Govt looks to ease Mekong dam impacts

Bangkok Post – The Department of Fisheries will roll out a number of measures to help cushion the impacts of dam construction in the upper reaches of the Mekong River on Thai fishermen. Department chief, Adisorn Promthep, said the measures will entail further diplomatic coordination with Laos -- which hosts most of the dams -- and stepping up existing conservation efforts. "We need to Read More…

Tyson Foods blames contractor for Alabama fish kill

WVTM 13 – Tyson Foods is blaming temporary piping installed by a contractor for pollution that killed tens of thousands of fish in a north Alabama river. An open letter posted by an arm of the agricultural company says about 220,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater was released from a River Valley Ingredients plant at Hanceville on June 6. The company says a contractor had Read More…

Rainforest destruction harms fish too

Physics World – Destruction of pristine rainforest affects not just the vegetation and land animals but fish in forest rivers too. There are fewer Nematabramis everetti, a common species in the carp family, in streams that run through logged areas of Borneo, according to researchers. In 2013 Clare Wilkinson from Imperial College London, UK, and colleagues started investigating the impact Read More…

A million salmon could be restored by removing Snake River dams

KEPR – With both salmon and Southern Resident orcas in dire need of help, local students and experts are filing a petition to save these species by taking down dams along the Lower Snake River. Salmon are incredibly resilient creatures. They travel from the Pacific all the way to central Idaho every year to spawn. However, navigating over four dams in Eastern Washington has made that Read More…

We finally know why flashlight fish glow

National Geographic – National Geographic Explorer David Gruber was studying coral while diving at dusk off an uninhabited volcanic island in the South Pacific in 2013 when fellow explorer Brennan Phillips swam up to him excitedly. Turn your dive lights off and follow me, Phillips signaled. Gruber swam after his colleague through the dark waters around Mborokua Island, which were Read More…

All aboard for sucker recovery

Herald and News – Two species of Klamath Basin sucker have been dying before they can reach adulthood, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley is showing continued interest in expediting efforts already underway to save the fish species. Merkley was in Klamath Falls Monday, touring facilities aimed at rearing and releasing the short-nose and Lost River suckers — both federally listed as Read More…

‘Snow droughts’ are coming for the American West

National Geographic – On April 1 each year, researchers ski and snowshoe out into the high mountains of the western Unite States to jab stakes into the bright, crystalline snow, checking the thickness of the blanket. But in 2012, many researchers could barely travel on snow to their test sites—and when they got there, there was almost no snow to measure. 2013 was almost as bad. Read More…

Trawling For Clarity

Capital Public Radio – As the sun sets across Lake Tahoe, UC Davis researcher Brant Allen and his team lower their sonar machine into the lake. Thousands of little purple dots rise across the screen as they cross the lake. They represent one of the lake’s most damaging invasive species making their nightly swim to surface waters. It’s not fish or Tahoe Tessie, a mysterious Read More…

New mapping reveals lost West Coast estuary habitat

Phys Org – An unprecedented survey has revealed the loss of about 85 percent of historical tidal wetlands in California, Oregon, and Washington. The report, published today in PLOS ONE, also highlights forgotten estuary acreage that might now be targeted for restoration. Where West Coast rivers reach the sea, estuaries serve as critical nurseries for juvenile salmon and steelhead as they Read More…

Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake Under Threat

Asia Sentinel – In July the Mekong River, the precious lifeline for four Southeast Asian countries and China’s Yunnan Province, fell to its lowest levels in 100 years, the victim of increasing climate change, agricultural runoff and a plethora of upstream dams that threaten its existence. The rains have finally come, but the worst casualties of a tamed Mekong are due for Cambodia’s Read More…