Tracking the journey of tuna from the seas around Thailand to Australian supermarket shelves shows modern slavery is a pervasive problem.
Shutterstock.com
Just one brand of tinned tuna in Australian supermarkets is able to confidently claim slavery was not involved in its supply.
Eastern rock lobster on sale at Sydney’s fish market. Our preference for a limited variety of seafood drives up prices and threatens the industry’s sustainability.
Joel Carrett/AAP
Australian fishing boats throw away up to half the fish they catch. To make the seafood industry sustainable, we need to eat all the fish that get caught.
When it comes to small-scale fisheries, there is no one route to sustainability. Finding success stories can help map those paths.
For the global tuna industry, which has historically struggled with illegal and environmentally dubious fishing practices, the use of blockchain could be a turning point.
WWF
Blockchain is now helping to bring much-needed transparency to the global tuna industry, which has been prone to corruption, human slavery and unsustainable fishing practices.
Bycatch: penguins can easily drown in nets designed to ensnare fish.
NZ Ministry of Fisheries
Animals shed bits of DNA as they go about their lives. A new study of the Hudson River estuary tracked spring migration of ocean fish by collecting water samples and seeing whose DNA was present when.
Tuna being lifted from a fishing boat.
From www.shutterstock.com
Recently revised guidelines on mercury in seafood suggest cutting bait on some fish but making sure you eat other types. Then there are omega-3s to consider. Here are some tips to help you choose.
State conservation officials from Florida and Georgia work in 2014 to remove a heavy length of fishing rope from a right whale’s mouth.
FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission/Flickr
A new US seafood import rule requires supplier countries to control accidental bycatch of whales, seals and other marine mammals – showing that global trade and conservation can reinforce each other.
Closing parts of the ocean to fishing displaces fishers to other areas.
Tuna image from www.shutterstock.com
Matt Burgess, University of California Santa Barbara
Spreading fishing pressure evenly across whole marine ecosystems sounds like a great idea. But there's a hitch – we can't technologically do it, and even if we could, it would be expensive.
After curbing fishing, the African penguins of the Western Cape are on the rebound.
Davide Gaglio