Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy
Ker Than. Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture
In 2000, Stanford marine ecologist Larry Crowder read an intriguing scientific paper that introduced the concept of mobile marine protected areas, or mMPAs – ocean sanctuaries whose boundaries can shift in space and time to protect animals that follow changing ocean features like the Gulf Stream.Read more → (7 minute read)
World Resources Institute
Global greenhouse gas emissions are on track to rise once again to their highest level in history. Our time is shrinking to reduce climate-warming emissions enough to limit global temperature rise to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius (2.7-3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.Read more → (6 minute read)
Paul Brinkmann, U.S. News Fisheries & Aquaculture
A new land-based salmon farm, described by industry groups as among the world's largest, is raising millions of the healthy popular fish in giant warehouses about 30 miles southwest of Miami.Read more → (7 minute read)
Emma Critchley and Douglas McCauley
In 2019, we saw a mixed bag of news stories from oceans, high seas and marine conservation. A fair bit of progress was made toward an international treaty to protect biodiversity on the high seas.Read more → (9 minute read)
Beth Gardiner, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Plastics & Pollution
A world awash in plastic will soon see even more, as a host of new petrochemical plants — their ethane feedstock supplied by the fracking boom — come online. Major oil companies, facing the prospect of reduced demand for their fuels, are ramping up their plastics output.Read more → (9 minute read)
Alexandra Ossola, Quartz Fisheries & Aquaculture
If you’ve only heard about the negative aspects of algae, like how its blooms clog waterways and kill off species, you’re missing half the story. Now scientists and engineers are discovering new ways to harness algae’s unique qualities.Read more → (3 minute read)
Martin Koehring, The Economist Group- World Ocean Initiative Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports
Safeguarding and harnessing the ocean’s ability to provide for people and the planet is crucial for sustainable development, says Martin Koehring, head of the World Ocean Initiative.
Read more → (3 minute read)
World Ocean Initiative, The Economist Group
Growth in low-carbon technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines is driving demand for metals used in batteries and wiring. The World Ocean Initiative finds out whether it could be more sustainable to get these resources from the seabed rather than terrestrial mines.
Read more → (5 minute read)
Jennifer Lynch, SEVENSEAS Media Plastics & Pollution
A new study on the Pacific Ocean’s floating trash indicates not only a significant accumulation of microplastics in the Hawaiian Islands, but that larval fish are eating the debris.
Read more → (3 minute read)
CNBC Energy Solutions
Piva, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, announced on Wednesday that it raised $250 million for its first fund, which will focus on the next era of energy, industry and materials.Read more → (4 minute read)
Olivia Rosane Energy Solutions
We can save hundreds of millions of people from poverty by 2050 by limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Read more → (11 minute read)
David Hume, The Liquid Grid Shipping & Ports
The maritime industry is in need of fixing. It must find new ways to move cargo with less emissions. However, just like repairing a bicycle’s shifter, we can’t rely on a single tool to get the job done.
Read more → (5 minute read)
World Ocean Initiative, The Economist Group Fisheries & Aquaculture
The first blue paper commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy finds that, if mariculture is better managed, the world can both produce more food, and do so profitably.
Read more → (5 minute read)
Mindy Weisberger Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
When workers with a whale strandings agency in Scotland performed a necropsy on a recently beached sperm whale, they found a gruesome surprise: The animal had died with around 220 lbs. (100 kilograms) of trash in its stomach.Read more → (4 minute read)
Michael Crispino Fisheries & Aquaculture
Our planet’s health—and our own well-being—is dependent on a vibrant ocean rich with natural resources. Oceans provide but must also thrive. Sustainable fishing can be an effective way to balance the needs of people and nature by protecting complex, interconnected ecosystems while providing food security and livelihoods for coastal communities.Read more → (4 minute read)
Olivia Rosane Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution
Discarded plastic fishing equipment, dubbed "ghost gear," is especially dangerous to marine life because it was designed to trap and kill it.Read more → (3 minute read)
Our Daily Planet Fisheries & Aquaculture
A new report from the Stimson Center, a global security think tank concludes that globally the fishing industry — particularly fishing vessels that ply waters far from their home (“the distant water fleet”) — is unsustainable and the only way to reign it in is through much greater transparency so that these vessels’ movements and catches can be more closely monitored by governments and NGOs.Read more → (3 minute read)
By Julie Zaugg and Jared Peng, CNN Fisheries & Aquaculture
Authorities in China have approved a drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, the first new medicine with the potential to treat the cognitive disorder in 17 years. The seaweed-based drug, called Oligomannate, can be used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's, according to a statement from China's drug safety agency.
Read more → (3 minute read)
WM. Robert Irvin Energy Solutions
As society grapples with climate change and the challenge of decarbonizing the national energy grid, proponents increasingly hold up hydropower as an indispensable part of the solution, touting it as “clean, green energy.”Read more → (19 minute read)
World Ocean Initiative, The Economist Group
As the world debates the definition of blue finance, the need to place sustainability at its centre is clear. Improving transparency and accountability in sustainable ocean projects will accelerate participation from private-sector finance.
Read more → (7 minute read)
