Fishers who hunt wild tuna use fish’s natural attraction to floating objects to lure them to known positions near GPS-equipped rafts. However, these rafts are attracting increasing concern.
Fish can’t read maps, and their eggs and larvae drift across national boundaries. Recent research shows that local problems in one fishery can affect others across wide areas.
Chris Free, University of California, Santa Barbara
As the oceans warm, fish are moving to stay in temperature zones where they have evolved to live. This is helping some species, hurting others and causing a net reduction in potential catch.
With strategic planning, the marine protected area network could be a third smaller, cost half as much, and still meet the international target of protecting 10% of every ecosystem.
A few decades ago Boston Harbor was one of the nation’s dirtiest water bodies. Now, healthier fish in the harbor underscore that a multibillion-dollar cleanup has succeeded.
Much of the money for wildlife conservation in the United States comes from taxes and fees paid by sportsmen. But as fewer Americans take up hunting, wildlife managers need other funding sources.