Ponderings of a Scientist

Politicalese – the language of pacification; the lack of
fear-mongering

               Republicans:  say:
“Climate Change”   mean:  “Global Warming”
               Democrats: say: “Invest in the Future”    mean: “Raise Taxes”

Speaking of global warming (guess I’m never going to get elected
as a republican):

“Anthropogenically induced global
climate change has profound implications for marine ecosystems and the economic
and social systems that depend upon them. The relationship between temperature
and individual performance is reasonably well understood, and much
climate-related research has focused on potential shifts in distribution and
abundance driven directly by temperature. However, recent work has revealed
that both abiotic changes and biological responses in the ocean will be substantially
more complex. For example, changes in ocean chemistry may be more important
than changes in temperature for the performance and survival of many organisms.
Ocean circulation, which drives larval transport, will also change, with
important consequences for population dynamics. Furthermore, climatic impacts
on one or a few 'leverage species' may result in sweeping community-level
changes. Finally, synergistic effects between climate and other anthropogenic
variables, particularly fishing pressure, will likely exacerbate
climate-induced changes. Efforts to manage and conserve living marine systems
in the face of climate change will require improvements to the existing
predictive framework. Key directions for future research include identifying key
demographic transitions that influence population dynamics, predicting changes
in the community-level impacts of ecologically dominant species, incorporating
populations' ability to evolve (adapt), and understanding the scales over which
climate will change and living systems will respond.”

-        
Hardy, C.D.G et
al. 2006 The impacts of climate
change in coastal marine systems. Ecology
Letters. 9:228

I hope I didn’t violate some copyright by reproducing the
abstract of this article!  For those not
familiar with biology-speak, what the authors are saying is the increasing
ocean temperature could be the least of our problems, ecologically
speaking.  Changes in other physical
features of the ocean could result in major issues for all sorts of marine
organisms, and if certain key species are disturbed whole ecosystems could
crash!  My sense is that coastal zones
will be most affected as rising ocean levels will completely cover tidal plains
and wetland marshes.

On a related note (boy this post is all over the place).  Researchers at the University
of New Hampshire are working with
Great Bay Aquaculture (GBA) to develop sustainable aquaculture (fish farming)
techniques.  Currently, GBA circulates
brackish river water through their tanks, filtering and otherwise treating it  before returning it to the river.  They use heat exchange between in- and
out-going water to prevent heat pollution in the river.  The UNH researchers come in by developing a
technique to utilize the filtered out waste/nutrients to grow nori seaweed.  The nori is then used as a fish feed product.
Fish eat nori à
fish excrete waste à waste feeds nori à and around we go!

Personally, I’m not yet sold on fish aquaculture.  I understand the need, given the current
state of the world’s natural fish populations, however most companies/countries
are going about it all wrong.  As
consumers we influence policy every time we spend money and its important to
spend money on products you support. 
Unfortunately, most Americans are so detached from their food supply they
don’t realize the difference between local grown or caught products versus
those created in a far off country with policies they may not support.  Back to fish specifically, I try to always
purchase U.S.
caught wild fish.  This (like with all
other food products) limits your choices considerable and you need to become
aware of fishing seasons if you want fresh product.  I will purchase farmed fish from the U.S.
(shrimp and tilapia are good choices), but I just can’t support the shrimp
farms of other countries.  Shrimp farming
is notorious for destroying coastal habitat (think the mangrove forests that
can absorb lots of hurricane/tsunami energy) and treating their workers poorly,
never mind the condition of their shrimp ponds or the antibiotics they feed the
shrimp.  Farmed salmon (even from the U.S.)
is also a bad choice in my opinion.  Fish
are genetic modified and Pacific species are farmed off the Atlantic coast,
causing all types of problems to wild stocks if farmed animals escape.  Also, farmed salmon is naturally white (not
pink or red) because of their feed lacking the pink pigment, however, most
farmers dye the salmon so that consumers don’t freak out.  That orangey-pink color is not natural!!  However, organic salmon farms are coming online
that will provide a good alternative to the high costs of wild salmon and the
poor quality of other farmed salmon.

Everyone that eats fish should check out the Monterey Bay
Aquarium Seafood Watch Guide.  You can
print out location specific, wallet-sized guides to which seafood products are
good choices and which aren’t. 
Determinations are based on the health of fishery/farm and pollutants in
certain species.  Eat Fish!!