With warming water what’s better for juvenile salmon: in-river…

The Columbia Basin BulletinAugust 17, 2012With fast-warming water conditions, federal, state and tribal salmon managers this week protested U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to shift juvenile salmon “transportation” from barges to trucks.The transportation plan is called for in NOAA Fisheries’ Endangered Species Act biological opinion regarding listed fish. At this time of year the Read More…

Warmer, faster, stronger: Research reveals unexpected benefits of…

PhysOrgAugust 16, 2012New research by McMaster biologist Graham Scott suggests that growing up at warmer temperatures helps some aquatic animals cope with climate change, raising questions about the limits of adaptation. Working with Ian Johnston at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, Scott has found that raising zebrafish at warmer temperatures as embryos actually improves their ability Read More…

Mercury and Alaska fish: When do the benefits outweigh the risks?

Anchorage PressBy Mary LochnerAugust 16, 2012How much methylmercury exposure is too much and how much is acceptable when the source of the toxin also provides health benefits?That’s the question that University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Lawrence Duffy has been trying to answer. “We’re trying to develop a mathematical formula for doing risk-benefit calculations,” Duffy said.But Read More…

Farm pollution draws scrutiny as industrial dumping declines

OPBAugust 16, 2012Eight times in seven years, a state inspector asked Joe Lemire to keep his cattle off the banks of Pataha Creek. Why? Because they drop cow pies in the water. Cows trample pollution-filtering streamside plants. Cows mash the banks down so dirt gets into the stream, which had been targeted for cleanup by the government since the early 1990s. The state even offered to pay for Read More…

Spongeplant added to California’s water weed treatment list

Contra Costa TimesBy Paul BurgarinoAugust 16, 2012Funding will soon be on their way to help curb a rapidly growing water weed that threatens to clog water delivery pumps and canals, plug local marinas and alter water quality in the Delta.Legislation to help control the South American spongeplant is now on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. The bill, approved by the state Assembly last week, adds the plant Read More…

Work restarted on troubled Laos dam

Australia Network NewsAugust 16, 2012The Thai developer of a controversial northern Laos dam says work has resumed on the project, contradicting Laotian assurances it had been suspended following protests over its environmental impact.Laos agreed in December to suspend the $US3.5 billion Xayaburi dam project and said on July 13 work had stopped after neighbours Cambodia and Vietnam repeatedly Read More…

Viet Nam concern over Mekong dams

Viet Nam NewsAugust, 16 2012Vietnamese experts have reiterated their call for a moratorium on dam building on the Mekong River, saying the lives of as many as 60 million people would be adversely impacted by those dams.They said the loss of biodiversity and other ecological impacts would affect agriculture, aquaculture and other means of livelihoods in six countries, including Viet Nam. In Viet Read More…

Oceans score 60 out of 100 in health index

FIS By Natalia RealAugust 17, 2012A team of international scientists gave the health of the world's oceans a score of 60 out of 100. To calculate the overall score, the team evaluated ecological, social, economic and political conditions for every coastal nation in the world.The team, including fisheries researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC), carried out the first global Read More…

Cod comeback seen off Newfoundland

CBC NewsAugust 16, 2012Northern cod appear to be in better shape than any time since Ottawa imposed a moratorium on the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery two decades ago, a leading fisheries scientist says.But George Rose, a former federal fisheries scientist who has studied cod stocks for decades, says the improvement is not nearly strong enough or well documented to warrant an increase in cod Read More…

Calif. Department of Fish and Game getting new name?

KCRA NewsAugust 16, 2012What's in a name? That's the question facing lawmakers as some look at changing the name of the California Department of Fish and Game.Others question why the idea is even being considered during tight fiscal times. The bill to change the department's name to Cal-Wild is now making its way through the Legislature.It already passed the Assembly, but on the Senate side, Read More…