Sustainability certification by Marine Stewardship Council may be obscuring labour abuses in seafood supply chains, say researchers

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which operates a “blue tick” scheme to indicate the sustainability of fish, has been accused of creating an “illusion” of ethical sourcing, after a study reported that widespread labour abuses have taken place on the fishing vessels it approves.

One in five vessels where the crew reported abuses to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) over the last five years took place on ships catching seafood certified as sustainable by the MSC, researchers found.

Huge industrial trawlers are competing for krill – the main food source for whales – in the Southern Ocean, removing vital nutrients from the ecosystem

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In Antarctica, one of our planet’s last great wildernesses, a remarkable comeback is taking place.

In the very same waters of the Southern Ocean where whalers slaughtered more than 2 million whales during the 20th century, pushing a number of species to the brink of extinction, populations are recovering. Humpback whales have been the fastest to bounce back since commercial whaling was banned in 1986, and populations are nearly at pre-whaling levels. Blue whales, the world’s largest animal, have been slower.

Fears net zero is ‘next Brexit’ as oil crisis fuels political climate divide

US has caused $10tn worth of climate damage since 1990, research finds

‘Yes to fields of wheat, no to fields of iron’: how the world’s greenest country soured on solar

‘It smells like a rancid fish and chip shop’: at sea with the Antarctic’s krill supertrawlers

‘There’s biological treasure here’: Chile’s endemic seals gain protection with new marine park

Surfing’s big break: how climate crisis insurance may save El Salvador’s waves

Sixty years after the discovery of a colony of Juan Fernández fur seals, previously thought to be extinct, a landmark agreement extends ‘no take’ zone around the wildlife-rich archipelago

Six decades ago, pioneering oceanographer and conservationist Sylvia Earle made a bittersweet discovery while diving off Chile’s oceanic islands with the US National Science Foundation vessel, the Anton Bruun. She found the remains of a baby fur seal, one of the world’s most isolated aquatic mammals.

Endemic to the Juan Fernández archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean, and once prized for its fur and meat, the species, Arctocephalus philippii, was believed to have been hunted to extinction in the 19th century. But, Earle said: “A baby must have a mum and dad somewhere.”

Pioneering oceanographer and conservationist Sylvia Earle. Photograph: Andy Mann/Blue Marine Foundation

Aker QRILL is facing criticism of its fishery management amid calls by environmentalists for curbs on Antarctic fishing of the keystone species

Environmental groups have objected to the recommendation of a “blue tick” sustainability label being awarded to a Norwegian krill fishing giant, amid concerns over concentrated fishing pressure and dramatic climate-driven effects on the Antarctic’s fragile ecosystem.

Norway’s Aker QRILL, the world’s largest harvester of krill, a tiny crustacean and keystone of Antarctica’s fragile ecosystem, and its sister company, Aker BioMarine, produce feed additives for aquaculture and dietary supplements for pets and humans.

Huge project by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms gets go-ahead amid concerns over the environmental cost of fish farming and threat to traditional way of life

At Collafirth, north Shetland, Sydney Johnson is unloading two-dozen bags of scallops by throwing them over his head like medicine balls to the pier above. Johnson, who has just finished a 10-hour shift on his boat, the Golden Shore, is concerned that plans for a new salmon farm will put fishers like him and his two sons out of business.

“They say it’s just one farm,” says Johnson. “But it’s one farm more. There’s only so much water and we’re at saturation point.”

Rights group says growing authoritarianism and abuses in US, Russia and China threaten global rules-based order

The world is in a “democratic recession” with almost three-quarters of the global population now living under autocratic rulers – levels not seen since the 1980s, according to a new report.

The system underpinning human rights was “in peril”, said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), with a growing authoritarian wave becoming “the challenge of a generation”, he said.

A US judge will decide if, as research suggests, a chemical tyre additive is harming endangered fish species

Last week, a district judge in San Francisco, California, presided over a three-day trial brought by west coast fishers and conservationists against US tyre companies. The fishers allege that a chemical additive used in tyres is polluting rivers and waterways, killing coho salmon and other fish. If successful, the case could have implications far beyond the United States.