Four months after the introduction of a new management system for the multi-species New England groundfishery, there is no conclusive evidence yet as to its efficacy. But one fact has become abundantly clear: Since May 1, when the new rules took effect, the majority of New Bedford draggers have yet to put a net in the                               water. More

Over the last week, Salon has featured a series of essays about our complex relationship with eating meat. Some of these pieces were written by meat-eaters who question their choices, and some authored by confused, troubled and temporarily lapsed vegetarians. In the letters section, though, accusations flew: Salon, evidently, was "funded by the meat industry" and hell-bent on "trying to turn vegetarians into meat eaters." The same question echoed throughout each thread: Why can't Salon publish an article about a content vegetarian for once? More

In Hindu culture, the cow has been a sacred object for thousands of years. In Britain, its milk is rapidly being accorded the same status. When David Cameron disowned a plan to abolish free milk for under-fives, floated by Anne Milton, a junior health minister, it was remarkable not just for the speed of the U-turn, but for how little explanation it seemed to require. More

On August 20, the European Union's ban on seal products went into effect. Sort of. Over a year ago, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of banning fur and other products from commercially harvested seals. Every year, hundreds of thousands of baby seals are brutally slaughtered for their pelts along Canada's coasts in the world's largest marine mammal massacre. They're either shot or clubbed to death, and 97 percent of the victims are under three months old. Veterinary and zoology experts have declared the hunt inherently inhumane. In 2001, a report found that there was not sufficient evidence in 42 percent of the cases that the pups were even unconscious when they were skinned. More

"Sushi tastes amazing. A great steak is just amazing." Those are not the words you expect to hear from a leader of the vegetarian movement. But that's how Graham Hill, founder of the sustainability website TreeHugger, feels about the fleshier components of his diet. He is a self-described "weekday vegetarian," a compromise that came about after years of trying--and failing--to adhere to a strictly vegetarian diet. More

The largest international naval exercise in the world off the waters of Hawaii known as the 2010 Rim of the Pacific or RIMPAC exercise involved 14 nations including South Korea, Thailand, Colombia, Peru and Malaysia with a total of 32 ships, five submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 20,000 personnel. More

Bob Holmes assesses the environmental argument for giving up eating meat (17 July, p 28), tacitly accepting the broad scientific consensus that current animal-farming techniques have unsustainable environmental impacts. However, it is not just meat that is implicated in such damage, but all products we derive from farmed animals. More

Howls drifted through the night as a quarter moon rose over a ridge in the Elk Mountains. On each of its two cries, the Mexican gray wolf let out a prolonged, primal note that ended with a quick slide down the scale to silence. More

More than three weeks after BP capped its gushing oil well, skimming operations have all but stopped and federal scientists say just a quarter of the oil remains in the Gulf of Mexico. More

The organizers of Veggie Fest have a suggestion for your weekend: Lettuce entertain you. And educate you. And feed you, of course. More