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Animals
Moose at North Dakota's Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge can be legally killed for the first time this hunting season. FWS

Zinke Increases Hunting and Fishing Areas in 30 Wildlife Refuges

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is expanding or opening hunting in 30 National Wildlife Refuges, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced Friday.

The move will open more than 251,000 acres and raise the total number of places where hunting is permitted to 377 and where fishing is permitted to 312. The expansion will be in effect in time for the 2018-2019 hunting season.

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Oceans
Silvertip Sharks (Carcharhinus albimarginatus) caught in gillnet. Jeff Rotman / Oxford Scientific / Getty Images

California Moves to Ban Fishing Nets Blamed for Killing Numerous Species


The California State Assembly unanimously approved a bill on Thursday that phases out the use drift gillnets in the state by January 2023.

The controversial fishing gear, which can stretch a mile long and suspend 100 feet underwater, is used by fishers to target sharks and swordfish, but the nets inadvertently entangle and kill scores of other marine animals, including endangered species.

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Squid boats anchored in Paita, a port city in northern Peru. Humboldt squid support a massive artisanal fishery in this region. Allison Guy / Oceana

For Thousands of Peruvian Families, the Road Out of Poverty Is Paved in Squid

By Allison Guy

There are two ways to leave La Tortuga, a fishing town of 7,000 on the northern coast of Peru. One, a pitted gravel road, winds through a landscape of desert canyons and sun-scalded hills.

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Deforestation in the Amazon. Getty Images

Tax Havens Shelter Illegal Fishing and Amazon Deforestation, Study Finds

A first-of-its-kind study published Monday shows that tax havens don't just shelter the wealth of celebrities and large corporations—they also obscure the financial transactions behind environmental destruction.

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Oceans
New Caledonia is home to the world's third-largest coral reef structure, a UNESCO World Heritage site. NASA

New Caledonia Bans All Types of Extraction Surrounding Pristine Coral Reefs

The French overseas territory of New Caledonia announced Tuesday the highest possible levels of protection for some of the world's last unspoiled coral reefs.

All types of extraction, including commercial and industrial fishing, has been banned in the Chesterfield, Bellona, Entrecasteaux, Pétrie and Astrolabe coral ecosystems, according to a Tuesday press release from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which has long pushed the reefs' protection.

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Animals
Pexels

Fish Are Losing Their Sense of Smell

By Marlene Cimons

There have been numerous wake-up calls about the effects of climate change on marine life. As ocean waters heat up, they are bleaching corals. Growing levels of carbon dioxide are acidifying seawater, which is degrading the shells and skeletons of sea organisms. The rising temperatures are prompting fish to migrate to colder waters, even causing them to shrink.

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Oceans
Bora Bora, French Polynesia. myatt.william / Flickr

Only 13% of World's Oceans Remain Wild

A new study has unveiled humanity's sweeping impact on the world's oceans. Commercial fishing, climate change, agricultural runoff and other human-caused stressors have wiped out nearly 90 percent of Earth's marine wilderness, researchers from the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Queensland, Australia revealed.

Just 13 percent of the world's seas can be classified as truly wild, with most being located in the high seas, according to the study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

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Animals
Mexico, Guadalupe Island, Great White Shark (Carcharodon Carcharias). Dave Fleetham / Design Pics / Getty Images

Shark Week 2018: Interactive Map Shows How Commercial Fishing Threatens Sharks

As the Discovery Channel marks its 30th anniversary of Shark Week, it's important to remember that many populations of the iconic ocean predator are under threat from human activity, especially from commercial fishing.

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Oceans
Weddell seals live around Antarctica and nearby islands. changehali / CC BY 2.0

Fishing Companies Halt Activities in Waters Proposed for Antarctic Sanctuary

The five companies responsible for 85 percent of krill fishing in Antarctica announced Monday that they would put a "voluntarily permanent stop" to fishing in vulnerable areas earmarked by conservationists for the world's largest ocean sanctuary, the Guardian reported.

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