Drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs) used by industrial fisheries have entered roughly 53% of all marine protected areas (MPAs) globally, a new analysis suggests. “Our work highlights a fundamental blind spot in this regard,” Laurenne Schiller and colleagues write. “MPAs are not insulated from industrial fisheries when the devices they use drift autonomously across designated ocean boundaries.” MPAs provide sanctuary for countless species, intended to repair human activity’s adverse impact on oceanic biodiversity by 2050. However, not much has yet been done to defend MPAs against tuna-catching dFADs, which float freely on the high seas, often traversing hundreds of nautical miles. Schiller et al. have now quantified the extent to which dFADs active from 2007 to 2023 may have infiltrated MPAs. They examined public device drifting, stranding, and fishing data, as well as MPA practitioner and stakeholder surveys. Analyses revealed that around 53% of the global MPA network – or roughly 1,544 MPAs – may have interacted with dFADs. In an email to the VancePak team, co-author Boris Worm wrote: “We show that more than half of the area set aside for protection has likely been impacted by free-floating devices, and that we require better regulation of where, when, and how many of such devices can be released to help reduce downstream impacts.” The findings further indicated that dFADs may have stranded in 174 protected areas (MPAs and shark sanctuaries), which are home to at least 490 at-risk species. Of particular concern are strandings on protected reefs, where the devices pose risks to many threatened species – including corals, which are already perilously endangered by climate change. “Half of all threatened species in marine protected areas with stranded drifting fish aggregating devices are corals,” Schiller wrote over email. “However, these species have not been comprehensively included in Marine Stewardship Council sustainable seafood eco-certification assessments for certified tuna fisheries using these devices. This oversight needs urgent attention and correction.”

 

For reporters monitoring research on dFADs and industrial fishing practices, a 2025 Science Advances study also co-authored by Schiller and Worm found that dFADs have a much larger global impact than previously estimated: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ads2902. Also, a 2024 Science Advances special issue explored the nuances of aquaculture: https://www.science.org/toc/sciadv/10/42.

A night dive off Papua New Guinea to study wild sharks that can walk on land has surfaced with something even more rare – a species unknown to science. “New shark species don’t come along that often, and it’s most definitely the first one named after me,” said a surprised Dr Christine Dudgeon of the University of the Sunshine Coast about the metre-long specimen she caught by hand and carefully guided back to the study boat. 

The first published live observations of the rare goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) in its natural deep ocean habitat were reported in a new paper by a University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa-led team of oceanographers. In the past, goblin sharks were only filmed and reported alive after being hooked on a fishing line and hauled to the surface, where divers could observe them and where they soon died. The new study, published in Journal of Fish Biology, documents two live observations of one of the most elusive but iconic sharks on the planet—one at a seamount near Jarvis Island and another on the slope of the Tonga Trench. 

Marine wildlife trafficking is big business, raking in billions of dollars every year and threatening species’ survival and the health of ecosystems. But trafficked sea creatures are often concealed in ordinary travelers’ luggage or packages, which makes it hard to spot and seize illicit shipments. Now scientists have used a neural network, a form of AI, to teach an algorithm to spot three commonly trafficked products — shark fins, sea cucumbers, and dried seahorses — in CT scans of bags like those taken at airports. The algorithm, which had a 92% success rate in testing, could help detect marine wildlife trafficking at scale and stop the trade in progress.

As World Ocean Day nears and summer begins, FIU researchers can provide expert insight into the science of sharks and their role in marine ecosystems. 

Researchers from FIU have discovered that bigger species of shark, such as the Caribbean reef shark, prefer to hunt in small reef areas that are densely populated with prey. 

Researchers combined long-term behavioral data with drone-mounted video recordings of sound playbacks to 17 female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Shark Bay, Australia.