By: Dana Sackett An interesting symbiotic relationship (defined as a close and often long-term interaction between two or more species) highlighted in a recent Science article demonstrates the delicate balance between species in aquatic ecosystems and how chemicals can be used to harm and benefit both corals and fish. Here I discuss this article and…
Category: Ecology: Organisms & Habitats
Hurricane Impacts on Fish
By Steve Midway As the Northeast US continues to recover from Hurricane Sandy, we are all reminded of the danger that hurricanes (now in some cases “superstorms”) pose. And with the admonishment that such storms might be stronger and/or more frequent in the future, we will all need to increasingly consider the negative impacts of…
Dam trout: How do trout populations respond to altered flow?
By: Aaron Bunch The basic premise of adaptive management is to learn from previous actions and adjust accordingly with the ultimate goal of reducing uncertainty over time. The goal of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program is to minimize impacts to ecological and cultural resources downstream from Glen Canyon Dam as the Colorado River…
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…
Guatemala’s Fish Face Threat From Aquatic Invader (Hydrilla)
By Patrick CooneySitting just south of Mexico, Guatemala is a gorgeous country littered with ancient civilizations and beautiful landscapes. Similar to how European invaders wiped out native people throughout Guatemala and the “New World”, a recent plant invasion from Asia has people worried that native fishes that serve as a major food source may be…
Not Too Big to Fail: Recovery of Collapsed Stocks
These days, we hear a lot about disasters and disaster recovery—hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes. Turns out that fish stocks are not immune to disasters, either. This week the Acting Secretary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Fishery Disasters in three US fisheries. Dating back to 1994, anywhere from 0 to 7 disasters have…
Bluehead Chubs Construct Nests and Welcome Guests
By Brandon Peoples Appalachian Mountain streams alive with color. (Lance Merry) Every spring, the clear upland streams of eastern North America erupt in vivid shades of red, yellow and blue. These displays are not caused by flowers, but by the breeding colors of minnows. Before the fireworks can begin, a particular type of minnow…
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…
Waterfall Climbing Fish
By Patrick Cooney Patrick Cooney My perch atop a 100-foot waterfall affords a small break in the tropical rainforest canopy that frames a distant golden-sand Caribbean beach. I crouch in the heavy humid air, anxiously awaiting the arrival of a fish that is reaching the tail end of an arduous journey incredibly disproportionate to the…
What Do Las Vegas and Coral Reefs Have in Common?
Coral Reefs: The Las Vegas of the Sea (Credit: Patrick Cooney) Dirty Little Secret I will let you in on a dirty little secret of mine: I am not a fish biologist. I study corals. Unlike fish, corals do not migrate, they do not school, and last I checked, they aren’t even delicious. Putting it…
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…
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…
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…
Updates to fish reproductive biology
In the Spring of 2011, the American Fisheries Society’s new journal, Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science, published a special section on Fisheries Reproductive Biology. Much of the initial work for these articles took place at the Fourth Workshop on Gonadal Histology, held in Spain in 2009. I would like to highlight…
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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