Category Archives: Fish

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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‘Alien goldfish’ may have been unique mollusc, say scientists

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Researchers think they may have solved enduring mystery of where Typhloesus wellsi sits on tree of life

The mystery of a bizarre creature dubbed the “alien goldfish”, which has baffled fossil experts for decades, may have been solved, according to scientists who say the animal appears to have been some sort of mollusc.

Typhloesus wellsi lived about 330m years ago and was discovered in the Bear Gulch Limestone fossil site in Montana in the late 1960s, with the remains of other species subsequently identified.

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South African court bans offshore oil and gas exploration by Shell

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Judgment is huge victory for campaigners concerned about effect of seismic waves on marine life

A South African court has upheld a ban imposed on the energy giant Shell from using seismic waves to explore for oil and gas off the Indian Ocean coast.

The judgment delivered in Makhanda on Thursday marks a monumental victory for environmentalists concerned about the impact the exploration would have on whales and other marine life.

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Epaulette sharks can walk on land for two hours, researchers say

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A species of carpet shark is evolving to better survive warming seas and the climate crisis

Researchers at a Florida university say a small but feisty species of carpet shark with an extraordinary ability to walk on land is evolving to better survive warming seas and the climate crisis.

The epaulette shark, commonly found on shallow reefs of Australia and New Guinea, can walk for up to 30 meters on dry land using paddle shaped fins, and survive hypoxia – a deficiency of oxygen – for up to two hours.

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Rare golden algae may have caused fish deaths in Oder River, says minister

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Polish minister Anna Moskwa says experts have found algal bloom in water samples, after mass die-off puzzled scientists

Rare micro-organisms known as golden algae could be the cause of a mass die-off of fish in the Oder River that has puzzled scientists for days, Poland’s environment minister has suggested.

“After further investigations, the Institute of Inland Fisheries in Olsztyn has found rare microorganisms, so-called golden algae, in water samples from the Oder River,” Anna Moskwa said on Thursday.

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Oder river: mystery of mass die-off of fish lingers as no toxic substances found

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Polish scientists only found elevated salt levels after thousands of dead fish were found floating in the central European waterway

Mystery continues to surround the cause behind a “catastrophic” mass die-off of fish in the Oder River, after Polish scientists said laboratory tests found elevated salt levels but no other toxic substances in the central European waterway.

German municipalities have banned bathing and fishing in the Oder after thousands of dead fish were found floating in the 520 mile (840km) river, which runs from the Czech Republic to the Baltic Sea along the border between Germany and Poland.

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‘Catastrophic failure’ kills 21,000 fish at California university

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Chlorine exposure appears to be cause of death of animals at UC Davis research center

A “catastrophic failure” at a university research facility in California killed 21,000 fish this week, some of which were endangered.

The University of California, Davis, reported the loss of about 21,000 fish at its Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture. Chlorine exposure, which the university noted fish are particularly sensitive to, appears to have caused the deaths.

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Orange roughy: campaigners call for limit to trawling of species after breeding age of 73 revealed

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Australian fisheries management says there are regional differences and new data only applies to population in New Zealand

Ocean campaigners say that a New Zealand fishing fleet that trawls for orange roughy in waters off Tasmania should be “sent back” in light of new data about the vulnerable species.

Orange roughy is an endangered deep-sea species which, under Australia’s environmental laws, can still be fished in approved fisheries.

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Largest freshwater fish ever recorded caught in Cambodia

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Giant stingray snagged by local fisher in Mekong River weighs nearly 300kg

The world’s largest recorded freshwater fish, a giant stingray, has been caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia, according to scientists.

The stingray, captured on 13 June, measured almost four metres from snout to tail and weighed just under 300kg, according to a statement on Monday by Wonders of the Mekong, a joint Cambodian-US research project.

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Shiny but deadly – don’t throw goldfish in rivers, pet owners told

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Unwanted lockdown goldfish pose a triple threat to native species in UK waterways, study reveals

If that lockdown goldfish is starting to lose its lustre, think twice before throwing it in the river or canal – the creatures may look innocent but their voracious appetite, tolerance for cold and have-a-go habits compared with native species can be catastrophic for local wildlife.

New research shows that goldfish consume much more than comparable fish in UK waters, eat more than other invasive fish and are also much more willing to aggressively take on other competing species.

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‘It’s just gorgeous’: rare deep-sea dragonfish spotted off California coast

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The torpedo-shaped, bronze-hued fish has been seen only four times in nearly thirty years of deep-sea research, scientists said

A rare deep-sea fish has been spotted off the coast of northern California, prompting excitement among marine biologists who have attempted to track down the elusive creature for decades.

The Bathophilus flemingi, also known as the highfin dragonfish, was captured on video by a team of researchers in Monterey Bay, California. Named after the mythical creature, the torpedo-shaped fish is a predator that roams the depths of the ocean.

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Canada’s attempt to phase out open-pen salmon farms faces setback

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Federal judge says farmers had been blindsided by a government order to shut down

Canada’s effort to phase out open-pen salmon farms has hit a roadblock after a federal judge said farmers had been blindsided by a government order to shut down.

Federal court judge Elizabeth Heneghan ruled earlier this month that former fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan had failed to grant farm operators the right to procedural fairness when she announced plans to phase out the farms, and criticized the minister’s lack of clarity surrounding the controversial decision that companies said would cost them millions in losses.

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Canada ignored warnings of virus infecting farmed and wild salmon

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Government was in possession of a newly-released report that linked large-scale farms and wild salmon to contagious virus

Canada was warned in 2012 by its own scientists that a virus was infecting both farmed and wild salmon, but successive governments ignored the expert advice, saying for years that risks to salmon were low.

Justin Trudeau’s government has said it will phase out open-pen industrial fish farms off the coast of British Columbia by 2025. But both his government and the previous Conservative government were in possession of a newly released report that linked large-scale farms and wild salmon to the highly contagious Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV).

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