The Sea Around Us project manager, Dr. Maria ‘Deng’ Palomares, with Belizean fishers. Photo by the Belize Fisheries Project.
Belizean fishers’ experience in the water confirms the declining trends in fishery catches – and, therefore, in fish populations – uncovered by the Belize Fisheries Project (BFP), of which the Sea Around Us is a member together with Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI), the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative (HRI) and MRAG Americas.
Hammerhead sharks. Photo by Masayuki Agawa, Ocean Image Bank.
Sharks have persisted as powerful ocean predators for more than 400 million years. They survived five mass extinctions, diversifying into an amazing variety of forms and lifestyles. But this ancient lineage is now among the world’s most threatened species groups due to overexploitation in poorly regulated fisheries and the proliferation of wasteful finning practices.
Fishermen in Digha, India. Photo by Krishnendu Biswas, Pexels.
A few big players in the Indian Ocean Rim are disproportionately accessing the region’s fisheries resources through harmful subsidies while limiting the access to those resources of small-scale fleets from nutrient-insecure countries.
The Sea Around Us is proud to introduce its revamped logo—a symbol of our commitment to staying current, better reflecting our research focus, and showcasing our alignment with our sister databases, FishBase, SeaLifeBase, and AquaMaps.