Many Pacific Island nations will lose 50 to 80 percent of marine species in their waters by the end of the 21st century if climate change continues unchecked, finds a new Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program study published in Marine Policy. This area of the ocean is projected to be the most severely impacted by aspects of climate change.
Developing scenarios — projections of the future — may help individuals, communities, corporations, and nations develop a capacity for dealing with the future. Scenarios are an important tool for proactively thinking about, and acting in a way that anticipates, things to come.
Women involved in natural resource extraction employment fields face heavy challenges in achieving gender equality, which hinders nations from embracing sustainable development and democratization. This phenomenon is especially prevalent in small-scale coastal fishing communities.
By Julia Mason, Nereus Program fellow at Stanford University
There’s a tendency among conservation scientists to attribute the world’s environmental crises to the growing global population. Fisheries science is no exception—the issue of overfishing is often condensed to one of “too many fishers chasing too few fish,” leading to inevitable fisheries declines.
By Julia Mason, Nereus Fellow at Stanford University
I got to spend a few weeks this August doing my very favorite activity: playing field assistant for a friend in a beautiful place. The closest I get to fieldwork for my own research is interviewing fishermen—fun and exciting in its own way, but it’s still a treat to put on my ecologist hat (or rather, mask) and jump in the water.
Asia is a powerhouse in both the production and consumption of seafood. Asia is home to 84% of the world’s fishers and fish farmers, and over 70% of the world’s fish and fishery products are consumed here. Yet demand within Asia for certified seafood lags behind rates in other regions, such as Europe and North America. This suggests an unevenly developed certification landscape, but one with vast potential if it can gain popularity in Asia.
Reducing tourist consumption of reef fish is critical for Palau’s ocean sustainability, finds a new Nippon Foundation-UBC Nereus Program study published today in Marine Policy.
While climate change is expected to lead to sharp declines in Palau’s reefs, the best tourism management strategy includes a more than 70 per cent reduction in reef fish consumption by visitors. These findings are highly relevant for sustainable development in small island developing states under climate change.
The Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) held an Intercessional Meeting, from August 22 to 24 2017 in Honolulu, Hawaii, for negotiations for the conservation and management of highly migratory fish stocks. Nereus Principal Investigator Quentin Hanich (University of Wollongong) was in attendance with new Nereus Fellow Katy Seto, who joined the Nereus network in September 2017 after completing her doctoral degree at University of California at Berkeley.
Nereus Alumnus Natasha Henschke (Princeton University) is currently at sea on the RV Investigator, sailing off the East Australian coast. She is working as the deputy chief scientist, helping to collect data that will allow, for the first time, the relationship between open ocean production and coastal fisheries off south eastern Australia to be established. The voyage will be used to study the Tasman Sea ecosystem and examine the link between plankton and fisheries in the region.
As part of the 2016 International Marine Conservation Congress, in St John’s, Newfoundland, new Nereus Fellow at Stanford Julia Mason shared her story about beginning her career in science and the realizations she had. She discusses the disconnect between fisheries science and the management of the fisheries on the ground and the importance of building relationships.