08 Sep 2026
Photo by Juanma Ciemente Alloza More than 40 species of shark live in British waters, yet scientists know remarkably little about most of them. A new three-year research project, led by Dr Lucy Hawkes and Dr Matthew Witt at the University of Exeter, aims to close that gap for three of the most vulnerable: […]
25 Aug 2026
Photo by Pratik Patil Fishing nets remain the most likely cause of death for common dolphins that strand on the Cornish coast, according to a seven-year post-mortem review that has prompted renewed calls for wider access to acoustic deterrent devices. The study, carried out by the University of Exeter, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Cornwall […]
21 Jul 2026
Photo Credit: AdobeStock The most comprehensive UK-wide assessment yet of where and how sensitive marine species are being accidentally caught in fishing gear has been published by Clean Catch, the Defra-funded bycatch mitigation programme. The literature review and a shorter policy brief identify four broad hotspot fisheries in UK waters, set out the species most at risk in each, […]
16 Jun 2026
Photo by Jack White Over 10,000 seabirds, more than 1,000 dolphins and porpoises, approximately 500 seals, over 120 tonnes of protected sharks, skates and rays, and more than 1,000 endangered Atlantic salmon are being killed as bycatch in UK waters every year. Those are the headline findings of Hidden in the haul: The true scale […]
02 Jun 2026
Photo by Wayne Gourley Around 200 dead sharks have washed up on a beach in Carmarthenshire in what conservationists believe was likely a discarded or abandoned catch, raising fresh concerns about bycatch practices and unregulated gear disposal in Welsh waters. The net was discovered on 24 May at Pembrey Beach, also known as Cefn […]
28 Apr 2026
Photo by Roman Manshin A major new report has concluded that the UK’s whales, dolphins and porpoises are being let down by legal protections that exist on paper but not in practice, with the North Sea, one of the most important cetacean habitats in UK waters, identified as a particular area of concern. The […]
28 Apr 2026
Photo by Christian Paul Stobbe A landmark study published in Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries has produced the first global inventory of fish species caught by bottom trawl fisheries — and the scale is striking. Researchers at the University of British Columbia documented nearly 3,000 species of marine fish caught by bottom trawls, drawn from 236 sources […]
31 Mar 2026
Photo by Ali Abdul Rahman More than 130 governments concluded a week of negotiations in Campo Grande, Brazil on 29 March, agreeing to extend new or upgraded international protections to 40 migratory species at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS CoP15). The marine outcomes […]
