Television viewers are now being carpet-bombed with advertising for probiotics that are alleged to improve human health via promotion of beneficial gut bacteria. But probiotics may play a real role in aquaculture where ZhiPing Yang (Dalian Huixin Titanium Equipment Development Company) and colleagues fed live yeast to cultured sea cucumbers and later challenged them to... Read More
Deep temperate marine zones are known to support significant biological production, but they are difficult to sample because they are too deep for SCUBA and too complex for traditional nets. Ryan Easton of Oregon State University and his other colleagues found a way to do it that is not only feasible but quantitative. This journal... Read More
Many AFS researchers are investigating the utility of plant-based feeds for aquaculture, but Brian Ham of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bozeman Fish Technology Center, and other Montana colleagues have added to the body of knowledge via an unusual experiment. They tested the usefulness of soy products as food for Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii,... Read More
Many inland fisheries historically have allowed unlimited harvest of panfish, or have extremely liberal bag limits. The management paradigm is that fishing mortality is usually low and high harvests benefit angling by improving growth and preventing stunting. However, a new study by Andew Rypel of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Science Services,... Read More
How fisheries respond to crisis is, unfortunately, a topic of ever growing importance. Anna Henry and Teresa Johnson (School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine) used a people ecology approach to examine how fishers responded to three recent changes in the Maine lobster Homarus americanus fishery, and the reasons why those responses may have been... Read More
Hatchery managers and aquaculturists love to work with fertilized fish eggs because they provide a handling window in which eggs can be manipulated physically without damage. Thus, fertilized egg shipments are commonplace. However, they also worry about disease, and egg shipments require rigorous disinfection with harsh chemicals. Ozone represents a drug-free alternative, but there have... Read More
Water quality monitoring is one of the most common activities conducted by stakeholder groups in support of restoration efforts, and most water quality assessments include a provision for measuring pH. However, very few people understand what it means. And many agency monitoring programs also measure it because it is so easy to obtain. It is... Read More
Alabama has the most extensive artificial reef program in the United States, with 15,000-plus artificial reefs. This may come as a surprise to some, considering the state’s coastline is only 60 miles long. With few natural reefs, the government of Alabama and its residents had to be creative when trying to increase fishing opportunities. Since... Read More
Catch and release is a common practice in the management and conservation of recreational fisheries. In theory, fish are caught and released with minimal harm, allowing them to survive, spawn, and be captured again. In reality, released fish may suffer from physical injuries as well as behavioral impairments, increasing their risk to predators. Fortunately, in... Read More
Net pen culture has become widespread, and there is growing concern about impacts to benthic communities below the facilities. Potential impacts are hard to assess because the ideal sites for net pen culture are deep, often have currents or cold temperatures, and have patchy substrates that can’t be grab-sampled. Hamoutene et al. (2015) overcame this... Read More
