Sea Around Us

Billions lost as illicit fisheries trade hurting nations who can afford it least

More than eight million to 14 million tonnes of unreported fish catches are traded illicitly every year, costing the legitimate market between $9 billion and $17 billion in trade each year, according to new UBC research.

Feb 26, 2020

Tuna for sale at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

How sustainable is tuna? New global catch database exposes dangerous fishing trends

Appearing in everything from sushi rolls to sandwiches, tuna are among the world’s favourite fish. But are our current tuna fishing habits sustainable?

Oct 1, 2019

Industrial fisheries are starving seabirds all around the world

Industrial fisheries are starving seabirds like penguins and terns by competing for the same prey sources, new research from the French National Center for Scientific Research in Montpellier and the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British Columbia has found.

Dec 6, 2018

Modern slavery promotes overfishing

Labour abuses, including modern slavery, are ‘hidden subsidies’ that allow distant-water fishing fleets to remain profitable and promote overfishing, new research from the University of Western Australia and the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British Columbia has found.

Nov 7, 2018

Seized dried shark fins are displayed during a Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department presentation at Kwai Chung Customhouse in Hong Kong, China, September 5, 2018. Credit: Jerome Favre/Handout photo

Appetite for shark fin soup drives massive shark population decline

Consumers need to stop demanding shark fin soup and other products in the absence of robust laws and sustainable practices regulating shark overfishing, research co-authored by the Sea Around Us initiative at UBC has found.

Sep 13, 2018

Fishing fleets travelling further to catch fewer fish

Industrial fishing fleets have doubled the distance they travel to fishing grounds since 1950 but catch only a third of what they did 65 years ago per kilometre travelled, a new study has found.

Aug 1, 2018

Researchers found that globally, industrial and small-scale fisheries caught 5.6 billion tonnes of fish in the past 65 years. Credit: GSY Sea Fisheries/Flickr

437 million tonnes of fish, $560 billion wasted due to destructive fishing operations

Industrial fisheries that rely on bottom trawling wasted 437 million tonnes of fish and missed out on $560 billion in revenue over the past 65 years, new UBC research has found.

May 15, 2018

Warmer waters from climate change will leave fish shrinking, gasping for air

Fish are expected to shrink in size by 20 to 30 per cent if ocean temperatures continue to climb due to climate change.

Aug 21, 2017

Ten million tonnes of fish wasted every year despite declining fish stocks

Industrial fishing fleets dump nearly 10 million tonnes of good fish back into the ocean every year, according to new research.

Jun 26, 2017

Fish evolve by playing it safe

New research supports the creation of more marine reserves in the world’s oceans because, the authors say, fish can evolve to be more cautious and stay away from fishing nets.

Mar 21, 2017

Study finds 30 per cent of global fish catch is unreported

Countries drastically underreport the number of fish caught worldwide, according to a new study, and the numbers obscure a significant decline in the total catch .

Jan 19, 2016

Global trends show seabird populations dropped 70 per cent since 1950s

UBC research shows world’s monitored seabird populations have dropped 70 per cent since the 1950s, a stark indication that marine ecosystems are not doing well.

Jul 9, 2015

New data on reported and unreported marine catches now available online

Researchers with UBC’s Sea Around Us project have launched a new open-source web platform that provides the first comprehensive coverage of both reported and unreported fish.

May 27, 2015

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation grants $2.6 million to improve data on world fisheries

UBC’s Sea Around Us project has received $2.6 million (U.S.) from The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Aug 20, 2014

UBC fisheries scientists recognized in Smithsonian Magazine's Top Ten Ocean Stories of 2012

UBC fisheries scientists were involved in two of the ten best ocean stories of 2012 by Smithsonian magazine’s Surprising Science blog.

Dec 20, 2012

Fish getting smaller as the oceans warm: UBC research

Changes in ocean and climate systems could lead to smaller fish, according to a new study led by fisheries scientists at the University of British Columbia.

Sep 30, 2012

Law that regulates shark fishery is too liberal: UBC study

Shark fins are worth more than other parts of the shark and are often removed from the body, which gets thrown back into the sea. To curtail this wasteful practice, many countries allow the fins to be landed detached from shark bodies, as long as their weight does not exceed five per cent of the total shark catch. New University of British Columbia research shows that this kind of legislation is too liberal.

Mar 2, 2012

UBC researchers use Google Earth to verify Mediterranean fish farming data

The Great Wall of China is not the only thing you can see from space. Fish farming cages are clearly visible through Google Earth’s satellite images and University of British Columbia researchers have used them to estimate the amount of fish being cultivated in the Mediterranean.

Feb 8, 2012