Tim Adams

DNA reveals stone age teenager as chewer of 10,500-year-old ‘gum’ The prehistoric birch tar found in Estonia contained traces of saliva that were analysed by genetics experts

That's a long long time for it to be stuck under a desk.

Pacific Community looking for someone to head the SPC's Pacific Islands aquaculture support team. Can be based either in Suva or Noumea.
careers.spc.int/job/principa...

Almost like the billionaire press barons are starting to collectively shit their pants…

Yeah. Who goes fishing anymore anyway?

I suppose 'fisheses' means a bunch of different fish genera then. And fisheseses refers to multiple families :-) Elevatio ad absurdum ...

I'm sure you have some excellent photos to illustrate this Francisco.

Go North, Young Turtle As eastern Pacific green sea turtles were being slaughtered in much of their range, an intrepid group of turtles pushed north into uncharted waters.

Go North, Young Turtle

As eastern Pacific green sea turtles were being slaughtered in much of their range, an intrepid group of turtles pushed north into uncharted waters.

Story by Adam Skolnick
Photographs by Ralph Pace

www.biographic.com/go-north-you...

Research posts on Bluesky are more original — and get better engagement Bluesky posts about science garner more likes and reposts than similar ones on X.

What a surprise 😏
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

I suppose this is the point when I should say again that:

the amount of money the videogames industry brings into the UK economy every year is *more than double* the value of the fishing and steel industries *combined*

what this country is really good at is producing culture

clues at www.wcpfc.int/current-stoc...

Here's a quiz. Which of these are NOT WCPFC "Stocks of Interest"?

Nice video, although FAC might need to authorise a budget to get these paintings touched up in December.

Aerial photo of the Baie de l'Anse-vata on the south end of the Noumea peninsula, looking from the aquarium towards Mont Dore. Not a single shark is visible. Photo credit to New Caledonia Tourism

The Pacific Community (SPC) in New Caledonia is advertising for a Principal Fisheries Scientist (Coastal & Nearshore).

Your office will be 80 metres from this beach, and your extended workplace will be the entire insular western and central tropical Pacific.

careers.spc.int/job/principa...

BBNJ in Practice: Enforcing and Managing MPAs in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction — Francisco Blaha I wrote a few weeks ago about my involvement in a UNODC Issue Paper that was to be presented and discussed in 2 weeks in New York at the second meeting of the Preparatory Commission (PrepCom II...

I have learnt a great deal from writing this paper. Although my contribution is minimal, I am honoured to have collaborated with the co-authors, aiming to address, in what is (for me) currently the most complex challenge in MCS, MPAS in ABNJ, I hope it helps.
www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2025/8/...

It helps a great deal, Francisco. This is exactly the kind of example we've been needing in order to help move things forward.

It's long overdue for the high seas to host their fair share of large MPAs, and stop leaving it to small island developing states and territories to shoulder the burden.

My most rewarding role as a consultant, both professionally and personally. — Francisco Blaha And yes… today is my last day. After 700 days, over six and a half years, my three-times-a-year visits as the NZ MFAT-funded “ Offshore Fisheries Advisor” Offshore Fisheries Advisor” to the Mar...

Today marks my last day out of a total of 700, spanning over six and a half years, as my three-times-a-year work placement as the NZ MFAT-funded “Offshore Fisheries Advisor” with the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authorities (MIMRA) has now concluded.
www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2025/8/...

The University of the South Pacific (Laucala Bay campus in Fiji), is looking for a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer covering marine resource governance, marine spatial planning, and fisheries management focussed on the Pacific Island context.
recruitment.usp.ac.fj/job/53269c01...

Tiny fern smashes world record for biggest DNA A rare plant has the largest genome of any organism on earth - holding 50 times more DNA than humans.

New Caledonia claims the world's biggest DNA.
bbc.com/news/article...

I don’t know these homeowners, but I know we could be friends. 😊
#dogsofBlueSky

The Guardian view on Zambia’s Trumpian predicament: US aid cuts are dwarfed by a far bigger heist | Editorial Editorial: As the US decries corruption, a paper suggests the real scandal is multinationals legally extracting billions from Africa’s resource-rich nation

"Transfer pricing"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Pay-to-release program reduces shark deaths, but backfires in some cases Researchers behind an incentive-based fisheries program in Indonesia have reported a drop in shark and ray bycatch, but also warned of an unexpected rise in the intentional capture of these…

A pay-to-release program for threatened sharks and rays significantly reduced bycatch in Indonesia, with 71% of wedgefish and 4% of hammerheads released alive; but it also led some fishers to intentionally catch these species to claim incentives.

Call for Abstract - Pacific Islands Ocean Conference - 2025 The Pacific Community (SPC) through its Pacific Community Centre for Ocean Science (PCCOS), the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC) and Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Prog...

But scientists around the region are beginning to find a way though. SPC CFAP is thinking about drawing together a network of interested practitioners and stakeholders to work on the Pacific SIDS small-scale coastal/reef fisheries science-policy interface soon. www.spc.int/updates/blog...

SPC has a fine reputation for world-class oceanic tuna fisheries science, but the super-diverse small-scale fisheries around the coasts of the islands are a critical food and income source for rural people, and involve up to 1,000 species (www.spc.int/DigitalLibra...). A difficult nut to crack.

Participants at the 17th Pacific Community Heads of Fisheries Meeting in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, May 2025 in front of the venue - the CCAMLR HQ. This was the first time that HOF has been held away from Noumea, and scarves and jackets had to hurriedly dug out of cupboards to help participants withstand the Tasmanian summer.

The 2025 Pacific Community (SPC) Fisheries Meeting was in Hobart, Tasmania this month. Coming through strongly was the desire by Pacific Islands for SPC to find and put more resources into the science needed for effective management of small-scale coastal fisheries. www.spc.int/digitallibra...

Image of the front cover of Field Mycology with the BMS logo at the top, the title "Field Mycology" in crimson below it, and a large photo of a cream-coloured cyphelloid fungus growing among glistening moist liverworts.

This #FungiFriday we want to share the latest issue of Field Mycology! This is the first issue to be edited by Kew Mycologist @clareblencowe.bsky.social and marks the publication now being #OpenAccess

Check it out at fieldmycology.org

Indonesia Records US$5.9bn of Fisheries Export 2024; ASEAN, U.S. Among Main Destinations The export value of fisheries products from Indonesia reached US$5.9 billion in 2024.

Indonesia Records US$5.9bn of Fisheries Export 2024; ASEAN, U.S. Among Main Destinations - https://en.tempo.co/read/2009852/indonesia-records-us5-9bn-of-fisheries-export-2024-asean-u-s-among-main-destinations

Trouble is, forks always sound a bit tiny.

Stained glass peacock at the Old Peacock pub and restaurant, Elland Road, Leeds. It just happens to be opposite the home of Leeds United, who - for a time - were nicknamed after the pub. Others just called them Dirty Leeds, even though no legs were actually bitten ever.

The Old Peacock on Elland Road, Leeds
www.theoldpeacock.co.uk

The woman unlocking the mysteries of the deep sea in Fiji Nicknamed ‘Moana’, Charlene Erasito is the only female Pacific Islander on the expedition to document unexplored parts of the ocean

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...