What We’re Reading at TNACI: Four Fish by Paul Greenberg

Every other month, TNACI Director Anna George leads an informal book club discussion with interested aquarium staff and volunteers on books covering a range of environmental topics.  Below is her quick book review...

The Aquarium’s Environmental Book Club met this past Wednesday to talk about a great book, Four Fish. Paul Greenberg, a lifelong fisherman, examines the toll that human consumption is having on our “last wild food.” Though the oceans were once thought to be limitless, the growing human population and our increasingly advanced technology have pushed many species to commercial, if not actual, extinction. With in-depth studies of salmon, Mediterranean sea bass, cod, and tuna, Greenberg covers the many challenges that our fisheries face, both farmed and wild. His practical conclusion offers some well-thought recommendations to how we should approach fisheries and aquaculture in order to sustain the supply.

Here's a link to the author's website:  http://www.fourfish.org/

Future book club gatherings will discuss:

March:  Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. The book that started the environmental movement by addressing the ecological impact of pesticides.

May:  King of Fish by David Montgomery. The history of salmon in Europe and eastern North America and the future of salmon in western North America.

July:  The River Why by David James Duncan. A novel on fishing, living in harmony with nature, and seeking knowledge.

September:  Living Downstream by Sandra Steingraber. An analytical memoir about the rise of cancer and and chemicals in the environment.

November:  The View from Lazy Point by Carl Safina. A discussion of the impacts of global change on marine life around the world.

Annual Lake Sturgeon Reintroduction Working Group Meeting

We just wrapped up our annual Tennessee Lake Sturgeon Reintroduction Working Group meeting where all the working group partners convene to discuss strategies, ideas, solve problems, and report on their programs' successes as we work to reintroduce lake sturgeon into the Tennessee Rivers.  The Saving Our Sturgeon program is now in its second decade and we've released 108,785 fish into the Tennessee and Cumberland River systems.  In 2010 alone, Saving Our Sturgeon partner organizations released 16,806 lake sturgeon in the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers- over 3,200 of which came from TNACI! 

A number of agencies were represented at today's meeting including US Fish & Wildlife, TWRA, TVA, USGS, TTU, and TNACI.  Georgia DNR has a similar program to restore the lake sturgeon population in the Coosa River system and they sent representatives to compare notes and share ideas.

During the meeting each agency gave a quick overview of the past year's activities.  We also discussed future stocking plans, some outreach and education events, and an increased focus on monitoring fish once they are released.   Future stocking efforts will likely include emphasis on releasing bigger fish.  To release bigger fish, hatcheries must invest more money, space, and labor, but we think the extra investment will pay off in the long run with higher survival rates.

Keep posted for more program updates on Saving Our Sturgeon.  We expect to be receiving our 2011 fish in the first week of June...less than six months away!

Chef Barton Seaver discusses sustainable seafood

Below is a link to a TED Talk video of Chef Barton Seaver who has some novel (and simple!) ideas on how to eat sustainable seafood. According to Barton, simply eating the “right” kinds of seafood isn’t enough. To truly eat both more healthily as well as more sustainably, we need to also look at our portions of protein that we get from seafood. Watch his talk at the link below to hear his ideas for yourself.


www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barton_seaver_sustainable_seafood_let_s_get_smart.html


www.bartonseaver.org/story.html

Congress takes steps to eliminate the harvesting of sharks for shark fin soup

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/20/AR2010122004046.html?hpid=moreheadlines




The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have recently passed legislation banning inhumane shark fishing practices to feed demand for shark fin soup. This link is a Washington Post article on the bill's passage.

CFI on the radio

Our colleagues at Conservation Fisheries, Inc. (CFI) in Knoxville were featured on American Public Media's "The Story" for their 25+ years of working to conserve southeastern fishes. Click the link below to  listen to the podcast.

http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_1180_Pat_and_JR.mp3/view

New article on the presence of arsenic and other toxic contaminants in surface water and sediment downstream of TVA's Kingston Coal Ash Spill disaster

A new report from Duke University researchers shows levels of arsenic and other contaminants at elevated levels at the site of the coal ash spill and in sediment and surface water downstream of the site. The findings of this study will likely be used by the EPA as they consider the future status of how coal fly ash is designated and treated.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/88/i49/8849news1.html

NPR Story: Volga River Towns Fade Along With Prized Sturgeon

NPR has been running a series of news stories about life along the Volga River. In last week's installment, NPR covered the plight of the sturgeon and the people who once depended on the caviar fishery.



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131069052