Text and photos by Madeline Cashion.
This summer/fall I spoke at three marine research conferences hosted in three very different cities. I was presenting the first chapter of my thesis, for which I analyzed the quality of official fisheries catch statistics for sharks, skates, and rays in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Over half of the species in this group of fishes are at risk of extinction in the region, with overfishing being their greatest threat.
Looking for an exciting PhD or postdoc opportunity?
Scholarships (for PhD) and fellowships (postdoc) are available for scientists who wish to work at the University of Western Australia with the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean. These outstanding opportunities are available via the Forrest Research Foundation, which supports marine projects.
The deadlines for the next round is October 31, 2017.
Photo by vjpaul, Flickr.
Vanuatu’s small-scale fisheries’ catch is over 200 per cent higher than the numbers reported between 1950 and 2014 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization on behalf of the country.
According to a new study by the Sea Around Us and several French and Vanuatu scientists, almost eight out of 10 residents of the archipelagic country are involved in at least one form of fishing and most of what truly local fisheries catch goes to their own household consumption.
Scholarships available now
The Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean under the lead of Professor Dirk Zeller is looking for outstanding PhD students interested in conducting ‘big-data’ research on fisheries and fisheries conservation issues at the ocean-basin scale. If this is of interest to you, then consider applying for the Dean’s Excellence in Science PhD Scholarship at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth.
Starting in the summer of 2017, Dr. Dirk Zeller will be leading the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean as Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of Western Australia.
While continuing with the project’s global approach towards the study of the impact of fisheries on the marine ecosystems of the world, the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean will focus on issues affecting this particular region and surrounding areas, and how those issues need to be taken into account when addressing global ocean conservation.