09 Jan 2024

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) can make important contributions towards decarbonising the shipping industry and supporting safe, secure and thriving oceans, not least through the critical role that their products and services play in the transition through route optimisation and improved geospatial data. The UKHO also have a wider role as the Primary Charting Authority […]

09 Jan 2024

Every year, around 70,000 turtles and 200,000 seabirds die as a result of being caught as bycatch in EU fishing fleets.   Bycatch is when other marine species are unintentionally trapped by commercial fishing gear. This can account for up to 40% of total fishing catches, globally reaching as much as 38 million tonnes discarded per […]

09 Jan 2024

A species of ray, so rare it has only ever been recorded once back in the late 1800s, has been declared extinct. The loss of the Java Stingaree, a small relative of stingrays, is the first marine fish extinction as a result of human activity. The Java Stingaree (Urolophus javanicus) was known only from a […]

09 Jan 2024

The article was originally published by Jennifer Raynor, Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Humans are racing to harness the ocean’s vast potential to power global economic growth. Worldwide, ocean-based industries such as fishing, shipping and energy production generate at least US$1.5 trillion in economic activity each year and support 31 million jobs. This value […]

09 Jan 2024

The United States has extended its claims on the sea floor by an area twice the size of California, securing rights to potentially resource-rich areas. The ‘Extended Continental Shelf’ covers about 1 million square kilometres (386,100 square miles), predominantly in the Arctic and Bering Sea, an area of increasing strategic importance where Canada and Russia […]

03 Jan 2024

Defra has announced that 100% of storm overflows across the water network in England have now been fitted with Event Duration Monitors (EDMs), meeting the ambitious target set by the government to do so by the end of 2023. Event Duration Monitors increase transparency by measuring how, when and for how long a storm overflow […]

03 Jan 2024

Covered in The Guardian Ministers have been told they will be “punished” by voters after analysis revealed the decline of vital flood defences across England. The proportion of critical assets in disrepair has almost trebled in the West Midlands and the east of England since 2018, leaving thousands of homes and businesses more vulnerable to […]