On July 1, 2024, the Sea Around Us initiative based at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries will turn 25.
Still in its young adult years, the project’s accomplishments are no small feat.
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Sea Around Us alumna unveils mural project at UBC
While pursuing her PhD studies with Sea Around Us, Veronica Relano-Ecija, engaged in an artistic project to raise awareness about climate change and sea-level rise.
Marine sharks and rays ‘use’ urea to delay reproduction
Blacktip reef shark. Photo by Ray in Manila, Flickr.
Urea – the main component of human urine – plays an important role in the timing of maturation of sharks, rays and other cartilaginous fish.
A new study by researchers with the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries found that high urea concentrations common in cartilaginous fish, particularly oviparous marine species, allow them to mature and begin to reproduce at a larger fraction of their maximal size.
Planet vs. Plastics – Ghost nets
Under the campaign slogan of ‘Planet vs. Plastics,’ Earth Day 2024 is focused on environmental activists’ commitment to end plastics for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding a 60 per cent reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.
Even though the Sea Around Us research doesn’t focus on ocean pollution, there is an evident connection between fisheries and the littering of our oceans.
To illustrate this connection, the above video presents some of the alarming figures related to gear abandoned at sea, which remains in the oceans and often continues to capture fish and other marine animals in a process commonly referred to as ‘ghost fishing’.
A tiny fish reclaims its space in the Sea Around Us database
Stolephorus indicus or Indian anchovy. Image by Hamid Badar Osmany, FishBase.
A recent Fisheries Centre Research Report reviews two Indo-Pacific anchovy genera (Encrasicholina and Stolephorus) with respect to their fisheries, contribution to food security and as important baitfish for tropical pole-and-line fisheries.