Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy

Soil and Seaweed: Farming Our Way to a Climate Solution

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Louise Elizabeth Maher-Johnson, Scientific American Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture

We can sequester carbon and improve our nutrition through regenerative farming of land and sea.

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Private capital for change

Natasha Garcha, World Resources Institute / The Economist Group Fisheries & Aquaculture

Our world’s top scientists spend billions of dollars every year on space exploration, searching the universe for one thing: water, considered a necessity for life. Yet on Earth, our primary source of water — the ocean — is perhaps one of the most undervalued resources on the planet.

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Digital Platforms and the Future of Tourism

The World Bank Tourism

When properly planned and managed, sustainable tourism can contribute to improved livelihoods, inclusion, cultural heritage and natural resource protection, and promote international understanding.

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Beach clean-ups the new 'onshore activity' craved by cruise ship passengers

Jennifer Eder Tourism

Cruise ship passengers are lining up for "authentic, sustainable onshore experiences", such as beach clean-ups and tree planting, but New Zealand cruise destinations have yet to cash in on the demand.

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Forget Fracking, Sustain seaweed

Jurriaan Kamp, President & Editor in Chief of the Optimist Daily Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture

Gas is the future. That may sound counterintuitive in an emerging world of renewable energy where new solar power records are set on a monthly basis. However, for Joost Wouters, Dutch engineer and entrepreneur at Inrada Group, there’s no doubt: in the future, we will continue to use gas-fired stoves to cook our meals and warm our homes with gas-burning heating systems. Gas? Yes, biogas from seaweed.

Read more → (6 minute read)


Ocean match-making

Editorial Staff, World Resources Institute

The ocean asset bank is large, so what will it take for mainstream finance to dive in?

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How can investors help create a plastics economy that works? Event roundup

Principles for Responsible Investment Plastics & Pollution

Increasing regulation means that companies need to be ready to respond to the growing plastic-related legal requirements.

With 8 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean annually, and growing evidence of microplastic entering the food chain, seafood companies and consumers are also at risk.

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Capitalising fisheries

Editorial Staff, World Resources Institute Fisheries & Aquaculture

The ocean is vast and complex, but there is at least one clear truth; there are fewer and fewer fish in the sea, and better fisheries management is needed.

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A shellfish diet might be even better than going vegan

Nathanael Johnson, Grist Fisheries & Aquaculture

Not all fish are created equal when it comes to their impact on the climate, according to a new study.

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Role of kelp forests in mitigating climate change under threat

University of Western Australia, PHYS ORG Fisheries & Aquaculture

A global study led by a team from The University of Western Australia and the Marine Biological Association of the UK has found that kelp forests take in more than twice the amount of carbon dioxide than previously thought, which can help mitigate the impact of climate change.

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Experts say algae is the food of the future. Here's why.

Rachel Crane, CNN Fisheries & Aquaculture

The average American male consumes 100 grams of protein daily -- almost double the necessary amount. This overconsumption isn't sustainable. The United Nations projects food production will need to increase as much as 70% by 2050 to feed an extra 2.5 billion people.

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SDG 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans

United Nations Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution

14.1 By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution 14.2 By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration, to achieve healthy and productive oceans 14.3 Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels 14.4 By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting, and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, to restore fish stocks...

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Seagrasses, Nature’s Water Filter

Kathryn Behesht, The Ocean Foundation Fisheries & Aquaculture

Seagrasses are aquatic flowering plants that are found along a broad latitudinal range. As one of the planets most effective and efficient coastal systems for carbon sequestration, proper conservation and management of seagrass meadows is critical to combat the global loss of seagrasses. 

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Blue economy: Not just for the fish

Irene Banos Ruiz, DW

Moving to a "blue" economy is crucial for the sustainability in our world's oceans, say experts at the 5th World Ocean Summit happening in Mexico this week. But what is "blue economy" actually about?

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Declaration of the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles

World Wildlife Fund

The ocean is a biologically diverse and highly productive system. It is an immense source of materials, food, energy and ecosystem services.

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Queen conch dying out in the Bahamas despite marine parks

Jim Tan, Mongabay Fisheries & Aquaculture

New research finds that the queen conch (Strombus gigas), economically important as food and for its decorative shell, is facing unprecedented fishing pressure throughout its Caribbean range.

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Solar, wind and nuclear have ‘amazingly low’ carbon footprints, study finds

Simon Evans, Carbon Brief Energy Solutions

Building solar, wind or nuclear plants creates an insignificant carbon footprint compared with savings from avoiding fossil fuels, a new study suggests.

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With Every Breath You Take, Thank the Ocean

Kalila Morsink, Smithsonian Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution

That’s right—more than half of the oxygen you breathe comes from marine photosynthesizers, like phytoplankton and seaweed. 

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How we’ll eat fish in the future

Bloomberg Fisheries & Aquaculture

Aquaculture is drawing entrepreneurs and investors, in an overfished world with a growing appetite for the healthy protein. Farmed or wild? Local or imported? Organic? Or some certification you’ve never heard of?

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Industry endorses plan to recycle 70% of plastic packaging globally

Ellen MacArthur Foundation Plastics & Pollution

More than 40 industry leaders have endorsed a new action plan to tackle global plastics issues, and have begun working together to create a more effective global system for plastics.

Read more → (4 minute read)