Jellyfish spread in world’s oceans, devastating fisheries, stinging millions; warming blamed

Jellyfish swarm northward in warming world

Off New England, warming ocean drives fish away from shore _ and market bins

Warming drives off Cape Cod’s namesake, other fish

EPA finds fish in about half of nation’s lakes and reservoirs harbor hazardous chemicals

EPA: Toxic chemicals in freshwater fish widespread

Study: Airborne nitrogen pollution producing junk food for fish in Rocky Mountain Park lakes

Study: Nitrogen pollution worsens in Rockies lakes

Sex for survival: Study shows male fiddler crabs will protect female neighbors _ at a price

Study: Fiddler crabs exchange sex for survival

US oceans ambassador says more study is needed as countries deal with changing Arctic Ocean

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The United States must move forward with science research to make good decisions about how to manage human activities in the Arctic Ocean, the ambassador for oceans and fisheries said Wednesday.

Japan catches 59 whales, 1 short of maximum allowed under international rules

TOKYO — Japan said Monday it has caught 59 whales — one short of the maximum allowed by international guidelines — under a research program that critics say is a cover for commercial whaling.

EU officials warn cod is closer to disappearing from key European fishing grounds

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive body is calling for sharp cuts in the amount of cod fishermen can catch next year, pointing to estimates that the fish is close to extinction in some major fishing areas around Europe.

Study: Endangered AK beluga whale group declining, raising concerns over survival

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A government study found that a group of endangered beluga whales in Alaska is declining, raising concern that bolstered protection for the animals is not coming quickly enough.

French prosecutor studying toxic algae complaints after horse’s death on beach

PARIS — The prosecutor’s office is studying up to 300 complaints linked to noxious green algae after the death of a horse this summer on a beach in Brittany, a judicial official said Friday.

Warming ocean melts Greenland glaciers, alters marine ecosystems

SERMILIK FJORD, Greenland — With whale fins splashing in the distance, Ruth Curry hauls up her catch from the blustery deck of an icebreaker.

AP IMPACT: Review shows gov’t rarely intervenes as Calif. mercury mines pollute water, fish

NEW IDRIA, Calif. — Abandoned mercury mines throughout central California’s rugged coastal mountains are polluting the state’s major waterways, rendering fish unsafe to eat and risking the health of at least 100,000 impoverished people.

Obama administration submits salmon plan to boost fish protection in Pacific Northwest

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Obama administration says it will be more aggressive in protecting declining Pacific Northwest salmon runs and will study breaching some dams as a last resort in a long-awaited management plan.

Biggest US study finds male bass with female features in many rivers; women’s meds to blame

WASHINGTON — Government scientists figure that one out of five male black bass in American river basins have egg cells growing inside their sexual organs, a sign of how widespread fish feminizing has become.

Hawaii researchers explore previously unseen deep coral reef areas, find juvenile fish nursery

HONOLULU — Scientists over the past month explored coral reefs in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that until recently were considered too deep for scuba divers to reach.

Drought-stricken coastal streams threaten California’s endangered coho salmon with extinction

SAN GERONIMO, Calif. — California’s third year of drought has worsened the already dire outlook for endangered coho salmon, as coastal creeks used for spawning dwindle into disconnected pools where fish get trapped and die.

Doctoral program in aquaculture and fisheries approved for university at edge of Ark. Delta

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Studying fish once seemed so simple: find out where they were biting and keep it under your hat. Now the study of fish has evolved into Ph.D.-level programs that can make fish bigger, tastier and a larger part of the nation’s economy.

Study: Bigeye tuna stocks in danger because limits on fishing in Pacific Ocean ineffective

BANGKOK, Thailand — Environmentalists want tougher restrictions on the industrial-scale fishing of bigeye tuna in the Pacific Ocean after new research showed current measures are failing and will do little to sustain stocks of a fish that is popular in sushi bars the world over.

University of Washington gets $126M to create Northwest seafloor observatory

SEATTLE — The University of Washington has received about $126 million in federal money to build an ocean observatory in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington and Oregon.

Federal study reveals widespread mercury contamination in fish from air pollution, mining

WASHINGTON — No fish can escape mercury pollution. That’s the take-home message from a federal study of mercury contamination released Wednesday that tested fish from nearly 300 streams across the country.

Gov’t study reveals widespread mercury contamination in fish from air pollution, mining

WASHINGTON — No fish can escape mercury pollution.

Scientists, regulators consider protection plan for massive stretch of deep-sea coral reefs

FIFTY MILES OFF CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Deep beneath the crystalline blue surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern U.S. lies a virtual rain forest of coral reefs so expansive the network is believed to be the world’s largest.

Hawaii inflicts financial pain on those who break coral in effort to protect precious reefs

HONOLULU — Wrecking coral will cost you in Hawaii.

Fish dinners not so endangered: Collapse of fisheries less likely, but fight’s not over yet

WASHINGTON — Crabcakes and fish sticks won’t be disappearing after all.

Report: Airborne pesticides in Central Valley carry to Sierra, where they threaten frogs

FRESNO, Calif. — A new study shows frogs in the Sierra Nevada mountains are threatened by airborne pesticides that drift eastward from California’s Central Valley.

Surfers, environmentalists, Native Hawaiians trying to shut down shark tours in Hawaii

HALEIWA, Hawaii — Three women donned scuba masks and jumped into the waters off Oahu’s North Shore, floating inside a submerged cage as about a dozen sharks glided toward bloody fish scraps tossed into the water by a tour company.

Inspectors weed out toxin-laced fish from Southern California’s Asian communities

WESTMINSTER, Calif. — John Fallan’s trained eye scans rows of iceboxes brimming with tiger fish and shrimp in a Vietnamese supermarket, searching for one pesky fish that threatens the health of seafood lovers.

Green machines: Pentagon looks to algae as tomorrow’s fuel for fighter jets, cargo planes

LOGAN, Utah — Somewhere among the beakers and the bubbling green-tinged tanks in this Utah State University lab, Jeff Muhs is searching for champion pond scum for Uncle Sam.

Australia, New Zealand plan non-lethal study of Antarctic whales in challenge to Japan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Australia and New Zealand announced Thursday a non-lethal whale research expedition to the Antarctic, a direct challenge to Japan’s research program that kills up to 1,000 whales a year.

Obama’s first global warming report dire, but offers hope; ‘Not too late,’ one official says

WASHINGTON — Rising sea levels, sweltering temperatures, deeper droughts, and heavier downpours — global warming’s serious effects are already here and getting worse, the Obama administration warned on Tuesday in the grimmest, most urgent language on climate change ever to come out of any White House.