Saving Seafood

  • Home
  • News
    • Alerts
    • Conservation & Environment
    • Council Actions
    • Economic Impact
    • Enforcement
    • International & Trade
    • Law
    • Management & Regulation
    • Regulations
    • Nutrition
    • Opinion
    • Other News
    • Safety
    • Science
    • State and Local
  • News by Region
    • New England
    • Mid-Atlantic
    • South Atlantic
    • Gulf of Mexico
    • Pacific
    • North Pacific
    • Western Pacific
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Fishing Terms Glossary

Comprehensive global study confirms restorative aquaculture has positive impacts on marine life

June 25, 2021 โ€” The following was released by the University of New England:

The University of New England partnered with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the worldโ€™s leading conservation organization, on a ground-breaking new study that provides strong evidence that shellfish and seaweed farming are a critical component of regenerative food production.

The comprehensive study has been published in Reviews in Aquaculture at a time when much news of food production focuses on its negative impacts on the environment. Quite to the contrary, the study, titled โ€œHabitat value of bivalve shellfish and seaweed aquaculture for fish and invertebrates: Pathways, synthesis, and next steps,โ€ paints a bright picture of aquacultureโ€™s potential to help satisfy food demand in harmony with ocean health.

Restorative shellfish and seaweed farming offers a sustainable method to meet the nutritional needs of the growing human population, while maintaining and improving the health of the waters, lands, and animals we live alongside. This study is among the first to demonstrate the global potential for regenerative outcomes in aquaculture systems.

โ€œAquaculture is among the worldโ€™s fastest-growing forms of food production and there is a growing biodiversity crisis that already exists in our ocean. Itโ€™s critical that we identify ways to develop aquaculture that benefits, rather than harms our ocean, that are based on sound science,โ€ said Robert Jones, Global Lead for Aquaculture at The Nature Conservancy. โ€œThis study is game changing in that it clearly shows an opportunity through shellfish and seaweed aquaculture. For the first time, weโ€™re able to put quantifiable global numbers on the benefits these farms can have on marine wildlife.โ€

Read the full release here

Amid aquaculture boom, report guides investors toward sustainability

May 9, 2019 โ€” Aquaculture, the commercial farming of finfish like salmon, shellfish and seaweed, has exploded over the past 30 years, becoming a nearly $250-billion industry globally. More than half of all seafood now comes from farms, and that percentage is projected to rise if the human population expands, as expected, to 9.7 billion people over the next 30 years. However, environmental problems currently bedevil the aquaculture industry and a consensus on the most sustainable practices has yet to emerge.

A new report released May 8, โ€œTowards a Blue Revolution,โ€ aims to guide the private sector, NGOs and policymakers toward better aquaculture strategies that can both meet the growing global seafood demand and operate โ€œin harmony with ocean ecosystems.โ€

โ€œTransforming how we produce seafood through strategic investment in innovative, more sustainable production methods may ultimately represent the difference between a healthy, abundant, and profitable food system, and one that degrades the environment, destroys value, and fails to meet the growing food security challenge,โ€ the report states.

Published by the Virginia-based environmental non-profit the Nature Conservancy and the New York-based impact investment firm Encourage Capital, the report urges the seafood industry to shift away from โ€œbusiness as usualโ€ aquaculture practices. It argues that equally lucrative and more sustainable forms of aquaculture exist that investors would do well to nurture.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Robert Jones: Red snapper anglers need real and lasting change

August 22, 2017 โ€” The way recreational anglersโ€™ share of Gulf red snapper is converted into fixed seasons clearly isnโ€™t working and I believe we can do better! However, I think we can all agree that setting science-based catch limits have helped bring red snapper back from the brink, and now is not the time to abandon them.

The recovery of red snapper over the last decade has been amazing to see. I can remember fishing with my dad as a kid off the coast of Texas and we could barely find red snapper. Today you can go to just about any marina and see sizeable red snapper being unloaded with big smiles all around.

The fact is, as the population is rebounding, catch limits for recreational fishermen have more than doubled. The total for the fishery is 14 million pounds this year, split roughly in half between recreational and commercial fishing, with sub-quotas between charter operators and individual anglers. Better management regimes in the commercial and charter industries are keeping both groups within their sustainable limits.

So if the quota has more than doubled in the last decade and other fishing industries arenโ€™t exceeding their limits, why are we facing frustratingly short federal seasons?

Read the full opinion piece at Houma Today

2 groups sue feds for extending anglersโ€™ red snapper season

July 17, 2017 โ€” Two environmental groups are suing the Trump administration for stretching the red snapper season for recreational anglers in the Gulf of Mexico.

Changes are needed โ€” โ€œThe way weโ€™re managing red snapper today stinks,โ€ with states setting widely different anglersโ€™ seasons in their waters and federal seasons getting shorter and shorter, Robert Jones of the Environmental Defense Fund said Monday.

But, he said, โ€œI donโ€™t want to return to the bad old days when my dad and I could barely find a red snapper.โ€

Jones and Chris Dorsett of the Ocean Conservancy, said during a conference call with reporters Monday that both groups want their lawsuit to prompt discussions about improvements.

The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately comment. It has said the economic benefit from allowing weekend fishing this summer by recreational anglers in federal waters outweighs the harm to the red snapper species, which is still recovering from disastrous overfishing.

Gulf state officials had lobbied for and praised the change, but the federal lawsuit filed in Washington says the decision violated several laws by ignoring scientific assessments, promoting overfishing, and failing to follow required procedures.

The prized sport and table fish has rebounded under fishing limits and procedures set by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, but is only halfway to its goal, Dorsett and Jones told The Associated Press earlier. The lawsuit isnโ€™t trying to cancel the current season but seeks to prevent similar decisions in the future.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

Recent Headlines

  • Trump reinstating commercial fishing in northeast marine monument
  • Natural toxin in ocean results in restrictions on Pacific sardine fishing off South Coast
  • MAINE: Maine lobstermen remain mighty political force despite shrinking numbers
  • HAWAII: Ahi labeling bill waiting on governorโ€™s signature
  • Trump administration strikes hard at offshore wind
  • USDA awards USD 2.3 million in pollock contracts, seeks more bids on pollock, salmon
  • Trump to reopen Northeast Canyons to commercial fishing
  • US, China agree to 90-day pause on high tariffs

Most Popular Topics

Alaska Aquaculture ASMFC Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission BOEM California China Climate change Coronavirus COVID-19 Donald Trump groundfish Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Hawaii Illegal fishing IUU fishing Lobster Maine Massachusetts Mid-Atlantic National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NEFMC New Bedford New England New England Fishery Management Council New Jersey New York NMFS NOAA NOAA Fisheries North Atlantic right whales North Carolina North Pacific offshore energy Offshore wind Pacific right whales Salmon South Atlantic Western Pacific Whales wind energy Wind Farms

Daily Updates & Alerts

Enter your email address to receive daily updates and alerts:
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Tweets by @savingseafood

Copyright ยฉ 2025 Saving Seafood ยท WordPress Web Design by Jessee Productions

Notifications