Illustrations by the very talented Hannah Dean. Written by Dana Sackett. Inspired by your comments on our previous article, the most poisonous and venomous fish, we decided to highlight those other sea creatures that, despite not having a backbone, also pack a powerful toxic punch. 1. First on the list are the box jellyfish or…
Category: Ecology: Organisms & Habitats
What can guppies teach us about fisheries management?
We can’t manipulate entire stocks of Bluefin Tuna in massive experiments. But we can use guppies to get the same answer. But first, a quiz: How does overfishing affect fish populations? Obviously, more commercial catch reduces the total biomass and number of individuals in a stock—that’s a given. But commercial over-harvest has another, more subtle…
Why is genetic diversity important?
Genetic diversity and the portfolio effect can help buffer species against global change. The greater the genetic diversity, the greater the opportunity for resiliency to future climate change. When it comes to fish conservation in an era of global change, genetic diversity is like a diversified financial portfolio. If you bet everything on one strain, you could end up with…
Dam Removals
Recently we’ve heard a lot of trumped up talk about building walls. While we don’t get political here at The Fisheries Blog, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the trend of taking down walls, also known as dam removal. Dams are built for a lot of good reasons. Larger ones produce hydropower, and…
Three a-LURE-ing aquatic adaptations!
Hey anglers, what’s your favorite fishing lure? Does it mimic a minnow? How about a crayfish or salamander? As sport fishing has become more popular, fishing lures have evolved to appear more and more realistic. But they still can’t match the natural lures produced my millions of years of evolution. This week, we’ve teamed up…
My Fishy Valentine
From the free love fest of Nassau Groupers to the one, true love of the Four-eyed Butterflyfish, this Valentine’s Day, The Fisheries Blog take a look at the different forms of fish love ♥ ♥ ♥
Solution for Rare Alligator Snapping Turtles Found?
Guest Author: Craig Springer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The alligator snapping turtle is part of Southeastern USA natural heritage. They grow big. They are impressive to look at, and aren’t as common as they once were. As crickets sing sunshine to sleep, it’s a wake-up call for alligator snapping turtles. They make a living by…
Deeper understanding from shallow streams
Chubs are prolific ecosystem engineers. Photo by B. Peoples Chubs (Nocomis spp.) are large minnows that are common throughout eastern North America. In spring, adult male chubs carry gravel in their mouths to construct large, mound-shaped nests for spawning. Nests can be 1.5 m in diameter and over a half-meter tall. Chub nests are unique…
The Trout You’ve Never Heard Of (and Almost Never Did)
By Craig Springer, Guest Blogger The trout stole its color from a southern New Mexico summer sunset. Gila trout sport a painter’s pallet of pink and olive, rose, yellow, copper—and a few tones in between. Beneath the black pepper flakes that fleck its side lies a lexis—a language carried forward from another time. It’s an…
Q-n-A: CO2 Barriers to Fish Movement
A few weeks ago we covered the topic of using CO2 as a barrier to fish movement. For a refresher, you can read about it here, but the basic idea is that some river locks may be infused with CO2, creating a plume of CO2 water that is released when the lock is open and…
Unlikely invaders
by Brandon Peoples The media likes to make a big deal about invasive species. We’ve seen plenty videos of jumping carp, documentaries about Red Lionfish, and photos of pipes choked by zebra muzzels. But what about the other aquatic invaders, the ones that sometimes sneak past the headlines…the species that may even be threatened in their…
Some Unexpected Consequences of Climate Change
By: Troy Farmer, a postdoctoral researcher at Auburn University On a global scale, aquatic systems are warming. Average temperatures in the world’s oceans have been steadily increasing over the past 50 years. Given that the observed warming trends are predicted to continue, our job, as fisheries scientists, is to understand how fish are presently being…
CO2 Fish Barriers
Asian carp are here in the US to stay. This group of fishes are often called Bigheaded carps, and typically includes silver carp, bighead carp, grass carp, and black carp. Each species was brought to the US from Asia for different reasons—for example, grass carp were introduced for weed control as they eat vegetation. Each…
Conservation Road Maps for The Coming Decade
By Michelle Staudinger Every 10 years, State natural resource agencies review the health (or decline) of their fish, wildlife, and associated habitats. They take a proactive approach, thinking carefully about the priorities, challenges, and actions they would like to accomplish during the coming decade. All of this planning and reflection is packaged into each State’s…
Where does the mercury in our fish come from?
By: Dana Sackett The answer to the question, “Where does the mercury in our fish come from?” can be a bit complicated. While most mercury in our air and water originates from burning coal and other industrial sources, the form of mercury released from these sources is usually inorganic, meaning not the form that we…
The Fisheries Blog 