Mercury, especially in its organic methylmercury form, is well known to cause severe problems in the brain – famously, Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter is thought to be a victim of mercury poisoning. Because mercury in the environment – both from natural sources and from pollution – can find its way into the food we […]
fish
Study: Fish can recover from mercury pollution faster than thought
Mercury pollution remains a problem in many parts of the Great Lakes, but new research from Canada’s Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario shows that efforts to reduce the amount of mercury going into a lake can have quick and dramatic effects on the levels of the pollutant in fish populations. Read more in Great Lakes […]
Mercury Levels Maintained: Invasive mussels keep mercury levels high in Great Lakes fish
The Great Lakes are much cleaner these days than they were just a few decades ago. Rules to get control of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, wastewater discharges and the burning of medical waste have led to a steady drop in mercury contamination of the waters and sediments. Despite that progress, the levels of […]
Fish Parasites Are on the Rise
The number of parasitic worms in ocean fish has increased as much as 90-fold. Some fish parasites are on the rise, bringing with them risks to human health and fisheries-based economies. Now researchers have a new way to track their numbers—by digging into old records and museum samples. Read more in Hakai.
Social Fish Will Brave the Cold to Stay with Their Pals
Individuals will compromise on their own temperature preferences to gain the benefits of group life. You’ve probably experienced it: Your friends want to sit on a restaurant patio and you grudgingly go along even though it is clearly too cold to eat outside. It turns out, some fish know exactly how you feel. They will […]
Quiet Please, the Fish Are Flirting
Fish that fart together stay together. In an ocean full of clicking shrimp and singing whales, fish are often imagined as the silent actors. Fish use motion, color, and chemicals to communicate, but they lack the iconic mewl of a cat or trill of a bird. Yet in reality, many fish chat constantly to mark […]
Fish Farms Can Be Disease Accelerators
Much like terrestrial animal farms, fish farms are incubators for disease. Last summer, more than half a million farmed salmon died from a sea lice outbreak in New Brunswick’s Passamaquoddy Bay. More than 250,000 died directly from the parasites, which attach themselves to the fish and feed on their skin, blood, and mucus, while another […]
Fish for Food
Exploring ways to get fish on the table in Bolivia. People in Bolivia don’t eat much fish — among South American nations it has the lowest per-capita consumption — despite having a large number of lakes and rivers. But local, sustainably sourced fish could be a good source of protein and help reduce food insecurity, […]
A Fishy Plan
Canada’s new government says it’s going to expand the country’s marine protected areas. Scientists worry the government is cutting corners to hit its goal. Canada has a long way to go in protecting its oceans. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity wants 10 percent of the world’s marine and coastal environments protected by 2020. […]
The Living Lice Comb
Aquaculture adopts integrated pest management techniques for water-borne pests. Like their land-based colleagues, fish farmers have to deal with pests and parasites that attack their animals. And like famers on land, they are looking for natural ways to deal with the pests that minimize the use of chemical treatments. For salmon farms on the east […]