Eco News - News about animals or the environment
 

Eco News - News about animals or the environment

We have all kinds of animal pic threads, but nothing to discuss news about the environment.
If you post, please include your sources.

Study: Invasive Mussels Causing Massive Ecological Changes In Great Lakes
 

More about invasive species.

Study: Invasive Mussels Causing Massive Ecological Changes In Great Lakes; 'These Changes Are Unprecedented'
by Underwatertimes.com News Service - April 13, 2011 19:21 EST

ANN ARBOR, Michigan -- The ongoing spread of non-native mussels in the Great Lakes has caused "massive, ecosystem-wide changes" throughout lakes Michigan and Huron, two of the planet's largest freshwater lakes, according to a new University of Michigan-led study. The blitzkrieg advance of two closely related species of mussels---the zebra and quagga---is stripping the lakes of their life-supporting algae, resulting in a remarkable ecological transformation and threatening the multibillion-dollar U.S. commercial and recreational Great Lakes fisheries.

Previous studies have linked the mussels to far-reaching changes in Lake Michigan's southern basin. Now a paper by two University of Michigan ecologists and a colleague shows that the same dramatic changes are occurring in northern Lake Michigan and throughout Lake Huron, as well.

"These are astounding changes, a tremendous shifting of the very base of the food web in those lakes into a state that has not been seen in the recorded history of the lakes," said Mary Anne Evans, lead author of a paper scheduled for publication in the April 15 edition of the journal Environmental Science & Technology. "We're talking about massive, ecosystem-wide changes."

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Are they edible mussels?

probably, but they grow and reproduce so quickly, that they are impossible to control.

Dolphin poaching goes unabated
 

Dolphin poaching goes unabated
Alok K N Mishra, TNN, Apr 14, 2011, 04.51pm IST

PATNA: Despite Gangetic dolphins being an endangered species, they are being killed at an alarming rate in Bihar.

"More and more fishermen are using oil extracted from dolphins for fishing. April is one of the peak months for fishing and several fishermen in the state capital can be found using dolphin oil for better catch," said India's Dolphin Man, R K Sinha.

Talking to TOI, Sinha said about 25 to 30 dolphins are being killed every year in the state. As per forest department data, in the state capital alone five dolphins were killed in 2010, three in 2009 and only one in 2008.

"The amount of dolphin oil being used by fishermen is a clear indication that dolphins are being killed. Otherwise, its oil would not be available," Sinha added.

Poaching continues unabated along the Ganga in other parts of Bihar where awareness is relatively low, according to experts.

Dolphin oil attracts two unique species of fish - "Bachhaba" and "Gheruwa" - which are sold at premium prices. "Both these species are very tasty and have very few bones. They are sold at Rs 250 to Rs 300 per kg. It is one of the main reasons why fishermen use dolphin oil," said Zoological Survey of India scientist Gopal Sharma.

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BP says it's not responsible for paying to reseed oyster beds
 

BP says it's not responsible for paying to reseed oyster beds
Published: Saturday, April 16, 2011, 12:00 PM Updated: Saturday, April 16, 2011, 3:51 PM

State officials' decision to turn on a number of freshwater diversions full blast to block oil from entering coastal wetlands on both sides of the Mississippi River -- a strategy that decimated private and public oyster beds -- was not approved by the Unified Command overseeing the response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a senior BP official said Friday.

"Having been a part of this response since the beginning, I can tell you categorically that the Coast Guard indicated that it was not necessary and was not seen as a viable response technique," Mike Utsler, chief operating officer of BP's Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, said Friday. "As a Unified Command, we saw this as a not-needed exercise, and the state still chose to pursue that course of action."

Utsler said that's one reason why BP has so far refused to pay to restore oyster beds with cultch, the shell material on which oyster eggs attach and grow in the spring and fall.

A second reason, Utsler said, is research released this week by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists that he said showed that oysters process and expel oil contaminants so quickly that they would not have been hurt by the spill.

"I can only quote the fact that there's an article this week by NOAA ... that there's no evidence that oysters have been tainted by or retained any residual oil. And that's testing not only by NOAA, but it was by FDA, EPA and the five states that all participated," he said.

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Father, son plead guilty to alligator-hunting violations
 

Father, son plead guilty to alligator-hunting violations
Published: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 6:28 PM Updated: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 6:35 PM

A father-and-son team face up to one year in prison each for leading sport hunters to unauthorized areas to hunt American alligators.
Prosecutors say 66-year-old Larry Dees Sr. and 37-year-old Larry Dees Jr., both of Maringuoin, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Baton Rouge to violating both federal and state law.

Both are licensed alligator helpers. The Justice Department says they led hunters into areas where they did not have state authorization to operate.

The state requires that alligator helpers operate on specific, restricted lands. Alligators that are killed must be tagged to indicate where they were hunted.

In addition to the prison sentence, the charge carries a possible $200,000 fine.

A sentencing date has not been set.

Source:

now that is the ultimate conundrum, an air breathing species try to monitor and control life in the water. where is aquaman, we have a similar problem back home in Oklahoma with asain carp moving into the paddlefish habit

How about this fucking bullshit?

G.O.P. Push in States to Deregulate Environment
Weeks after he was sworn in as governor of Maine, Paul LePage, a Tea Party favorite, announced a 63-point plan to cut environmental regulations, including opening three million acres of the North Woods for development and suspending a law meant to monitor toxic chemicals that could be found in children?s products.

Mr. LePage said workers' and businesses' interests should be defended ?with the same vigor that we defend tree frogs.?

The effort to restore the Everglades is the target of a cut sought by Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, who wants the money allocated last year for that purpose reduced to $17 million from $50 million.

Another Tea Party ally, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, has proposed eliminating millions of dollars in annual outlays for land conservation as well as cutting to $17 million the $50 million allocated in last year?s budget for the restoration of the dwindling Everglades.

And in North Carolina, where Republicans won control of both houses of the Legislature for the first time in 140 years, leaders recently proposed a budget that would cut operating funds to the state?s Department of Environment and Natural Resources by 22 percent.

In the past month, the nation?s focus has been on the budget battle in Washington, where Republicans in Congress aligned with the Tea Party have fought hard for rollbacks to the Environmental Protection Agency, clean air and water regulations, renewable energy and other conservation programs.

But similar efforts to make historically large cuts to environmental programs are also in play at the state level as legislatures and governors take aim at conservation and regulations they see as too burdensome to business interests.

Governor LePage summed up the animus while defending his program in a radio address. ?Maine?s working families and small businesses are endangered,? he said. ?It is time we start defending the interests of those who want to work and invest in Maine with the same vigor that we defend tree frogs and Canadian lynx.?

When Republicans wrested control across the country last November, they made clear that reducing all government was important, but that cutting environmental regulations was a particular priority.

Almost all state environmental budgets have been in decline since the start of the recession, said R. Steven Brown, executive director of the Environmental Council of the States, which works with environmental agencies across the country. What has changed this budget season is the scope and ambition of the proposed cuts and the plans to dismantle the regulatory systems, say advocates who are already battle-hardened.

?Historically, we?ve taken pride in being a leader in environmental quality in the Southeast,? said Molly Diggins of North Carolina, director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club. ?But there is now such fervor to reduce the size of the environmental agency. The atmosphere is the most vitriolic it?s ever been.?

David Guest, the managing attorney for the Florida office of Earthjustice, a national environmental law firm, said Governor Scott?s budget was ?the most radical anti-environmental budget? he had seen in two decades of environmental work. Comparing Mr. Scott?s proposed changes with those of Florida?s previous Republican governors, including Jeb Bush, he called them ?a whole new world.?

The strategies have been similar across the affected states: cut budgets and personnel at regulatory agencies, prevent the issuing of new regulations, roll back land conservation and, if possible, eliminate planning boards that monitor, restrict or permit building development.

In New Jersey, for example, Gov. Chris Christie, another favorite among Tea Party loyalists, has said the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, which preserves more than 800,000 acres of open land that supplies drinking water to more than half of New Jersey?s residents, is an infringement on property rights. Mr. Christie has moved to shift power from planning boards and government agencies to administrative judges, political appointees who, environmentalists say, tend to rule more often in favor of developers? interests.

In Florida, Governor Scott has asked to cut staff members to 40 from 358 at the Department of Community Affairs, which regulates land use and was created to be a control on unchecked urban sprawl.

Lane Wright, a spokesman for Governor Scott, said the cuts would enable businesses to grow again in Florida. The governor ?does care about the environment,? Mr. Wright said, ?but feels it is more important to get people back to work.?

In the first round of federal budget fights, Republicans appear to have won some of what they sought: $1.6 billion in cuts from the E.P.A. and $49 million from programs related to climate change. But they fell short in other areas.

Daniel J. Weiss, director of climate strategy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington policy group, said that by his calculation the Republicans had sought nearly $10 billion in cuts related to efficiency and renewable energy but got less than $3.7 billion. ?The Democrats successfully defended investments in clean energy,? Mr. Weiss said.

The eventual outcome at the state level is much less clear. Florida and North Carolina?s budget battles are in the early stages. In New Jersey, where Governor Christie has been in office since 2010, he has held up stricter drinking water standards, saying he is waiting for further research by the E.P.A.

And yet, in Maine, Governor LePage?s agenda has engendered such an angry response that the newly elected Republican majority in the State Legislature seems to be backpedaling from many of its strongest components.

Mr. LePage?s proposal to open the woodlands has not yet been introduced as a bill. And this month the Legislature made a point of enacting a ban on a chemical detected in sippy cups. All but three legislators voted for it. (Mr. LePage has questioned whether the science is strong enough to support such a ban.)

Adrienne Bennett, the governor?s press secretary, acknowledged that Mr. LePage had not gotten everything he wanted, but pointed to some victories. The governor just signed a law that will reduce restrictions for building on sand dunes, and his proposal to provide incentives to businesses to police themselves on a variety of environmental regulations is still in the Legislature.

??We will continue to move forward,? Ms. Bennett said.

A version of this article appeared in print on April 16, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition.

Fishermen in Amazon See a Rival in Dolphins
 

Fishermen in Amazon See a Rival in Dolphins
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: April 16, 2011

IGARAP? DO COSTA, Brazil ? Along the rivers of the Amazon rain forest, people still recount legends in which pink dolphins are magical creatures that can turn into men and impregnate women. Brazilian musicians write songs about them, singing lovingly about the ?eye of the river dolphin.?
But for Ronan Ben?cio Rego, a fisherman in this tiny settlement, pink dolphins are both rival ? and prey.

Standing on the muddy banks of the river here recently, he said he had killed river dolphins many times before, to use as bait to catch a catfish that is sold to unknowing consumers in Brazil and Colombia.

?We want to make money,? said Mr. Rego, 43, the president of the community here. Two dead dolphins could yield about $2,400 in catfish sales in a single day of fishing, he said.

But bait is not the only objective. Though the pink dolphins are protected by law, the fishermen see them as nettlesome competitors for the catches that feed their families, and their frustration sometimes boils over.

?I have harpooned some just to be mean,? Mr. Rego said, lifting a harpoon to demonstrate how he would spear dolphins at close range.
The illegal slaughtering of dolphins is on the rise here, threatening one of the storied symbols of the Amazon and illustrating the challenge of policing environmental law in such a vast territory, researchers and government officials say. Hundreds, if not thousands, of the estimated 30,000 river dolphins plying the Amazon region are dying every year, they say.

Miguel Migu?is, 41, a Portuguese researcher from the Federal University of Western Par? who studies river dolphin populations around the city of Santar?m, said the high rate of killings could lead to their extinction. ?They are killing their culture, their folklore,? Dr. Migu?is said. ?They are killing the Amazon.?

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