Yellowfin tuna fishing Seychelles

Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean researchers urge the EU to support ban on drifting fish aggregating devices

Yellowfin tuna fishing Seychelles

Yellowfin tuna fishing in Seychelles. Photo by Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency, Wikimedia Commons.

Researchers at the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean, based at the University of Western Australia, are urging the European Union to fully support the ban on drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs) in the Indian Ocean tuna fisheries declared by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) on February 5th, 2023.

Continue reading

Dirk Zeller named Australia’s Top Researcher in his field for 2021

Dirk Zeller named Australia’s Top Researcher in his field for 2021

Dirk Zeller talks about conservation vs. blue economic growth in Western Australia

Dirk Zeller at the the State of the Blue Economy Forum.

Dirk Zeller, Director of the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean and Professor of Marine Conservation in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia has been named Australia’s Top Researcher in the field of Marine Sciences and Fisheries (Life Sciences category) by The Australian’s 2021 Research Magazine.

Continue reading

As fishing effort grows, catches decline in the Mozambique Channel region

As fishing effort grows, catches decline in the Mozambique Channel region

As fishing effort grows, catches decline in the Mozambique Channel region

Traditional fishing pirogue in Madagascar. Photo by Jonathan Talbot, World Resources Institute, Flickr

Substantial growth in the number of motorized vessels operating in the Mozambique Channel region between East Africa and Madagascar in the past 65 years has led to a 60-fold increase in effective small-scale fishing effort and a 91 per cent decline in Catch Per Unit of Effort (CPUE).

Continue reading

A few missing fish US West Coast recreational and discarded catches

A few missing fish: US West Coast recreational and discarded catches

A few missing fish US West Coast recreational and discarded catches

Recreational fisher at Baker Beach, California. Photo by mgstanton, Flickr.


Despite being the leading country when it comes to transparency, public accessibility, and free availability of fisheries data, the United States of America’s lack of international reporting of recreational catches and fish discarded at sea may hinder proper ecosystem-based management efforts, new research has found. Continue reading