– http://oneworldoneocean.com –
This Earth Day, One World One Ocean is giving the ocean the attention it deserves with a special video collection of ocean photographs from our online community. Here is the ocean through their eyes. Happy Earth Day!
Aquaculture vital for plugging the gap in the EU’s seafood needs
Aquaculture has a vital role to play in helping the EU to meet its demand for seafood, but expansion of the industry in Europe is hampered by bureaucratic inefficiency.
For example, it can take seven years to get a licence for a new aquaculture farm in an EU country, compared with just six months in Norway, says Viktoria Varga Lences, DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission.
The most telling point of the aquaculture debate is in this quote: “With current labour productivity, every 1% of our seafood consumption produced by EU aquaculture will help create 3-4000 full-time jobs." With austerity measures and high unemployment hitting several EU member states, doesn't a move into sustainable aquaculture (i.e. companies not using fishmeal as stock feed) and shift away from overfishing large species make sense?
Mako shark still seen as trophy fish for local club competition
I was walking with my favourite Park Ranger yesterday on our usual wander near the Warrnambool Breakwater (the long stone wall in the background of these shots) and noticed a crowd around the weigh-in scales.
At first I thought one of the local tuna fishermen had hoisted up a decent fish for the benefit of tourists (who usually don’t appreciate the plight of the southern bluefin, but that’s another story). On making a path through the onlookers, my partner and I were pretty horrified to see a 110kg mako shark on the scale and a few impressed fishermen boasting about the catch.
Of course fishing for various shark species such as mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) and gummy (Mustelus antarcticus) is still legal in Australia (limits vary by state and territory) but hearing one fishermen state this was a “common shark in these waters” made me cringe: they are still heavily fished and listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Hanging one up in front of a crowd helps continue the “man vs shark” stereotype that is continuing to push down shark numbers worldwide, whether for commercial or recreational purposes. Sizing up the shark when it’s caught, using circle hooks and operating on a catch-and-release basis is the only way to go for maintaining healthy shark populations.
Wanna Fight?
This crab was ready for battle! I crawled after it on my hands and knees, then layed on the damp sand for a close up shot. Frame, focus, snap. I took a shot, blinked, and then the crab was three feet down the beach. I crawled after it again, got another shot, and away it went.
Crawl. Shoot. Repeat.
The crab and I played out this scenario a number of times over about a 100' stretch of sand.
Love this close-up ghost crab shot, the eye stalks are the most impressive. I was nipped by a common shore crab last Wednesday but these claws look like they could deal out more pain
Seaweed passion leads to crowd-funding research
Followers of education writing and/or interested in crowdfunding stories may have noticed this one pop up this week: a university academic, Dr Alecia Bellgrove, who is raising money to fund research into edible seaweeds growing along the Victorian southwest coast.
Photo: Warrnambool Standard
She happens to be one of my Deakin marine biology lecturers (who I plan to interview on this topic as it heads closer to its funding target) and here’s a brief explanation of the research:
At a time when over 60% of adults and 25% of children in Australia are obese or overweight and the world is experiencing an unprecedented increase in atmospheric CO2 and associated climate change, there is compelling evidence from both the health and sustainability literature that seaweeds should become a common part of global diets.
Seaweeds are incredibly nutritious and can significantly reduce obesity and associated illnesses. Regular consumption of seaweeds thus has the potential to enhance the health of societies now, and for generations to come.
Seaweeds are incredibly efficient at photosynthesising and have amongst the highest rates of carbon fixation per unit area of any plants on the globe. The production of seaweeds for food and other commercial applications thus represents part of a viable solution for climate-change mitigation without compromising the availability of agricultural land and water resources into the future.
Southern Australia has the highest diversity of seaweeds globally with approximately 70% endemic to this region. The unique diversity of seaweeds on our shores represents a treasure chest of potential health and pharmaceutical benefits waiting to be opened. “But seaweed? Does it really taste any good?” I hear you ask. Well, millions of people in Asia think so; but this is a great question, and really important to assess when we are talking about the potential for new food products from the Australian marine flora.______________________________
Aims
With the $5250 requested we will be able to assess the taste preference of local (Victorian) seaweeds compared with seaweed from other parts of the world. We will do this by recruiting tasters and then cooking up a storm of local and imported seaweed delights to tempt their taste-buds. Funds will be used to lease a commercial kitchen, purchase ingredients and pay a research assistant to assist with the data collation.______________________________
Future Possibilities
There are also other important aspects to consider such as the nutritional value of the seaweeds and ecological sustainability of harvesting.
With additional funding beyond that requested we can also
1) examine the nutritional quality of local seaweeds, with comparisons to commercially available species and
2) estimate the local biomass of high-value, edible seaweeds and prospects for sustainable harvesting of wild populations.______________________________
Keep informed
You can follow us on Facebook :
http://www.facebook.com/Wouldyoulikeseaweed
And on Twitter: @DeakinSeaweed and @Deakinsensory
Circle hooks more humane choice for sharks, rays and sportfish
Just saw this Southern Fried Science post (nothing to do with chicken, everything to do with shark conservation) about the benefit of using circle hooks – a method I’m yet to try but definitely support.
Here’s their description of the hooks:
Circle hooks are used by recreational and commercial hook-and-line fisheries (and many longliners) to reduce hooking mortality in large fishes, sharks, and bycatch animals like sea turtles. The idea is that the hook more or less works by itself without being set like a J-hook. The shape of the hook prevents swallowing and encourages hooking in the corner of the mouth, where it’s less likely to do serious damage.
Some great shots in the post show how easy it is to remove circle hooks, up against the traditional hook technique. Many fisherman now cut off the barbs from their standard hooks – they may lose more fish but it helps cut down on damage, especially for sportfishing and the difficulty of returning undersize fish once they have been foul-hooked or swallow a barbed hook.
Photo: Andrew Thaler, southernfriedscience.com
A Photographic Tribute to The Ocean
It’s leatherjacket season! Also, this is not a fashion article…
Yellowfin leatherjacket
Leatherjackets are amazing fish, in such colourful varieties. In the past two months, I’ve spotted five different species from the Horseshoe to the Yellowfin species (Meuschenia trachylepis) pictured. This species is often seen with the Six-spined leatherjacket, which I mistook this fish for in my original post on Facebook.
Some people have the idea that marine biologists shouldn’t be out fishing for the species we are studying but it can be a great way of identifying fish, learning where they are and aren’t present and the warning signs when stocks start dwindling.
Spearfishing is now one of my favourites sports – it’s low-impact on the marine environment as opposed to other fishing forms, as we target specific fish and only go for the type and size we want.
Obviously some people still abuse catch and size limits as in any form but the crew I dive with all play by the rules (we’re all marine biology undergrads and my partner also works for the government department dealing with fisheries compliance…)
Leatherjacket teeth
This species has some serious teeth, used for crushing molluscs and slow-moving sessile animals. Anecdotally, leatherjackets aren’t fast-moving like the local zebrafish or bluethroat wrasse – most of the leatherys I’ve seen tend to hide under ledges or in crevices rather than try to outswim their prey.
Osprey in Flight
Copyright Jeffrey Foltice
This Osprey had me in its sights as it flew overhead today. Also known as the Fish Hawk, it enjoys catching fish and will normally have a nest near a water source. (Click on this or any of my images to see an enlarged version)
I'm impressed by this photo - from experiences photographing birds in Thailand I know how hard it is to get a great shot of a hawk or kite in full flight. My partner is a keen bird-watcher so she introduced me to the Red Brahminy Kites and other interesting creatures
Inventing a new species, one misspelling at a time
Having a quick browse over my Twitter feed this morning, the word-nerd in me spotted this:
The flambouyant cuddlefish is the pygmy sea horse's worst enemy. They are smarter than house cats. #revolutionmovie—
Revolution Movie (@film_REVOLUTION) April 11, 2013
Ok, so Revolution may have been training up a new intern with poor English literacy but to get both of these wrong when you’re promoting an environmental documentary seems a bit absurd.
Just to check, I googled “cuddlefish” and it’s either a children’s swimwear brand, an Australian music group or a fictional US rock band on the iCarly TV series, none of which I’ve ever heard of…
As for “flambouyant”, Urban Dictionary defines it as “something very flambouyant/colourful/gay”. Which doesn’t really help when the word you’re using is in the definition but I guess cuttlefish are colourful (unless they decide to hide against a grey, light green or brown backdrop, when they just blend in).
Does this guy below qualify as cuddly or flambouyant? (The word-nerd again, hating having to spell that wrong!)
Zombie bees and killer shrimp
Those who know me know that I watch a lot of Asian films: some very high quality ones, and some very cheap ones, the latter often featuring zombies and killer seafood. It turns out, though, that truth is again stranger than fiction.
Let's start with the zombies - or should I say, 'zombees'? The US has been plagued with an outbreak of a parasitic fly (
Attack of the 40mm Shrimp! or thereabouts...
