As a fish person, I have heard the joke a hundred times, and each time I must pretend that it is the first time in order to not deflate the enthusiasm of the joke teller. You know the one, “What did the fish say when it ran into the wall?” I wait, not too long,…
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…
Calling it Quits: When to stop fishing?
Most of us have had a bad day fishing—the fish aren’t biting, the bait isn’t right, or the weatherman got it all wrong. And we each know what our threshold is for willing to make that one last cast. But what motivates someone who is dependent on fishing to give up trying? This is the…
5% of US Freshwater Fish Species Petitioned for Endangered or Threatened Status
Watersheds with 10 or more at-risk fish and mussel species are concentrated in the Southeast, reflecting the extraordinary species diversity of rivers and streams in this region. (Rivers of Life) The dynamic physiographic provinces spanning the Southeastern United States, comprised of mountains, piedmont, and coastal plains, combined with the historic absence of ice sheets…
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…
The Fish Are Fighting Back!
By Patrick Cooney As the mist swirls from the tannin stained Okefenokee Swamp water, prehistoric behemoths lurk below waiting to “maim”, “strike”, “clobber”, and “attack.” Lacking teeth, they utilize their sheer size and sharp bone-like protrusions against us humans. Weighing up to 220 pounds and reaching lengths of eight feet, the stealth attackers have struck…
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…
Earliest Fish Hook Found
The day after Thanksgiving 2011, while we were all still stuffed with turkey, Science published an article by O’Conner et al. suggesting that pelagic fish may have been on the dinner table long before we thought. It’s accepted that humans traveled the high seas as long as 50,000 years ago—they would have needed to colonize…
High Sierra Trout Stocking
By Patrick Cooney Duane Johnson Firmly strapped into the only remaining passenger seat of an airplane, barf bag perched at my beck and call, I was surrounded by the precious cargo I had raised all summer in preparation for this very day. It started out as a gentle flight, but quickly became the wild ride…
Welcome to The Fisheries Blog!
Hi everyone, and welcome to the opening of The Fisheries Blog. The Fisheries Blog is a website created by three fisheries students and friends who wanted a forum to share short, information-packed articles on topical fisheries themes. Each Monday morning, we’ll be posting one article written by one of our bloggers and these articles will…
The Fisheries Blog 