IUCN SSC Marine Conservation Committee (MCC)

Mongabay launches dedicated Oceans Desk to expand global reporting on marine ecosystems With increasing pressures from overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and climate change, the health of the world’s oceans is imperiled. In response, Mongabay has launched a dedicated Oceans Desk...

#ICYMI

Protect and restore: integrating marine management to secure the future of coastal ecosystems - npj Ocean Sustainability We must integrate effective protection with scalable restoration to ensure resilient coastal ecosystems. We identify five challenges, including unequal ecosystem coverage, spatial protections that are...

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Excited to share this and so thankful to have had the opportunity to be part of such an inspiring team 🌊
@sscmarine.bsky.social @vote4sharks.bsky.social

Vive la resilient: Don't write off our corals just yet Dr Emily Darling argues that while warning the world of the decline in corals is vital, we shouldn't be writing them off just yet.

COMMENTARY: Don’t write off corals just yet, say Melissa Wright of Bloomberg Philanthropies and WCS’s @emilysdarling.bsky.social. While many reefs are struggling, others still have the capacity to survive and adapt, our science shows.

🌎 oceanographicmagazine.com/features/viv...

New Study Reveals Persistent Illegal Trade in Protected Sharks, Calls to Strengthen World’s Wildlife-Trade Treaty to Prevent Extinctions New York, NY (November 5, 2025) –  A new study published today in Science Advances reveals widespread non-compliance with international trade protections for endangered sharks, showing that global wil...

Despite over a decade of international protections, a widespread illegal trade in CITES-listed sharks remains, a new WCS co-authored study reveals.

Upcoming #CITESCoP20 is an opportunity to address.

🌎 newsroom.wcs.org/News-Release...

Illegal Wildlife Trade

Air Canada says it "is the first airline in North America to obtain IATA’s Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) certification", making 11 key commitments to help disrupt the trafficking of wildlife. Read more here.

www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/ho...

Request for Proposals: Effect of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement on Commercially and Culturally Important Species - Carbon to Sea Initiative A non-profit effort advancing ocean-based carbon dioxide removal

📣 🌊
New funding opportunity! Carbon to Sea and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation invite proposals to study how ocean alkalinity enhancement (#OAE) affects key marine species. Two 24-month projects will be funded. Apply by 16 January 2026. #mCDR
➡️ www.carbontosea.org/rfp-effect-o...

Fisheries Advisories Each year we produce Commercial Fisheries Advisories in line with the latest UK and EU law. These provide rapid access to the current legislative status of sharks, skates and rays in UK, EU, and inter...

Want to know the shark and ray fisheries regulations in Europe, see handy link from the @sharktrust #Elasmo25

www.sharktrust.org/Pages/Catego...

Global treaty to end subsidies for destructive fishing takes effect A landmark global treaty to curb billions of dollars in government subsidies for overfishing took effect on Sept. 15, Mongabay contributor Elizabeth Fitt reported. The agreement marks the first time t...

ICYMI

news.mongabay.com/short-articl...

🚀 New on the Global Fishing Watch map: generate vessel activity reports in seconds. Filter by vessel type, gear, flag State and region to track trends, access vessel lists and share insights for research and monitoring.

🔗 Explore: https://bit.ly/global-vessel-activity-report

Fascinating! 😍 Still so much to discover and learn!

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has just been updated and now includes assessments of 1,266 species of sharks, rays, and chimaeras.

Assessment of trawling impacts on 10 Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem indicator taxa (e.g. cold-water corals) across New Zealand waters show that 30 years of trawling reduced VME area by 20.8 %, with losses up to 40.7 % in some bioregions.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

‼️REMINDER: 2027 Indianapolis Prize Award Entries

🏆 2027 Indy Prize Nominations
🌟 2027 Emerging Conservationists

📅Both close: Feb. 27, 20267
🔗Nominate or apply: bit.ly/46Sajxr

Inspired by Iconic Fishes | Home Calling on artists, makers, and dreamers to join a global arts movement that celebrates the wondrous lives of truly iconic fishes: seahorses, pipefish, seadragons, and their quirky cousins like ghost ...

#ICYMI: 🌊 Whether you paint 🎨, dance 💃, doodle ✏️, weave 🧵, write ✍️, design jewellery 💎, compose music 🎶, build Lego 🧩, cut potato prints 🥔or create in ways we haven’t even imagined, this is your invitation to join a global arts movement Inspired by #IconicFishes

Learn more: www.iconicfishes.art

Full reveal “Lament of the ocean - Ratapan Lautan” — Inspired by Iconic Fishes Full reveal of “Lament of the ocean – Ratapan Launtan” a woodcut print on fabric inspired by #IconicFishes.   The artwork was created by Malaysia’s leading art collective Pangrok Sulap and the ...

🌊 “Lament of the ocean – Ratapan Launtan”, reveal! This work portrays the ocean as a wounded soul - beautiful, yet burdened by pollution, overfishing, and industrial-scale bottom trawling.” – Pangrok Sulap.
🔗 www.iconicfishes.art/updates/full-reveal-lament-of-the-ocean-ratapan-lautan
#IconicFishes

In a Letter to the Editor to Nature... four marine leaders call for an end to bottom trawling in MPAs

tinyurl.com/3pnx952x

researchonline.jcu.edu.au/86161/

With many congratulations to the IUCN SSC Sirenia Specialist Group co-Chair Professor Helene Marsh and all of the amazing team working on this 🌊

So sad that a marine cone snail (Conus lugubris) has just been declared Extinct on the #IUCNRedList. Being predatory and venomous was not enough to save it. Degradation of its Cabo Verde habitats was the main problem. www.iucnredlist.org/search?query...

Helene Marsh Dugong launch Oct 12 YouTube video by JEM

Definitive ‘A global assessment of #dugong status and conservation needs’, just released by The Convention of Migratory Species/UNEP/Dugong MOU. You can watch the excellent 7 minute synopsis here: youtube.com/watch?v=9qhsW0-dYfU&feature=youtu.be @sscmarine.bsky.social

Guidebook for assessing and improving social equity in marine conservation portals.iucn.org/library/node... 🦑🧪🌍

Here's a great World Conservation Congress hybrid event on Friday at 3 am in New York and midnight in Vancouver. We will cover fungi, plants, fish and more in a bid to really indicate the huge scale of the trade... and its impacts. Co-hosted by @sscmarine.bsky.social

Happening at #IUCNCongress

🗓️ October 9, 2025
⏰ 5 PM - 9PM
📍 The Americas - Room 1 , Onsite

Exciting news — our coordinator Coralie Palmer will be speaking at tomorrow’s #IUCNCongress event! 🌍 She’ll join discussions on innovative ways to connect #aquascapes and landscapes within global conservation efforts.

Learn more at:
iucncongress2025.org/programme/aq...

Stunning!😍🐙

A red-colored giant Pacific octopus with one eye poking out from its body while stretching out its arms, and showing off its white, round suckers

Happy World Cephalopod Day! 🐙This sucker for adventure feels its way through the world!

With thousands of chemical receptors and millions of texture receptors packed into each sucker, the giant Pacific octopus has a real sense for exploration.

Rethinking illegal trade — beyond iconic species to fungi, plants, invertebrates & fish. Join us at an interactive World Café at the #IUCNCOngress uniting ecology, law & society for inclusive, actionable solutions.

Learn more here:
iucncongress2025.org/programme/di...

Exciting news — our coordinator Coralie Palmer will be speaking at tomorrow’s #IUCNCongress event! 🌍 She’ll join discussions on innovative ways to connect #aquascapes and landscapes within global conservation efforts.

Learn more at:
iucncongress2025.org/programme/aq...

@protectspecies.bsky.social @iucnshark.bsky.social @iucnseahorse.bsky.social @sscmarine.bsky.social

IUCN pays tribute to Jane Goodall IUCN joins the global community in mourning the loss of Jane Goodall, renowned ethologist and dedicated IUCN member, and celebrates her extraordinary life.

We join the world in mourning the passing of Jane Goodall — visionary ethologist, devoted IUCN member, and tireless advocate for nature. We honour and celebrate her extraordinary life and legacy.

#RememberingJane

iucn.org/iucn-stateme...

Join us LIVE, Sep 24th at 9am (EST) with
@reversethered.bsky.social as we explore how non-selective fishing practices represent a critical threat to marine #biodiversity.

Register to attend.