community – Page 18 – ANGFA Queensland

Government department commits to science-based policy

Aug 152013

Original story by Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation

Two peak bodies for science researchers today welcomed the release of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Science Strategy 2013-2018, a document that aims to ensure government policy is informed by science.

Science should help inform policy aimed at tackling issues that extend beyond electoral cycles, peak bodies for researchers said today. Photo: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

The strategy underlined the importance of science to public policy development, said Andrew Metcalfe AO, Secretary Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

“Good science is the foundation of productive, competitive and sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries,” he wrote in the document’s foreword.

“The importance of that role will only get stronger in the future – not
only in DAFF, but across the Australian Public Service and within the Australian community as a whole.”

The science strategy aimed to ensure that “a thriving culture of science in Australia is something that we must contribute to and draw upon at every opportunity. Our peers and partners across all disciplines are central to our success,” he said.

Beyond the election cycle

Professor Les Field, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of New South Wales and secretary of science policy at the Australian Academy of Science, welcomed the release of the strategy.

“We are very keen to make sure that governments make better use of the research sector in providing informed comment and assistance in evidence based decision making into the future,” he said.

“The big issues — whether it’s climate change or how to manage the Murray Darling Basin — these things have horizons well beyond the election cycle and having a balanced, well-informed decision making process is crucial for tackling these problems into the future,” said Professor Field.

“At the moment, the government does have a much shorter term perspective on just about everything. Many of the issues we are talking about are larger issues that require a strategic understanding of technical concepts and you need to make the best use of the science sector.”

Chief Executive of Universities Australia, Belinda Robinson, said the DAFF science strategy “represents a genuine and substantial effort to recognise and embed scientific knowledge into the processes, organisational culture, and ultimately the policy development and management of the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.”

“Embedding research into our culture, business and policy development processes, will enhance the well-being of all Australians and make us a more productive and prosperous nation.”

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Are you psyched for Science Week? If not, read this

community, Interest

Aug 142013

Original story by Susan Lawler, La Trobe University at The Conversation

Cooking up some scientific cocktails might be a good activity for science week, but can we try this at home? Photo: Flickr/the_exploratorium

This is National Science Week in Australia. I know this because I am a scientist who lives with a science teacher, so we have conversations like , “What are you going to do for science week?” “Oh, gosh, I dunno, what are YOU going to do?” We love science and all our friends are scientists and even we aren’t sure what science week is all about.

I am guessing that more people got excited about shark week the week before, which is just endless documentaries about sharks on pay TV. You would think that celebrating a whole branch of human endeavour would be more interesting, but I am afraid that it isn’t.

More importantly, you know what you are getting for shark week. If you have pay TV you get a chance to watch sharks anytime, night or day, but only for one week.

What do you get for science week? Basically, geeks use it as an excuse to run activities at school or University. Sometimes it is heaps of fun, as indicated by this article written by an excited scientist last year.

On our campus we started science week yesterday with a Brain Break morning tea. The quiz was the highlight, which was fine but also a worry. If science week is about getting people who don’t normally think about science engaged, then we are failing. People who are not into science are not going to get excited about a quiz.

People probably get more exposure to science during shark week. But shark week is over and science week is here. My job as a scientist and columnist and educator is to reach out, to inspire.

My department is hosting a science cooking competition on Thursday. Everyone involved has already chosen to study science at University. You can tell they are a unique demographic, because when I told them the prizes would be lame, they cheered. Clearly, science week is an excuse to play with other scientists.

But what does science week mean for everybody else?

More importantly, what should it be? Can we come up with a simple, engaging, (and hopefully lame) thing to do to celebrate science?

I would love to hear your views, so please use the comments section below. I hope they are more insightful than the ones I received recently from a workshop with secondary students. When asked for suggestions to improve the activity, several of them wrote, “blow shit up.”

Which reminds me to mention that science is not synonymous with Mythbusters. The myth they seem to have most successfully sold is the one that says big explosions are a harmless way to have fun.

This cannot be further from the truth. Just watch this video of Robert Oppenheimer, talking about how he felt about inventing the first nuclear weapon. He is actually crying as he described how it brought to mind the end of the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

Science is not just here to surprise and shock us. It has a more fundamental role in the world. I think it is even cooler than sharks, but I am probably in a minority on that one.

Susan Lawler does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Birdsville croc wins a free trip to Dreamworld

community, government, wildlife

Aug 132013

Original story by Chrissy Arthur, ABC News

A croc catcher is due in south-western Queensland this morning in an effort to move the freshwater crocodile living at Birdsville.

For several months, the crocodile has been living in a waterhole in the Diamantina River at Birdsville, up to 1,000 kilometres away from its usual habitat.

The freshwater crocodile is being removed from the Diamantina River near Birdsville and taken to Dreamworld. Photo: Sandra McShane via ABC News

It was first spotted by a tourist.

The Diamantina Shire Council says it has been working with the Queensland Environment Department on ways to move the reptile.

Al Mucci from the Dreamworld theme park says the croc will be taken back to the Gold Coast.

"We would house it while expressions of interest go out to the broader community, the broader zoo industry," he said.

"The animal may not end up at Dreamworld but we will find a home for it."

Happy outcome

Diamantina Mayor Geoff Morton says while Birdsville will lose a talking point, relocating it is the best option for residents and the crocodile.

"Birdsville will lose a conversation point that's for sure," he said.

"If you'd have told me even 12 months ago we were going to have one in the river, I would have wondered what you'd been drinking.

"It was our primary intention to humanely relocate it.

"It's a win for everybody - it's a win for the community, they've got exactly what they want.

"It's a win for the crocodile - he is going to be looked after, probably better than he has been in his tiny shallow waterhole for the last couple of months."

Putting a foot in it: an election that ignores ecology

community, environment, government

Aug 132013

Original story by Robert Douglas at The Conversation

Australia’s ecological footprint is unhealthy and unfair; it’s time to talk about it.

As we ponder who will lead our next government we need to ask who will best deal with Australia’s overblown ecological footprint. It’s about seven global hectares per person, which is about the size of seven soccer fields and is among the largest per capita footprints in the world. It is an issue that demands attention at the highest level.

So far in the election campaign, we have seen some discussion about reducing our carbon footprint, but none about how our economic system is putting more pressure on the planet than it can bear.

The ecological footprint measures the demand humans make on nature. It estimates how much biologically active land and water a human population uses to support its way of life. This system of accounting also measures bio-capacity, which is how much biologically productive area nature has available to provide these essential and nonessential services.

The available bio-capacity of the planet is declining alarmingly as human numbers and their individual demands on environments continue to increase.

Footprint analysis takes account of the sustainability of our food production and purchases, our manufacturing, buildings, transport systems and our energy systems.

By measuring and monitoring the ecological footprint of an individual, household, community, city, business, nation or all of humanity, we can continuously monitor our pressure on the planet and make progress in reducing it. We can and must learn urgently to live within the resource constraints of a single Earth.

Footprint methodology is well-validated science and it is being used nationally and internationally by governments and civil institutions to monitor comprehensively human impact on the environment.

It estimates footprints in global hectares per person. These are about the size of a soccer field. The 15% who live in rich countries use about 6.5 global hectares per person.

The 48% who live in middle income countries use 1.98 hectares per person and the 37% living in poor countries have an average footprint of 0.8 ha per person.

It’s time Australia’s politicians checked our footprint. Photo:AAP/Alan Porritt

For a population of 7 billion people to live sustainably, we can use about 1.8 ha per person. We are using about 50% more that that and the planet is in ecological deficit.

We are surviving this overshoot by depleting the earth’s resources, raising the earth’s temperature and reducing further the stock of biologically active land and water at the very time that human demands for them are increasing. Our environmental overshoot will go on increasing unless we very quickly transform the human mindset and the global economy, contain the growth in human numbers and develop more equitable systems for sharing across national borders.

The really good news is that about half of the human ecological footprint is attributable to carbon dioxide emissions. We know how to reduce these and by weaning our species off energy derived from burning fossil fuels, humanity’s footprint could be very significantly and rapidly reduced towards Earth’s bio capacity.

How is all of this relevant to the coming election? We need to see evidence that our aspiring leaders understand this desperately serious issue, and its implications for Australians and other world citizens. Business as usual is no longer a responsible option. If we continue to expand our footprint, it further constricts the ability of poor countries to expand theirs and hastens the decline in existing biologically active land and water. Our next prime minister must be ecologically footprint literate.

We must engage our would-be political leaders in an urgent national discussion about the disgraceful inadequacy of our current carbon emission targets.

To avoid doing what we could so easily do in drastically cutting our carbon emissions is a culpable crime, not only against our own citizens of the future, but against the capacity of people in developing countries to achieve even basic standards of health and wellbeing.

And we need a national debate about the way our economic system affects our growing footprint. We need fundamental discussions about what we want from an economic system and how we should measure progress in achieving it.

Which brings us to the issue of human health and wellbeing. Increasing numbers of thoughtful Australians are recognising the impossibility of continuing with business as usual and are seeking leadership that will place population health and wellbeing at the heart of the national enterprise, which it is manifestly not at present.

The future survival of our species depends on us reaching an acceptable relationship with the finite resources of the planet. The mental health of our young requires that they can envision a viable future for themselves and their children. They need to know we are doing the things that as a nation make hope possible.

We must engage Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd in active consideration of these realities.

Robert Douglas is a Director of the NGO Australia21 - www.australia21.org.au - which seeks to expand national understanding of issues such as Australia's ecological footprint.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Trolley graveyard sparks push for creek clean-up

community, environment, waterways/wetlands, wildlife

Aug 112013

Original story by Nicole Fuge, Sunshine Coast Daily

PETRIE Creek has become a "trolley graveyard" for almost 50 metal frames, rusting in the Nambour waterway.

Discarded shopping trolleys polluting waterways.

Fran McDiarmid lives beside Petrie Creek and was "appalled" at the pollution building up in and around the creek.

She counted at least 18items of hard rubbish, most being discarded shopping trolleys.

"That's what's on the surface, who knows what's underneath," she said.

"It was horrendous, if nothing's done now it will build up and be a tsunami of trolleys.

"Petrie Creek was the original name for the now known town of Nambour.

"I am astonished that this living organic and iconic symbol, and an environmental site of history and culture, can be blatantly disregarded, and thus neglected, for so long."

Petrie Creek Catchment Care Group president Norm Morwood said dumping shopping trolleys in the creek had been a problem for many years.

"Clearing them from the creek is a constant job and each year at Clean Up Australia Day.

"Many are found and removed," he said.

"If left in the creek they cause serious pollution and are a danger to the wildlife.

"We urge those who put them there to return them to the supermarkets instead, and we urge Woolworths to install control systems on their trolleys to help overcome this problem.

"We understand that Aldi will install deposit-controlled shopping trolleys and that Coles will have an electronic control system.

"If this is so we thank them for their assistance in overcoming this problem."

A Sunshine Coast Council spokesman said on Wednesday and Thursday last week, they retrieved 26 trolleys and identified about 20 more to be picked up.

The spokesman said that under local laws, a person could be issued a $220 on-the-spot fine for taking a shopping trolley from a shopping centre precinct or leaving a trolley outside the shopping centre precinct.

"The owner or occupier of a shop which provides shopping trolleys for customers must ensure that all shopping trolleys so provided remain in the shopping centre precinct," he said.

Help waterway habitats with eyes, ears and phone app

community, threatened species, waterways/wetlands

Aug 112013

Original story by Tarik Al Rasheed at Worcester News

A CONSERVATION charity is urging Worcester residents to use their eyes and ears – and phones – to help protect threatened waterway habitats.

OTTER: The Canal and River Trust is asking people to help it map waterside habitats with a free app called ‘enaturewatch’.

Following a national report earlier in the year revealing that 60 per cent of the UK’s animal and plant species have declined in number over the past 50 years, the Canal and River Trust has launched a Great Nature Watch campaign to try and protect them.

And it says former industrial routes such as the Worcester and Birmingham Canal are among the most vital corridors for wildlife, helping to sustain valuable but threatened species such as kingfishers, butterflies and dragonflies.

The trust is now asking people in Worcester to help it map these waterside habitats to ensure they remain a thriving place for animals and plants. People can use a free app called ‘enaturewatch’ or visit the trust’s website to answer a series of questions that will help the charity build up information about local rivers and canals.

While touring the towpaths, people can also learn about any wildlife they encounter using a special ‘spotter’s guide’ section of the app.

Mark Robinson, national ecologist for the Canal and River Trust, said: “The countryside has been fragmented over the last 50 years with increasing urban environments.

“Worcester’s waterway corridors are unique and we need to do all we can to keep them this way as we’re seeing so many species struggling for survival.

“Our ultimate aim is to ensure there are plenty of habitats for wildlife to move up and down our waterway corridors, through city centres, as well as remote parts of the countryside. “People power can make a big difference so we hope visitors to our canals or rivers will get round as much of our waterway network in Worcester as possible.”

For more information about Great Nature Watch visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/great_nature_watch.

Gary revels in fishy business

aquarium, community

Aug 102013

Original story at the Bayside Bulletin

MOUNT Cotton's Gary Parker will be getting up to some fishy business at this year's Ekka, when he shows the exotic fish breeds, barbs, Congo tetras and crystal shrimp.

Gary Parker will be exhibiting exotic fish at this year's Ekka. Gary, who will also be a steward, has bred many fish breeds for more than 30 years, including difficult breeds such as these discus. Photo: Chris McCormack

A fish breeder for more than 30 years, an Ekka judge five times, and winner of the Ekka champion and best exhibit of show awards several times each, Gary will also be a steward this year.

The City Farmers Capalaba manager said he was looking forward to speaking with show visitors about keeping and breeding fish.

"You can breed exotic fish to sell or you can breed them just for the fun of the hobby," he said.

"Most people do it for the fun, especially if it's a fish that's difficult to breed, like discus.

"It's a bit of a status symbol to be able to say you've bred them."

Gary said he had successfully bred discus over the years, as well as many other fish breeds, including catfish, tetras, cichlids, and a range of salt water fish.

He said he hoped to see many Redlanders at the Ekka.

He invited locals who go to the show on People's Day to watch for the fish stewards and judges in the Grand Parade.

Gary Parker will be exhibiting the fish breeds, Congo tetras, pictured, barbs and crystal shrimp at this year's Ekka. Gary, who will also be a steward, has bred many fish breeds for more than 30 years. Photo: Chris McCormack

"We parade with the cattle and the horses and everyone else," he said.

"We have the champion fish in a jar, and we get the biggest cheer."

Gary's daughter, Katie Parker, 13, will join him as an Ekka competitor for the first time this year, competing in fish tank design and technique.

With such vast experience with fish, Gary, when asked for the definitive word on the aquatic animals, smiled and said: "Battered is better than crumbed".

Do fish feel pain?

aquarium, community, fisheries

Aug 102013

Media release by Robert Arlinghaus & Eva-Maria Cyrus at Forschungsverbund Berlin e. V.

Fish do not feel pain the way humans do. That is the conclusion drawn by an international team of researchers consisting of neurobiologists, behavioural ecologists and fishery scientists. One contributor to the landmark study was Prof. Dr. Robert Arlinghaus of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries and of the Humboldt University in Berlin.

The hook of a fishing lure is stuck in the upper jaw of this rainbow trout. Whether the animal feels pain is not verified beyond any doubt. Photo: Alexander Schwab.

On July 13th a revised animal protection act has come into effect in Germany. But anyone who expects it to contain concrete statements regarding the handling of fish will be disappointed. The legislator seemingly had already found its answer to the fish issue. Accordingly, fish are sentient vertebrates who must be protected against cruel acts performed by humans against animals. Anyone in Germany who, without due cause, kills vertebrates or inflicts severe pain or suffering on them has to face penal consequences as well as severe fines or even prison sentences. Now, the question of whether or not fish are really able to feel pain or suffer in human terms is once again on the agenda. A final decision would have far-reaching consequences for millions of anglers, fishers, aquarists, fish farmers and fish scientists. To this end, a research team consisting of seven people has examined all significant studies on the subject of fish pain. During their research the scientists from Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA have discovered many deficiencies. These are the authors’ main points of criticism: Fish do not have the neuro-physiological capacity for a conscious awareness of pain. In addition, behavioural reactions by fish to seemingly painful impulses were evaluated according to human criteria and were thus misinterpreted. There is still no final proof that fish can feel pain.

This is how it works for humans

To be able to understand the researchers’ criticism you first have to comprehend how pain perception works for humans. Injuries stimulate what is known as nociceptors. These receptors send electrical signals through nerve-lines and the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex (neocortex). With full awareness, this is where they are processed into a sensation of pain. However, even severe injuries do not necessarily have to result in an experience of pain. As an emotional state, pain can for example be intensified through engendering fear and it can also be mentally constructed without any tissue damage. Conversely, any stimulation of the nociceptors can be unconsciously processed without the organism having an experience of pain. This principle is used in cases such as anaesthesia. It is for this reason that pain research distinguishes between a conscious awareness of pain and an unconscious processing of impulses through nociception, the latter of which can also lead to complex hormonal reactions, behavioural responses as well as to learning avoidance reactions. Therefore, nociceptive reactions can never be equated with pain, and are thus, strictly speaking, no prerequisite for pain.

Fish are not comparable to humans in terms of anatomy and physiology

Unlike humans fish do not possess a neocortex, which is the first indicator of doubt regarding the pain awareness of fish. Furthermore, certain nerve fibres in mammals (known as c-nociceptors) have been shown to be involved in the sensation of intense experiences of pain. All primitive cartilaginous fish subject to the study, such as sharks and rays, show a complete lack of these fibres and all bony fish – which includes all common types of fish such as carp and trout – very rarely have them. In this respect, the physiological prerequisites for a conscious experience of pain are hardly developed in fish. However, bony fish certainly possess simple nociceptors and they do of course show reactions to injuries and other interventions. But it is not known whether this is perceived as pain.

There is often a lack of distinction between conscious pain and unconscious nociception

The current overview-study raises the complaint that a great majority of all published studies evaluate a fish’s reaction to a seemingly painful impulse - such as rubbing the injured body part against an object or the discontinuation of the feed intake - as an indication of pain. However, this methodology does not prove verifiably whether the reaction was due to a conscious sensation of pain or an unconscious impulse perception by means of nociception, or a combination of the two. Basically, it is very difficult to deduct underlying emotional states based on behavioural responses. Moreover, fish often show only minor or no reactions at all to interventions which would be extremely painful to us and to other mammals. Pain killers such as morphine that are effective for humans were either ineffective in fish or were only effective in astronomically high doses that, for small mammals, would have meant immediate death from shock. These findings suggest that fish either have absolutely no awareness of pain in human terms or they react completely different to pain. By and large, it is absolutely not advisable to interpret the behaviour of fish from a human perspective.

What does all this mean for those who use fish?

In legal terms it is forbidden to inflict pain, suffering or harm on animals without due cause according to §1 of the German Animal Protection Act. However, the criteria for when such acts are punishable is exclusive tied to the animal’s ability to feel pain and suffering in accordance with § 17 of the very same Act. The new study severely doubts that fish are aware of pain as defined by human terms. Therefore, it should actually no longer constitute a criminal offence if, for example, an angler releases a harvestable fish at his own discretion instead of eating it. However, at a legal and moral level, the recently published doubts regarding the awareness of pain in fish do not release anybody from their responsibility of having to justify all uses of fishes in a socially acceptable way and to minimise any form of stress and damage to the fish when interacting with it.

Reference: Rose, J.D., Arlinghaus, R., Cooke, S.J., Diggles, B.K., Sawynok, W., Stevens, E.D. & Wynne, C.D.L (in print) Can fish really feel pain? Fish and Fisheries, DOI: 10.1111/faf.12010.

Good weather brings big fish

community, fisheries

Aug 092013

Original story at Noosa News

GONE FISHIN' with Davo's

FISHING in the Maroochy River has been excellent lately, with the warmer weather stirring up some big fish.

FISH OF THE WEEK: Ben Pearce scored this huge mangrove jack out of Twin Waters.

Whiting and bream are on the chew at the moment, with the mouth of the Maroochy proving to be a popular destination this week.

If you're brave enough to venture down there during the early morning, tailor are also on the bite, with small pilchards and metal slugs being the most popular methods to catching a few.

Further up river, flathead have been feeding around the stretch between the Maroochy River Bridge and the Bli Bli Bridge, with trolling a small hard bodied along the sandy edges claiming plenty of fish.

On the beaches, North Shore has been popular this week, with plenty of bream, whiting, dart and tailor getting caught in the various surf gutters along the beach.

As usual, the early morning sessions have been the most productive, but if you're not much of a morning person, then the late avros are fishing pretty well too.

On the offshore scene, the Gneerings sections of reefs are holding some great snapper at the moment, with floated baits proving deadly.

The use of burley has been vital lately, and by cutting up some pilchards and putting a constant stream of burley into the water, you'll have snapper all around the boat in no time.

If you own and kayak and the weather conditions are favourable, the close in reefs located just off Coolum have been a popular destination for the kayakers, with plenty of snapper and sweetlips keeping them busy.

The winner of the Davo's fish of the week prize this week goes to Ben Pearce who scored this gigantic mangrove jack out of Twin Waters.

Ben scored a $50 gift voucher. For your chance to take out the Davo's fish of the week prize, drop by the store with your catch of the day and you're in the draw.

For fishing and bar reports, go to www.fishingnoosa.com.au.

Hunter River erosion project creating ‘fish hotels’

community, fisheries, government, waterways/wetlands

Aug 092013

Original story at ABC News

The Department of Primary Industries says the fifth stage of a project to stop erosion in the Hunter River is now complete.

A fish "hotel" being swung into position in the upper Hunter River, near Muswellbrook. Photo: : NSW DPI

With funding from the State and Commonwealth Governments, the Hunter Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority has strategically placed more than 140 logs in the river near Muswellbrook.

The logs help stop erosion and provide native fish with shelter, a place to hide from predators and somewhere to breed.

Senior Fisheries Conservation Officer Kylie Russell says the log structures are known as 'fish hotels'.

"They're essentially like a big constructed pile of logs, a bit like how you use to put matchsticks or paddlepop sticks together," she said.

"They're bolted together and then put into the river.

"They do a number of different jobs - the main thing is to actually protect the bank from erosion but along they way they also provide really good fish habitat for the native fish."

Ms Russell says the project has been underway for five years and will continue if federal and state funding is available.

She says the logs are taking the place of trees that were removed many years ago.

"And really, in hindsight, that was a fairly poor decision so we really need to try and put that vegetation back in to help stop the erosion," she said.

"Of course those trees would have fallen in and created these kind of log structures naturally, and so we are really just trying to help replaced what's been lost naturally."

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