Latest Fisheries Stories
NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Artist Paul Hunt of Brooklyn, NY has launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign which will run from November 27 through December 26. The purpose is to raise funds that will enable the completion of his multimedia installation art project. He hopes that his work will encourage people to gain an understanding of the importance of coral reefs, visit these impressive sea creatures for themselves, support programs that clean the ocean and influence...
Humans may be able to avert major environmental catastrophes that now loom if we learn to make better use of ‘borrowed time’, an eminent marine biologist will tell the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra tomorrow. “There is mounting evidence that we have already passed or may soon pass several critical boundaries affecting life on Earth, as well as our own future wellbeing,” the director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University,...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online New research sheds light on the nascent field of ethorobotics, the study of bioinspired robots that interact with animal counterparts. Scientists from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) studied the role of real-time feedback in attracting or repelling live zebrafish in the presence of a robotic fish. The findings revealed that zebrafish show increased attraction to robots that are able to modulate their...
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Big fish that have grown up in marine reserves don’t seem to know enough to avoid fishers armed with spear guns waiting outside the reserve. The latest research by an Australian team working in the Philippines into the effects of marine reserves has found there is an unexpected windfall awaiting fishers who obey the rules and respect reserve boundaries – in the form of big, innocent fish wandering out of the reserve. “There are...
The terms “gas” and “sea” for many will invoke associations of reserves, business, and a lot of money. Whatever the association, most of the efforts in Israel’s energy field are being directed at gas buried deep under the Mediterranean seabed. Now a new geophysical study, the first of its kind in Israel, has uncovered a system of active gas springs in the Haifa Bay seabed, at relatively shallow depths, only a few dozen meters below the surface. The study, published in the journal...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online When toxic seaweed threatens the health of coral, what does the coral do? It calls for help, of course. A new study, published in Science, reveals that corals under attack send signals to fish "bodyguards." The fish respond quickly, moving in to trim back the toxic alga that can kill the coral if not removed in a timely manner. A team from the Georgia Institute of Technology has found evidence that these mutualistic fish respond to...
University of California - Santa Barbara Predation by otters keeps urchin populations in check, allowing kelp –– a favorite food of urchins –– to flourish. But what if otters were harvested to near extinction for their fur? The resulting overabundance of urchins would decimate the kelp forest, leaving little food or shelter for fish and invertebrates. And so it may go, as declines in these species are likely to affect others. Such is the potential trickle-down effect on the food...
Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online The Säcken reef in the Koster Fjord in Sweden is that country’s last remaining cold-water coral reef and it is under a distinct threat of extinction. Like the more common warm-water reefs, cold-water reefs are known for their rich biological diversity. With the Säcken reef in distress, researchers from the University of Gothenburg have started a restoration project extracting healthy corals from reefs on the Norwegian coast...
Patterns Also Shed Light on How Environmental Disturbances Affect Aquatic Organisms The ability of deep-sea corals to harbor a broad array of marine life, including commercially important fish species, make these habitat-forming organisms of immediate interest to conservationists, managers, and scientists. Understanding and protecting corals requires knowledge of the historical processes that have shaped their biodiversity and biogeography. While little is known about these processes,...
A new study co-authored by the Wildlife Conservation Society identifies countries most vulnerable to declining coral reef fisheries from a food-security perspective while providing a framework to plan for alternative protein sources needed to replace declining fisheries. The study looked at 27 countries around the world and found two common characteristics: nations with low incomes that lack the ability to adapt to alternative protein sources; and middle-income nations with higher adaptive...
Latest Fisheries Reference Libraries
Synaptula lamperti is a species of sea cucumber that can be found in the waters of the Indo-Pacific. Its range includes the coastal waters of Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Micronesia. It does not have the tube feet, which are common to other species of sea cucumber, instead moving around by using a small grouping of pinnate feeding tentacles, which are always moving. It can also move by using the small, hook-like bones found along its body, attaching itself to the sea...
Mudflats, or otherwise known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is left behind by tides or rivers. They’re found in sheltered regions such as bayous, lagoons, estuaries, and bays. Mudflats might be seen geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, a result from the deposition of estuarine silts, marine animal detritus, and clays. The majority of the sediment in a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, therefore the flat is submerged and exposed about twice per day. In...
Kelp forests are areas that are underwater with a high density of kelp. They’re recognized as one of the most dynamic and productive ecosystems on Earth. Smaller regions of anchored kelp are known as kelp beds. Kelp forests can be found worldwide throughout polar and temperate coastal oceans. In the year 2007, kelp forests were discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador as well. While they are physically formed by brown macroalgae of the order Laminariales, kelp forests offer a unique...
The little tunny is found widespread in temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. It is the most common tuna and is highly migratory, with a range from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Brazil in the Western Atlantic. In the Eastern Atlantic it is found from Skagerrak to South Africa. The little tunny will form schools close to the shoreline, around inlets, and sandbars that can cover up to two miles. This fish prefers warm water and will migrate south in...
This harmless shark is native to the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Indonesia, it is also found in coastal waters from Japan to India. It lives on the ocean floor in shallow areas around coral reefs, hiding during the day and feeding at night. In Taiwan and Madagascar the whitespotted bamboo shark is used for food. Occasionally this species is kept in home aquariums as pets. The young whitespotted bamboo shark will have a black body covered with white and light blue spots and dark vertical...
