Spiny Dogfish and the MSC – An Interview with Ian Scott

A big developing story in the world of spiny dogfish and fisheries management has been the petition to have the Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery MSC-certified for sustainability.  I’ve been following this story as information becomes available.  Adding some drama to the mix are accusations that…

Highs and Lows from the ICCAT

Hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving.  I’m officially back in action, though a little bit pudgier. Previously I (and several marine bloggers) have written about the sad state of the Mediterranean tuna fishery.  Since then the ICCAT has met to discuss exactly that fishery, and…

Somniosus microcephalinkus

As cold weather sets in and everyone gets ready for the holidays, I figured a cold water shark would be appropriate for today’s link pun.  Due to Thanksgiving’s rapid approach and a visit from The Hot Girlfriend, I’ll be eschewing my normal epic posts and…

Yikes

This is more of an academic post than a shark-related post.  This article has been making the science blog rounds today for good reason: if true, it has far-reaching (but distressingly unsurprising) implications not just for education but society in general.  The basic idea is…

The Dags of War: Basic Science in the Debate on Shark Finning

My esteemed colleague Andrew over at Southern Fried Science made me aware of a piece of gray literature that is directly related to sharks, fishing, and the debate over the shark finning ban currently trying to worm its way through Congress.  Gray literature is the…

Prionace glinka

Because sometimes it’s more efficient to post up a bunch of links than write a full post. Chronicles of Zostera has officially been assimilated into the Southern Fried Science Network.  John’s been pumping out quality posts on scallops, seagrass, and marine ecology for some time,…

Mediterranean Tuna Fisheries: a Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy

A series of articles started over at the Center for Public Integrity are shedding light on just how chaotic and lawless the bluefin tuna fishery in the Mediterranean Sea has become.  Though nominally managed through the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, bluefin…

Fear Will Keep Them in Line

As a lifelong shark lover whose thesis research happens to be on the subject of predation, I’m a little obsessed with the ecology of predation.  Earlier I posted on trophic cascades and debate over whether they are a strong enough interaction to affect fisheries.  What…

Feeding Habits Analysis: The Bigelow Exotics

On Friday I officially wrapped up going through all my stomach samples from my cruise aboard the NOAA/NMFS R/V Henry B. Bigelow.  Though a lot of identification work remains, it’s nice knowing that I at least have one complete data set totally cataloged.  In honor…