The waters around two remote atolls in the central Pacific Ocean—spanning 18,500 square miles—are now protected from fishing

Drifting devices used by the global tuna fishing industry are entering marine protected areas worldwide, creating potential risks for wildlife and sensitive ocean habitats, according to a new international study. The study, published on June 17 in Science Advances, analyzed publicly available data on drifting fish aggregating devices floating rafts equipped with GPS technology that help commercial fishing fleets locate tuna. Researchers estimated that these devices have likely drifted through more than half of the world’s marine protected areas by total area. The findings are especially relevant for Hawaiʻi and the broader Pacific, where vast marine protected areas coexist with some of the world’s busiest tuna fishing grounds. Researchers found hotspots for drifting fish aggregating device interactions in the central Pacific, western Indian Ocean and Caribbean. They also documented at least 6,300 strandings of the devices in 174 protected areas across 53 maritime jurisdictions. When these floating structures wash ashore or become trapped on reefs, they can damage coral, contribute to plastic pollution, and entangle marine animals such as sea turtles and sharks. The study identified nearly 500 at-risk species living within protected areas where drifting fish aggregating device strandings have been observed. John Lynham, a professor in the University...

Sussex Wildlife Trust has launched legal action against the UK government for granting licence to dump dredging spoil in marine protected area

A region of the Pacific Ocean that’s larger than Switzerland is now fully protected from fishing, thanks to the creation of a massive new marine sanctuary in the Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands are located in the west-central Pacific Ocean,...

Enhanced measures to significantly scale up areas of protected marine space across some 500,000-square kilometres of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands have come into force this week, marking a major milestone in the territory’s commitment to sustainability. New...