Striped bass are in decline on the East Coast and fishermen and scientists are in a race to save the iconic sport fish. Stripers have experienced eight consecutive years of poor reproduction in their most critical habitat of the Chesapeake Bay and fishermen report finding fewer fish. Factors including overfishing, warming waters and increased predators such as seals and sharks are making it increasingly difficult for the population to recover. Some fishermen say stricter rules or a fishing moratorium are needed. Losing these higher-level predators, which help regulate smaller fish, would threaten an $8 billion fishing industry and tens of thousands of jobs.

MELINKA, Chile (AP) — Yesica Fabiana Leviñanco steers her small wooden boat while her partner, Paulo Vera Perez, dives into the cold ocean wat…

South Korean officials have freed a large gray shark trapped for over a month in a canal in Busan. On Wednesday, they used a floating platform to guide the 3-meter-long dusky shark, nicknamed Bukangi, to the sea. The shark was first spotted in mid-September and became a tourist attraction, drawing over 1.7 million visitors. Previous attempts to free it failed. Experts were concerned about its health due to lack of feeding and falling water temperatures. The operation involved maneuvering a platform and using nets to prevent the shark from returning. It's unclear how far the shark swam out.

In the years after the 2010 BP oil spill, the number of fish in the deeper parts of the Gulf of Mexico dramatically declined. According to a major multi-year study published Monday, fish populations dropped by about 60%, while krill that whales and others eat plummeted 72%. Researchers said there’s no other cause they could find for the drop except the BP oil spill. Dispersants used after the spill caused many problems, and new studies show that in future accidents, it would be better to avoid those chemicals and instead add agents that increase oil-munching microbes.