Wild salmon documented inside fish farm

How wild salmon are supposed to look. But you won’t see this at British Columbian fish farms. Photo by Barbara Jackson, Pixabay.

They said it couldn’t happen. They said wild salmon would never breach penned-up fish farms. They were wrong. And that’s a big problem.

 

Thousands of farmed salmon escape into the Pacific – after the powers that be said it wouldn’t happen

Farmed fish have escaped into the Pacific, threatening wild salmon, photo courtesy of NOAA

Contrary to assurances by fish farming concerns, thousands of farmed Atlantic salmon have escaped into the Pacific Ocean. They escaped from a damaged net pen at a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm off Cypress Island in Washington’s Puget Sound on Saturday, This has sparked fears that the farm-raised fish could threaten wild Pacific salmon.

Endangered sea turtles get their day in Costa Rica

An endangered green sea turtle

According to the World Wildlife Fund, nearly all species of sea turtles are Endangered. The reasons are many – poaching for their meat or eggs, habitat destruction, boat strikes, ingesting plastic debris and “accidental” trapping in vast gill nets causing their deaths are a few of them. The Sea Turtle Conservancy is making huge strides to save these magnificent creatures.

The oldest sea turtle organization in the world, the Conservancy’s mission is to protect / recover sea turtle populations around the world, especially in Central America. Its long-term monitoring protection program, established in 1995. is in Tortuguero, on the northeastern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

A clear case to support the banning of gill nets for commercial fishing

Just came across this video about the emptying of marine life from the Sea of Cortez between mainland Mexico and the Baja California Peninsula. It’s a clear indictment against the serious damage that commercial overfishing and the use of gill nets have done to what once was a remarkable paradise for hundreds of types of fish and marine life.

The consequences of blatant of human destruction are clear. Watch the video. It not only shows what’s been done but offers some hope with the conservation efforts taking place. To have the locals get behind these efforts is pretty special. One van hope that these efforts will payoff – for the people who depend on fishing for their livelihood and for the Sea of Cortez to be able to return to its aquatic splendor.

Let’s use explosives and bombs to keep whales out of oil spills

This story hit the headlines today and had this writer’s jaw drop. It surely falls under the heading of “What the heck are are they thinking!!”

In today’s The Globe and Mail:

“The proponents of two controversial pipelines to British Columbia’s coast say they would consider deploying underwater firecrackers, helicopters and clanging pipes, among other methods, to ensure whales don’t swim toward any disastrous oil spill that might result from increased tanker traffic carrying bitumen to Asia.”

Canadian organization argues for euthanization of oiled wildlife after oil spills

An oiled Canadian goose, photo courtesy of the U.S. EPA

As yet another example of how out of touch we are with Nature and the vital role of  its creatures, now there’s a controversy as to whether “Canadian governments, industry and wildlife management groups” should work to save wildlife seriously effected after an oil spill or make the “tough” choice to euthanize these creatures.

Blackfish – a distressing indictment of SeaWorld’s inhumane treatment of whales

Just finished viewing Blackfish, the sobering documentary revealing the inhumane treatment of killer whales by the powers that be of SeaWorld and similar venues.

The hidden cost of seafood includes the deaths of thousands of marine mammals

The popularity of wild-caught seafood continues to grow. But so too does the devastating cost to marine life.

According to The Killing of Marine Mammals in Foreign Fisheries, a report issued today by the Natural Resources Defense Council, more than 650,000 marine mammals are killed or seriously injured every year in foreign fisheries after being hooked, entangled or trapped in fishing gear.  Enforcement of a U.S. law to protect marine mammals could help prevent tens of thousands of these deaths.