by Troy Farmer, guest writer Given the active Atlantic hurricane season of 2017, now seems like an appropriate time to revisit a topic previously covered by the Fisheries Blog: hurricane effects on fish. Hurricanes impact our society in numerous ways, as many along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts are currently experiencing. Given the destructive…
Category: Guest Expert
Surviving the Hurricane: Science Center Nears Completion 1 Year After Hurricane
Despite the devastating impact of a Category 1 Hurricane just one year ago, the new Nature Coast Biological Station nears completion.
9 Key Principles for Instructors to Help Students Learn
Guest Author: Dr. Don Orth Editor: Patrick Cooney We are all teachers and learners, albeit too often flawed, slow learners. Here, pictured with a filmstrip projector, I listened as the Beatles sang “You say you want a revolution. Well, you know. We all want to change the world.” (John Lennon / Paul McCartney Revolution lyrics…
A Look Below: A Guide to Underwater Fish Photography
The ability to capture stunning images of life underwater has now become part of the mainstream when it was formerly but a rivulet.
Great Lakes, Great #SciComm
Co-authored by Katie O’Reilly, Nicole Wood, and Solomon David #SocialGreatLakes: Communicating Great Lakes Science through Social Media was a special session at the 60th annual meeting of the International Association for Great Lakes Research held in Detroit, Michigan, from May 15-19, 2017. During #SocialGreatLakes, eleven speakers from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines shared their…
What is Bowfishing?
Guest Author: Jason Emmel Editor: Patrick Cooney WHAT IS BOWFISHING? It’s not really fishing in the traditional sense. It’s not really bowhunting either. Bowfishing is somewhere in-between and the basic principle is quite simple. You spot a fish lurking in the shallows, carefully move in closer, draw back your specially equipped bow and arrow, take…
Yellow Perch and the hypoxia Goldilocks zone
It may seem obvious that suffocation is not good, but determining a fish’s tolerance for low oxygen is increasingly important as hypoxia increases worldwide. Hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen concentrations) occurs naturally—it develops in the hot summers and cold winters beneath ice in small lakes and ponds. Hypoxia can also occur as a result of human…
The Future of Field Notes
Guest Author: Jennifer Cochran Biederman Editor: Patrick Cooney My father was a field biologist, fish professor, and natural historian down to his DNA. Most evenings, he’d make his way from the dinner table directly to his chair in the living room. It was his spot – surrounded by not-so-neatly arranged stacks of exams to grade,…
From reef bank to fish tank: how the aquarium trade can impact coral reef conservation
By Josh Cahill: Captivating millions, the popularity of the home marine aquarium hobby has grown dramatically in the past decade…If consumers are willing to pay more for animals harvested from renewable management areas and handled responsibly, there would be great incentive for a larger shift toward sustainability.
Fish Health Surveys Inform Conservation
Guest Author: Craig Springer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service I’m standing in a small side room at Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery, just off a larger chamber where a dozen concrete raceways lie. Double-doored olive metal cabinets stand against white walls under effusive florescent light. Well-used grease boards smudged with eraser marks under blue-ink to-do…
Bring Out Your Dead: Donation of fish carcasses supports community
Guest Author: Henry Hershey Editor: Patrick Cooney Open up the chest freezer at a fish biology lab and you will find a frosty collection of funky smelling specimens: maybe an old green sunfish that did not quite break the state record, or a tote full of rotten walleye from an old gillnet survey. To a…
Predators reject yellow perch egg skeins
Yellow perch produce eggs in gelatinous ribbons, but so far nobody knows why. We explored this peculiar trait by conducted some experiments to see if these ribbons protect eggs from predators. Helpless and delicious. Fish eggs and larvae are an energy-rich meal for predators. For some species, predator consumption of eggs and larvae can reach up…
The 7 Wonderful Pikes, Pickerels, and Muskies of the World!
Guest Author: Sasha Doss Editor: Patrick Cooney Artist: Hannah Dean White Sox, Red Sox, Esox. People obsess more about one of these three “sox” than the other two. Only fisherpeople will know which one prevails. Studying Muskellunge has been such a wonderful experience. Many of my days over the past few years as a graduate…
Dananananananana BAT RAY
Like Gotham’s caped crusader, Bat Rays soar through their surroundings. The Bat Ray is a key benthic predator and a model example of unique sensory adaptations, making the Bat Ray a hero in its own right!
The Road Less Traveled: Fisheries scientist working for power producing industry
Author: Patrick O’Rouke Editor: Patrick Cooney “So, you’re going to the dark side?” That’s a question I got a lot when I told my colleagues that I was going to work for a power company after five years as a state agency fisheries biologist. While I would laugh and play along when I heard that…
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