The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "fish" ...
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Fishy Business
Boston Globe reporters Jenn Abelson and Beth Daley captured the attention of consumers across the nation with their 2011 “Fishy Business” series, which revealed widespread mislabeling of seafood at restaurants. DNA testing commissioned by the Globe showed diners frequently – and unwittingly -- overpaid for less desirable species. In 2012, the Globe produced two more “Fishy Business” installments to expand and follow up on the initial investigation. First, Abelson spent several months examining how fish processors add water to seafood to increase profits. The Globe hired an independent lab to conduct an analysis of 43 fish samples collected from supermarkets across Massachusetts. The results, presented in a multimedia package in September 2012, showed consumers often pay for excess water when they buy scallops and frozen fish. About 1 in 5 of the samples weighed less than what was stated on packages. The testing also showed 66 percent of the fish from one supplier had too much ice. The Globe also wanted to verify restaurants and wholesalers had changed their ways following the newspaper’s 2011 investigation and resulting calls for reform. Daley and Abelson returned to 58 restaurants that served the wrong fish in 2011 to collect new samples. DNA tests showed 76 percent did not match what restaurants advertised on their menus. The resulting third installment of “Fishy Business,” published in December 2012, detailed these findings. In addition, Abelson and Daley explained how accountability is lost in the fish supply chain by investigating a major wholesaler that provided mislabeled fish to some of the region’s best-known restaurants.
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Plunder in the Pacific
"Plunder in the Pacific," an eight-country investigation, revealed how Asian, European and Latin American fleets have devastated what was once one of the world’s great fish stocks. Jack mackerel in the South Pacific has decreased from around 30 million tons to less than three tons in just two decades. We found that national interests and geopolitical rivalry for six years blocked efforts to ratify a regional fisheries management organization that could impose binding regulations to rescue jack mackerel from further collapse. Bound only by voluntary restrictions, fleets competed in what amounted to a free-for-all in no man’s water.
Tags: Pacific; ocean resources; fisheries
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Trouble In Paradise
This story outlines the need for better regulation of coral reef fish collecting. This story provides the basic facts on the aquarium trade in Hawaii at a time when people in the state were having to decide where they stood on the issue.
Tags: Coral Reef; Fish; Hawaii; Aquariums
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Fishy Business
The reporters combined old-fashioned reporting with innovative DNA technlogy to investigate the process of fish mislabeling in Massachusetts. The results were astonishing - 48 percent of the samples were not what they were advertised to be. The Globe reported that consumers are routinely and unwittingly overpaying for less desirable -- sometimes undesirable -- species.
Tags: fish; DNA; mislabeling; unsafe
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Fishing For Business
A look at Illinois' program to give state contract money to business owned by minorities, women and people with disabilities. The state claims to have one of the best records in the nation when it comes to doing business with diverse companies, but our investigation shows that large departments are failing to meet goals year after year and evidence shows that the state may be influencing how well it is doing by circumventing the system.
Tags: state; contract; money; public; funds; minority; businesses;
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Looting the Seas II
Following the award winner report, Looting the Seas, this follow up investigation looks at the Spanish fishing industry.
Tags: fishing; Bluefin Tuna; fish fraud; international crime
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Looting the Seas: How Overfishing, Fraud and Negligence Plundered the Majestic Bluefin Tuna
"A groundbreaking, multimedia expose on the $4 billion black market in bluefin tuna, the world's most coveted source of sushi." From professional fisheries to tuna farms in the Mediterranean and N. Africa, the business was "riddled with fraud, negligence, and criminal misconduct."
Tags: environment; fraud; fishing; bluefin tuna; sushi; black market; fisheries; overfishing; commercial fishing
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Net Gains and Losses
The largest commercial harvester of menhaden, an obscure fish used for fishmeal and fertilizer, may be wiping out the fish to extinction.
Tags: fish; overfishing; Omega Protein; menhaden; Gulf of Mexico
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"State 7th in U.S. in boat mishaps accidents"
Arizona has one of the highest boating accident rates in the country. It is also one of the only states to not have boater education laws or require boat operators to take any type of education course before going out on the water. The National Transportation Safety Board has been urging Arizona to create and enforce such safety laws to decrease the number of accidents.
Tags: National Transportation Safety Board; boating accidents; personal watercraft; Arizona State Parks Department; Sen. Linda Gray; Game and Fish
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"A Lonely Path"
SPC John Fish told the Army that he was depressed and had thoughts of suicide when he returned from his first deployment to Iraq. Despite his mental health, he was to be deployed a second time. Before he left, Fish shot himself in the head. This story takes a look at how the Army handles the mental health of soldiers and questions the motives of redeploying troops who may be emotionally unfit for combat.
Tags: Iraq; Afghanistan; U.S. Army; New Mexico; Fort Hood; suicide; depression; war