Languages

sustainability

Scientists Launch Global Agenda to Curb Social and Human Rights Abuses in the Seafood Sector

The article, published today in the journal Science, is in direct response to investigative reports by the Associated Press, the Guardian, the New York Times and other media outlets that uncovered glaring human rights violations on fishing vessels. The investigations tracked the widespread use of slave labor in Southeast Asia and its role in bringing seafood to American restaurants and supermarkets, chronicling the plight of fishermen tricked and trapped into working 22-hour days, often without pay and while enduring abuse. Subsequent investigations have documented the global extent of these abuses in a wide array of countries.

West African fisheries, climate change, and aquaculture: A World Bank and Sub Regional Fisheries Commission workshop

West Africa may be one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. The region is highly dependent on fisheries for livelihoods and as an important food source. The marine resources of West Africa are currently threatened by overfishing and climate change-induced ocean warming could see fish stocks migrate away from the area and into cooler waters. If CO2 emissions continue at their current levels, the region could see a 50% decline in fisheries-related jobs and a total annual loss of US$311 million, found a study by Nereus Program researchers.

OPEN POSITION – Postdoctoral Fellow on Stewardship of Marine Social-Ecological Systems at the Stockholm Resilience Centre

The goal of this postdoc is to advance the research agenda on transnational seafood corporations in relation to global stwewardship of marine social-ecological systems, and integrate such developing understanding in the Nereus Program. The candidate will be working in close collaboration with governance scientists from diverse disciplines and is expected to primarily explore ways to integrate data and methods from organisational science and finance.

Heatwaves in the ocean – ETH Zurich blogpost

Heatwaves are occurring not only on the land but also in the sea, notably “The Blob” in Northeast Pacific and a shorter heatwave on Australia’s west coast in 2010 and 2011. Nereus Alumnus Thomas Frölicher outlines what he calls these “two exceptional heatwaves in the ocean” in his post “Heatwaves in the ocean – a risk to ecosystems?” on the Zukunftsblog – Facts and Views on Sustainability. He discusses the impact these heatwaves have on marine species and ecosystems.

IPBES Report: Methodological Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released their Methodological Assessment of Scenarios & Models of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services, for which Nereus Director of Science William Cheung was a coordinating lead author, as well as a contributing author for Chapter 5 “Modelling consequences of change in biodiversity for nature’s benefits to people” (200-243).

New Nereus Program fellow: Gerald Singh, UBC

Gerald Singh is a Nereus Fellow working with Yoshitaka Ota and Andres Cisneros-Montemayor and collaborating with the United Nations Development Programme. Gerald is characterizing the contribution of a sustainable ocean to achieving broad sustainable development goals. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework, Gerald is researching how the SDGs are dependent on achieving sustainable use and management of the ocean.

Five key aspects of sustainable aquaculture: Can aquaculture help tackle global food security, especially in Africa?

by Muhammed Oyinlola, Nereus Fellow

Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic species, is gradually becoming an important aspect of solving the challenge of global food security. The supply of seafood from fisheries is declining; fish stocks can only be increased if we reduce our fishing pressures, yet governments continue to subsidize the fishing industry for us to fish more. Hence, the open window we have is aquaculture. My argument is that we need to change from hunting in the ocean to farming the oceans just the way we changed hunting on land to producing animal protein by farming. Can aquaculture be our best option to increase the seafood supply for the world’s ever increasing population?

The impending extinction of the vaquita is not just a fishing problem — it’s a social and ecological one too

In our current eco-friendly world, where climate change makes front-page news and the killing of a lion launches thousands of Facebook posts, how can a porpoise be nearing extinction and most of the world not even know of its existence?

The vaquita is going extinct at an alarming rate, from an estimated 600 individuals in 1996 to 60 in 2016, states a report presented to Mexico’s Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources earlier this month. It’s the world’s smallest marine mammal, with a maximum length of only 1.5 meters (4.9 feet). And with its dark eye patches and mouth that seems to curl up into a smile even after death, the vaquita is not missing out on the cute factor.

Ask an Expert: Why is the global fishing industry given $35 billion in subsidies each year?

OceanCanada Research Director Rashid Sumaila and his collaborators from the UBC Global Fisheries Cluster (Sea Around Us and the Nereus Program) have published an updated estimate of global fisheries subsidies in the international journal Marine Policy. The researchers found that the global fishing industry is being supported by $35 billion yearly in government subsidies, the majority of these, upwards of $20 billion annually, promote increased capacity that can lead to harmful impacts such as overfishing.

Subsidy Equals Submission? Cultural Subsidies and Ecologically Sustainable Development

By Lisa Maria Dellmuth, Senior Nereus Fellow
Stockholm Resilience Centre

It is common practice among Western democratic societies to supply art and cultural goods on a public basis. This practice has led many politicians to view art and culture as political instruments in promoting pro-environmental norms. A prime example is the current debate in Europe about whether state involvement in art and culture implies that cultural activities should advocate the idea of ecologically sustainable development.