research – ANGFA Queensland

Forest loss starves fish

Jun 152014

Media release from the University of Cambridge

Research shows forest debris that drains into lakes is an important contributor to freshwater food chains – bolstering fish diets to the extent that increased forest cover causes fish to get ‘fat’ and sparse forest leaves smaller, underfed fish.

Debris from forests that washes into freshwater lakes supplements the diets of microscopic zooplankton and the fish that feed off them – creating larger and stronger fish, new research shows.

The researchers warn that, as forests are eroded through human activities such as logging, the impacts will be felt in aquatic as well as terrestrial food chains. Continue reading »

Dugong health project in Queensland’s Moreton Bay

government, research, threatened species, waterways/wetlands

Jun 132014

orginal story by Russell Varley, ABC News

A marine researcher on Queensland’s Gold Coast says conditions for dugongs in Moreton Bay have improved after the environment was badly affected by Brisbane’s 2011 floods.

A dugong feeding on seagrass in Moreton Bay.

Sea World on the Gold Coast, the University of Queensland, and the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium are checking dugong health in a project that started seven years ago.

Up to 20 dugongs will be captured to carry out the health assessment, with Sea World welcoming a federal grant of $250,000 for whale and dolphin research. Continue reading »

The oldest fish in the world lived 500 million years ago

Interest, research

Jun 122014

Original story John Long, Flinders University, at The Conversation

It looked more like the worm on an angler’s hook than any living fish we might recognise today but it still takes the record for the oldest known fish to date.

An artist’s reconstruction of Metaspriggina walcotti, the world’s oldest definite fish. Artwork by Marianne Collins

The first fossil fishes are known from scant and often ambiguous fossil remains, and research published today in Nature gives us the first clear picture of exactly what these earliest fishes were really like. Continue reading »

The secrets of catfish whiskers

Interest, research

Jun 102014

Media release by Ernie Ballard, LSU Research News

Animals incorporate a number of unique methods for detecting prey, but for the Japanese sea catfish, Plotosus japonicus, it is especially tricky given the dark murky waters where it resides.

Plotosus japonicus, the Japanese sea catfish.

John Caprio, George C. Kent Professor of Biological Sciences at LSU, and colleagues from Kagoshima University in Japan have identified that these fish are equipped with sensors that can locate prey by detecting slight changes in the water’s pH level. Continue reading »

Aquaculture challenges from climate change

Australian native freshwater species, fisheries, government, research

Jun 092014

Original story at ABC News

The CSIRO has told a world aquaculture conference in Adelaide the industry already is facing challenges from climate change.

Barramundi – Rising water temperatures are a challenge for fish farming.

The fast-growing industry generates more than $1 billion annually for the Australian economy and CSIRO research scientist Alistair Hobday says aquaculture operators have been making a strong impression in the international marketplace.

“I think aquaculture operators in Australia are very sophisticated, they grow high-value products that go to international markets as well as our domestic markets and I think they’re well set up for coping with these changes,” he said.

But Dr Hobday says aquaculture operators will need to find ways to adapt to rising temperatures.

“We’ve seen cases around Australia where warming waters that have been unusually warm have led to declines in salmon production, have led to declining oxygen in tuna pens,” he said.

The CSIRO says temperatures have risen by one degree Celsius in the past century in Australia, but by more than two degrees in the south-east and south-west of the nation. Continue reading »

19-Year-old invents solution to cleanup ocean garbage patches

environment, research, waterways/wetlands

Jun 082014

news release from The Ocean Cleanup

Feasibility study proves efficiency and financial viability

The Ocean Cleanup, founded by Dutchman Boyan Slat, has unveiled its feasibility report today, concluding that its concept is a viable method to clean the oceans from plastic. The report is the result of more than a year of extensive scientific research in engineering, oceanography, ecology, maritime law, finance and recycling. The feasibility study was financially supported by crowd funding and professional in kind contributions. The research was done by an international team of over 100 experts, predominantly on a voluntary basis. The next step, building and testing large-scale operational pilots, will be initiated as soon as sufficient funding has been raised.

The conclusions of the study mark the end of the first phase of the project in which the assumption that a cleanup of the infamous ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ is impossible has been disproven. Within ten years’ time, almost half of the plastic could be removed. Continue reading »

New crayfish traps will save platypus from drowning

Australian native freshwater species, community, research, threatened species, waterways/wetlands, wildlife

Jun 052014

The platypus is vulnerable to opera house traps set to catch crayfish.

Original story at Wildlife Extra

The Australian Platypus Conservancy (APC) has been carrying out trials on a new design of a type of crayfish trap called an opera house trap. Opera house traps are widely sold in Australia to deploy in rivers to catch crayfish for eating. Unfortunately, these same rivers are populated by air-breathing platypus that cannot escape from the traps once they have entered them and so drown. The new design is fitted with a circular escape hatch in the roof, through which platypus can find their way back out. The research, funded by the Taronga Conservation Society, involved 34 adults and 24 juvenile platypus to establish how easily the animals found the escape holes.

Of the four animals tested during daylight hours, all escaped within one minute of being introduced to a trap. At night, 63 per cent of tested animals managed to find their own way out within one minute and 19 per cent in 1-2 minutes. All exited via the escape hatch in the roof. Given that a platypus can hold its breath for approximately two and a half minutes when active, these findings suggest that a large proportion of wild platypus are likely to escape from a modified trap before they drown. Continue reading »

Asian bacterium causing U.S. catfish deaths

fisheries, pest species, research

Jun 042014

News release from the American Society for Microbiology

A bacterium causing an epidemic among catfish farms in the southeastern United States is closely related to organisms found in diseased grass carp in China, according to researchers at Auburn University in Alabama and three other institutions. The study, published this week inmBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, suggests that the virulent U.S. fish epidemic emerged from an Asian source.

Loading U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish. Photo: Jim Steeby

Since 2009, catfish farming in Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas has been seriously impacted by an emerging strain of Aeromonas hydrophila, which causes Aeromonas septicemia in catfish. A serious infection that can cause death in as little as 12 hours, Aeromonas septicemia’s clinical signs include skin lesions and blood loss. Continue reading »

The latest Murray-Darling plan could leave farmers high and dry

community, environment, government, research, waterways/wetlands

Jun 042014

Original story by David Adamson and Adam James Loch, University of South Australia at The Conversation

The federal government’s approach for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has shifted again, and now favours water-saving infrastructure over purchasing water rights. But is it the right move?

Spending on water-saving infrastructure could expose Murray-Darling farmers to debt and drought. Photo: Michelle Bartsch/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

The new scheme proposes to cut the amount of water bought back from farmers by 200 billion litres — from 1,500 billion litres down to 1,300 billion litres. Continue reading »

Florida App to Detect Feral Lionfish

community, fisheries, government, pest species, research, waterways/wetlands

Jun 022014

Original story by Thomas Carannante, ScienceWorld Report

The presence of the invasive lionfish in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida has prompted the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to take action. They’ve developed an app to control the nonstop growth of the lionfish population.

The presence of the invasive lionfish in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida has prompted the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to take action. They’ve developed an app to control the nonstop growth of the lionfish population. Photo : NOAA’s National Ocean Service

The lionfish possesses up to 18 needle-like dorsal fins that can deliver venom. It’s naturally defensive, and utilizes its camouflage and fast reflexes to capture prey. They can even harm humans and cause nausea and breathing difficulties with their venomous sting. The lionfish is native to reefs and rocky crevices, and they’ve made their way to Florida’s Atlantic coast 25 years ago. Continue reading »

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