Southern Fried Science

Herring Wars: Quotas, Conflicts, and Climate Change in the North Atlantic

July 25, 2013October 27, 2013 Andrew Thaler 4 Comments

Herring and other fish hung out to dry on a trawler in Klaksvík. Photo by ADT.

A small collection of islands in the North Sea, a few hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle, is preparing for war. The European Union, under the auspices of an international fisheries management agreement, is ready to levy heavy trade sanctions against the Faroe Islands, an independent protectorate of Denmark. The Faroes, with a population of less than 50,000, intends to fight these sanctions, defy EU authority, and defend their economic independence. The object of contention is the right to fish Atlanto-Scandian Herring; the driving force behind this dispute–dramatic shifts in fish distribution brought on by warming seas and altered currents. This may be the first international conflict directly attributable to climate change. It will not be the last. Regardless of the outcome, this confrontation will set a precedent for future climate conflicts. Welcome to the Herring War.

Despite their uninspiring name, herring are a rather handsome fish. Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, are relatively small with a classically “fishy” (fusiform) body shape. They are among the most abundant fish in the ocean, forming schools that can number in the billions. Along with other planktivorous fishes, such as menhaden, that convert phyto- and zooplankton into higher trophic-level biomass, herring are critical to ocean food-webs. They are considered to be among the most important fish in the sea. Herring are the dominant prey species for many large, pelagic predators like tuna, sharks, marine mammals, salmon, and sea birds, among others. Their dominant predator, unsurprisingly, is us.

It’s not about the Mermaids: Animal Planet’s track record of fabricated reality

July 19, 2013March 24, 2014 Andrew Thaler 24 Comments

Popular Culture, Science

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, of which this post is not about. Photo by ADT.

I have fond memories of Animal Planet. I grew up with Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin. On the rare occasions when I have caught their recent programming, I’ve enjoyed shows like River Monsters and Monsters Inside Me. These are certainly not high-minded nature documentaries like Planet Earth and Blue Planet, but they manage to be both entertaining and informative. Then came the ghost hunters, pet psychics, bigfoot hunters, and mermaids. I started watching with a cynical eye*, started noticing things that seemed out of place: a catfish that looked already dead before being caught, a multitude of pets that looked surprisingly healthy considering their life in a hoarders house, conversations that seemed awkward, forced, and disjointed. And then there was Mermaids.

I’m not naive to the realities of reality shows**, but I do believe that channels like Animal Planet, channels that bill themselves as educational programming, have a responsibility to present fact-based programming. I also believe the public has a reasonable expectation that Animal Planet’s programming is at least honest in the events it portrays. Whale Wars is not Storage Wars. I’m also not a reality TV hater, and believe that it is possible to create compelling, educational programming in that format. After all, had it aired today, the Underwater World of Jacques Cousteau would have been classified as a reality show.

I’m not even talking about intentionally fake shows, like Lost Tapes or Mermaids: the Body Found, nor am I talking about shows with supernatural premises, like Pet Psychics or The Haunted, although I do have problems with the ways those shows portray the supernatural credulously while marketing them as science-based. I’m talking specifically about shows where Animal Planet stages, distorts, or manufactures scenes and then presents them as being actual events captured by their film crew. I’m talking about outright deception with the intention of misleading the audience.

I’m also talking about evidence. Over the years, I have had hundreds of head-scratching moments while watching Animal Planet shows that I strongly suspect were staged. For some the evidence is there, but, unless someone involved in the production comes forward, most will remain unconfirmed. Instead of wallowing in hearsay, I present to you four cases in which we have convincing evidence–statements from members of the cast, discordance with widely reported events, or witness and expert testimony–that an Animal Planet show is staged.

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Who read tweets from the American Elasmobranch Society? I asked, they answered!

July 17, 2013October 28, 2013 David Shiffman

As those of you who follow me on twitter know, I’ve been live-tweeting the American Elasmobranch Society conference. The meeting is the largest gathering of shark, skate and ray scientists in the world, and provided lots of opportunities to share interesting shark science and conservation news to my followers. In case you missed it, all the sessions are now Storify-ed and stored here on the blog (Plenary address, Biology and Conservation of Rays Symposium, Ecology and Conservation, Best Student Presentation/Gruber Award talks , and Physiology Behavior and Genetics).

Mary Canady of Comprendia was kind enough to compile some technical statistics on the use of the conference hashtags (#AES2013 for the American Elasmobranch Society portion of the meeting, #JMIH13 for the overall Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists). Thanks, Mary!

Between July 8th and today, there have been 1,568 unique #AES2013 tweets. Approximately half of the #AES2013 have been re-tweeted. There were 218 unique twitter users that tweeted at least one #AES2013 tweet (including RT-ing). There were approximately 10 AES members present at the meeting who tweeted at least once, including several who created a twitter account at the meeting. At least 6 AES members who were not present at the meeting followed along from home using twitter. We also took questions from twitter during the expert panel discussion at the ray symposium. For those of you not familiar with online altmetric speak, this can be summarized as “a very high level of audience engagement and interaction.”

In comparison, #JMIH13 had 1,602 unique tweets- only a handful more despite the fact that AES is a relatively small component of the overall JMIH. There were 88 unique twitter users who tweeted at least one #JMIH13 tweet, and about 1/3 of total tweets were RT-ed.

Finally, I asked the people following along on twitter to tell me a little about themselves. Here are their responses.

Tweets from the American Elasmobranch Society: Physiology, Behavior and Genetics

July 17, 2013October 28, 2013 David Shiffman

The American Elasmobranch Society is a non-profit professional organization of shark, ray, skate, and chimaera scientists. Each year, AES holds an annual conference in a different North American city where members meet and present their research. The 2013 meeting took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico from July 10-15th. The full schedule of talks (including other societies participating in the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists) can be found here.

Presented below are selected tweets from the Physiology, Behavior, and Genetics sessions.

Tweets from the American Elasmobranch Society: Gruber Award (best student presentation) talks

July 17, 2013 David Shiffman

Science

davesquare

Below are selected tweets from the Gruber Award (best student presentation) talks.

Tweets from the American Elasmobranch Society: Dr. Gregor Cailliet’s plenary address

July 17, 2013October 28, 2013 David Shiffman

davesquare

The American Elasmobranch SocietyAmerican Elasmobranch Society is a non-profit professional organization of shark, ray, skate, and chimaera scientists. Each year, AES holds an annual conference in a different North American city where members meet and present their research. The 2013 meeting took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico from July 10-15th. The full schedule of talks (including other societies participating in the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists) can be found here.

Here are selected tweets from Dr. Gregor Cailliet’s plenary address, “unraveling the secret lives of sharks and rays”.

Tweets from the American Elasmobranch Society: Ecology and Conservation

July 16, 2013October 28, 2013 David Shiffman

The American Elasmobranch Societyis a non-profit professional organization of shark, ray, skate, and chimaera scientists. Each year, AES holds an annual conference in a different North American city where members meet and present their research. The 2013 meeting took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico from July 10-15th. The full schedule of talks (including other societies participating in the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists) can be found here.

Presented below are selected tweets from the Ecology and Conservation sessions.

Tweets from the American Elasmobranch Society: Biology and Conservation of Rays Symposium

July 16, 2013October 28, 2013 David Shiffman

Presented here are selected tweets from the Biology, Ecology, and Management of Durophagous Stingrays Symposium at the 2013 American Elasmobranch Society meeting.

5 reasons you should attend ScienceOnline Oceans

July 5, 2013October 27, 2013 David Shiffman 1 Comment

This October, I’ll be hosting ScienceOnline Oceans at the University of Miami. Registration is now open (register here), and we still have a few spots available. Here are 5 reasons why you should join us. 1) The people. The list of ScienceOnline Oceans attendees includes scientists, students, conservationists, journalists, and science communicators from all over … Read More “5 reasons you should attend ScienceOnline Oceans” »