It’s not hard for everyday citizens to take a position on mountaintop coal mining. The web is scattered with nasty before-and-after photos of mine sites and gripping narratives of environmental degradation. But sometimes it can be tough to hear the science over the screaming. After all, few of us spend time digging through scientific literature…
Category: Threats to Fisheries
Road Salts in Your (Ground) Water
As the latest of what seems like an endless conveyor belt of winter storms hits the middle and eastern portions of the US, it’s worth considering not only the record amount of snow that has fallen in many places, but the vast amounts of road salt that have been used this winter. One estimate of…
Coal-ash goes unchecked
By: Dana Sackett When most people think of pollution caused by coal-burning power plants, a tall smokestack spewing a large cloud of soot and fumes is the first image that comes to mind. This image represents the air pollution caused by coal combustion and is perhaps the most obvious. In actuality, there are many less…
Q-tip anyone?
By Dana Sackett You may have come across a video or two (or ten) of sharks munching down on dead whales and it’s easy to understand how a few sharks may get excited over encountering all that easily acquired energy-rich blubber. However, sharks are not the only ones that can benefit from these large dead…
When the quick cure causes long-term danger: Who knew antibiotics could be such a problem?
by Dr. Dana Sackett Whether for an ear infection or something more serious, chances are we have all had to take antibiotics at one point in our lives. Despite this regular use of antibiotics, few people know where they come from or that our overuse of these drugs are causing some serious problems in our…
Is the Kiddie Pool Safe? Pollution in Coastal Fish Nurseries Affects Offshore Populations
By Tobey Curtis Do you take your young kids to a daycare or nursery? These are places where we expect our children to be, at minimum, safe and nurtured. Nurseries help ensure survival and growth to a well-adjusted adulthood. It turns out that many ocean-going fish use the same strategy for their young. It has…
What’s So “Great” About the Great White Shark, Anyway?
Don’t you hate it when radio stations play a song that you really like so much that eventually you can’t stand to hear it anymore? What may have been a legitimately great song gets over-played to the point that its quality becomes diminished somehow. That’s how I feel when it comes to Shark Week and…
Get to Know an Introduced Species: Northern Snakehead
This article begins a series of 10 posts dedicated to discussing introduced fish species in US waters. Some species are headliners, while others have been around so long that we think of them as part of our wild fauna. Check back for more installments, and Get to Know an Introduced Species! Steve Midway The Background…
Fish Fry? Forest Fires and Stream Fish
Many of us growing up in the US can easily recall Smokey the Bear, the US Forest Service’s mascot who placed in our hands the responsibility of preventing forest fires. The message was solid—for those who enjoy the forest, be sure to extinguish campfires and other sources of fire. And for many years, forest fire…
American shad: Invading the West
By Patrick Cooney The disconnect of East and West was no longer so vast with the driving of the Golden Spike on the United States Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. Seth Green, an entrepreneur who is often credited with the invention of the fish reel, saw a golden opportunity to expand his empire with…
What can fish tell us about ecosystem health?
by Brandon Peoples Chances are if you’re reading this post, I don’t have to convince you that clean water is important. We’re responsible to ourselves to maintain enough clean water to support our society. Most obviously, we must maintain water quality for human consumption. In addition, agencies are required to manage water quality to protect…
Hypoxia
“Currently, hypoxia and anoxia are among the most widespread deleterious anthropogenic influences on estuarine and marine environments, and now rank with overfishing, habitat loss, and harmful algal blooms as major global environmental problems.” Diaz et al. 2008 Fish killed by hypoxic events. (Source: EPA) The Dead Zone. Fish kills. Hypoxia. We increasingly hear these…
Losing Atlantis…Again?
Bimini, just 50 miles off the coast of Miami, sits beside the Gulf Stream. (Kristine Stump) “The house was built on the highest part of the narrow tongue of land between the harbor and the open sea…It was shaded by tall coconut palms that were bent by the trade wind, and on the ocean side…
Bold, hungry, anti-social, but anxiety-free fish
By: Dana Sackett We have all seen the numerous drug advertisements on TV with their list of ridiculous disclaimers and adverse effects. These commercials are an indication, and have even been considered the reason behind, the increased societal use of pharmaceuticals drugs in recent years. In fact, it was only in 1997 that the FDA…
Why Do Mussels Matter?
By Brandon Peoples If you’re like me, you’ll be hitting the creeks this spring to catch a trout or smallmouth bass. But did you know that as you wade along, the very stream bed you walk on is teeming with life? In fact, much of the stream bed itself is alive… Mussels are diverse and…
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