Conservation – Page 39 – Southern Fried Science

Ethical debate: Can an endangered species be a business partner?

October 19, 2010October 18, 2010 David Shiffman 28 Comments

Conservation

Two of the strongest environmental laws in the world are the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Among many other statutes, these laws make it a Federal crime for anyone to harass endangered marine mammal species such as the West Indian manatee. By the accepted definitions of the word “harass”, this means that people cannot swim with and certainly cannot touch a manatee. However, at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, visitors can do both of these things- and it’s totally legal!

Altered sea turtle sex ratios: Can global warming harm warm-water animals?

October 12, 2010 David Shiffman 5 Comments

Conservation, Science

When most people think of an animal threatened by global warming, images of a polar bear drowning because of lost ice habitat come to mind. Few know that climate change can also threaten animals used to living in environments much warmer than the Arctic. Even when you’re used to heat, too much heat can be a serious problem- particularly in vulnerable early life history stages.

One example of this phenomenon is the sea turtle. Though one species (the leatherback) often ventures into Arctic waters, the other species are largely confined to tropical and temperate climates. All seven species are threatened or endangered due to decades of bycatch mortality and habitat destruction, and they are in serious trouble as a result of warming beach temperatures.

Shark Science Monday: Thomas Farrugia discusses restoring lost shark and ray habitat

October 12, 2010 David Shiffman 3 Comments

Conservation, Science

A major threat facing sharks is the loss of important nursery habitat. In this week’s Shark Science Monday, Thomas Farrugia discusses how effective habitat restoration can be. Feel free to ask questions for Thomas in the comments. ~WhySharksMatter

A short note on the “turtle harvest” e-mail

October 8, 2010 Andrew Thaler

Conservation, Science

An e-mail has been making the rounds over the last few weeks purports to show evidence of an illegal turtle egg harvest in Costa Rica. It contains several pictures like this: While the pictures are real, the e-mail is misleading. They show a sustainable, legal turtle harvest that actually helps the Olive Ridley turtle population. … Read More “A short note on the “turtle harvest” e-mail” »

Shark Science Monday: Michelle Heupel discusses the need for lethal shark research

October 4, 2010October 4, 2010 David Shiffman 6 Comments

Conservation, Science

Last spring, we held an ethical debate focusing on a paper called “Science or Slaughter”. The authors claimed that sometimes it is necessary to kill sharks to answer important scientific questions. One of the authors agreed to be interviewed for Shark Science Monday. Enjoy! As always, feel free to ask questions of the interview subject … Read More “Shark Science Monday: Michelle Heupel discusses the need for lethal shark research” »

Bad news for sharks in the South China Sea

September 30, 2010September 29, 2010 David Shiffman 1 Comment

Conservation, Science

While a large percentage of the world’s shark fins pass through Hong Kong fish markets, most come from far-away countries and little attention has been paid to shark populations in adjacent waters. An important new paper, appropriately titled “The sharks of South East Asia – unknown, unmonitored and unmanaged” provides new insight into this problem.

Democrats support shark conservation, Republicans do not

September 29, 2010September 29, 2010 David Shiffman 13 Comments

Conservation

I’ve written about the Shark Conservation Act several times. Though it passed the House of Representatives, it keeps stalling in the Senate, and bills need to be passed by both in order to become law. The SCA would close many existing loopholes in United States shark management policy, and is endorsed by many conservation organizations.

Shark Science Monday: Eric Clua discusses the economics of shark feeding tourism

September 28, 2010September 28, 2010 David Shiffman 4 Comments

Conservation, Science

Continuing the discussion about shark feeding dives started last week by Aleks Maljkovic, Eric Clua discusses the economics of this practice and concludes that a living shark can be worth much more than a dead shark. If you have any questions for me or the subject of this week’s interview, please leave them as comments … Read More “Shark Science Monday: Eric Clua discusses the economics of shark feeding tourism” »

Compact Fluorescent Lights, Energy, and Mercury

September 25, 2010September 26, 2010 Andrew Thaler 38 Comments

Conservation, Science

We recieved several responses to Dave’s post this week on the bizarre “Save the Light Bulb” movement. A movement that seeks to ban energy efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and return to the old, energy expensive, incandescent bulbs. The primary critique is that CFL’s contain mercury, and thus, any environmental benefit is negated by mercury exposure when the bulbs break or are thrown out.

What species of skate is for dinner? New research challenges elasmobranch fisheries policy

September 24, 2010December 31, 2011 David Shiffman 7 Comments

Conservation, Science

I write a lot about shark conservation issues, but I rarely focus on their fellow elasmobranchs. Rays and skates have similar life history strategies as sharks, and many species are similarly overfished. A friend just sent me a cool paper about the conservation of skates, which provides an excellent opportunity to remedy this oversight.

A major issue standing between well-managed elasmobranch fisheries and the mess we find ourselves in today is species identification. Many species look very similar (in some cases, DNA tests are required to tell them apart), which makes recording catch statistics extremely difficult. In fact, United States fishery management policy sometimes focuses on species complexes (i.e. “Large Coastal Sharks”) of sharks rather than individual species. Species identification is a major issue for skates as well.