EDFish

“An Ocean of Potential” was the tagline at this year’s Our Ocean conference in Greece on April 15-17. The phrase encompasses the breadth of possibilities that the ocean holds for us. It also encapsulates EDF’s approach to supporting climate-resilient fisheries and oceans. What do we mean when we say that there is “an ocean of […]

By Rod Fujita and Kristin Kleisner  To mitigate climate change, sea level rise, and other environmental problems, some experts are looking to nature-based solutions. But which solutions are the most impactful when it comes to sequestering carbon? And what do we still need to learn to improve our scientific understanding of nature-based solutions?   We co-authored […]

This past August, in southern Ecuador amidst dense mangrove forests, scientists were at work. As I followed in her footsteps, Julie Shahan, a Stanford University Ph.D. student, navigated the challenging terrain, burdened by the large 25-pound piece of equipment on her back. This equipment, a gas analyzer, collects measurements to unlock the secrets of soil […]

By Christopher Cusack (EDF) and Cooper Van Vranken (Ocean Data Network) In the early hours of October 25, 2023, Hurricane Otis made landfall near Acapulco, Mexico, with peak winds of 165 mph wreaking havoc on communities in its path. Normally, people would have had a chance to prepare but just the day before, the consensus […]

By Allison Shields (EDF), Catherine Bruger (Ocean Conservancy), and Chris McGuire (The Nature Conservancy) From smartwatches tracking our steps to news alerts on our phones to live traffic updates while driving, data has become central to our daily lives and how we interact with the world. For fishermen traveling miles offshore in search of fish, […]

We’re seeing the impacts of climate change in real time. There is an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere to avoid more catastrophic climate change impacts. This will require both reductions in GHG emissions and the removal of GHGs from the atmosphere. In recent years, this need has driven interest in […]

By Jacqui Vogel (EDF) and Dr. Sarah Glaser (WWF) Oceans are under immense threat from climate change. Around the world, oceanographic changes like melting sea ice, warming waters, sea level rise and shifting fish populations make access to marine resources more uncertain and less secure. Climate change threatens to disrupt the communities, supply chains and […]

The world is gathered in Dubai for the 28th Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework for Climate Change Convention, otherwise known as COP28. Over a two-week span, government delegations come together to negotiate what actions the world needs to take to achieve a future under 1.5 degrees. This will set the tone […]

By Karly Kelso (EDF), Dr. Michelle Tigchelaar (Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions), and Dr. Malin Jonell (Stockholm Resilience Center) This piece was originally published in Swedish here.  The last few years have wrought havoc on the food supply, particularly for the people trapped in the cycle of poverty. COVID, climate change and conflict have disrupted […]

This piece is now available on Mongabay. During New York Climate Week, climate leaders will gather together to make essential decisions to mitigate the effects of climate change. It is critical that our oceans are a priority. The ocean is profoundly underfunded, and yet it is absolutely vital to billions of lives around the world […]

Marine protected areas (MPA) are a conservation tool that sets aside part of the ocean to protect it for long-term conservation, similar to the way a state or national park functions on land. These MPAs are an effective way to preserve biodiversity by protecting ecosystems. But how are they utilized by people, and do they […]

Seaweed is having a moment. I’ve been working on seaweed for 40 years, and I’ve never seen so many headlines about how seaweed can save the planet.  I can understand why. The need to save the planet is more pressing than ever. We must now dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, […]

By Jose Luis Chicoma and Karly Kelso Last week, global leaders gathered in Rome for the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) +2 Stocktaking Moment, a follow-up event to evaluate commitments to transforming their food systems and progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) made in 2021. In short, it was a time to gather […]

By Ruth Driscoll-Lovejoy and Amy Folkerts Ocean farmers are making a splash in the sustainable seafood market — and they don’t need state-of-the-art facilities to do it.  Thimble Island Ocean Farm in Connecticut is a commercial seaweed and shellfish farm and serves as an innovation hub for GreenWave, a nonprofit replicating and scaling regenerative aquaculture. […]

By Julia Mason and Sarah Weisberg What will it take to create climate-resilient fisheries? Fisheries scientists and managers across the US have been sensing a change in the air — and not just the highest temperatures ever recorded, although they probably contribute. There’s a growing sense of climate urgency in fishery management conversations and agendas. […]

By Lucy Vogt, EDF Seafood Policy Intern Last month, Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW) welcomed environmental businesses, leaders, and shakers — and one brand-new intern. CHOW investigated the intersection between the ocean and the climate by facilitating conversations about ocean opportunities. Even though the ocean covers more than 70% of the earth, produces 50% of […]

By EDF’s Jose Ingles, Jimely Flores and Rod Fujita, and Joseph Warren, Stony Brook University Small fish have a big role. Fisheries for sardine, herring and anchovy species collectively produce more yield than any other fisheries worldwide and account for about one-third of total global catches arriving in ports. These fisheries span the globe and […]

Over the last couple of years, EDF has actively worked to raise the contributions of aquatic foods in transforming food systems and making progress on 9 of the 17  the Sustainable Development Goals—global goals established under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a universal call to action to end poverty, to protect the planet, […]

By Gemma Carroll, Jacob Eurich and Krista Sherman Shervin Tate is a recreational fishing guide in The Bahamas, known locally as the Bonefish Specialist. He takes visiting anglers by boat to fish remote beaches and shallow water flats flanked by mangroves. The ultimate prize for his guests is landing and releasing a bonefish: pound for […]

By Harlisa and Dustin Colson Leaning In Lampung province, Indonesia, a few smartphones and three well-placed cameras are revolutionizing the way that small-scale fisheries are monitored. In a previous blog post, we introduced how smartphone-based catch reporting and the SmartPass camera system could have the potential to play a fundamental role in sustaining small-scale fisheries. […]