Boom and Bust, All at Once: The Fraught Modern History of Fish Meal

How the cheap protein fueled the Global North’s agricultural expansion and destabilized the Global South.

Aug 16, 2023 | 1,200 words, about 6 minutes

Anti-Salmon-Farming Activists Are Playing a Global Game of Whack-a-Mole

Increasing regulation in several countries is forcing open-net-pen salmon farmers to pack up shop. But then what happens?

May 3, 2023 | 1,300 words, about 6 minutes

The Precarious Position of Treaty-less Tribes

What a five-year fight over a few dozen clams shows about the inconsistent rights of Indigenous tribes.

Oct 17, 2022 | 1,400 words, about 7 minutes

How Indigenous Sea Gardens Produced Massive Amounts of Food for Millennia

By focusing on reciprocity and the common good—both for the community and the environment—sea gardening created bountiful food without putting populations at risk of collapse.

Jul 18, 2022 | 1,300 words, about 6 minutes

Tribal Hatcheries and the Road to Restoration

In the US Pacific Northwest, tribal hatcheries uphold Indigenous communities’ treaty rights to salmon, while buying time to rehabilitate lost habitat.

Jun 3, 2022 | 5,700 words, about 28 minutes

The Transgenerational Cost of Fear

Scared song sparrows have fewer offspring, and their offspring are less likely to survive and thrive.

Apr 7, 2022 | 700 words, about 3 minutes

A 30-Year-Long Fishing Dispute Fizzles Out

With the United States Supreme Court declining to hear the case, a protracted legal battle between two Indigenous communities has nowhere to go.

Mar 9, 2022 | 1,700 words, about 8 minutes

What Does Building Back Better Look Like?

The United States has tentatively allocated $6-billion to conserve and restore coastal areas and prepare for a changing climate. We asked a range of experts how all that money should be spent.

Feb 23, 2022 | 1,000 words, about 5 minutes

Early-Career Scientists Face a Wall of Unpaid Positions

A survey of job postings for early-career marine researchers shows that more than half of the positions are unpaid.

Nov 8, 2021 | 1,200 words, about 6 minutes

Noise Pollution Affects Practically Everything, Even Seagrass

Seagrass may not have ears, but that doesn’t stop noise pollution from causing serious damage to the plant’s other structures.

Jul 23, 2021 | 600 words, about 3 minutes

COVID-19 Lockdowns Show a World Without Parachute Science

With international scientists barred from traveling, local scientists in the Pacific islands are taking the chance to lead.

Jun 16, 2021 | 950 words, about 4 minutes

In the Push for Marine Conservation, Partially Protected Areas Are a “Red Herring”

Compared to fully safeguarded marine protected areas, partially protected areas have little benefit for marine life or people’s enjoyment.

Mar 10, 2021 | 850 words, about 4 minutes

Putting the Pebble Mine to Rest

Weary Alaska communities are seeking permanent protections for the Bristol Bay watershed.

Feb 5, 2021 | 950 words, about 4 minutes

Examining Why the Pebble Mine Died

Regulators handed a rare rejection to the proposed Alaska copper and gold mine.

Dec 2, 2020 | 950 words, about 4 minutes

Secret Recordings Portray Regulators as Easing Pebble Mine’s Path to Approval

The Pebble Limited Partnership’s latest plan to offset the damage caused by the proposed Alaska mine is being highly criticized.

Sep 30, 2020 | 950 words, about 4 minutes

A Rare Salmon Type Is in the Crosshairs of Alaska’s Proposed Pebble Mine

The Koktuli River watershed, potential home of the future open-pit mine, is also home to a distinctive river-type sockeye.

Aug 27, 2020 | 1,200 words, about 6 minutes

Pebble Mine’s Environmental Review Foreshadows Future “Streamlined” Process Forged by Trump Administration

Environmental reviews are now to be done much, much faster than before.

Jul 24, 2020 | 900 words, about 4 minutes

As the Pebble Mine Nears a Decision, Questions Surround its Environmental Review

Documents unveiled by a Freedom of Information Act request show agencies’ behind-the-scenes critiques of the proposed Pebble Mine.

Jun 10, 2020 | 1,100 words, about 5 minutes

Pebble Mine’s “Woefully Inadequate” Plan to Compensate for Destroying Salmon Habitat

A wide range of experts are critiquing the proposed Alaska mine’s lackluster environmental compensation plan.

Apr 29, 2020 | 1,100 words, about 5 minutes

Don’t Forget the Pebble Mine’s Overlooked Port

A source close to the Pebble Mine project says that plans for a new marine port, designed to support the proposed mine, raise a host of environmental concerns that haven’t received much attention.

Aug 21, 2019 | 950 words, about 4 minutes

Can Wild Salmon and the Pebble Mine Coexist?

Posing a problem for the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska, new research shows salmon rely on entire watersheds.

May 23, 2019 | 1,000 words, about 5 minutes

RangerBot: Programmed to Kill

A new generation of sea star-murdering robots is set to deploy.

Aug 30, 2018 | 800 words, about 4 minutes

The Whale That Dines Alone

Researchers listened as solitary humpback whales made a supposedly social call.

May 14, 2018 | 700 words, about 3 minutes

Mussels on Acid

Variability in ocean acidity may be a bigger deal than scientists thought.

Dec 6, 2017 | 600 words, about 3 minutes

How Not to Kill an Albatross

Accidental albatross deaths can be curtailed if commercial fishers make one simple change.

Nov 13, 2017 | 800 words, about 4 minutes

Lights Out for Hawai‘i’s Seabirds

Scientists hope lasers can save endangered seabirds from power line collisions.

Jun 12, 2017 | 650 words, about 3 minutes

Brazil Gets Lit

Artificial lighting is spreading across the country, with unknown effects on its wildlife.

May 3, 2017 | 600 words, about 3 minutes

Radioactive Refuges

A heavily-exploited Japanese fish found sanctuary after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake.

Jan 16, 2017 | 650 words, about 3 minutes

Making a More Perfect Penguin

A long-term study shows the subtle hand of natural selection on Argentina’s Magellanic penguins.

Nov 29, 2016 | 550 words, about 2 minutes

New Research Offers a Wider View on Indigenous North American Whaling

Additional early North American societies may have been whale hunters, not just scavengers.

Nov 7, 2016 | 450 words, about 2 minutes

This Robot Thinks It’s a Larva

A new robot is designed to mimic the behavior of teeny tiny larvae.

Sep 29, 2016 | 800 words, about 4 minutes

The Killer Kiss of Kohn’s Snails

Venomous cone snails may be slow, but they’re deadly.

Sep 27, 2016 | 3 min

How to Give a Seabird an Underwater Hearing Test

Scientists are worried marine noise may affect seabirds, but first they have to figure out how to test it.

Aug 25, 2016 | 750 words, about 3 minutes