demand for and supply of sustainable seafood.

Read more → (5 minute read)


Algae might be a secret weapon to combatting climate change

Ben Lamm, Founder, Hypergiant Fisheries & Aquaculture

While the Amazon plays a vital role in global carbon absorption (and we should continue to try and save it), between 1994 and 2007, our oceans absorbed 34 gigatons of the world’s carbon through algae, vegetation, and coral. In other words, the trees might not save us—but the oceans could.

Read more → (8 minute read)


Aquaculture Fund Aims to Cash In on Trend

Dieter Holger, Wall Street Journal Fisheries & Aquaculture

Aquaculture is surfacing as an attractive sector for green investors. The farming of fish, and other waterborne organic protein, such as algae, is becoming increasingly important to the world’s growing population. Aquaculture’s share of global fish consumption climbed to 50% in 2014 from 18% in 1990, and is expected to reach 57% by 2025, according to UBS.

Read more → (4 minute read)


Seaweed 'forests' can help fight climate change

Todd Woody, National Geographic Fisheries & Aquaculture

Farming seaweed, then sinking the mature plants to the bottom of the ocean, could be an effective way to fight warming. So why don’t we do it?

Read more → (5 minute read)


Bloom's Mission to Turn Toxic Algae into Shoes

Kelly Bastone, Outside Magazine Fisheries & Aquaculture

Like many Florida waters, Lake Bonnet had become overrun with plant slime. In fact, all 50 states and many countries worldwide are struggling with epidemic levels of algae that can prove toxic to people and ecosystems. “Red tides” of algae along Florida’s Gulf Coast have killed tons of fish and marine mammals.

Read more → (10 minute read)


Can seaweed help curb global warming?

TED talk by Tim Flannery Fisheries & Aquaculture

It's time for planetary-scale interventions to combat climate change -- and environmentalist Tim Flannery thinks seaweed can help. 

Read more → (14 minute video)


The Fish Is Boneless. (Fishless, Too.)

David Yaffe-Bellany Fisheries & Aquaculture

First, there was the meatless burger. Soon we may have fishless fish.

Read more → (4 minute read)


Fish farming could be the center of a future food system

Ben Paynter Fisheries & Aquaculture

The world population is expected to grow by at least 2 billion people between now and 2050. That’s going to take a lot more food, and our appetites are already having planetary consequences: Raising cattle for food is huge source of emissions, and we’ve done enormous damage to ocean ecosystems with our fishing.

Read more → (4 minute read)


What Is Aquaculture and Why Do We Need It?

Global Aquaculture Alliance Fisheries & Aquaculture

By 2030, 62 percent of all seafood produced for human consumption will come from aquaculture. Today, it’s about 50 percent. So, what is aquaculture?

Read more → (3 minute read)


Advancing the ecosystem services of aquaculture

Lisa Duchene, Global Aquaculture Alliance Fisheries & Aquaculture

Conservation organization The Nature Conservancy takes a considered step into aquaculture.

Read more → (7 minute read)


The Bahamas’ Conchs Have Undergone Serial Depletion

Brigit Katz, Correspondent, Smithsonian Magazine Fisheries & Aquaculture

The prevalence of conchs in the Bahamas’ culture and economy has come at a sobering cost

Read more → (3 minute read)


Seaweed could make cows burp less methane and cut their carbon hoofprint

James Temple, MIT Technology Review Fisheries & Aquaculture

A diet supplemented with red algae could lessen the huge amounts of greenhouse gases emitted by cows and sheep, if we can just figure out how to grow enough.

Read more → (7 minute read)


Soil and Seaweed: Farming Our Way to a Climate Solution

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Louise Elizabeth Maher-Johnson, Scientific American Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture

We can sequester carbon and improve our nutrition through regenerative farming of land and sea.

Read more → (7 minute read)


Private capital for change

Natasha Garcha, World Resources Institute / The Economist Group Fisheries & Aquaculture

Our world’s top scientists spend billions of dollars every year on space exploration, searching the universe for one thing: water, considered a necessity for life. Yet on Earth, our primary source of water — the ocean — is perhaps one of the most undervalued resources on the planet.

Read more → (5 minute read)


Forget Fracking, Sustain seaweed

Jurriaan Kamp, President & Editor in Chief of the Optimist Daily Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture

Gas is the future. That may sound counterintuitive in an emerging world of renewable energy where new solar power records are set on a monthly basis. However, for Joost Wouters, Dutch engineer and entrepreneur at Inrada Group, there’s no doubt: in the future, we will continue to use gas-fired stoves to cook our meals and warm our homes with gas-burning heating systems. Gas? Yes, biogas from seaweed.

Read more → (6 minute read)