After years of disgraceful decision-making by ICCAT and its members, the northern bluefin tuna is in real trouble. Unfortunately it is delicious, and a single fish can sell for thousands, so politicians can’t bring themselves to allow a significant reduction in catch. No matter what quota is agreed, fishers catch it illegally anyway, so the species is taking a hammering. So with fisheries management consistently failing to protect bluefin, the Principality of Monaco is leading calls to block international trade in it under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It’s a dramatic move in what is a desperate situation, but will it actually help? » Read more: Can CITES save the bluefin?

This is an interesting one. Normally I seek out controversy, but here I am going to take some delight in pooh-poohing a pro-whaling claim that minke whales are super-abundant in the Antarctic and should be managed (or hunted) accordingly. Of course, most cetacean scientists actually believe whale populations are currently at a mere fraction of their pre-hunting levels. I personally am not ardently anti-whaling, and I have actually argued why the resumption of whaling might not be such a terrible thing, but these management decision should be based on good science. » Read more: Better luck next time Japan

The intriguing yet undeniably repugnant blobfish may be disappearing from out oceans no thanks to deepwater trawling. It’s yet another deep sea fish we know virtually nothing about, and yet another species that may very well, according to fisheries scientists, fall off the face of the planet very soon. But what do you think when you look at the picture of a fish you might have only first heard about two sentences ago, and imagine it plummeting toward extinction? You probably think it looks an awful lot like a melting fat man with a funny nose, rather than imagining a world without its existence. » Read more: Goodbye dear blob