Our oceans are the last global commons, and as such are about as effectively regulated as Dodge City when the West was at it's wildest. As recently as 40 years ago they were considered to be an inexhaustible resource. No amount of fishing could possibly make a dent, it seemed, in the teeming mass of ocean life which constantly replenished itself. It was a one-sided arms race, with increasingly advanced fishing techniques maximizing catches: GPS; sonar; trawl nets big enough to catch a jumbo jet; bottom trawling; fish aggregating devices and open-water 'ranching' are just some of the methods employed to extract maximum profit from the seas.

The crew of the Prolific discarding their catch

So at last the sheer waste involved in modern trawling has been captured on camera. Last week a Norwegian coastguard cutter filmed the crew of a Shetland trawler, the Prolific, openly dumping over 5,000 kg of cod and other dead white fish in UK waters. Now this footage is rightly causing a wave of revulsion in the media at the scale of unnecessary waste at a time of rapidly rising food prices and, ironically, when our own Prime Minister is telling us not to waste food.

Our 25 metre long 'No Fish No Future' banner looks tiny alongside the giant Albatun Tres

After last week's good news about Pacific Island nations banding together to stop foreign fishing fleets decimating their tuna stocks, the crew of Esperanza yesterday took action against the biggest and most devastatingly efficient tuna catching vessel in the world, the Spanish owned purse seiner Albatun Tres.

Hurrah! At last some good news for threatened Pacific tuna. Eight Pacific Island nations have signed an agreement to stop foreign fishing fleets taking their tuna. Our ship the Esperanza has been in the Pacific for the last seven weeks confronting unscrupulous foreign fleets that take 90 per cent of the fish, and even more of the profit.

Many of us are filled with a great sense of wonder and awe when we have the opportunity to experience the ocean. It can excite and calm, mystify and inspire. The ocean stimulates all of our senses. We can see it, hear it, touch it, smell it and taste it. We can completely immerse ourselves in it.

As much as I love tramping through rainforest, admiring mountain views, watching rivers meander through impressive landscapes and discovering all kinds of plants an animals on land... there's something about the ocean that grabs me every time I'm near it.

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Video: the discovery of Aaptos kanuux

Fascinating news just in - our two month research expedition to the Bering Sea last summer led to the discovery of a new species. Using manned submarines and a Remote Operated Vehicle, the crew of the Esperanza explored two of the world's deepest underwater canyons and took samples of never before seen life on the sea floor. Now, careful analysis has revealed one of them to be an entirely new species of sponge. Discovered in Pribilof Canyon, the new discovery is to be named Aaptos kanuux.

Today sees the long overdue publication of the Draft Marine Bill. The Bill presents a key opportunity not just to improve the management of our national waters, but to begin the concerted action that is needed to protect marine biodiversity and reverse the decline in our fish stocks.

But the Marine Bill is only a tool, not the finished product. Read more »

It's official; mankind is killing off our oceans far faster than previously thought. The first global-scale study of human impacts on marine ecosystems, published today in the flagship US journal Science, reveals a picture of widespread destruction with few if any areas remaining untouched.

Yesterday the Food Standards Agency (FSA) finally announced that it's going to review its misguided policy advising us all to eat at least two portions of fish every week. The independent watchdog, which is charged with protecting the public interest on food safety and health issues, has been pushing the 'two a week' figure in recent years - conveniently overlooking the fact that our over-exploited fisheries can't possibly sustain the increases in fishing needed to meet this level of consumption.