A new report prepared under the Indian Ocean – South-East Asia (IOSEA) Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding, confirms that bycatch – accidental capture in fishing gear – remains a major and widespread threat to sea turtles. Tens of thousands of turtles are likely being lost each year across the region, while major knowledge gaps of mitigation measures persist.

Andy Raine has been appointed as Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), effective Monday, 1 June 2026. In his role, Mr. Raine will also serve as the Executive Secretary of the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS).

Four decades after being classified as ‘Endangered,’ the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) was recently reclassified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to ‘Least Concern’. This marked the first time an endangered marine turtle was reclassified to a non-threatened category.

by Adela Hemelikova ([email protected]), Petr Chajma, Teuku Reza Ferasyi, Awaluddin, Nur Fadli, Widya Sari, Christine Madden, Kimberly Riskas, and Jiri Vojar

The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) has reached the threshold for entry into force. This historic milestone marks the beginning of a new era for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in the high seas—an area covering two-thirds of the world’s ocean.