Author: Peter Etnoyer

The New England Fishery Management Council had laid the foundation to protect unique marine habitat by designating a series of canyons and seamounts from Maine to the Chesapeake Bay as Habitats of Particular Concern (HAPC).

Responding to concerns by scientists and conservation groups, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) affirmed protections for critically endangered leatherback sea turtles in California waters. NMFS denied a proposed exempted fishing permit application (EFP) that would have enabled the expansion of the
drift gillnet fishery into current conservation areas.

Things are bad on the high seas. Fisheries are expanding wherever they’re not collapsing. The global appetite for seafood is growing. Polar bears and penguins are starving. Pollution is pervasive. But as a scientist, you have to consider both sides of every story, even the grim ones.