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Oceana Canada’s latest annual report on the state of Canada’s fisheries was released today, revealing that the health of fish populations has declined over the past three years and the government is not acting with the speed and rigour needed to rebuild depleted stocks. Unless this changes, Canada cannot ensure a sustainable seafood industry or one that can adapt to global threats to the ocean, such as climate change, pollution and habitat destruction.

Fishery Audit 2019 provides an in-depth analysis of the state of Canada’s fisheries and tracks progress on how well the government is meeting its policy and management commitments.

Since its launch in 2017, the number of fish populations in a critical state has increased to 17 per cent (from 13...

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN), coral reefs house the world’s most biodiverse ecosystem and directly support more than 500 million people, the majority of whom are in developing countries. Naturally formed out of thin layers of calcium carbonate (limestone), coral reefs have sustained great damage over the past decades due to the effects of climate change—such as warming waters, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the largest living thing on Earth, which has lost half of its colorful ecosystem and the life it once sustained to heat stress.

And since they are crucial to life on Earth, the destruction of coral reefs wouldn’t only wreak havoc on marine life and the ecosystems that depend on it, it wou...

At least five reef islands in the remote Solomon Islands have been lost completely to sea level rise and coastal erosion, and a further six islands have been severely eroded. Sea level rise, erosion and coastal flooding are some of the greatest challenges facing humanity from climate change. The islands lost to the sea range in size from one to five hectares and supported dense tropical vegetation that was at least 300 years old.

Nuatambu Island — home to 25 families — has lost more than half of its habitable area, with 11 houses washed into the sea since 2011.

This is the first scientific evidence, published in Environmental Research Letters, that confirms the numerous anecdotal accounts from across the Pacific of the dramatic impacts of climate change on coastlines and people.

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A loss of snow and ice cover are the main reasons for a reduction in the Arctic’s ability to reflect heat, not soot as had been previously thought. The capacity of the Arctic to reflect heat is determined by something known as the albedo effect. This is a measurement of how well a surface, such as snow or ice, bounces sunlight back into space.

Scientists say soot is not the major contributor, as levels have dropped recently, while warming has continued.

The findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Arctic region has warmed significantly since the 1980s, up to three times as much as the average seen elsewhere across the globe.

Much of this warming has been attributed to the reduction of the surface albedo effect.

When sunlight hits a white su...

Cutting the speed of ships has huge benefits for humans, nature and the climate, according to a new report. A 20% reduction would cut greenhouse gases but also curb pollutants that damage human health such as black carbon and nitrogen oxides. This speed limit would cut underwater noise by 66% and reduce the chances of whale collisions by 78%. UN negotiators will meet in London this week to consider proposals to curb maritime speeds.

Ships, of all sorts and sizes, transport around 80% of the world’s goods by volume. However they are also responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse emissions thanks to the burning of fuel.

Shipping generates roughly 3% of the global total of warming gases – that’s roughly the same quantity as emitted by Germany.

While shipping wasn’t covered...

The fishing industry has turned to using more gear made of plastic in recent decades because it is lighter and cheaper, according to the report.

“The impact of abandoned or lost fishing gear has increased dramatically as the industry has switched from natural fibers, ceramic pots and wood buoys to plastic,” John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director for Greenpeace USA, said in an article on the organization’s website...

Heineken is ditching single-use plastic rings and shrink wrap from millions of multipack cans and replacing them with eco-friendly cardboard. The Dutch company has invested £22m in new technology and production facilities at its UK sites that will enable it to start rolling out the changes across its popular brands , which include Heineken and Foster’s, from April 2020.

The can “toppers” are made from recyclable cardboard and are strong enough to carry the weight of a multipack. Their adoption by Heineken in the UK will lead to 517 tonnes of plastic being removed from the packaging of its brands by the end of 2021.

The changes will be rolled out first across Heineken, Foster’s and Kronenbourg 1664, then all its other brands in multipack cans, such as Strongbow, Bulmer’s, Red Stripe...

A great whale is worth US$2 million (NZ$3.1 million). The size of that number so terrified Ralph Chami, the economist who appraised the whales, that he sought refuge in a church for the first time in 30 years. Inside St. Matthew’s Cathedral here, a few blocks from Chami’s office at the International Monetary Fund, the economist said he had “a conversation with the Maker. I said: ‘If you aim to humiliate me, there are other ways of doing it.’ “

Chami had, after all, veered outside his lane to make a first-of-its-kind claim. He studies macroeconomic policies in developing countries, not ecology...