Eel slips off the shelves to save it from extinction

THE STAR – SOUTH AFRICA

AMSTERDAM: Smoked eel on toast looks set to become an even rarer treat at Dutch parties, as the main supermarket group in the Netherlands plans to stop selling the endangered fish from 2010.

Following moves by smaller competitors, Albert Heijn said it would phase out all eel products on its shelves next year, and would introduce a different fish sort as a more sustainable alternative to the popular national delicacy. The chain has more than a 30 percent share of the Dutch market, far outstripping rivals.

The move will come as a blow to Dutch fisheries, which have also been hit by a partial ban on eel fishing introduced this year, aimed at stemming a 95 percent slide in the European eel population in the past four decades.

The European eel is classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The Dutch arm of environmental group WWF has compared eating an eel roll to consuming a panda sandwich.

The long snake-like slippery fish is a popular treat at Dutch parties and fairs, most commonly smoked.

It also holds a place in Dutch history. In the 19th century, people died in the “eel uprising” that followed a ban on the sport of “eel pulling”, which involved stringing a rope across a canal and hanging an eel for people on boats to try to grab. – Reuters

Europe’s flora becoming more homogeneous

THAINDIAN.COM

Washington, December 13 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have determined that due to more plant introductions than extinctions, plant communities of many European regions are becoming more homogeneous, and thereby losing the ability to react to environmental changes. According to the findings, the same species are occurring more frequently, whereas rare species are becoming extinct. It is not only the biological communities that are becoming increasingly similar, but also the phylogenetic relations between regions. These processes have led to a loss of uniqueness among European floras.For their research, the scientists analysed the data of flora native to Europe (Flora Europaea), extinct plant species (national red lists) and alien plant species from the DAISIE database. The researchers also took into account those European plants that are native to a particular region of Europe but considered as introduced species in another. It works in a similar way for the species considered to be “extinct”. While in the whole of Europe only 2 plant species can “really” be considered as extinct, approx. 500 species have become locally extinct. One such example is the Blue Woodruff, a weed that grows on cultivated land, which has been greatly displaced particularly from the intensification of agricultural practices. This species is considered to be locally extinct in Germany and Austria for example, whereas it still occurs in Italy and Spain.The researchers were able to demonstrate, that biodiversity is increasing in all regions of Europe due to high numbers of alien species. But at the same time, the plant communities of the regions are becoming increasingly more homogenous because alien species are distributed relatively consistently over the continent. If one finds many very similar looking trees, then one assumes that the flexibility of the communities is no longer as high to be able to react positively to these changes. According to the researchers, biological depletion from loss of species and introduced species is a consequence of global change associated with increasing pressure on the environment.”Our studies have shown that in spite of an increase in regional species richness due to species introductions exceeding the local extinctions of plant species in European regions, these are increasingly losing both their phylogenetic and taxonomic uniqueness,” said Dr. Marten Winter from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ). (ANI)

Hong Kong shark fin traders criticise US report

AFP

HONG KONG — Hong Kong shark fin merchants on Wednesday reacted angrily to a US study that said meat from endangered species was being sold in the city’s markets to make a popular soup.

In the new study for the journal Endangered Species Research, US scientists said they had used DNA testing to trace the geographic origin of shark fins on sale in Hong Kong. They found 21 percent of the fins came from endangered scalloped hammerhead shark stocks in the western Atlantic.

But the Hong Kong Shark Fin Trade Merchant’s Association said its members had not done anything illegal.

“The study is exaggerated,” a spokesman for the association told AFP.

“We are not doing anything against the law. The sale of endangered scalloped hammerhead shark fins has not been made illegal here.”

The scientists are calling for the March 2010 meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to draw up trade regulations to protect hammerhead and other shark populations not covered by the pact.

One kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of scalloped hammerhead shark fin can sell for 120 US dollars or more in the city, according to the researchers.

Shark fins are used to make a soup that is considered a rare delicacy and a must-have at many Hong Kong wedding banquets.

Mak Ching-po, chairman of the Hong Kong Dried Seafood and Grocery Merchants Association, also criticised the study.

“Shark populations will grow exponentially if we don’t keep fishing them,” Mak told Hong Kong daily The Standard.

“As a result, humans will be in short supply of smaller fish such as garoupa, as sharks will eat them.”

Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said it would abide by any new regulations adopted after the CITES meeting next year.

“Hong Kong is committed to the protection of endangered species, and will closely follow the international control as required by CITES on the trade in endangered species,” it said in a statement.

Scientist: Extinction threatens Coral Reefs unless CO2 limited to 350ppm

TAKVER – AUSTRALIAN INDYMEDIA

COPENHAGEN. Dec 9, 2009. Extinction of Coral reefs and 10-20% of marine species is likely if greehouse gases aren’t brought down to 350ppm, warned Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg from the University of Queensland. He gave a presentation at the US Pavilion at the COP15 climate negotiations in Copenhagen about the threat of climate change to the world’s coral reefs. Over 500 million people living in approximately 90 nations are dependant in some way on coral reefs.

bleaching_coral_endangere…

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg was a contributing author to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in 2007, which shared the Nobel Prize with Al Gore.

“Carbon and coral reef ecosystems are not sustainable at temperatures that increase up to 2 degrees above the pre-industrial or concentrations of CO2 above 450ppm.”

“Eliminating these habitats will inevitably lead to about 10 to 20% of marine biodiversity going extinct. Thats all those organisms that are highly dependant on coral reefs. And losing coral reefs will have enormous issues for 500 million people living in approximately 90 nations.”

“In the longer term we will have exacerbation of the problems of storm damage and sea level rise if we lose the coastal protection service that coral reefs provide.”

“So one of the most difficult things for scientists to do in a policy environment that finds it difficult to deal with emissions is to tell the truth. Now the truth is that coral reefs don’t do well above about 350ppm CO2.”

“So any pathway in terms of policy has to bring CO2 down below 350ppm. Otherwise we are not going to have coral reefs. And on that pathway we must minimise the amount of time where we get close to 450ppm and these thresholds that are looming. This means some dramatic reductions in emissions. If we don’t make that decision, there is a lot of peoples livelihoods hanging in the balance.”

Marine scientists have been at the forefront of calling for strong and rapid action on Climate Change with Australian scientists releasing a Marine Report Card in November 2009.

In January 2009 150 Marine Scientists from around the world issued the Monaco declaration warning that “Ocean acidification could affect marine food webs and lead to substantial changes in commercial fish stocks, threatening protein supply and food security for millions of people as well as the multi-billion dollar fishing industry.”

“The chemistry is so fundamental and changes so rapid and severe that impacts on organisms appear unavoidable.” said James Orr of the Marine Environment Laboratories (MEL-IAEA) and chairman of the symposium. “The questions are now how bad will it be and how soon will it happen.”

The Declaration urged Governments to “prevent severe damages from ocean acidification by developing ambitious, urgent plans to cut emissions drastically”, as well as for Governments to improve communications with scientists and between scientists and economists.

Scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville claimed in January 2009 that coral on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef reached a tipping point in 1990 with coral growth having slowed by more than 14 percent since then.

Reef corals create their hard skeletons from dissolved materials in seawater. As human induced climate change has injected growing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the worlds oceans have absorbed carbon dioxide making them more acidic which effectively reduces the ability of marine organisms to form skeletons. This will effect the whole food chain in the ocean.

Dr Glenn De’ath said that the severe and sudden decline in calcification was an unprecedented occurrence in the last 400 years. “The causes of this sharp decline remain unknown, but our study suggests that the combination of increasing temperature stress and ocean acidification may be diminishing the ability of GBR corals to deposit calcium carbonate,” he said.

In 2007 fifty Australian marine scientists issued a strong warning in a Consensus declaration on Coral Reef Futures calling for immediate and substantive reduction targets in human produced greenhouse emissions.

Sources

• Australian Science Media Centre video, Dec 9, 2009 – Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg: threat of climate change to the world’s coral reefs.
• Indymedia
• Photo by David Cesarino – Bleaching Coral — Endangered Ecosystems (Creative Commons license)

Killer Fungus Threatening Amphibians

PRESS RELEASE

ScienceDaily (Nov. 24, 2009) — Amphibians like frogs and toads have existed for 360 million years and survived when the dinosaurs didn’t, but a new aquatic fungus is threatening to make many of them extinct, according to an article in the November issue of Microbiology Today.

The fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd),was found to be associated with waves of amphibian extinctions in Central America and north-eastern Australia in the 1990’s. Bd infects over 350 amphibian species by penetrating their skin, but little else is known about where it came from and how it causes disease.

The earliest published record of Bd is from a specimen of an African clawed frog in 1938 from South Africa. Around this time there was a huge trade in clawed frogs when they were used in one of the earliest human pregnancy tests. The global exportation of the clawed frog is likely to have spread Bd around the world. The infection is spread by fungal spores released into the water supply from imported infected animals.

Researchers are trying different approaches to treat existing Bd infection. Some are treating tadpoles with antifungal drugs, whilst more innovative approaches involve introducing ‘probiotic’ bacteria that naturally secrete antifungal compounds which kill Bd on amphibians’ skin. To help limit the spread of infection, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) now recommends screening imported amphibians for presence of Bd.

Grey nurse sharks close to extinction

ABC AUSTRALIA

A new survey of grey nurse sharks shows the species is still in severe danger of becoming extinct.

The study, commissioned by the Federal Government, found just over 1,000 of the sharks along the east coast of Australia.

That figure is significantly lower than the 5,000 needed to sustain the population.

Accidental hooking is one of the main threats to the survival of the species.

Nicky Hammond, the marine program manager for the National Parks Association of New South Wales, says the State Government must act now to protect key habitat sites.

“Here we’ve got a critically endangered species, we know what the key threat to their survival is, we know where they spend the majority of their time,” she said.

“It’s a relatively simple process to protect those sites from that key threat of fishing by creating marine sanctuaries and that way hopefully we can actually save this shark from going extinct.

“Time and time again they continue to ignore putting in place the proper protection of marine sanctuaries in these areas and provide tokenistic protection instead.

“We’re calling on the NSW Government, we’re saying enough is enough, that we need to now get these sanctuaries in place before the shark goes extinct.”

House Sparrows Move Towards Extinction

ONE INDIA

Ornithologists and forest officers in Punjab have expressed concern over the dwindling population of some popular birds, including the very common house sparrows. Disappearance of the common house sparrow from the urban areas is not something new.

A few years ago, alarm bells rang when the population count of the house sparrows decreased in London. It decreased by a total of 85 per cent.

Tejdeep Kaur, a Zoologist at Punjab Agricultural University traces one of the reasons to habitat loss. We are loosing its nesting sites as there is a loss of shrub vegetation. The overuse of pesticides in agriculture, decline in the reproductive efficiency because of the egg sheath infection are also the contributing factors.

The anti-knocking agents present in petrol decreases the population of insects which is the main food for them during their breeding period.

Though the house sparrow is facing extinction, none of authorities have taken any concrete steps to save them. No serious actions have been taken on this issue.

Before any action is taken a lot of study and research is being carried out regarding the issue. Statistics like how many sparrows are left and the reason behind extinction is yet to be formulated.

In yesteryears, the sparrows lived near human settlements and build its nests below tiled roofs. With the contemporary architecture making a clean sweep in cities, tiled roofs became a thing of the past, and sparrows lost prospective nesting spots.

Drop in endangered bird numbers sparks worries

ABC AUSTRALIA

Concerns have been raised about a dramatic decrease in endangered bird numbers in Tasmania.

Experts say drought, wildfires and the spread of urban development have contributed to the decline in numbers of the 40-spotted pardelote and the swift parrot.

Conservationist, Sally Bryant, says pardelote, or 40-spot, numbers in the state have dropped significantly over the last decade.

“In areas like Dennes Hill on Bruny Island, where I can remember going down and being flooded by the sound of 40-spots, it’s now very quiet, even though the bird is far more easily identifiable there than in some of the small colonies.

“My first reaction and certainly what the statistics are showing is that the numbers are very low,” Ms Bryant said.

Conservationists want the Tasmanian Government to save the habitats of endangered bird species on Bruny Island.

Peter McGlone from the Conservation Trust says logging of the parrot’s habitat should be stopped now, instead of waiting for the completion of industry codes of practice, which are being drafted.

“We know that an area on Bruny Island has been logged just in recent months that has swift parrot habitat in it,” he said.

“There are other areas in the south of the state that may well be being logged right now, and [the Primary Industries Minister] David Llewellyn needs to be proactive and make sure those logging operaitons stop.”

Forestry Tasmania has rejected claims it is rushing to log endangered species habitats before the new guidelines come into force.

The Forest Practices Authority has been working with major logging companies, including Forestry Tasmania, to draft guidelines to protect important wildlife habitats.

Forestry Tasmania’s Hans Drielsma denies his company is rushing to cut down trees before the draft is approved.

“There’s absolutely no basis to any suggestions like that,” said Dr Drielsma.

He says harvesting has been stopped in areas where birds are breeding.

Schwarzenegger Greenwashes Way Across Europe As Salmon Face Extinction

DAN BACHER – INDYBAY

As Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was shamelessly greenwashing his way across Europe and the Middle East to meet with political leaders about “fighting climate change” and “creating green jobs,” a coalition of environmental groups sent a notice of intent to sue over the Schwarzenegger’s administration’s failure to protect imperiled salmon and steelhead in two North Coast rivers.

Two press releases issued by the Governor’s Office today were typical of those continually spit out by his P.R. machine. The first stated, “Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined Roberto Formigoni, the president of Lombardy Region, Italy, to urge regional and local leaders to take action to fight climate change and help create green jobs while highlighting the World Regions Forum to be held in Milan, Italy from November 19 through November 21.”

In the second, Schwarzenegger issued a self-congratulatory statement applauding the California Energy Commission’s unanimous vote to adopt “first-in-the-nation” energy efficiency standards for televisions:

“It is the real, achievable policies like the first-in-the-nation standards adopted by the Energy Commission today that have made California a world leader in the fight against climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he gloated. “Not only has our commitment to energy efficiency standards like these created billions in savings for consumers, it has allowed California’s per capita electricity consumption to remain flat over the last 30 years while national energy consumption has steadily increased. I applaud the commission for its hard work to enact these and other cost-effective energy efficiency standards that are not only great for the environment, but also good for consumers.”

As Schwarzenegger was promoting his “green energy” scams and playing the role of the “Green Governor,” a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity, Northern California River Watch, and Coast Action Group addressed the reality, rather than the fantasy of the “Green Governor,” who is worshipped by the corporate media and some corporate “environmental” groups. The three organizations announced their intent to sue California’s State Water Resources Control Board for authorizing water diversions that harm federally protected salmon and steelhead trout in the Russian River and Gualala River watersheds.

“The water board is violating the Endangered Species Act by permitting water diversions in Mendocino and Sonoma counties, primarily for vineyards, that adversely affect salmon,” said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.

Miller said diversions and pumping from streams for grape growing dewater rivers and creeks where listed fish species spawn, harming imperiled coho salmon, chinook salmon, and steelhead trout. Dewatering of streams occurs not only during spring and summer vineyard irrigation, but also due to winter “frost protection” pumping to protect budding grapes from frost. When freezing temperatures hit the North Coast, vineyards pumping water for frost protection can dry up the Russian River and its tributaries, stranding and killing young salmon.

“Twelve years after the state water board determined that pumping for frost protection is harmful to salmon and concluded it to be a waste and unreasonable use of water, the board has still failed to take appropriate action on frost irrigation,” said Miller. “Further fish kills are unacceptable — coho salmon are near extinction in the Russian River, and chinook salmon and steelhead are not far behind.”

In the spring of both 2008 and 2009, Miller said there were fish kills due to excessive water diversions in the main stem of the Russian River at Hopland and in Felta Creek, a tributary of the Russian River. There are at least 60,000 acres of vineyards in the Russian River watershed, 70 percent of which are within 300 feet of salmon streams. The Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River is also experiencing dramatic changes from overpumping, and fish habitat and survival are being significantly harmed.

“River Watch is hopeful that this notice will protect the last of the species and ultimately allow the restoration of fish runs,” said River Watch member Larry Hanson.

The State Water Resources Control Board permits and authorizes harmful water pumping, diversions, and water storage and continues to issue water appropriation permits in the over-allocated Russian River and Gualala River watersheds, in conflict with public trust values and beneficial uses, according to Miller.

In 1997, the water board released a report identifying vineyard practices, particularly frost protection activities, that adversely impact federally listed species of fish struggling to survive in the Russian River basin and its tributaries. The National Marine Fisheries Service requested in the spring of 2009 that the water board pass regulations to protect listed fish species, but the board has continued to allow frost-protection withdrawals and unreasonable and excessive water use to continue in these watersheds.

“The water board is violating the Endangered Species Act by consenting to improper use and by failing to enforce existing regulations,” emphasized Miller. “The region’s significant fisheries are near extinction: coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) on the central California coast are listed as endangered by both the state and federal governments; chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) along the California coast are federally listed as threatened; and steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) on the central California coast and northern California are federally listed as threatened.”

“Central California coast coho salmon are now at only 1 to 2 percent of their historical abundance. Coho have been eliminated from more than half of their historical streams in California, and in recent years, only 500 to 1,000 wild coho have returned to the entire central coast region to spawn. California coast chinook salmon have declined 97 to 99 percent from historical runs. Northern California coast steelhead have declined by 90 percent and central California coast steelhead have declined by 80 to 90 percent in the past 50 years,” Miller added.

Miller noted that salmon and steelhead spawn in freshwater streams and young fish require habitat with sufficient flows; deep pools; adequate food and shelter; and clean, cold water in order to survive long enough to migrate to the sea. The huge amounts of water withdrawn for grape growing dries up spawning beds and kills fish or leaves young salmon and steelhead stranded in hot and crowded shallow pools, where they are exposed to overcrowding and predators.

While Schwarzenegger flies around the globe to portray his false image as the “Green Governor” and issues a constant barrage of “green energy” press releases, he has not only presided over the decline of Russian River and Navarro River salmon and steelhead runs, but has relentlessly attacked the state and federal Endangered Species Acts. He recently pressured the federal government to do an “independent” review of a court-ordered federal biological opinion protecting Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon and the southern resident population of killer whales.

He has helped to engineer the unprecedented collapse of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon and the southern resident population of killer whales by presiding over the largest increases in water exports from the California Delta history. And he has done nothing to prevent pollution of our bay, Delta, river, lake and ocean waters by unregulated discharges of agricultural waste water.

His two “solutions” to California’s fishery declines, rather than addressing the roots of the problem by curbing water exports, reducing water pollution and stopping the rampant destruction of fishery habitat, are to build a peripheral canal and to kick sustainable seaweed harvesters, fishermen and Indian Tribes off the water by promoting the corrupt, fast-track Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process overseen by oil industry, real estate and marina development interests.

There is absolutely nothing “green” or “environmental” about Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the “Fish Terminator,” as he pursues his relentless war on California’s fish populations. The former “Austrian Oak” makes former Governor Gray Davis look like John Muir and Pete Wilson look like Julia Butterfly in comparison.

Mislabelling drives skate to brink of extinction

AFP

PARIS — Due to an 83-year-old error of classification, a species of European skate could become the first marine fish driven to extinction by commercial fishing, according to a study released on Wednesday.

In the 19th century, scientists identified two separate species of the once-widespread European skate, the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedia) and the blue skate (Dipturus flossada).

But an influential study in 1926 argued the two species were in fact one, which prompted a new name, Dipturus batis.

Since then, trawling has massively depleted all types of European skate stocks, with France accounting for more than 60 percent of landings.

New research, led by Samuel Inglesias of France’s Museum of Natural History and using molecular analysis of DNA, proves once and for all that the initial classification was correct.

As a result of the overfishing, the flapper skate is on the fast track to being wiped out, the paper says.

“[Without] immediate and incisive action, the species may be in an irreversible decline towards extinction,” Inglesias said in a statement.

The blue skate is in sharp decline but is still a viable species, the study says.

Iglesias said the discovery highlights the need “for a huge reassessment of population for the different Dipturus species in European waters.”

The study was published in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.