Combining the brilliance of nature with some top-notch engineering, these two scientists are on to something and getting the funding for it.

The researchers are breaking ground with this and looking to raise water monitoring to another level.

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The new technology could be attractive in land-rich areas, and it may also have some application for introducing sustainable energy to more densely developed areas, since its use of high efficiency solar cells enables it to pack more generating capacity into less space.  It also may prompt some new exploration of the opportunity to double up solar energy generation with other operations, such as fish farming.

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These are the fish which are most in peril from destructive, illegal or simple over fishing.  It lists 19 fish, two shellfish and one crustacean.

Cod we all know about and hopefully everybody avoids.  However the list also includes other common white fish, including hoki and pollock.

Then there are other common seafood: salmon, quahog, swordfish, red snapper, halibut and most types of tuna.

The list goes on and on and is truly astounding: you can read it all at the Greenpeace Red Fish List page.

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Pundamilia nyererei is a species of freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family. It is found in lakes in Kenya and Tanzania. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.

In may not be a great surprise to learn that fish are the most species-rich vertebrate group on the Planet–with an estimated 32,500 member species. But what is surprising is that 43% of these species are found in freshwater habitats, such as lakes and rivers.

This rich diversity of freshwater species is all the more startling when one considers that freshwater systems represent just one hundredth of one percent (.01%) of the Earth’s surface water. According to Fishes of the World (J.S. Nelson), over 5000 new species of freshwater fish have been discovered in just the past three decades–a time period marked by expanded exploration of fish habitats and better understanding of “taxonomic boundaries” (mostly, due to more accurate genetic analysis).

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Cat got your tongue?  Well, not in this case!  According to the BBC, a strange-looking parasite was recently discovered inside the mouth of a weaver fish off the Minquiers.  Attracted to fish, the parasite, an isopod, eats the fish’s tongue then takes up residence inside its mouth!

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LiveFuels, Inc. hopes to make a renewable fuel using processed algae-fed fish.

The company–who develops renewable algae-based biofuels–has a test facility in Brownsville, TX. At the location they have 45 acres of open saltwater ponds which will be used for optimizing the algal production.

Most algae-to-biofuel companies are limited to monomcultures of algae, but LiveFuels plans to grow a mix of regional species in low-cost, open-water systems. The algae will be “harvested” with filter-feeding fish and other aquatic herbivores.

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We have all been waiting for this day. Finally, shark repellent has arrived to the world… except this shark repellent is not used to save humans from sharks. No this shark repellent was made to save sharks from humans. With good reason, while only about 4 people die of unprovoked shark attacks each year, humans kill an estimated 73 million sharks each year. You do the math and tell me who is the biggest threat to whom?

Many sharks are inadvertently killed in fishing equipment used for tuna, swordfish, and other commercial fish. This is called bycatch. These unwanted sharks are often thrown back into the ocean dead, dying, or injured.

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There has been significant success in decreasing the levels of chemical contaminants in our nation’s water ways in recent years, thanks to the Clean Air and Water Acts passed by Congress. However, low levels of many contaminants (such as metals, pesticides, and synthetic molecules like PCBs) persist in many rivers and streams, home to salmon and related trout species.

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Have you noticed how all sorts of high end resorts and hotels have started converting their chlorine pools to salt water? And it’s not just the health and hospitality industry that wants to figure out a way to purify their water without resorting to chemicals. Other industries, including the food and beverage, dairy, aquaculture and municipal drinking water providers need to ensure that the water they use contain no micro-organisms or pathogens of any kind. A company based in Israel, Atlantium has developed what may be one of the first industrial-grade solutions to water micro-organism purification without chemicals.

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In a move praised by environmentalists fighting to protect vulnerable species, thousands of restaurants across the UK and Ireland have taken 69 fish off their menus.

The Compass Group, world’s largest contract caterer, is setting an example in addressing fisheries’ sustainability and helping to reduce demand for over-exploited fish. According to today’s Guardian, the 69 species on the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) “Fish to Avoid” list will no longer be served at 6,500 outlets across the UK and Ireland supplied by Compass.

Head of conservation at MCS, Simon Brockington, in the same article, praised the company’s decision, calling it a “crucial step in ensuring the long-term survival of vulnerable fisheries.”

Currently, a decision on whether or not to offer “official advice” to consumers on eating ethically is under consideration by the government’s Food Standards Agency. If the agency moves forward with the decision, it will encourage consumers not to buy or eat endangered fish,as well as direct them to the MCS and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

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In a possible solution to a marine chemistry mystery that has puzzled scientists for several decades, researchers have now calculated the contribution of teleost fish (bony fish) to marine carbonate (CO3) concentrations. They estimate that such fish secrete up to 15% of the ocean’s carbonate production, through their intestines, or guts (these are conservative estimates; the more liberal estimates show up to 45%).

This is important because sea water is saturated with calcium ions (Ca+2), which must be combined with carbonates to form the shells (as in bi-valves like clams and scallops) and habitat structures (as in gastropods, like conchs, and coral communities) made of Calcium carbonate (CaCO3). CaCO3 is a “neutral” (non ionic/reactive) and stable compound (within normal ocean ph ranges), and, with its plentiful constituent ions (Ca2+ and CO3-), it is an ideal material for marine creatures to utilize in constructing their shells and skeletons.

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Here’s a real shifting baseline. Fishing catches may be decreasing, but inadvertent ocean litter pickups of mostly plastic debris are increasing. Fishermen don’t actually go out looking for plastic debris to pick up. These ocean garbage pick-ups are accidental. For now.

But soon, fishermen may be paid to bring garbage back to port.

Already, ocean garbage levels are damaging fishing catches. Dealing with garbage is now costing fishermen an ever increasing amount of time.

Everyone has read different estimates of the size of the giant plastic trash dump now swirling in the Pacific. The Air France crash added evidence of just how big of a problem ocean litter is becoming when ocean trash was mistaken for crash debris.

Currently several organizations are starting to pick up ocean litter:

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In 2003 “Nature” published a study showing that 90% of the large fish living in our oceans were fished out of existence. A group of scientists recently predicted, major seafood stocks will collapse by 2048. This is a staggering number, considering the technology and amount of people needed to cause overfishing is a relatively new phenomenon, starting really only in the late 19th century.

Most governments have shrugged these claims off, and continued their fishing practices. Alaska has shown to be the only sovereign state willing to self-police their fishing practices. Sarah Palin jokes aside… Threatened with the loss of one of its top industries, Alaska began limiting the number of fishing vessels, restricting the size of their catches; and perhaps most importantly, giving incentives to fishermen. Alaska currently gives fishermen a stake in the long-term viability of salmon and other fish.

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Two seperate scientific studies have revealed that global warming is leading to significant reductions in the size of sheep and fish species, more evidence that climate change is forcing a huge range of species to adapt to a hotter world.

The first study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigated fish populations in French rivers and the Baltic Sea and discovered that fish are shrinking as their habitats heat up.

Results show that average fish size in many French rivers have declined over the last thirty years, while the geographical range of tiddlers in the Baltic expanded as species such as herring and sprat also shrunk.

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There is a growing movement to assess the value–in dollar terms–of “ecosystem services” such as storm protection (from salt marshes), pollination of crops (from bee colonies and insects), natural predation of harmful insects and parasites (by birds, bats and other animals), fertilizer from animal feces, fish in the oceans, clean water and air, and cooling/greenhouse gas-controlling forests, etc.

This movement has been gaining steam–especially with the recent loss of 40% of U.S. bee colonies by a mysterious virus (causing billions of dollars in lost crops), and the devastation wrought by hurricane Katrina (largely due to the human destruction of natural buffers like salt marshes and sand bars).

Earlier this year, in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Peter Kareiva et al, published a call for renewed efforts to put a dollar figure on the value of nature’s services. Putting a price on such services (defined as any function of the natural world that we benefit from) is extremely tricky and difficult, but not putting any price at all on these services, in the view of the authors, seems a serious mistake.

Kareiva, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, elaborated on this idea: “In this world, cost benefit analysis and dollars are how decisions get made…When nature and the benefits that nature [provides] are not converted to dollars then it can’t be on the table for those discussions and, in a way, nature’s not getting credit for what it’s doing.” (quoted from a February, 5, 2009 podcast report by David Biello for Scientific American)

The time has come to credit Nature for what it does for us. Not to do so, the authors argue, is to devalue Nature, and thus to encourage our collective ignorance and misuse/abuse of its services.

photo credit: Jon Sullivan, public domain

In these days of ever-diminishing fish stocks and major threats to marine ecosystems, good news is hard to come by. But over the past few years, one fish species in particular–the Atlantic Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus)–has made a dramatic comeback, surpassing even peak levels from pre-decline years.

A July 1, 2009 feature article in The Scientist–’The Great Haddock Revival’ (by Kirsten Weir)–details the remarkable rebound of this once decimated, commercial fish stock. While scientists are still debating the cause(s) of this, New England fishermen are nothing short of exuberant–especially given the concurrent decline of multiple, commercial “ground fish” stocks, such as cod, halibut, and pollock.

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Doctors and health professionals in general recommend fish because of the high dose of Omega 3’s fatty acids a serving supplies you with. A 6-ounce serving of fish can provide a day’s worth of high quality protein for adults. Eating fish once a week should not cause any concern for most people. For those fish eaters who partake in multiple servings of fish a week, especially children and pregnant women, the main concern can become mercury poisoning. Eating too much mercury-ridden fish can cause certain health problems including impairment in memory and behavior, tingling in the hands, feet, and lips, as well as causing possible damage to the heart and immune system. Aside from the mercury concern, we now have a number of different fish species that are soon to become extinct due to over fishing, or are being caught using environmentally destructive methods. There are some very simple rules to follow to be certain you are not getting a side dish of mercury or hurting the environment with your fish entree.

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Fish & Garbanzo Bean Burgers
Cooking spray
1 lb fillet of tilapia
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
1 cup canned white beans
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
Whole grain buns or bread

Romaine lettuce
Tomato slices
Tartar sauce

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F. Spritz baking pan with cooking spray and add fish. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Bake until flaky, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove fish from oven; leave oven on.

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Concerned about how sustainable the fish is that you’re eating for dinner? Do you think that the farm raised option is always the best choice for seafood?

There are varieties of fish that have fewer chemicals or are from highly managed wild populations that are more sustainable than others.  To make the selection of fish easier, the Monterrey Bay Aquarium (ironically an organization dedicated to protecting the same creatures it’s helping you decide to eat) has developed a website that details dozens of different varieties of fish, mussels, and shrimp and states which is the best environmental choice, which is the best alternative, and which ones to avoid.

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