New research has pinpointed four high-traffic areas in the Pacific Ocean that should be considered of high priority if conservation efforts focused on large pelagic fishes such as tuna, blue marlin and swordfish are to be successful.
Common seadragon. Photo by Melanie Warren.
Despite their odd shape, which makes them resemble a tuft of seaweed, common and leafy seadragons grow in the same fashion as other bony fish, new research has found.
The inconspicuous sea sponges are Earth’s oldest multicellular animals and have filtered the oceans for nearly 900 million years, long before the first plants appeared on land. New research appearing in the journal Fisheries Bulletin, published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, indicates that their growth depends on their oxygen supply in a manner similar to more complex animals such as fish.
A view from the north on the Marine Protected Area of Capo Carbonara and the island of Cavoli in Sardinia, Italy. Photo by dronepicr, Flickr.
Conserving marine biodiversity, avoiding species extinction and maintaining food security from wild capture fisheries can all be achieved simultaneously if a global, non-regionalized approach to marine spatial management is undertaken by the signatories of IUCN Resolution 50, which calls for the protection of 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030.
Silver-cheeked
toadfish Lagocephalus
sceleratus, a poisonous invasive
species thriving in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea since the mid-2000s after it
crossed the Suez Canal from the Red Sea, is now reaching monstrous sizes around
the Greek islands near the Turkish coast.