Harvesting sharks could be key to saving them

Sharks and their relatives face an existential crisis unprecedented in their 420 million years on the planet. A global trade in products from these animals fuels the capture of tens of millions of individuals a year. Strong demand combined with poor fishery regulation and high levels of incidental catch have resulted in many populations being overfished, with some now facing extinction.
                                         

New research, appearing in the February 6 issue of Current Biology2, is filling that gap, and the findings bolster the idea that around the world, some sharks are being fished sustainably. Nicholas Dulvy, a marine conservation biologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, and shark ecologist Colin Simpfendorfer of James Cook University in Australia recently examined global stock assessments of 65 shark populations of 47 species. They found 39 of the populations, representing 33 different species, are fished sustainably—that is, they are harvested at levels that allow them to remain stable in size and not edge toward extinction. Although these 33 species account for only a small fraction of the world’s sharks, rays and their kin the chimeras (collectively referred to as sharks), which in total number more than 1,000, they are proof of concept that sustainable shark fishing is possible.

Indeed, by definition, exploiting a resource sustainably requires whole animal use, Simpfendorfer explains. In the case of MSC-certified Atlantic dogfish, the heads become lobster and crab bait; back meat becomes British fish and chips; belly flaps are a German delicacy; liver supplies nutraceuticals; fins and tails headline east Asian soup; and leftovers become agricultural fertilizer, says Massachusetts-based attorney John Whiteside, Jr., who helped east coast U.S. dogfish fisheries achieve MSC status.

But for sustainable shark fishing to work, its products have to be labeled and traceable back to a well-managed source—a requirement that very few of the sustainably harvested fins currently on the market now meet. Traceability depends on careful management of product “chain of custody” with specific information carried through from capture vessel to retailer. Ideally the products have a closed chain of custody, meaning no uncertified products come in from the sidelines, explains Glenn Sant, Fisheries Trade Programme Leader at TRAFFIC International, the wildlife trade monitoring group co-founded by World Wildlife Fund and the IUCN, who was not part of the study. “Industries have been doing this for a long time,” he observes, with bar codes making traceability of products easy and cheap. Traceability challenges are not technological. They lie in gaining sufficient transparency to discern whether the fishery had adequate management within the product’s country of origin.

Fish Gene Bank to Help Cope with Climate Change

INDIA - Experts have recommended setting up a common gene bank for vulnerable fish species as well as setting up fish sanctuaries in order to mitigate the impacts of climate change on fish stocks.
             

The recommendations were made after the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) submitted the Country Status Report (CSR) about the impact of climate change on coastal fisheries and aquaculture sector.
The ICAR institute, the leading fish research body in the country, presented the report at a meeting between the SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC) and representatives from the SAARC nations held through video conference, the TimesOfIndia reported.
The report exposed disruptions caused by climate change in areas such as marine ecosystem, fish stock, harvesting sector, aquaculture, market and trade. The present condition of fishing communities was also included in the report.
During the conference, members representing fisheries and aquaculture sector of SAARC member countries reviewed remedial steps to be taken to mitigate the impact of climate change and finalised a set of recommendations to be followed by member countries.
In the recommendations, the meeting prioritised developing collaborative and comprehensive efforts to address climate vulnerabilities. Conduct of awareness programmes on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and expansion of open sea cage farming and pen culture in coastal water bodies were also listed among the recommendations.
Among the other noteworthy recommendations finalised during the meeting include introduction of saline temperature tolerant and fast-growing fish species for coastal aquaculture, establishment of fish sanctuary for improvement of natural stocks and setting up common gene bank for vulnerable species.

PLUS MORE WAYS ANIMALS COPE WITH COLD

Even though here in the southern hemisphere summer is getting into full swing, many creatures around the world are experiencing freezing temperatures. Our winter survival skills often involve staying indoors with plenty of blankets, cocoa, and mindless TV at the ready.
                 

But wild animals don't have that luxury—they have to tough it out in the cold. That made Weird Animal Question of the Week wonder: “What are some cool ways animals stay safe and warm in winter?”

WINTER COATS

Some species pile on the layers, like the Arctic musk ox, whose soft undercoat—called qiviut—insulates them from -50 degree Fahrenheit temperatures. Polar bears have an extra layer of fat to keep toasty.
Others grow thicker fur in the fall, like white-tailed deer, and some even grow lighter coats to blend into the snow, Sharon Chester, author of The Arctic Guide, Wildlife of the Far North, says via email.

North American mammals such as the Arctic fox, least weasel, Arctic hare, and ermine have this adaptation, Chester says.
The camo works if snow is consistent, Chester says, but it's tougher if snow arrives late and melts early—which is happening more due to global climate change. A 2016 study reported snowshoe hares in Montana that were mismatched to their environment experienced a 7 percent decrease in survival rate.

Wood frogs, which range from the southeastern U.S. to the Arctic Circle, "hunker down in some leaf litter and freeze solid" into a "frogcicle," says Greg Pauly, curator of herpetology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The Arctic ground squirrel, or siksik, can drop its body temperature below freezing while it's hibernating. This is likely due to another process called supercooling, in which the body temperature can go below the freezing point without forming ice.

Ant genomes rewrite history of Panama land bridge

Colliding tectonic plates pushed up a strip of land from the watery abyss that once divided North and South America, forming the isthmus of Panama. But a study now hints that this happened millions of years earlier than scientists had thought.
               

Evolutionary and population-genetics data from Eciton army ants, which can only travel on dry ground, suggest that the isthmus formed 4–8 million years ago. The research, published on 25 October in Molecular Ecology1, challenges the long-held idea that the link between continents emerged no more than 3 million years ago.

“Our genomic data is very strong evidence that the army ants crossed this region much earlier in time than the model of the simple closure of the isthmus suggests,” says Corrie Moreau, associate curator at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, and co-author of the study. She notes that recent geological studies have also hinted that the isthmus may have emerged earlier than 3 million years ago.

Genetics and geology collide

Moreau and her colleagues used a technique called genotyping to sequence small fragments of DNA from the genomes of multiple individuals from all nine Eciton species, which are found from Brazil to southern Mexico. This allowed the researchers to compare genetic variations both between species and within different individuals of the same species.

Anthony Coates, a geologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City, is sceptical of any evidence contradicting the isthmus’s 3-million-year age. “There are still a series of investigations in different disciplines that all converge on the same number of around three million years ago. This is extremely rigorous evidence,” Coates says.

The geological battle lines, it seems, have been drawn. Whether they can form an ideological land bridge similar to the physical one that researchers are studying remains to be seen.

Delhi zoo shut down after bird flu deaths

The National Zoological Park (Delhi zoo) was shut down indefinitely Tuesday following confirmation that the death of at least eight water birds recently was due to bird flu, said sources. The death of a few ducks had been noticed about “four to five days” ago and a few pelicans were also found dead later, the sources added, terming the shutdown a “precautionary measure”.
Development and General Administration Minister Gopal Rai said, “Officials in charge of the zoo informed us about the flu infecting birds. The flu has been diagnosed as H5 avian influenza. The zoo has been closed for now and we are taking all necessary measures.”
               

He added, “We do not know how many birds have been infected but tests are being conducted.” Rai said the government would issue additional information after getting more test results. He did not say how long the zoo would remain shut.
Sources told The Indian Express that samples of the ducks that died were sent to Jalandhar this week for ascertaining the cause of death and it was found that they succumbed to bird flu. “The samples of dead pelicans too were sent for testing and the results are awaited,” said a source.
The samples were also sent to another laboratory for a second opinion, said sources. A central team will be visiting the zoo Wednesday, the sources added. The curator and spokesperson of the zoo could not be reached for comment.
Ducks and pelicans are kept in separate ponds at the zoological park. Before the bird deaths were spotted, the zoo had nearly 40 pelicans and 20 ducks.
The Indian Express could not officially confirm the number of deaths of ducks and pelicans, but sources confirmed that at least 8 water birds had died due to bird flu. The sources also said this was the first time in at least 10 years that bird flu was reported at the zoo. Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is an infectious viral disease of birds. According to the World Health Organisation, most avian influenza viruses do not infect humans.
The zoo came under the spotlight in May after the death of 46 spotted deer due to rabies. The deer deaths have been reported since January this year. The zoo got 22 lakh visitors last year.

Fish Are A Bunch Of Lame Posers

A new study has found that “schooling” is a horrendous process in which an individual’s unique personality is unceremoniously supplanted by group-think and the notion of bravery is cast aside when a danger to the overall status quo is presented. School, in this case, is the group that fish swim in. What did you think we were talking about?

        

Dr. Christos Ioannou and his fellow researchers at the School of Biological Sciences have concluded an investigation into the individual and group behaviours of the three-spined stickleback. They found that much like humans, the bravest fish tend to lead the herd. But when a group decision is necessary, such as in a situation of danger, even the brave individual who stood out from the pack tucks tail and becomes a cautious follower.

Who knew the stickleback was so spineless?

“This is the first time that the suppression of personality in groups has been linked to its underlying cause, which is conformity in group decision making,” Ioannou says.

Interestingly, the fish in the study didn’t seem to retain their conformist predilections when tested again in isolation. According to Ioannou, “The behaviour of the fish seems to be ‘plastic’ to the social situation — they show consistent individual differences in behaviour when tested alone — reflecting personality, but they are also happy to suppress this to be able to stick together with their shoal mates if there are others around.”