Across the globe, endangered species are at risk for illegal poaching. African elephants are sought out for their ivory, rhinoceros for their singular horns, and armadillo-like pangolins for their protective, brittle scales. Add to that list valuable and environmentally sensitive trees illegally harvested throughout the world where entire ecosystems are being deforested and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that is devastating oceans. These illicit markets, estimated at $1 trillion annually, cause enormous environmental impacts and have the potential to unleash new, deadly pathogens.

Many nations are calling for protection of 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 from some or all types of exploitation, including fishing. Building off this proposal, a new analysis led by the University of Washington looks at how effective fishing closures are at reducing accidental catch. Researchers found that permanent marine protected areas are a relatively inefficient way to protect marine biodiversity that is accidentally caught in fisheries. Dynamic ocean management — changing the pattern of closures as accidental catch hotspots shift — is much more effective.

Professor Chris Anderson’s new research published in Frontiers in Marine Science explores the different social and economic impacts and pathways through which the MSC Certification Program can lead to sustainable outcomes for our oceans.

“We’re basically asking if wild fish feel ‘peer pressure’ from hatchery fish to migrate,” said Dr. Berdahl. “Hatchery production is common throughout the Pacific Northwest, so the findings could improve salmon conservation broadly.”

Filmed over the course of the summer and fall of 2021, Jason Ching and Professor Daniel Schindler from the University of Washington’s Alaska Salmon Program recently released a short film on the salmon habitats of southwest Alaska. Mosaic: The Salmon Wilderness of Bristol Bay, Alaska showcases the region’s pristine streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands and how they sustain its vast sockeye salmon runs. 

Join us weekly for a new SAFS tradition! Every Monday at 2:30pm, a faculty member will host SAFS Café on the 2nd floor patio of FISH. Bring your coffee or tea and enjoy some refreshments and conversation with colleagues.

Future Rivers invites you to a special film screening on October 14th of the documentary, River to the Heart (105m), followed by a conversation with the director, Eddy Harris, author of Mississippi Solo. This documentary charts Eddy’s adventures as a lone Black man canoeing 2,318 miles down the entirety of the Mississippi River.

Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño, along with researchers from NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Baywater Shellfish Farms, will examine the impacts of stressors on shellfish as part of a new project funded by the NOAA Sea Grant and the Ocean Acidification Program.

Thursday, September 30, 2–5pm at the lawn next to FSH; livestream will end before 4pm

This year, the Kickoff will be a hybrid affair, with socially-distanced outdoor activities (and socializing, and food) at the FSH building and a live Zoom webinar for folks who can’t or prefer not to attend in person.

SAFS Assistant Professor Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño was recently named the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award. This prestigious award will support Padilla-Gamiño’s research to explore how changing oceans and plastic pollution will impact coral reef ecosystems; it will also support continued education and outreach initiatives with citizens, teachers and grade school students in Hawaii.