Oceans & Coasts

Oceans & Coasts

Oceans and coasts encompass marine ecosystems, shorelines and the people who depend on them. This archive covers ocean life, habitats, fisheries, coastal livelihoods and conservation.

17 stories

Conservation Practice

Recycled glass sand shows promise in short-term tests of Louisiana estuary species

A laboratory study found no significant survival differences across sediment treatments, but it does not establish long-term safety or restoration success in the field.

Oceans & Coasts

US seabed mining applications expand across Pacific high seas

A Mongabay analysis finds proposed US-linked claims in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone could cover a large area if approved, while questions over regulation and environmental effects remain unresolved.

Oceans & Coasts

Uncertainty hangs over Tasmania’s urchin-control funding

Tasmania’s fund for long-spined sea urchin management is extended to June 2026, but official information does not confirm what support will follow. Research also distinguishes targeted local control from culling incidental to abalone fishing.

Pagham Harbour records a strong Sandwich Tern breeding season

At least 756 pairs bred at the reserve in 2026, following two years with no pairs recorded. The local rebound is not, on its own, evidence of wider population recovery.

Conservation Practice

A dog is being trained to detect invasive sea squirt in Scotland

Sgiath, a Labrador working with marine ecologist Dr Texa Sim, has reportedly located hundreds of colonies of carpet sea squirt. The available reporting does not establish how accurate the method is or whether it has changed management outcomes.

Oceans & Coasts

MCS lowers ratings for some hake and coley fisheries

The Marine Conservation Society cites declining stocks and fishing pressure, while retaining better ratings for some catches.

People & Communities

Women shellfish gatherers in Sergipe report pressure on mangrove access

Gatherers say development is reducing access to harvesting areas and that catches are declining; the available reporting does not independently measure either change.

Conservation Practice

Women-led group links mangrove restoration and livelihoods in North Sulawesi

In Sarawet, the group Rhizopora combines mangrove work with fishing-related income and savings. Available accounts describe its activities, but provide limited evidence of longer-term ecological or household-income outcomes.

Oceans & Coasts

Study maps potential mining pollution risk across nearly 293,000 km of coastline

A global assessment identifies coastal areas where metal-mining sites and projected climate hazards overlap, but does not show that pollution has reached every coastline counted.

Oceans & Coasts

California reviews two Tribal co-sponsored marine protection proposals

Point Sal and Mishopshno are among petitions considered in a review of the state’s marine protected area network. Their outcome, and any rules that might follow, are not confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Oceans & Coasts

Seagrass fish communities show higher estimated nutrient potential than reef communities

A study of 40 East African sites found greater estimated nutritional multifunctionality among fish assemblages associated with seagrass meadows, despite lower total fish biomass. The result concerns nutrient potential, not measured health outcomes.

Permitted collections take sand tiger sharks from Delaware Bay to aquariums

A study reports 80 sharks collected from Delaware waters for aquarium display between 2018 and 2024, but the effect of removals on the Northwest Atlantic population remains unknown.

Oceans & Coasts

Porto Seguro pays fishers to remove invasive lionfish

A bounty is supporting lionfish removal and research in Bahia, while the scale of the fish’s presence and its local effects remain unclear.

Conservation Practice

Sunflower sea stars put to the test in California kelp restoration trials

Monterey Bay experiments suggest the captive-reared predators can affect nearby sea urchins, but whether releases could help kelp recover remains unknown.

Oceans & Coasts

Southern bluefin tuna meeting does not adopt new seabird measures

Mongabay reports that members identified priority albatrosses and high-risk areas but stopped short of adopting additional mandatory protections against seabird bycatch.

Oceans & Coasts

Workshop identifies 57 species new to science in Argentine canyon

The organisms were identified from deep-sea samples collected mainly in 2025; formal scientific descriptions are still to come.

Oceans & Coasts

Belize plan proposes three offshore zones towards ocean protection target

Belize’s Sustainable Ocean Plan sets out proposed offshore protected areas as part of a Blue Bond commitment to protect up to 30% of the country’s ocean. Formal approval and legal steps are still pending.