OP-ED: Mass Extinctions in the Cards Absent Urgent Action

This past Tuesday, May 22, marked World Biodiversity Day, but it came and went without too much public interest.

In Antigua, Fishing Brings Both Income and Ecological Destruction

Eli Fuller is a third-generation Antiguan who, for the past two decades, has been exploring the Antigua and Barbuda coastline. But he laments the fact that he can no longer see the coral that he recalls were somewhat of an underwater jungle when he was a young boy, akin to what you'd see in the Amazon rain forest.

KAZAKHSTAN: Sea Reclaimed as Lake

Just six years after the completion of a dike that raised the level of the northern part of the Aral Sea by two metres and slashed its salt content by two-thirds, this remote Central Asian lake once synonymous with ecological catastrophe has become a model of environmental recovery.

ICELAND: US Moves Diplomatically Against Whaling

U.S. President Barack Obama has decided to impose diplomatic rather than trade sanctions on Iceland because of the country’s whale-hunting activities.

Fish Swim in Israel’s Desert

"It wasn't easy to convince people that growing fish in the desert makes sense," reminisces marine biologist Samuel Appelbaum, peering through the opaque water where thousands of barramundi are being harvested.

EGYPT: Fishing Dangerously for Quick Net Worth

Ali Mohsen knows how to tell a good fish story. The wiry, white-haired Egyptian mariner weaves a yarn about his childhood days when the sea was so full of fish that one could simply dangle a hand net over the side of the boat and pull up a seafood dinner. This morning, his crew spent hours out at sea with only four kilos of small fish to show for it.

EUROPE: The Harmless Invasion of the Pacific Oyster

In the 1970s, French oyster breeders introduced the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) to the Bay of Biscay to diversify the area’s species and develop the commercial oyster industry.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Big Fish Eat the Small Fish

Thousands of small-scale fishers in Central America are fighting for survival in the face of free trade deals, transnational corporations, mega tourism projects and pollution that is harming marine life.

JAPAN: Whaling Policy in Choppy Waters

After years of stiff resistance, the Japanese government has announced a temporary halt to its controversial research whaling programme in the Antarctic Ocean, a decision that will finally stir the debate to promote sustainable fishing, say conservationists here.

INDIA: Fishers in Survival Battle With Turtles

A growing number of endangered olive ridley sea turtles have been getting killed in Eastern India’s coastal state Orissa by mechanized vessels defying a fishing ban on one of the world’s largest turtle sanctuaries, Gahirmatha.

ENERGY-MALAWI: Rise in Paraffin Prices Leaves Traders in the Dark

Increasing energy prices have caused anxiety for many small-scale Malawian traders, especially those in rural areas and peri-urban areas who rely on paraffin for lighting their business premises.

INDIA: Pollution Threatens Kashmir’s Fish Species

Several species of fish unique only to the waters of Kashmir are in danger of extinction due to high levels of pollution, environmentalists say.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Fisheries Need Transparent Regulation

Senegalese fishers participating in the 2011 World Social Forum (WSF) warned governments to "wake up to the ethical and transparent regulation of access to fisheries" to halt the overexploitation of this increasingly scarce resource.

EL SALVADOR: Small-Scale Fishers Want a Slice of the Sea

For the third time in 10 years, small-scale fishers in El Salvador are trying to get Congress to modify the country's fishing law, to create a five-mile exclusion zone along the coast where the industrial fleet would be banned from fishing.