New Atlas

Environment Audio available

Canadian government announces ban on shark fin trade

Ben Coxworth June 21, 2019

Less than two weeks after it proclaimed a ban on single-use plastic items, Canada has now taken another step toward protecting the environment, by banning the import and export of shark fins. It is the first of the G20 group of industrialized and developing nations to do so.

The announcement was made on June 20th in Toronto

Outdoors

Modular trimaran kayak does the splits for transport

Ben Coxworth May 28, 2019

Although fishing from a boat can be way more effective than casting from the shore, many anglers don't want to tow a motorboat behind their vehicle, or mount a kayak on its roof. That's where the KingFisher comes in. It's a modular fishing trimaran kayak that can be transported inside a car.

The KingFisher comes apart for transport and storage

Outdoors Audio available

Motion-detecting spinning reel pings your phone when the fish bite

Ben Coxworth April 1, 2019

It was seven years ago that we first heard about the motion detector-equipped Smartrod, which sounds an alarm when a fish hits the lure. Well, its inventor is now back on our radar, with a spinning reel that alerts anglers via their smartphone.

The Smart Connect reel, with its black electronic module visible on the back

Environment

Radar tags to monitor albatross interactions with fishing vessels

David Szondy January 22, 2019

Threatened and endangered albatrosses in the South Atlantic are getting a break as BAS seabird ecologist Richard Phillips puts newly developed radar-detecting tags on the seabirds. The tags show when and where the birds are scanned by ship navigation radar.

Wandering albatrosses on South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic

Outdoors

Fishing rod sensor keeps tabs on your catches

Ben Coxworth January 3, 2019

As any recreational angler will know, fish can be a finicky bunch – so when you DO catch one, it's good to keep a record of the location and conditions which allowed that to happen. Cyberfishing's new Smart Rod Sensor is designed to help you do that.

The Smart Rod Sensor has an LED display, and also transfers fishing data via Bluetooth to ...

Environment

Electronic tags could keep fishing nets from becoming ghosts

Ben Coxworth October 17, 2018

So-called "ghost" fishing nets are awful things. Lost or forgotten during commercial fishing operations, they can drift in the ocean for years, indiscriminately catching marine life as they do. A newly-invented tag, however, may help keep that from happening.

A sea turtle caught in a ghost net outside Curacao

Environment

LEDs cut seabird death toll from fishing by 85 percent

Ben Coxworth July 11, 2018

According to the University of Exeter, an estimated 400,000 diving seabirds die annually by getting caught in gill nets intended to catch fish. A new study indicates that the majority of those deaths could be avoided, however, if the nets were to be equipped with inexpensive green LEDs.

Environment

Hookpod protects hungry birds from longline fishing

Ben Coxworth December 20, 2017

Longline fisheries may catch a lot of fish, but they also catch seabirds such as albatross. Several years ago, a group of conservationists began work on a product designed to keep the birds from getting caught. It's known as the Hookpod, and a recent study has concluded that it really works.

A Hookpod-equipped baited hook is deployed

Environment

Farming fish in a tiny percentage of the oceans could feed the world

David Szondy August 15, 2017

A study from UCLA suggests that if fish farming can be moved offshore, then an area of sea the size of Lake Michigan (0.025 percent of the ocean's surface), could meet the global demand for fish and allow wild stock to recover.

$Ocean-farmed fish and seafood could meet global demand using only a tiny fraction of the world's ...$

Environment

Archaeological analysis rewrites the cautionary tale of Easter Island

Michael Irving July 11, 2017

Easter Island is known for two things: giant stone heads and the cautionary tale of an isolated civilization that destroyed itself through reckless misuse of resources. But new analysis of archaeological remains might rewrite the narrative, painting the Rapa Nui people in a more positive light.

Archaeological analysis has found that the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island were farming and fishing ...