Sustainable Seafood

What does it take to study the ocean? It’s a lot harder than you might think, considering most marine research happens in a lab instead of the ocean itself. Imagine you are starting a project at Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML) and given only two weeks with limited funding to set up your study and collect all of the data you need to answer your research question. Data collection is an enormous task, but have you ever thought about the time it takes to replicate ocean environments on land?

Healthy ocean environments provide vital life support for roughly 3 billion people living in coastal communities worldwide. These vibrant ecosystems deliver numerous benefits to coastal communities that often rely on ocean industries such as commercial fishing for sustenance and income.

The UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory's Aquatic Resources Group offers a glimpse into the world of oyster aquaculture. See the hatchery, where tiny Olympia oysters (Ostrea lurida) - the only oyster species native to the west coast of the US - are prepared for outplanting into the ocean.

This video was filmed and produced by Sam Briggs and features Joe Newman. Want to see more of Sam's work? Check out his science-meets-art photography on Instagram.

Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries recently announced the 2021 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship recipients. Five population and ecosystem dynamics fellowships and two marine resource economics fellowships were awarded through this national program.

The fellowships offered within this program are aimed at training the next generation of specialized experts in fisheries management. The program addresses the critical need for future fisheries scientists with expertise in stock assessment and related fields.

Taking a holistic, ecosystem-based approach to managing small prey species known as forage fish could yield several economic and ecological benefits, a new study has found. The research, which focused on forage fisheries off the coast of California, modeled a management strategy for two forage fish species—anchovy and sardine—while also considering populations of halibut and brown pelicans, both of which feed upon forage fish.

California Sea Grant is pleased to announce seven new research projects, a total of  $346,000, supporting early-career faculty members at universities throughout the state. The one-year projects focus on two key areas of California Sea Grant’s strategic plan: sustainable fisheries & aquaculture, and coastal resilience. Continue reading the announcement here.

How do we gauge the impacts of fisheries on communities that rely on them? A recent study from researchers at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, the University of California, Davis, and NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center demonstrates measurable increases in resident income linked to increases in fishery earnings, illustrating the impact of fisheries and the importance of local resource ownership in coastal economies. 

Written by: Jessica Ramos

Considered a delicacy around the globe, sea urchins please the palates of the wealthy, showing up on sushi bars and swirled into pasta at fine restaurants. However, these spiny creatures in recent years have plowed through forests of bull kelp along coasts around the world.

Off the Northern California coast, there is a crisis beneath the waves. The kelp forest – seaweed that provided habitat and food for much of life in the ocean – is gone, wiped out by an exploding population of purple sea urchins.

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