Fisheries News

April 19, 2024

Top Headlines

Fourteen Years After the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Endemic Fishes Face an Uncertain Future

Apr. 18, 2024 — The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest accidental spill in history, released almost 100 million gallons of oil, causing significant pollution. A decade later, its long-term ...

Huge Database Gives Insight Into Salmon Patterns at Sea

Apr. 16, 2024 — A massive new analysis of high seas salmon surveys is enhancing the understanding of salmon ecology, adding details about where various species congregate in the North Pacific Ocean and their different temperature tolerances. The project integrates ...

PFAS Exposure from High Seafood Diets May Be Underestimated

Apr. 12, 2024 — A study suggests that people with diets high in seafood may face a greater risk of exposure to PFAS -- the family of human-made toxins known as 'forever chemicals' -- than previously thought. The researchers stress the need for more stringent public ...

What's Quieter Than a Fish? A School of Them

Apr. 9, 2024 — Swimming in schools makes fish surprisingly stealthy underwater, with a group able to sound like a single fish. Engineers working with a high-tech simulation of schooling mackerel offer new insight into why fish swim in schools and promise for the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:51pm EDT

Impact of Climate Change on Marine Life Much Bigger Than Previously Known

Apr. 9, 2024 — Fish and invertebrate animals are far more affected by warmer and more acidic seawater than was previously known. The big gain of the new method is that more details become known about effects of ...

Fish Species That Move Rapidly Toward the Poles Due to Global Warming Decline in Abundance, Study Finds

Mar. 18, 2024 — A new study has found a decline in the abundance of marine fish species that move rapidly toward the poles to escape rising sea temperatures. The ...

Adult Fish Struggle to Bounce Back in Marine Protected Areas

Apr. 4, 2024 — Many marine protected areas are falling short of their most basic purpose: to rebuild struggling fish populations. In a new study, scientists looked at the age breakdown of reef fish in marine ...

In the Evolution of Walking, the Hip Bone Connected to the Rib Bones

Apr. 5, 2024 — A new reconstruction of the 375-million-year-old fossil fish Tiktaalik -- a close relative of limbed vertebrates -- used micro-CT to reveal bones still embedded in matrix. The reconstruction shows ...

eDNA Methods Give a Real-Time Look at Coral Reef Health

Apr. 5, 2024 — The study underscores the crucial role of microbes in maintaining coral reef health, akin to the human gut microbiome. Hurricanes and disease outbreaks affect coral reef water microbial communities, ...

What Four Decades of Canned Salmon Reveal About Marine Food Webs

Apr. 4, 2024 — Researchers have shown that levels of anisakid worms -- a common marine parasite -- rose in two salmon species in the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay over a 42-year period. The team discovered this by ...

Scientists Warn: The Grey Seal Hunt Is Too Large

Mar. 27, 2024 — Researchers warn that today's hunting quotas of about 3,000 animals pose a risk to the long-term survival of the grey seal in the Baltic Sea. The conclusions of this new study are based on statistics ...

How Many Fish Constitute a School?

Mar. 25, 2024 — Physicists are also interested in fish -- above all when they are researching the formation of structures. A research team has examined the schooling behavior of zebra danio (Danio rerio, also known ...

Entanglements of Humpback Whales in Fish Farms Rare -- And Naivety Could Be to Blame

Mar. 21, 2024 — The first study of humpback whale entanglements in B.C. aquaculture facilities found eight over 13 years, with the curiosity of young whales a ...

Fish Fed to Farmed Salmon Should Be Part of Our Diet, Too, Study Suggests

Mar. 20, 2024 — Scientists found that farmed salmon production leads to an overall loss of essential dietary nutrients. They say that eating more wild 'feed' species directly could benefit our health while reducing ...

Reproductive Success Improves After a Single Generation in the Wild for Descendants of Some Hatchery-Origin Chinook Salmon

Apr. 16, 2024 — Researchers who created 'family trees' for nearly 10,000 fish found that first-generation, wild-born descendants of hatchery-origin Chinook salmon in an Oregon river show improved ...

Diverse Habitats Help Salmon Weather Unpredictable Climate Changes

Mar. 14, 2024 — Restored salmon habitat should resemble financial portfolios, offering fish diverse options for feeding and survival so that they can weather various conditions as the climate changes, a new study ...

Sleep-Wake Rhythm: Fish Change Our Understanding of Sleep Regulation

Mar. 14, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that some fish -- unlike humans -- do not need orexin to stay awake. This molecule was thought to be necessary for normal wake and sleep rhythms in vertebrates. Humans ...

History Repeats as Coral Bay Faces Mass Loss of Coral and Fish Life

Mar. 12, 2024 — A perfect storm of environmental factors has seen a monumental loss of fish and coral life at a popular area of Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia's Gascoyne region -- however research into the ...

Anemonefish Are Better Taxonomists Than Humans

Mar. 11, 2024 — Scientists reveal new lineages of giant sea anemones in Japan and their surprising associations with ...

Scientists Raise the Alarm: Too Many Harbour Porpoises Die Each Year in Fishing Nets

Mar. 7, 2024 — In order to keep the population of harbour porpoises in Danish coastal waters stable, only 24 can perish in fishing nets each year. However, over 900 die each ...

Do Some Electric Fish Sense the World Through Comrades' Auras?

Mar. 6, 2024 — It would be a game-changer if all members of a basketball team could see out of each other's eyes in addition to their own. Biologists have found evidence that this kind of collective sensing ...

Study Results Show 25% of Pregnant People Are Not Getting Enough Omega-3 Fatty Acids from Their Diet or Dietary Supplements

Mar. 1, 2024 — Results from a new US nationwide cohort study show that, despite strong recommendations in favor of consuming omega-3 fatty acids for optimal pregnancy outcomes and offspring health, 25% of ...

Climate Change Shrinking Fish

Feb. 28, 2024 — Fish weight in the western North Pacific Ocean dipped in the 2010s due to warmer water limiting food supplies, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed the individual weight and overall biomass ...

Walleye Struggle With Changes to Timing of Spring Thaw

Feb. 27, 2024 — Walleye are one of the most sought-after species in freshwater sportfishing, a delicacy on Midwestern menus and a critically important part of the culture of many Indigenous communities. They are ...

Extinctions Could Result as Fish Change Foraging Behavior in Response to Rising Temperatures

Feb. 27, 2024 — Fish species respond to temperature increases by going after more readily available prey. Models suggest this behavior could lead to more ...

'Janitors' of the Sea: Overharvested Sea Cucumbers Play Crucial Role in Protecting Coral

Feb. 26, 2024 — Researchers discovered that sea cucumbers -- sediment-eating organisms that function like autonomous vacuum cleaners of the ocean floor -- play an enormous role in protecting coral from ...

Predatory Fish Use Rapid Color Changes to Coordinate Attacks

Feb. 26, 2024 — Striped marlin are some of the fastest animals on the planet and one of the ocean's top predators. When hunting in groups, individual marlin will take turns attacking schools of prey fish one at ...

Why Are Fish Getting Smaller as Waters Warm? It's Not Their Gills

Feb. 21, 2024 — A collaborative team of scientists recently found that there is no physiological evidence supporting a leading theory -- which involves the surface area of fish gills -- as to why many fish species ...

Mercury Levels in Tuna Remain Nearly Unchanged Since 1971

Feb. 21, 2024 — Tuna is one of the most popular seafoods worldwide. But this protein-rich fish can build up high levels of methylmercury from feeding on contaminated prey, like smaller fish or crustaceans. Despite ...

Unlocking the Energetic Secrets of Collective Animal Movement: How Group Behavior Reduces Energy Costs in Fish

Feb. 20, 2024 — Researchers questioned if coordinated group movements by animals moving through a fluid could reduce the energy cost of locomotion. By combining biomechanics and bioenergetics the researchers found ...

Even Very Low Levels of Pesticide Exposure Can Affect Fish for Generations

Feb. 20, 2024 — Fish exposed to some pesticides at extremely low concentrations for a brief period of time can demonstrate lasting behavioral changes, with the impact extending to offspring that were never exposed ...

Artificial Reefs Help Preserve Coral Reefs by Shifting Divers Away from the Natural Ones, According to New Long-Term Study of One in Eilat

Feb. 20, 2024 — Divers are essentially tourists who love coral reefs and invest a lot of time and effort to watch them. Unfortunately, divers also cause damage to corals, often unintentionally, through disturbing ...

The Role of Jellies as a Food Source in the Arctic Winter

Feb. 14, 2024 — The Arctic is changing rapidly due to climate change. It is not only affected by increasing surface temperatures, but also by warm water from the Atlantic, which is flowing in more and more -- ...

If We Can't Untangle This Mess, Norway's Blue Industry Will Never Be Green

Feb. 13, 2024 — For the first time, researchers have investigated how ropes and fishing lines are handled by the Norwegian commercial fishing industry. The fishing fleet loses almost 400 tons of rope in Norwegian ...