Surrounded by poisons: understanding the problems fish face in today’s aquatic environment

While the old adage “anything can be considered a poison depending on the dose” is true, problem contaminants in the aquatic environment typically cause adverse effects at very low concentrations (on the order of parts per million or even billion).

Picture source

Aquatic pollutants originate from many everyday products: pesticides, plastics, cooling and insulating fluids in electrical capacitors and transformers, resins, paints, flame retardants, oil, coal, tar, pain relievers, birth control, and antibiotics just to name a few. Also problematic

Tracking fish with chemistry

It was a beautiful summer day in the Mullica River-Great Bay estuary in southern New Jersey, a surprisingly clean estuary despite New Jersey’s reputation. “Click, click click,” three quick sharp sounds emit out of an acoustic receiver lying in the bottom of the boat. We positioned the hydrophone attached to the receiver to get a stronger signal and more exact location of the tagged fish we were tracking.

From left to right: Katie Diebold, Anya Watson, the author Dana Sackett and Fernando Fuentes tracking fish (credit: Kenneth W. Able)

The day was identical to the one before and the one before that, in fact I spent day and night for

To interfere or not, that is the question?

We are all familiar with the devastating impacts invasive species can have on aquatic ecosystems.  As a result of these adverse impacts, many studies have been dedicated to examining the invasive species problem, including: the process of invasion, predicting which species are likely to become invasive, and the ecological and economic damage they cause.

Silver carp in the Missouri 

by Jason L. Jenkins/University of Missouri, via Associated Press

                                         

As habitats become unsuitable, because of human alteration or climate change, many species are unable to move to more suitable locations (because of natural and man-made barriers to movement and population growth), and we may be forced to