Coral bleaching is a condition that can seriously damage and kill entire coral reefs. Corals contain microscopic algae called zooxanthellae that provide the coral with food and give them their vibrant colours. Rising ocean temperatures cause...

While farmed shrimp may make your Chinese takeaway a little more affordable, the costs have proved devastating for the people who live near shrimp farms. Delicate transitional zones from sea to dry land, mangrove forests are the nesting grounds...

Humpback whales are among the widest-ranging animals on Earth. Each year, they leave productive summer feeding grounds in high latitudes to undertake a migration that will take them anywhere from 1,500 to 5,000 miles (2,400 to 8,000 kilometres),...

Greenpeace seeks to ensure clean and healthy oceans for the future, and part of this is working to improve the standards of international seafood trade. As wild stocks decline, the demand for farmed shrimp, salmon, tuna, tilapia and other marine...

Pots, traps or ‘creels’ include a variety of designs that take the form of cages or baskets with one or more openings or entrances, with or without bait. They are usually set on the seabed, either singly or in rows, and are connected by ropes...

Hook-and-line is a general term used for a range of fishing methods that employ short fishing lines with hooks in one form or another (as opposed to long-lines). It includes hand-lines, hand-reels, powered reels, rod/pole-and-line, drop lines,...

Long-lines consist of short lines (called snoods) carrying baited hooks, attached at regular intervals to a longer main line that is laid on the bottom or suspended horizontally with the help of surface floats. Main lines can be over 150 km long...

Long-lines consist of short lines (called snoods) carrying hooks, attached at regular intervals to a longer main line that is laid on, or close to, the seabed. Main lines are up to 150 km long and can carry several thousand hooks.

Pelagic gillnets or ‘set nets’ are fine-filament nets that are kept at or below the surface by numerous floats and weights and held in position by anchors. If a fish’s head goes through the net but its body can’t follow, it is ‘gilled’ or...

Bottom gillnets or ‘set nets’ are fine-filament nets, the lower edge of which touch the seabed, and are held in place by numerous floats, weights and anchors. If a fish’s head goes through the net but its body can’t follow, it is ‘gilled’ or...

Fish are encircled by a large ‘wall’ of net, which is then brought together to retain the fish by using a line at the bottom that enables the net to be closed like a purse.

The front net sections are often made of very large meshes or ropes, which herd the fish towards the back of the funnel-shaped net. Pelagic trawls may be towed by one or two (pair trawl) boats.

A fishing net, similar to a small trawl net, with a conical net bag with two relatively long wings. Two long heavy ropes, one attached to each wing, are used to encircle a large area of the seabed to herd the fish into the net and then to haul...

A type of bottom trawl in which the horizontal opening of the net is provided by a heavy beam mounted at each end on guides or skids that travel along the seabed. On sandy or muddy bottoms, a series of ‘tickler’ chains are strung between the...

Similar to a beam trawl, a dredge consists of a rugged triangular steel frame and tooth-bearing bar, behind which a mat of linked steel rings is secured. A heavy netting cover joins the sides and back of this mat to form a bag in which the catch...

A type of bottom trawl that has two rectangular 'doors' or 'otterboards' to keep the mouth of the funnel-shaped net open horizontally while the net is being towed. A vertical opening is maintained by weights on the bottom and floats on the top.

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A good sustainable seafood procurement policy should contain a detailed definition of ‘sustainable’ for both wild-caught and farmed seafood. It should list the principles of how sustainable seafood is identified and purchased, and outline how...

Fish stock levels in the Mediterranean Sea are alarmingly low. The European Environment Agency says that over 65 percent of all fish stocks in the region are outside safe biological limits and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation,...

The more we learn about the ocean and how it functions to maintain life on Earth - the more we understand how to preserve it. Just as the Mediterranean performs an important role within the Atlantic Ocean and beyond, so each individual ecosystem...

Greenpeace is currently working with retailers to motivate them to develop and implement policies for sourcing sustainable seafood.