Emma Desrochers

Contributing editor reporting from Hawaii, U.S.A.

Emma Desrochers is a freelance journalist based in Waialua, Hawaii, who writes about fisheries and sustainability. She graduated from Yale University in June 2021 with an undergraduate degree in environmental studies and mechanical engineering. She has contributed to the environmental conservation field through internships located in Ecuador, Thailand, and Hawaii.


Author Archive

Published on
December 15, 2023

London, U.K.-based nonprofit Planet Tracker has propsoed a new financial system it said could help combat overfishing while allowing investors to fulfill established environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.

A September report from Planet Tracker, “Fishing for a Recovery,” introduces a system the nonprofit has dubbed blue recovery bonds, in which the bonds offer upfront capital investment to a fishery in exchange for a

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Published on
December 14, 2023

Recent NOAA research forecasts that three high-value groundfish species will migrate toward deeper offshore waters along the United States West Coast due to climate change in the near future, which will likely require fishery managers to adapt their strategies in response.

NOAA’s study, “Species redistribution creates unequal outcomes for multispecies fisheries under projected climate change” was published in the peer-reviewed

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Published on
December 1, 2023

Bottom trawling, a fishing method that entails towing a net along the ocean floor to capture target species, does not release as much carbon as air travel, according to a response paper that sought to debunk research published in 2021 and picked up by global media outlets, including The Guardian.

The response paper, “Quantifying the carbon benefits of ending bottom trawling,” released in May 2023, claims that Sala et al. – the

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Published on
November 3, 2023

Over 90 percent of global blue food production faces substantial risks from environmental changes, with leading seafood-producing countries – including China, Norway, and the U.S. – running the highest risks, according to a new study.

Published in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability, the study, “Vulnerability of blue foods to human-induced environmental change,” included a global analysis assessing the

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Published on
October 27, 2023
Biodegradable drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs), though more environmentally friendly than traditional models, are hindered by shorter lifespans than petroleum-plastic devices, but a new report from the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) highlighting a new dFAD design may offer a solution. The ISSF, a U.S.-based globally focused NGO that centers on tuna sustainability, released a report titled “Biodegradable… Read More
Published on
October 20, 2023

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded an Oregon State University (OSU) researcher USD 1.4 million (EUR 1.3 million) over three years to predict how fish stocks could shift due to climate change, specifically focusing on movements that have the potential to cause geopolitical tension.

The research aims to support world leaders in reducing the risk of future conflicts and, if tensions do rise, enhancing global preparedness for such

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Published on
October 2, 2023

Traditionally, retailers selling shelf-stable seafood products have limited their offerings to simple, unflavored cans of fish – primarily tuna – lacking the innovation that other food categories have been able to achieve.

Research on what seafood consumers value, such as the 2023 FMI Power of Seafood report, continues to indicate U.S. seafood shoppers prioritize quality, price, sustainability, convenience, and health, but

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Published on
September 21, 2023

Wild kelp forests help generate an annual average of USD 500 billion (EUR 456 billion) in global fisheries production, a study published in Nature Communications has found.

The study, “The value of ecosystem services in global marine kelp forests,” aimed to calculate the worth of this historically undervalued resource and emphasize its economic and ecosystem benefits.

“[The study is] meant to bring attention to an ecosystem

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Published on
September 8, 2023

This is part two of a two-part series on human rights abuses in the tuna industry. Part one explored the details of abuses uncovered by the report.

Human rights violations remain prevalent in the tuna industry, according to a recent report from BLOOM, a Paris, France-headquartered nonprofit.

The report, “Canned Brutality: Human rights abuses in the tuna industry,” details how many tuna products on European shelves stem from supply

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Published on
September 7, 2023

This is part one of a two-part series detailing human rights violations in the tuna industry. Part two explores BLOOM's calls to the industry and government for action.

Debt bondage, passport confiscation, as well as physical, sexual, and verbal abuse are just a few human rights violations that tuna companies are failing to address on their fishing vessels and in processing plants contributing to their supply chains, according to a new

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