Emma Desrochers

A new suite of research has found efforts to restore oyster reefs on the U.S. East Coast has knock-on effects benefitting the economies of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Two sets of research, one by the North Carolina Coastal Federation and another by Morgan State University’s Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory in Maryland, U.S.A, found restoring oyster reefs would have direct economic benefits for the surrounding economies.

In April, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order allowing commercial fishing from 50 to 200 nautical miles off the shore within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. The national monument was founded as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in 2009 under President George W. Bush and then expanded in 2016 under President Barack Obama.

The next round of United Nations negotiations (INC-5.2) aiming to create a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty will take place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, from 5 to 14 August, following the failure of INC-5 to reach an agreement.