By Dana Sackett Rotenone has been used for centuries by fishermen to harvest fish. More recently, scientists and fishery managers have used rotenone to sample fishes and remove unwanted species from freshwater systems. But how does this toxic chemical work so effectively to kill fish, is it toxic to other species including humans, and…
Author: dksackett
Bottom of the barrel – Expansion of fishing to the deep sea is not sustainable
By: Dr. Jeff Drazen Department of Oceanography University of Hawaii Over the last 50-60 years many shallow water fish stocks have become depleted and others have outright collapsed. As a result fishers have targeted fish stocks in deeper and deeper waters. Studies on global catch have shown that the average depth of catch has increased…
Mercury in fish, what should I eat?
By: Dana Sackett Mercury contamination in fish and aquatic systems has received a lot of attention because of the potential health concerns for people and wildlife. In fact, my own research has focused on mercury dynamics in aquatic systems and fishes over the last several years. Here I wanted to share some of my expertise…
Trophic downgrading
By: Dana Sackett While visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the first time, I was reminded of an article in Science discussing the consequences of globally removing large apex predators from our ecosystems. Below I share some information from my visit and from this article. I walked up to the renowned three-story display of the…
Small things can make a big difference
By: Dana Sackett You may have noticed that many everyday products are much smaller than they were a few decades ago, with cell phones being a perfect example. Every now and then you may catch a glimpse of those archaic brick phones in a rerun of Saved by the Bell and get a good laugh…
Where is Captain Planet when you need him?
By: Dana Sackett I briefly provided some background on this weeks topic in a previous blog (“Surrounded by poisons; understanding the world fish face in today’s aquatic environment”). Here I expand on that subject. Clutching the bottle of water I had just collected from the Pee Dee River, I climbed the steep embankment back to…
The Latest on Ciguatera Fish Poisoning
By: Dana Sackett Friedman et al. 2008. (http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/6/3/456) Ciguatera fish poisoning can cause a number of nasty symptoms (nausea, vomiting, painful electric-shock-like sensations, reversal of hot and cold sensations, intense itching, tingling, numbness, slowed heart rate, weakness, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, depression, headaches, and others) that can last from a few days to…
Trout, a canary in the phosphate-mine
By: Dana Sackett Recent debates on fish selenium toxicity due to mining operations in southern Idaho have brought to light selenium’s toxic effects on fish populations and the various views on selenium policy from different environmental constituents (e.g., industry, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Forest Service, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality,…
Ocean Acidification and How Little We Actually Know
By: Dana Sackett Ocean acidification, sometimes referred to as “the other carbon dioxide (CO2) problem,” is a major concern for our future marine ecosystems. The rate at which CO2 is taken up by the ocean increases as its concentration increases in our atmosphere, resulting in more acidic ocean water. The resulting decrease in pH can…
Surrounded by poisons: understanding the problems fish face in today’s aquatic environment
By: Dana Sackett While the old adage “anything can be considered a poison depending on the dose” is true, problem contaminants in the aquatic environment typically cause adverse effects at very low concentrations (on the order of parts per million or even billion). Picture source Aquatic pollutants originate from many everyday products: pesticides, plastics, cooling…
Tracking fish with chemistry
By: Dana Sackett It was a beautiful summer day in the Mullica River-Great Bay estuary in southern New Jersey, a surprisingly clean estuary despite New Jersey’s reputation. “Click, click click,” three quick sharp sounds emit out of an acoustic receiver lying in the bottom of the boat. We positioned the hydrophone attached to the receiver…
To interfere or not, that is the question?
By: Dana Sackett We are all familiar with the devastating impacts invasive species can have on aquatic ecosystems. As a result of these adverse impacts, many studies have been dedicated to examining the invasive species problem, including: the process of invasion, predicting which species are likely to become invasive, and the ecological and economic damage…
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