EDFish

By Editrudith Lukanga Editrudith Lukanga is a global leader on small-scale fisheries issues, addressing challenges such as gender equity, food security and poverty alleviation. She lives in Tanzania and is the founder and executive director of the Environmental Management and Economic Development Organization, a non-profit development organization working on environmental and socioeconomic challenges in her […]

China is the largest fishing nation in the world. It is responsible for one-fifth of the world’s total marine fish catch. It is the world’s largest fish processor and trader, with huge influence on global seafood markets and the ecosystems they depend on. Actions China takes to manage its fisheries and economy can spill over […]

The global COVID-19 pandemic gives us all pause about what the future holds. Our focus and attention are on all those hurt by this terrible disease. But for many of us, this is also a time of deep reflection about society and the world we’ll inhabit when this scourge is over. So for me, it’s […]

By Dovilė Meliauskaitė A tool found in corporate boardrooms may soon help future-proof our fisheries. Climate change presents new challenges to the ocean and the fishermen and fishing communities that rely on healthy ocean ecosystems. In many areas, fishermen are already seeing changes in range and abundance of a variety of species, often well outside […]

By Christopher Cusack, Rod Fujita and Katie Westfall Global fisheries are at a crossroads. The demand for seafood is growing fast, and fishermen are expending ever-increasing effort to catch a declining amount of fish. We know how to fix this, and indeed, many fisheries are producing large and sustainable yields that benefit people and bring […]

After an hour of flying in a small plane across the Pacific Ocean with no land in sight, we began to wonder how much farther it would be before we would see land again. About two hours into the flight, the peaks of one of the three volcanic islands rose above the local cloud cover, […]

Much of EDF’s work in the Asia-Pacific region has focused on the small-scale fisheries, or SSF, sector — home to some of the most marginalized fishers in the world. These are people who are highly dependent on marine resources for their livelihood, often living in remote, coastal areas with few alternatives for employment. Small-scale fishers are […]

The main focus of the United Nations COP25 in Madrid was squarely on whether and how the nations of the world could agree on the measures necessary to reduce climate change emissions in a comprehensive and forceful fashion. In that regard, COP25 did not live up to expectations nor planetary needs if we are to […]

By Daniel Willard and Shems Jud This August, a group of Indonesian, Chinese and Japanese scientists and policy professionals joined EDF to visit some of our long-time partners — fishermen, scientists and resource managers — in Oregon and Washington. Our intent was to enhance the exchange of fisheries management experiences between the U.S. and important […]

Editor’s note: This is the last in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we have investigated how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish and what we can do […]

In recent years, investment circles have been abuzz with a bright new shiny object — the “Blue Economy.” Pick an impact investor, development bank or conservation fund out of a hat, and chances are there is a mention of the Blue Economy somewhere on their website. (Although technically, the Blue Economy has existed ever since […]

By Willow Battista and Alexis Rife Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we’ll be investigating how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish […]

Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we’ll be investigating how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish and what we can do […]

Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we’ll be investigating how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish and what we can do […]

By Rod Fujita and Merrick Burden Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we’ll be investigating how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of […]

Nearly three years ago, I broke with conventional wisdom to note that there was ample reason to have hope for coral reefs despite the very obvious threats associated with global climate change, including both warming and acidification. Since then, researchers — and coral-lovers of all stripes from all over the world — have made important […]

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we’ll be investigating how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish and what we can do to […]

Editor’s note: This is the third in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we’ll be investigating how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish and what we can do to […]

If you’ve enjoyed a delicious crab cake at a restaurant in the U.S. recently, you might be surprised to learn that the crab you were eating had a pretty long trip to your plate. That’s because there’s a high chance it was made with blue swimming crab imported from tropical countries such as Thailand, Vietnam […]

Behind every single seafood dish you have ever eaten is a chain of hands that helped bring that gift from the sea to our plates, often starting with men and women in small-scale fisheries. At Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we believe that protecting our world’s oceans and coastal livelihoods can only be achieved when we […]