BIODIVERSITY: Lucrative Shark Trade Under Scrutiny

As climate change transforms the acidity and oxygen levels of the world's waters with devastating effects for some marine species, others are facing an even more immediate threat from human consumption.

BIODIVERSITY: CITES Faces Political Storm over Tuna Ban

The vast majority of the species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, live on land, but as marine species come under increasing pressure from unsustainable fishing and a range of climate change-related threats that focus is beginning to shift.

BIODIVERSITY: Companies Push Hard to Halt Tuna Collapse

In the Seychelles' only cannery, the din of thousands of empty tuna cans rattling on narrow metal troughs is incredible as they bustle along, soon to be filled with Skipjack tuna that only days ago were swimming freely in the inky blue Indian Ocean.

Q&A: ”There’s a Limit to Fish Harvesting”

The perilous state of the world's fish stocks has received less media attention than the more visible, palpable environmental problems like air pollution. Isabella Lövin is seeking to redress that balance. Her 2007 book ‘Tyst hav' (Silent Seas) hit the best-seller list in her native Sweden, garnering her three awards, including the title of 'Journalist of the Year'.

ENVIRONMENT: Gov’t Silence Dooms Whales to Slaughter

Latin American governments are considering a bloc response to the Japanese whaling fleet's departure for Antarctica, in a new season of what it claims is "hunting for scientific purposes" and which threatens to kill 1,000 whales in the protected Southern Ocean sanctuary.

WEST AFRICA: Helping Pirates to Plunder the Oceans

West Africa is one of the world’s regions most affected by pirate fishers. Illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing has been devastating local livelihoods and ecosystems for decades. National fisheries management authorities are often helpless to protect their maritime resources.

WORLD: Fishy Fishing Practices Threaten the Environment

For years, fishing communities along Africa’s 30,000 km-long coastline have been raising the alarm on the depletion of their fish stocks, to no avail. Over- fishing by foreign vessels has been wiping out the livelihood of West African fishers, contributing to desperate migration attempts into Europe.

ENVIRONMENT: Sharks Need to Fear Humans

Ever since the horror movie Jaws was released in 1975, sharks have been regarded as deadly creatures in the public imagination of many countries. The deep irony - as a senior European Union official stressed Feb. 5 - is that humans pose a far greater danger to sharks than vice-versa.

TRADE-WEST AFRICA: Overfishing Linked to Food Crisis, Migration

According to a recent report by the nongovernmental organisation ActionAid, West African seas are being devastated by legal and illegal overfishing, while local fishing industries decline. Moreover, the economic partnership agreements in their currently proposed form only exacerbate this problem.

ENVIRONMENT: Top U.S. Sushi Company Linked to Whaling

An investigation has revealed that the U.S. supplier of sushi to more than 6,000 restaurants is associated with a Japanese company that sells millions of tins of whale meat.