fish

December 8, 2010

Better management of wild fish needed

Enric Sala

photo: Miguel Saavedra

Sala

Declining wild fish stocks in northern oceans has driven a southward expansion of fishing at roughly one degree latitude per year for the past half-century, finds a new study co-authored by Enric Sala (2005). The authors advised that decision-makers need to encourage more sustainable fishing development instead of allowing expansion in the face of depletion.

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September 25, 2010

The cost of overfishing

Rashid Sumaila

photo: Namineni Srinivas

Sumaila

Overfishing has led to a 10 million ton drop in catches, an amount worth $36 billion and enough to have fed 20 million undernourished people, according to a study led by Rashid Sumaila (2009). The study was one of a series of others that found in part that government subsidies cause much of the overfishing.

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September 14, 2010

Action sought on Asian carp

David Lodge

photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Lodge

Five states have filed a lawsuit seeking to close the connection between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River system, where invasive Asian carp have already decimated local ecosystems. In the first full day of the trial, David Lodge testified that there is "a very imminent risk" of an Asian carp invasion into Lake Michigan that could cause irreversible damage.

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June 28, 2010

Confirmation catch

David Lodge

photo: Tdk

Lodge

Invasive Asian carp were caught in Lake Calumet beyond the electric barrier that was supposed to stop them, validating David Lodge's (1999) eDNA analysis that months ago found the Asian carp crossed the barrier. Several U.S. senators responded by urging President Obama to take action. One senator is pushing the Army Corps of Engineers to look into separating Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River system to protect the former from the carp, while another senator asked Illinois officials to poison Lake Calumet.

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David Conover

Stony Brook University, Dean and Director, Marine Sciences Research Center, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences