A coral reef love story

Coral reefs are in grave danger. Unless there is a dramatic reduction in CO2 emissions, the world’s reefs could essentially be wiped out within the next few decades. Coral reefs are home to a quarter of the world’s fish species and are essential to food security, economies and protecting coastal areas from storms. This article outlines the enormous obstacles facing reefs and makes a call for collective action.

When most people think of fishing, we imagine relaxing in a boat and patiently reeling in the day’s catch. But modern industrial fishing — the kind that stocks our grocery shelves — looks more like warfare. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jennifer Jacquet explain overfishing and its effects on ecosystems, food security, jobs, economies and coastal cultures.

For billions of people, seafood provides a significant source of protein and nutrition, but over half of the seafood we eat isn’t caught in the wild, it’s grown through aquaculture. Farmed seafood is one of the fastest-growing food industries, but the farming methods echo the problems we’ve seen in industrial agriculture. Is there a way to sustainably farm the ocean? Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Megan Davis investigate.

The UN IPCC brought together over 100 scientists from 30 different countries to draft this Special Report, which details the effects of climate change on oceans and ice. While the full report is 1,170 pages, this much shorter Summary for Policymakers highlights the key findings of the report, grouped into three sections: Observed Changes and Impacts, Projected Changes and Risks and Implementing Responses to Ocean and Cryosphere Change. This is an excellent source for those wanting the latest scientific consensus on how climate is impacting oceans and ice.

The oceans play a huge role in the US economy, support around 3.3 million US jobs and can be a significant part of our climate solutions, yet only get one fleeting mention in the entire Green New Deal resolution. This policy memo calls for the Green New Deal include the ocean in three specific policy areas: ocean habitat restoration, community-based fisheries and restorative ocean farming. It outlines how we can take the oceans "from a resource in crisis to a powerful tool for mitigating climate change and transforming our food system."

This beautiful, illustrated guide tackles everything you need to know about Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), including issues like spillover zones and eco-tourism. Urry eloquently distills complex information, heightened by its pairing with Amelia Bates’ whimsical illustrations. The guide is perfect for a first introduction to MPAs or as a quick refresher for those of us who could use a review.

This FAO report brings together massive amounts of data to outline major trends in fisheries and aquaculture across the globe. One major finding is that 33 percent of global fish populations are overfished and 59.9 percent are fully exploited. Another is that aquaculture currently makes up over half of global fish harvest. The report is accompanied by an interactive summary page, detailing major findings. Whether you read the summary or the full report, you will find yourself with a much deeper understanding of fishing and aquaculture.