Check out our new collaborative blog GOOD CONSERVATION NEWS where you can get news on all the success stories to do with the natural world.
Contributors:
Sam @ mad-as-a-marine-biologist
Tara @ sexyactionplanet
Ang @ take-nothing-but-photos
The philosophy
Over 12,000 square km of species rich sandbank, an area almost double the size of Devon, has become Britain’s latest marine protected area to safeguard important sea life and habitats. The Dogger Bank is in the middle of the North Sea and crosses the offshore waters of the UK, the Netherlands and Germany. The UK section has been submitted by the Government to the European Commission and now has candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) status. It will be the largest European Marine Site to be submitted by any Member State for protection and links up with the existing sites in Germany and the Netherlands.Dogger Bank to get special marine protection
Fatu, a female northern white rhinoceros who lives in a Kenyan conservation park, is one of just seven of her kind left in the world. But millions of her stem cells, stored in a freezer in California, might one day help boost her population’s ranks. The northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) and another animal facing extinction, the drill monkey (Mandrillus leucophaeus), have become the first endangered animals to have their cells transformed into stem cells like those found in early embryos. These cells can be stored and multiplied in culture, and are theoretically capable of making any tissue in the body — including sperm cells that could be used in assisted captive breeding programmes. The work is published online today in Nature Methods1.Could stem cells rescue an endangered species?
Threat from Asian beetle expands beyond cities
- A new study has documented for the first time that the Asian longhorned beetle is not content to merely munch on urban trees but that the nonnative insects can thrive in forests, confirming scientists’ fears about the possible scale of the destruction from an outbreak that has already claimed tens of thousands of trees in Worcester. (Photo: Jennifer Forman Orth/MDAR)
New study shows that Florida’s reefs cannot endure a ‘cold snap’ - Scientists detail unprecedented loss of coral reef species during 2010 cold weather event.
A new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science shows that Florida’s…
My issue with the aquarium industry is at the source. From what I’ve come across, most people don’t think about how the pretty little fish (or coral, or anemones, or shrimp, or crabs, or lobsters, or pretty much anything) are caught. Cyanide fishing is the norm. Fishermen dive down with rudimentary dive equipment (read hose, not always with a regulator, in mouth attached to a compressor on a boat) and a squeeze bottle filled with sodium cyanide.
When they see the fish on order (and let’s face it, by now it’s more than likely to be threatened), they squeeze the
NaClNaCN (Sillly Sam— and everyone thinks she is a real scientist! :D) around the area. The mixture stuns the fish, slowing it down so it can be caught without damaging it. Unfortunately the toxin is deadly to invertebrates and any hard or soft coral in the area are done for, as well as other species that are food and habitat sources for reef inhabitants.The fish is usually shipped off to a factory where it is packaged to be flown to whichever country the order came from. The main powers of the West (USA, UK) and various countries in SE Asia are the main customers. More often than not the fish are given various drugs and antibiotics so they are “clean” for the aquarium, but this just shortens their life span exasperating the demand on the source reef.
The danger is also inherent for the fishermen, from impoverished nations that are trying to make enough for their families. I’ve seen the struggle here in Philippines, the uncertainty of the next meal, the children’s future, health bills etc. And in nations, like this one, the sea is pretty much the only resource available. But in the efforts to get these fish, they are putting their lives at risk.
Almost none of them have any sort of formal dive training. No precautionary measures are taken to prevent decompression sickness that is thought to be on of the worst pains around. It can paralyze and very frequently kill. Sadly it is easily prevented with the right training, equipment, and attitude. Imagine what happens if the compressor on the boat fails, if the hose slips out his mouth, if anything goes wrong. If the fisherman doesn’t die he left unable to work, and unable to earn for his family.
It’s dire straits any way you cut it. And it’s all to meet a frivolous demand. With no demand, the supply chain evolves towards something else, something more sustainable for both man and nature.
To quote a catchphrase from the anti-shark fin movement, applicable pretty much everywhere: When the demand stops, the killing will too. As the consumer, you actually have all the power. Use it. And if you must have fish in your tank, look for reputable suppliers, that don’t drug the fish, and train their fishermen suppliers. They are out there.
Fish Feeding: Evil at it’s most innocent?
Fish feeding is common throughout the tropical tourist spots of SE Asia (and I’m sure the world). I have seen families tottering to jetties with so many loaves of bread they could retire a baker. And what do they do, chuck it on the surface of the water. It then erupts with squabbling damselfish, usually the Indo-pacific Seargeantfish like in the photo above, fighting for the easy meal.
I myself have been snorkeling when a well-meaning boatman has thrown bread in my vicinity. The chaos that ensued around me was intimidating. I could feel the brush of slimy scales on my legs, and couldn’t see through my mask for black stripes zipping around gobbling up the bread. An unforgettable experience without a doubt.
But if you take a moment to think, you might remember any good nature reserve instructing you not to feed wild animals. It’s no different in a marine environment. There is no underwater baker these fish frequent when we aren’t so generous with the yeasty delectables. Bread is not their natural food.
Algae is. Apart from the distress on the fish’s digestive systems (oh no! Carbs!), feeding them changes their behaviour. Instead of grazing algae off the reefs hard surfaces, making room for new coral growth, and preventing algae from out competing the coral for space and resources (all of which are essential for a balanced Coral Reef ecosystem), they are hanging around anything that makes a splash on the surface: a person, a cab, a cigarette butt.
Feeding fish means they will no longer fulfill their ecological niche. It’s like removing a link in the food chain. Throwing the food web into chaos. The act seems innocent enough, and most people won’t think past the excitement of being overwhelmed by nature, but as is so often the case, we have unforeseen consequences on the environment. Something, perhaps, we shouldn’t take as lightly as we do.
Another video from the university of Minnesota
