Fish & Fisheries

"Signifiers of the good life, local bivalves may be harbingers of another phenomenon: species extinction."

Discovery Channel's Shark Week is able to draw as many as 53 million viewers. While the cable outlet has included some conservation information in recent years, it seems to be shifting back toward fear-mongering based on fantasy rather than fact. The productions include Photoshopped film of a "megalodon" that is extinct, "deadliest" sharks that haven't killed anyone, and scientists played by actors.

Bob Garfield interviews marine biologist David Shiffman for On the Media August 15, 2014.

"ASTORIA, Ore. — The salmon here in the Columbia River, nearly driven to extinction by hydroelectric dams a quarter century ago, have been increasing in number — a fact not lost on the birds that like to eat them. These now flock by the thousands each spring to the river’s mouth, where the salmon have their young, and gorge at leisure."

"The ancestral connections of tribal coastal communities to the ocean’s natural resources stretch back thousands of years. But growing acidification is changing oceanic conditions, putting the cultural and economic reliance of coastal tribes—a critical definition of who they are—at risk."

"In Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River, one of the longest in the northeast, male smallmouth bass are sprouting female egg cells in their testes. According to a United States Geological Survey report released in June, these intersex fish appear in water — both in this river and two others in the state — that has become saturated with estrogenic compounds, natural and artificial hormones in animal manure and, to a smaller degree, sewage."

"Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may be contributing to a dramatic dive in the region's oyster harvest. Prices are up and the harvest is down, ever since the 2010 BP oil spill, but the exact cause remains unclear.""

"The level of codfish spawning in one of the most critical fisheries in the Northeast U.S. is at an all-time low, putting more pressure on a fishery already dealing with declining catch and dramatic quota cuts."

"In part of the search to find ways to feed future populations, given the mounting impacts of extreme weather on traditional farming, many have begun to turn their attention to the ocean. Over the past four decades, aquaculture has grown rapidly, accounting for half of human-consumed seafood in 2011 and continuing at a 6 percent annual increase in production."

"A Baltimore-based company wants to spread waste called industrial sludge on more than 16,000 acres of farm fields in seven Virginia counties, including Hanover and Goochland, but opponents have raised such a stink that Virginia officials are taking extra time to consider the issue."

"At first she was surprised. Then she was disturbed. Now she’s a little alarmed. Each time a different batch of male fish with eggs in their testes shows up in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Vicki Blazer’s eyebrows arch a bit higher."