dendroica:

For nearly eight years, [New Jersey] has protected the horseshoe crabs from fishermen in the hope it would boost the bird’s dwindling numbers worldwide. But that could soon change.

A moratorium protecting horseshoe crabs along New Jersey’s shoreline could soon be lifted, as proposed in a state Assembly bill that’s before a committee today in Trenton.

Environmentalists say lifting the moratorium would up-end a delicate balance in the food chain that’s just beginning to stabilize, after years of over-fishing. The seafood industry says allowing collection of the crabs again would give certain parts of the fishing industry a desperately needed source of bait.

The ongoing ban would end with passage of the bill sponsored by Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D - Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland). The measure is before the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee this afternoon.

The ban on horseshoe crabs went into effect in 2006 because of concerns about the red knot, fueling it for its long trek. The bird relies on eating the crab eggs along the route, experts say – and the bird population and the crab eggs are both in sharp decline, they add. The initial ban was extended indefinitely by the Legislature in 2008.

Environmentalists say lifting the restrictions now would not only harm the crab population – but also the red knots, which rely on them for food.

(via The crab and the bird: lifting moratorium on horseshoe crabs could affect migratory red knot | NJ.com)

It’s far too soon to lift the moratorium.

These creatures are way too amazing to use as fishing bait!

http://scientificillustration.tumblr.com/tagged/horseshoe+crab

rhamphotheca:

Warming Up To Shrinking Fish 

by Eizabeth Brown and Carl Safina, Blue Ocean Inst.

A few years ago, some scientists at the University of British Columbia were thinking about how climate change would affect fish. Climate change results from the collection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from our burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas), which causes the earth to warm. The scientists wondered out loud if warming could affect fish growth. Warmer waters hold less oxygen than cold water.

And, as the water warms, fish need more oxygen to perform daily activities, like feeding. They asked how these competing factors would affect fish size: Would a fish be able to grow large as warmer water causes oxygen concentration to drop even as the fish’s oxygen needs increase?

And so, they set up a model to look at how predicted rises in ocean temperatures will change fish body size and fish distributions between the years 2000 to 2050. They input information on distribution, growth rates, temperature preferences, etc. for over 600 marine fish species (including groupers, cods, flounders, salmon, and other commercial species).

The model confirmed the scientists’ predictions: warming will limit the size fish grow to. This means SHRINKING fishes! By 2050, warming will shrink the average maximum body weight of fishes by 14-24% globally…

(read more: National Geo)                          (images: NOAA)

rhamphotheca:

India pledges over $60 million for biodiversity, but experts say much more is needed

by Jeremy Hance

The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, pledged around $50 million (Rs. 264 crore) for domestic biodiversity protection, reports the Hindu. The pledge came this week at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Hyderabad, India. The CBD has set bold goals on stemming the rate of extinction worldwide, but these have suffered from a lack of funding. India also said it had set aside another $10 million (Rs. 50 crore) for biodiversity projects abroad. Still, such funds are far below what scientists say is necessary to stem ongoing extinctions.

“This 50 million dollar pledge for biodiversity is a welcome show of leadership from one of the world’s fastest growing—and biologically rich—counties,” commented Lasse Gustavsson, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International Executive Director of Conservation. “It’s now up to other countries to make similar commitments and show the world how serious they are about protecting our planet’s natural wealth.”

(read more: MongaBay)         

(images: T - Blackbuck, by Pranav Yaddanapudi; B - Indian bustards (Ardeotis nigriceps) by  Henrik Grönvold)

(via dendroica)

charmingstoat:

CALLING ALL FROZEN PLANET FANS!!! If you live in the Bristol/North Somerset Area, the Hawk and Owl Trust Bristol and North Somerset Group have a very special treat for you next month. **PLEASE SHARE**

Monday 19th November 2012 7.45pm

Venue: The Lord Nelson Pub on the A370 road Cleeve, North Somerset BS49 4NR

The Making of Frozen Planet

A presentation by the producer on two of the programmes Miles Barton, who has also produced a number of other award winning films and was David Attenborough’s producer on several series Entry £5.00 on the door

sheerdarwinism:

The lesser bilby, Macrotis leucura, also known as the yallara, was a rabbit-like marsupial that inhabited central Australia. The last known sighting and live collection was in 1931, and the last ever found specimen was a skull located in a Wedge-tailed Eagle nest in 1967. It is believed extinct.

The cause of extinction is debated, with some theories including competition with rabbits for food, hunting by native Australians, and habitat degradation, but most evidence lists predation by introduced cats and foxes to be the main cause.

Its cousin, the Greater Bilby (inspiration for the Easter Bilby of Australia), is currently listed as vulnerable.

mad-as-a-marine-biologist:

A great postcard from WildAid, for all you shark geeks out there - Happy Sunday! 

rhamphotheca:

Why Sockeye Salmon Are in Trouble

by Emily Sohn

Every year, millions of adult salmon return from the ocean to their home streams, where they lay eggs and produce the next generation of fish. But far fewer sockeye salmon are making it back to their freshwater mating grounds compared to a few decades ago, and that’s seriously affecting population sizes of the species throughout the Northwest, from Alaska to Washington State.

The discovery suggests that changing ocean conditions may be making life harder for some groups of wild salmon — possibly by reducing their food supply or increasing populations of predators.

By zeroing in on what, exactly, is causing the widespread decline, researchers hope to help managers figure out what to do about the problem.

“We found that substantial reductions in productivity of over 50 percent have occurred in the last two decades in a wide geographical area,” said Randall Peterman, a fisheries scientist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. “We were quite stunned to see these results.”…

(read more: LiveScience)        

(images: T - Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) by Timothy Knepp - USFWS; B - School of spawning Sockeye, by TheInterior)

dendroica:

This time of year is the most dangerous time for the turtles — a threatened species in New Jersey — as they slowly emerge from murky rivers and streams after their months-long hibernation and become more active in search of food and mates…. While raids on nests by foxes and raccoons take a heavy toll on young wood turtles, road kills and the illegal collection of turtles by people who take them from their natural habitat for use as pets are the largest threats for the adults, said a state biologist.

(via Father-daughter duo tries to save the world, starting with local turtles | NJ.com)

mad-as-a-marine-biologist:

Things that kill more people than sharks….

Source: Buzzfeed

(via dendroica)

dendroica:

Victims of the Feather Trade by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

Many bird species were hunted nearly to extinction to provide ornamentation for fashionable hats during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The American natural history;.
New York,C. Scribner’s Sons,1914..
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/23259462