Category Archives: Fish

Mackerel loses sustainable status as overfishing puts species at risk

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Marine Conservation Society calls for better regulation of how north-east Atlantic mackerel is caught as stocks decline

Mackerel populations are declining because of overfishing and the fish no longer a sustainable food choice, the Marine Conservation Society has said in its new UK guide to sustainable seafood.

North-east Atlantic mackerel has been considered an environmentally-friendly choice for consumers since before 2011, but the species has become increasingly scarce and now experts are calling for more regulation over how its caught.

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‘The smell is next level’: millions of dead fish spanning kilometres of Darling-Baaka river begin to rot

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Releasing environmental water held downstream could help stem the spread of poor quality water, experts say

A “wall of dead fish” spanning tens of kilometres is moving along a stretch of the Darling-Baaka river near the town of Menindee, with temperatures forecast to reach 41C in the area on Saturday.

“The smell is just next level,” resident Graeme Crabb said. “Imagine the smell if you put a dead fish in your sink and let it rot for a few days – but we have millions of them.”

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Catalonia launches operation to clear fish from reservoir to save drinking water

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Focus is on Sau reservoir, where water supplies have plunged to their lowest level since 1990

Officials in Catalonia have launched what is being described as an extraordinary operation to clear as many as 1.5 tonnes of fish a day, including many invasive species, from a rapidly dwindling reservoir in the hopes of salvaging drinking water as drought continues to grip the region.

The operation is focused on the Sau reservoir, a sprawling body of water flanked by mountains and tree-covered hills about 60 miles north of Barcelona, where water supplies have plunged to their lowest level since 1990.

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Thousands of carp dead in Menindee weir amid fears for water quality

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Deaths the result of deoxygenation caused by carp population boom at NSW weir, primary industries department says

Thousands of carp have died in the Menindee Main Weir in far west New South Wales, triggering a mass fish kill that ecologists worry could affect native species as water quality declines.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) told Guardian Australia it had received reports of a fish death event in the Lower Darling-Baaka in Menindee.

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Food for thought: carbon footprint of salmon and chicken farming mostly stems from feed, study suggests

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Scientists hope emerging research into new types of animal feeds will make aquaculture more sustainable

Most of the environmental effects of farmed chicken and salmon arise from the food the animals are reared on, new research suggests.

Animal feed given to farmed chickens and salmon account respectively for at least 78% and 69% of the industries’ environmental pressures, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology.

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Freshwater fish more contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ than in oceans

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Study also says eating one serving of fish with PFAS could be equivalent to drinking contaminated water every day for a month

Wild caught, freshwater fish in the United States are far more contaminated with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” than those commercially caught in oceans, and the highest levels are found in fish from the Great Lakes, a new analysis of federal data suggests.

The peer-reviewed study by public health advocate Environmental Working Group (EWG) also found eating one serving of US freshwater fish contaminated with median PFAS levels could be equivalent to drinking highly contaminated water every day for a month.

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Carp spawning event fills Murray-Darling flood waters with masses of flailing fish

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Experts say while boom in invasive species is not good news for some native fish, there will be winners – including water birds

In creeks, rivers and flood waters across the Murray-Darling Basin, an uncountable and unfathomable number of invasive carp are turning waters into bubbling masses of flapping and flailing fish.

“It’s quite a sight,” said Dr Matt Herring, an environment consultant. “I walked through one of the schools of carp a few days ago and it’s the first time I’ve trodden on fish with every step.”

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River Murray fish kill concerns grow as flood waters peak in South Australia

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Authorities are confident peak flows have reached the state but worry a blackwater event may follow

While flood waters look to have peaked in South Australia, authorities are concerned about the potential for a blackwater event that may lead to fish kills along the River Murray.

Flows at the border into South Australia had not increased for the last seven consecutive days with authorities confident peak flows had reached South Australia and would work their way downriver.

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Huge cylindrical aquarium housing 1,500 exotic fish bursts in Berlin

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Two people injured by broken glass as 1m litres of water pour out of 14-metre-high tank

A freestanding cylindrical aquarium housing about 1,500 exotic fish burst in Berlin on Friday morning, causing a wave of devastation in and around the tourist attraction.

Glass, chairs, tables and other debris were swept out of the DomAquarée complex, which includes a Radisson hotel, a museum, shops and restaurants, as 1m litres of water poured out of the 14-metre-high (46ft) tank shortly before 6am.

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The ‘silent killer’ of flooding: Murray River fish in dire straits as water quality drops

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Scientists fear an ecological disaster is playing out in parts of the river because of ‘alarmingly’ low dissolved oxygen levels

Stretches of the Murray River could become an “ecological desert” because widespread flooding has reduced water quality, a scientist has warned, as New South Wales communities rally to save fish populations.

Dr Ian Wright, a professor at Western Sydney University’s School of Science, believes fish and other aquatic wildlife are dying in huge numbers along the river as dissolved oxygen levels plummet – and the ecological impact could be “catastrophic”.

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Fish passes give endangered twaite shad chance to swim up Severn River and spawn

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Return of one of one of Britain’s rarest fish confirmed after DNA found in water samples above fish passes

For nearly two centuries, one of Britain’s rarest fish has been shut out of its spawning grounds by large weirs.

But the endangered twaite shad has now returned to its historic spawning habitat on the River Severn, thanks to four new fish passes that enable the migratory fish to negotiate weirs and swim up river to lay eggs.

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Fish fossils show first cooking may have been 600,000 years earlier than thought

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After examining carp remains, researchers claim people who lived 780,000 years ago liked their fish well done

Early human ancestors living 780,000 years ago liked their fish well done, Israeli researchers have revealed, in what they said was the earliest evidence of fire being used to cook.

Exactly when our ancestors started cooking has been a matter of controversy among archaeologists because it is difficult to prove that an ancient fireplace was used to prepare food, and not just for warmth.

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Tasmanian salmon farms used more than a tonne of antibiotics in 2022 disease outbreaks

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Tassal and Huon Aquaculture did not announce use of antibiotics, which may contribute to growth of antibiotic-resistant superbugs

More than a tonne of antibiotics was used to control a potentially deadly fish disease at two salmon farms in southern Tasmania earlier this year, but the companies and government made no public announcements at the time.

Reports submitted to the Environment Protection Agency by Tassal and Huon Aquaculture revealed wild fish had scavenged antibiotic-laced pellets below the salmon cages. One sample of three flathead caught off Coningham beach, 2km from the boundary of Tassal’s Sheppards lease, revealed antibiotics in the flesh of the fish above the reportable threshold. The monitoring reports were not made public until months after the disease outbreak.

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Thin fish, small catches: can Japan’s sushi culture survive climate crisis?

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Global heating is warming waters, changing salmon and tuna migration – and hurting fisheries

There is little at Shiogama seafood market to suggest that Japanese consumers could one day be deprived of their favourite seafood – from giant crab’s legs simmering in a winter nabe hotpot to spheres of salmon roe resting on a bed of rice wrapped in nori seaweed.

Stalls heave with huge sides of bluefin tuna, expertly transformed into more manageable portions by knife-wielding workers, while early-morning shoppers pause to inspect boxes of squid, flounder and sea pineapples landed only hours earlier.

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Fish feed additive banned in EU found in Tasmanian salmon at concerning levels, researchers say

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Experts call for tighter regulations as tests find ethoxyquin exceeds maximum limits in Tassal and Petuna salmon

A fish feed additive banned in the European Union out of concerns for health impacts in animals and humans has been found in Tasmanian salmon at concerning levels, say experts who are calling for tighter regulations.

Dr Christian Narkowicz, an organic chemist, last year commissioned the National Measurement Institute to test salmon for residues of ethoxyquin.

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Farmed fish feel pain, stress and anxiety and must be killed humanely, global regulator accepts

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Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s new standards put pressure on the UK to extend its animal welfare laws to fisheries

One of the world’s leading organisations for farmed seafood is to introduce new welfare rules after accepting fish can feel “pain, stress and anxiety”.

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), which oversees a global certification scheme for farmed fish, is consulting on new draft welfare standards, including more humane slaughter practices. The ASC provides certification labelling for British supermarket fish, from sea bass to smoked salmon.

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Thousands of salmon found dead as Canada drought dries out river

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A lack of rain on the western coasts saw 65,000 dead salmon wash up on the creek

Tens of thousands of dead wild salmon scattered along a creek bed are the latest casualty of a drought that has gripped the province of British Columbia for more than a month and left communities bracing for more devastation.

In a video clip posted to social media, the carcasses of pink and chum salmon are seen piled near the community of Bella Bella.

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Drone footage shows orcas chasing and killing great white shark

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Scientists say behaviour, filmed in South Africa, has never been seen in detail before – and never from the air

Scientists have published findings confirming that orcas hunt great white sharks, after the marine mammal was captured on camera killing one of the world’s largest sea predators.

A pod of killer whales is seen chasing sharks during an hour-long pursuit off Mossel Bay, a port town in the southern Western Cape province, in helicopter and drone footage that informed a scientific study released this week.

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Shark tale? Video of large fish in flooded Florida yard goes viral

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Man films fish ‘flopping around’ in neighbour’s garden but experts are split over identification

Photos and videos of sharks and other marine life swimming in suburban floodwaters make for popular hoaxes during heavy storms. But a mobile phone video filmed during Hurricane Ian’s assault on south-west Florida isn’t just another fishy story.

The video, which showed a large, dark fish with distinct dorsal fins thrashing around an inundated Fort Myers back yard, racked up more than 12m views on Twitter within a day, as users responded with disbelief and comparisons to the “Sharknado” film series.

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Sudden die-off of endangered sturgeon alarms Canadian biologists

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The deaths within days of 11 sturgeon, a species unchanged for thousands of years, have puzzled scientists

When the first spindly, armour-clad carcass was spotted in the fast-flowing Nechako River in early September, Nikolaus Gantner and two colleagues scrambled out on a jet boat, braving strong currents to investigate the grim discovery.

Days later, the remains of 10 others were spotted floating along a 100km stretch of the river in western Canada.

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