Overfishing is a topic in fisheries science and marine ecology referring to the exploitation of fish stocks at rates exceeding their capacity to replenish through recruitment and growth, thereby reducing biomass below biologically sustainable thresholds. It is quantitatively assessed using reference points such as maximum sustainable yield (MSY), fishing mortality (F), and spawning stock biomass (SSB), with overfishing indicated when F exceeds target or limit reference points or when SSB falls below critical levels. Overfishing alters age and size structure, disrupts trophic interactions, diminishes genetic diversity, and compromises ecosystem resilience, with management responses involving harvest control rules, catch limits, effort restrictions, and spatial or temporal closures.
There is a more than 60% chance that a "super" El Niño will develop by the end of this year.
Plants & Animals
Jun 17, 2026
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The ocean is home to some of the richest biodiversity on Earth. From coral reefs and mangrove forests to the deep sea, marine ecosystems sustain countless species, support coastal communities, regulate the climate and underpin ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 16, 2026
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A new telemetry study published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences finds that the method used to raise juvenile lake sturgeon before stocking has little bearing on how the fish behave after release—an ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 16, 2026
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In the crystalline waters off Kenya's coast, coral reefs are thriving—evidence of a rare good-news story in the battle to protect oceans from the ravages of climate change.
Ecology
Jun 16, 2026
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Headlines were made this week when scuba divers removing abandoned ghost nets from a shipwreck between Tunisia and Sicily filmed an adult great white shark. The footage quickly made global news, yet the real story is not ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 13, 2026
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In 2020, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation approached Stanford's Center for Ocean Solutions (COS) to help identify priorities for action on social sustainability issues in seafood supply chains. After years ...
Ecology
Jun 12, 2026
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Farmed oysters are mixing with and potentially adding to populations of wild oysters—a once-abundant species in New York's estuaries and rivers that has declined drastically over the last century. A new study, published in ...
Ecology
Jun 9, 2026
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Oceans are in a "deepening crisis" that demands urgent global action, a major U.N. report warned Monday, with seas warming and rising faster, ice cover shrinking, and marine ecosystems under mounting strain.
Environment
Jun 8, 2026
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New research led by the University of the Sunshine Coast has found that reef manta rays are diving deep in storm events to find food and stay alive. As World Environment Day is celebrated around the globe on June 5, the findings ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 4, 2026
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A multi-year research project has provided new insight into greater amberjack. The Greater Amberjack Count was led by Sean P. Powers, Ph.D., fisheries ecology professor and Director of the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 3, 2026
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