Historically, Lake Okeechobee was thought to be impaired only by phosphorus, focusing efforts on reducing agricultural runoff. However, new comprehensive sampling across the Lake Okeechobee Waterway and its connected estuaries shows that toxic algal blooms also are driven by rising nitrogen levels from human waste and urban runoff. Increased nitrogen, worsened by extreme rainfall, significantly fuels bloom severity. Findings underscore the need for integrated nutrient management and improved wastewater treatment to protect the lake and its estuaries.
Tag: Fisheries
Community Focused Approaches to Fisheries Governance Transform Local Perceptions
New social science shows that community engagement and capacity building work can markedly improve local perceptions of fisheries governance capacity, restrictions, and management rules.
Scientists create octopus survival guide to minimise impacts of fishing
Australian scientists have created a survival guide for octopus to ensure fisheries remain sustainable, protecting the longevity of this ancient animal while guaranteeing the world doesn’t go hungry.
Reducing fishing gear could save whales with low impacts to California’s crab fishermen
Sometimes simple solutions are better. It all depends on the nature of the problem. For humpback whales, the problem is the rope connecting a crab trap on the seafloor to the buoy on the surface. And for fishermen, it’s fishery closures caused by whale entanglements.
Catch of the day: A fresh look at ‘underfishing’
A new study led by the University of Delaware found that while a piece of legislation designed to foster the sustainability of marine fisheries is sometimes blamed for being too stringent, other factors are far more responsible for the “underfishing” of certain fish species.
New Use for A.I.: Correctly Estimating Fish Stocks
For the first time, a newly published artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm is allowing researchers to quickly and accurately estimate coastal fish stocks without ever entering the water.
Fish’s growth is not reduced by spawning
Contrary to what is stated in biology textbooks, the growth of fish doesn’t slow down when and because they start spawning. In fact, their growth accelerates after they reproduce, according to a new article published in Science.
Fishermen-developed “banger bar” helps reduce risk of injury on crab boats, OSU study finds
Dungeness crab fishermen are at high risk for on-the-job injury, but having a metal bar to bang crab pots against as they harvest can help them prevent injury, an Oregon State University study found.
Sea temperatures control the distributions of European marine fish
An analysis extending from southern Portugal to northern Norway highlights the importance of temperature in determining where fish species are found.
A Climate Change Cautionary Tale: Summer Heatwaves, Low Oxygen Proves Deadly for Bay Scallops as Fishery Collapses in New York
A new study by Stony Brook University researchers published in the journal Global Change Biology demonstrates that warming waters and heat waves have contributed to the loss of an economically and culturally important fishery, the production of bay scallops.
Hurricane’s effects killed sturgeon in Apalachicola River
As hurricane Michael churned through the Gulf of Mexico to make landfall near Florida’s Apalachicola River in 2018, it left a sea of destruction in its wake. The path was easy to follow on land, but debris and infrastructure failures also diminished the river’s water quality and led to the death of roughly half the gulf sturgeon population there.
Oil Spill Effects on Mahi-mahi Go Far Beyond Initial Survival
New research into oil spills’ effects finds surviving the initial event does not guarantee success for the popular sport fish mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus). Exposed fish faced temporary increased predation and did not spawn for the entire observation time.
Mining’s Effect on Fish Warrants Better Science-Based Policies
A new paper published in Science Advances synthesizes the impact of metal and coal mines on salmon and trout in northwestern North America, and highlights the need for more complete and transparent science to inform mining policy.
New Tool Will Assess Water Discharge Impacts from Florida’s Everglades
An innovative tool will holistically examine and diagnose key processes with numerical simulations and experiments and predict changes in responses to water management, ecological restoration and climate change. It is designed to provide a suite of environmental and ecological information on the state of the greater Florida Bay ecosystem as well as potential future changes. Importantly, this model could potentially predict underwater aquatic vegetation coverage, harmful algal blooms, and fisheries resources under climate change and/or Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program management scenarios.
Amazon River freshwater fish show signs of overexploitation
As the cherished rainforest in South America’s Amazon River region continues to shrink, the river itself now presents evidence of other dangers: the overexploitation of freshwater fish.
Scallops swim into illuminated fishing pots
Scallops are drawn to illuminated fishing pots like moths to a flame, new research shows.
Browning Could Make Lakes Less Productive, Affecting Food Webs and Fish
As more dissolved organic matter enters lakes across the northeast United States, darkening the lakes in a phenomena called “browning,” research published today in Limnology and Oceanography Letters shows that these waters may be growing less productive and able to sustain less life.
Overfishing of Atlantic Cod Likely Did Not Cause Genetic Changes
Overfishing likely did not cause the Atlantic cod, an iconic species, to evolve genetically and mature earlier, according to a study led by Rutgers University and the University of Oslo – the first of its kind – with major implications for ocean conservation.
Women Fishers Must Be Counted
A new study highlights that women fishers’ contributions to small scale fisheries have been undercounted leading to uninformed small-scale fisheries (SSF) policies and management.
Nuclear War Could Trigger Big El Niño and Decrease Seafood
A nuclear war could trigger an unprecedented El Niño-like warming episode in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, slashing algal populations by 40 percent and likely lowering the fish catch, according to a Rutgers-led study. The research, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, shows that turning to the oceans for food if land-based farming fails after a nuclear war is unlikely to be a successful strategy – at least in the equatorial Pacific.
COVID-19 Pandemic had Big Impact on Commercial Fishing in Northeast
With restaurants and supply chains disrupted due to the global coronavirus pandemic, two-fifths of commercial fishermen surveyed from Maine through North Carolina did not go fishing earlier this year, according to a Rutgers study that also documented their resilience and adaptation. Of those who kept fishing, nearly all reported a decline in income compared with previous years, according to the survey of 258 fishers in the Northeast published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Planning Ahead Protects Fish and Fisheries
Conservation of fish and other marine life migrating from warming ocean waters will be more effective and also protect commercial fisheries if plans are made now to cope with climate change, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Science Advances.
Stunning Discovery Reveals Bonefish Dive 450 Feet ‘Deep’ into the Abyss to Spawn
Using active acoustic telemetry and sonar data, a study provides the first detailed documentation of a shallow water fish diving 450 feet deep to spawn. Prior research has shown that bonefish dive about 164 feet to spawn, but this new and unprecedented study reveals that they reached depths of 450 feet, and moved below 325 feet for two hours before spawning in a rush upward to 220 feet deep.
Hunger in the Arctic prompts focus on causes, not symptoms
The communities of Nunatsiavut in Northern Labrador, Canada, similar to other communities across Inuit Nunangat, the homeland of Inuit, are plagued by excessive food insecurity rates, which are estimated to be five times the level of food insecurity measured for households in Canada.
$5.7 million to fight global hunger awarded by Mississippi State-based Fish Innovation Lab
The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish at Mississippi State University is awarding $5.7 million in grants to develop innovative approaches for helping solve hunger affecting more than 800 million people worldwide.
Ocean ‘breathability’ key to past, future habitat of West Coast marine species
Historical observations collected off California since the 1950s suggest that anchovies thrive where the water is breathable — a combination of the oxygen levels in the water and the species’ oxygen needs, which are affected by temperature. Future projections suggest that the waters off Mexico and Southern California could be uninhabitable by 2100.
Ocean’s ‘biological pump’ captures more carbon than expected
Scientists have long known that the ocean plays an essential role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere, but a new study from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) shows that the efficiency of the ocean’s “biological carbon pump” has been drastically underestimated, with implications for future climate assessments.
Climate Change Could Threaten Sea Snails in Mid-Atlantic Waters
Climate change could threaten the survival and development of common whelk – a type of sea snail – in the mid-Atlantic region, according to a study led by scientists at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. The common, or waved, whelk (Buccinum undatum) is an important commercial species that has been harvested for decades in Europe and Canada for bait and human consumption. Its habitat within the mid-Atlantic region is one of the Earth’s fastest warming marine areas and annual fluctuations in the bottom temperature are among the most extreme on the planet due to unique oceanographic conditions.
Global Cooling After Nuclear War Would Harm Ocean Life
A nuclear war that cooled Earth could worsen the impact of ocean acidification on corals, clams, oysters and other marine life with shells or skeletons, according to the first study of its kind.
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Global Fisheries Management Study
New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 13, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Olaf P. Jensen is available for interviews on new marine fisheries management research to be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is the most comprehensive…
Scientists Link Decline of Baltic Cod to Hypoxia – and Climate Change
If you want to know how climate change and hypoxia — the related loss of oxygen in the world’s oceans — affect fish species such as the economically important Baltic cod, all you have to do is ask the fish. Those cod, at least, will tell you that hypoxia is making them smaller, scrawnier and less valuable. A paper published today in the journal Biology Letters points to a link between hypoxia and fish well-being.
Fish Scattering Sound Waves Has Impact on Aquaculture
Fisheries acoustics have been studied for over 40 years to assess biomass and optimize aquaculture applications, and researchers in France have examined the phenomenon of how fish scatter acoustic waves in a dense school of fish contained in an open-sea cage. They developed an approach to help overcome issues encountered in aquaculture relating to the evaluation of the total biomass of dense schools of fish. They will discuss their work at the 178th ASA Meeting.
Susan Packard, Doug Meijer to speak at MSU commencement
The co-founder of HGTV and the co-chairperson of Meijer will speak at Michigan State University’s fall commencement ceremonies, which will take place Dec. 13-14 at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Proposed High Seas Biodiversity Treaty
New Brunswick, N.J. (Oct. 16, 2019) – Rutgers University environmental law expert Cymie R. Payne is available to comment on a proposed international treaty aimed at conserving high seas biodiversity. The treaty, which is under negotiations at the United Nations,…
FSU Researchers: Multifactor models reveal worse picture of climate change impact on marine life
Rising ocean temperatures have long been linked to negative impacts for marine life, but a Florida State University team has found that the long-term outlook for many marine species is much more complex — and possibly bleaker — than scientists previously believed.FSU doctoral student Jennifer McHenry, Assistant Professor of Geography Sarah Lester and collaborators with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) investigated how marine species’ habitats are likely to be affected by multiple factors associated with climate change such as ocean temperature, salinity and sea surface levels.