Richard AshwellWaitrose to suspend mackerel sales due to #overfishing concerns
Marine groups have recommended a cut in the amount of North East Atlantic mackerel being caught to prevent a collapse in population numbers.
ClareBear ๐ 
Lenton said it was 15 months ago when he made his first call to the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Richard Rathe#HorseshoeCrab follow-up: So little progress since I last checked maybe ten years ago... ๐
Background: #HorseshoeCrabs (HSCs) are ancient (450 million years or more). They have a very early version of #ImmuneSystem that depends on something called "Limulus amebocyte lysate" or LAL to detect bacterial toxins and "clump" together to neutralize those bacteria/toxins.
This is scientifically very interesting in terms of evolution, etc....
https://daily.jstor.org/the-horseshoe-crab-same-as-it-ever-was/
Some bright scientist figured out that LAL could be used to detect contamination of vaccines and related medical stuff. Since that discovery HSCs have been commercially "milked" (actually more like a blood donation) to produce LAL for the pharmaceutical industry. [Before that they killed thousands of rabbits for this purpose. LAL was an improvement, and necessary, but read on for why it is no longer acceptable!]
Abstract: "Horseshoe crabs have been integral to the safe production of #vaccines and injectable medications for the past 40 years. The bleeding of live horseshoe crabs, a process that leaves thousands dead annually, is an ๐ ecologically unsustainable practice๐ for all four species of horseshoe crab and the shorebirds that rely on their eggs as a primary food source during spring migration. Populations of both horseshoe crabs and shorebirds are in decline. This study confirms the efficacy of recombinant Factor C (rFC), a synthetic alternative that eliminates the need for animal products in #endotoxin detection. Furthermore, our findings confirm that the biomedical industry can achieve a 90% reduction in the use of reagents derived from horseshoe crabs by using the synthetic alternative for the testing of water and other common materials used in the manufacturing process. This represents an extraordinary opportunity for the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries to significantly contribute to the conservation of horseshoe crabs and the birds that depend on them."
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2006607
Bottom Line: There is an approved alternative to LAL called recombinant Factor C (rFC) out there, but Pharma mostly still relies on milking HSCs. ๐
Now in 2026: "A lawsuit is filed to protect ancient horseshoe crabs"...
This is basically an #OverFishing story with a rather odd and spiny subject. Even if they aren't warm and fuzzy we need to stand up for these magnificent creatures, and the ecological webs that depend on them!
https://www.wusf.org/environment/2026-01-06/lawsuit-filed-protect-ancient-horseshoe-crabs
GES4SEAS MOOCsWhat news do you hear about the ocean?
Media tends to highlight negative aspects such as #pollution, #overfishing, #biodiversity loss, #climatechange impacts, etc.
This makes society pessimistic about the future of the #ocean
#GES4SEAS #MOOC
Media tends to highlight negative aspects such as #pollution, #overfishing, #biodiversity loss, #climatechange impacts, etc.
This makes society pessimistic about the future of the #ocean
#GES4SEAS #MOOC
PepijnRE: https://mastodon.online/@Pepijn/111991376150442267
Offer: for about 23 years I have had the domain overfishing.org
It's up for renewal. I'm thinking of letting it go.
If anyone is interested and feels like they can do something nice with it: DM me and we'll arrange a transfer.
Please boost if you think people in your network are interested :-)
edit: oops, it auto-renewed yesterday. I guess there's some more time to decide..
edmundjacobsen๐จ Mackerel under pressure ๐จ
๐ฎ๐ช Ireland is pushing the EU to act as third countries fish mackerel at unsustainable levels in the North East Atlantic.
Urgent talks. Calls for action. Support for fishers on the table.
๐ Read more ๐ https://tinyurl.com/ywxtt93j
๐๐๐ช๐บ๐ฌ๐ง
#mackerel #fisheries #EU #AgriFish #NorthEastAtlantic #pelagic #overfishing #FishBreak
๐๐ฅ When the herring disappeared, everything changed.
From boom to collapse.
From full nets to empty seas.
๐ณ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐ซ๐ด ๐ท๐บ Coastal communities paid the price โ and the sea sent a clear warning.
๐๏ธ New podcast out now.
๐ Read more / listen here ๐ https://tinyurl.com/herring-collapse
#FishBreak #Herring #Fisheries #Overfishing #MarineScience #NordicFisheries #Sustainability #Ocean #Podcast ๐ง
๐ Mackerel crisis: not overfishing alone
New data challenges the mackerel story.
Weak recruitment over many years is the main cause of decline, says the Norwegian Pelagic Association (Pelagisk Forening) ๐ณ๐ด.
Historic stock estimates were also too low.
๐ Read more about whatโs really behind the mackerel crisis ๐ https://lnkd.in/ey_UXzuW
#Mackerel #Fisheries #Pelagic #Overfishing #ICES #FishStocks #Seafood #NordicFisheries #FishBreak
BellingenNSWThe ocean is the planet's largest ecosystem
"...The high seas were like the "wild west" because no single country had ownership or responsibility over them...You could do do whatever you want out there."
"The high seas face mounting threats from destructive fishing practices, shipping, plastic pollution, overfishing and potential deep sea mining, all compounded by climate change."
"The world's first legally binding treaty to protect oceans and marine life takes effect. The High Seas Treaty or Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions (BBNJ) Agreement, will govern about two-thirds of the planet's oceans including vast areas beyond any country's borders...Currently, only about 1 per cent of these international waters are protected."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-18/high-seas-treaty-marine-protection-in-effect/106241974
#ocean #biodiversity #conservation #OceanGovernance #BBNJ #Australia #OverFishing
