The Lubin Files

Retrospective on 45 years of fisheries research -- John Caddy, former FAO staff member

Dr. John Caddy, former chief of FAO's Marine Resources Service, has compiled a blog of reflections on his 45 year career as a fisheries scientist-- providing interesting insight into the history of fisheries research from the late 60's until the present.

Farming fish and rice together in China, benefits productivity of both.

A study shows that cultivating fish and rice together provides several benefits in China.  The fish provide fertilizer for and protection from disease and insects to the rice, while the rice provides shade and attracts insects that the fish eat.  The dual crops of rice and carp (a delicacy in China) could double farmer's incomes as well as greatly increase food production.  Learn more from the article in Nature, entitled "Fish and rice flourish together in paddies."

 

Changing the Face of the Waters: The Promise and Challenge of Sustainable Aquaculture

The following publication is available to FAO staff members via library subscription to the World Bank E-Library:

Aquaculture lies at a crossroads. One direction points toward the giant strides in productivity, industry concentration, and product diversification. Another direction points toward the dangers of environmental degradation and the marginalization of small fish farmers. Yet another direction invites aquaculture to champion the poor and provide vital environmental services to stressed aquatic environments...

View the entire publication here.

Reduced Catch Means Net Gain for Fishers—And Fish

Economist R. Quentin Grafton at The Australian National University in Canberra and his colleagues have found that reducing fishing yields in the short term boosts fishing profits in the long run. A review of four different fisheries showed that the highest fishing profits come from allowing a species to recover. "It's not economic to exploit fisheries to extinction," says Grafton...

Read the article at Scientific American (freely accessible)

Read the referenced study in Science Magazine (FAO staff only)

Development of the Aquatic Commons: open access to inland fisheries and aquaculture information

Jean Collins, Fisheries librarian, organized and facilitated a one day workshop on the Aquatic Commons at Bunda College of Agriculture in  Lilongwe, Malawi.  This workshop was held on 13 September, 2007 in collaboration with the Third Annual AfriAMSLIC Conference (10-12 September, 2007)

For more information about the Aquatic Commons, contact Jean Collins.

Ancient mariners

When did human beings first attempt to venture out into the oceans and why? The earliest indirect evidence for sea crossings in Europe dates back to around 12,000-13,000 years ago. 

Ancient archaeological sites in Oceania and the South Pacific suggest sea voyages of around 45,000 years ago, around the time modern humans first left Africa...

Why did they do it?  Did homo sapiens set out to sea on purpose, or did it all happen by accident?

Read the Full article in Science.

Invasive crabs cancel each other out?

Scientists imagined that two different non-native crab species along the coast of New England would cause twice the damage to the native ecosystem.  Instead the two species-- The European crab (Carcinus maenas) and the Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus)-- seem to have focused on each other, each species limiting the expansion of the other...

More at Science magazine.  Access to FAO staff members via library subscription.

First Glimpse of Bering Sea Canyons Heats Up Fisheries Battle

Marine biologists' first glimpse at life in two massive canyons below Alaska's Bering Sea have conservationists arguing that the canyons need protection from fishing, and fisheries biologists countering that the canyons' ecosystems are not necessarily unique and are not heavily fished...

Read the rest of this article in Science.

A cure for global warming?

Several weeks ago, James Lovelock, author of the "Gaia hypothesis" and co-author Chris Rapely, newly appointed director of the Science Museum in London, proposed a novel scheme for helping the earth to heal itself from global warming.  The scheme involves using vertical pipes placed deep in the ocean that would pump nutrient-rich water to the surface, encouraging the growth of algae.  See the Nature news story here.

John Shepherd, National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, and colleagues reply that the pipe scheme is based on false assumptions.  Read Geo-engineering cause not cure on the Climate Feedback blog.

Landfill on Sea

This article in the Ecologist explores the environmental impact of plastic in the Central Pacific Gyre.