Trawling the deep: aliens in our bathtub

I recently went on a research cruise in the Pacific ocean, trawling, deploying CTDs, and (scientific) fishing. Here are just a few of the organisms we pulled up from our own salty bathtub.

Trawling the Deep: aliens in our bathtub

I think I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

Open ocean aquaculture: what's the problem?

"Look out Hawaii! Open ocean aquaculture (OOA) has many problems," warns Neil Frazer, professor of geophysics at UH Manoa. Focusing on the new OOA system off the Big Island, Frazer cites multiple shortcomings of the system in his November 2010 article to the Honolulu Star Advertiser. First, he argues OOA of carnivorous fish is "worse than over-fishing" because production of these fish requires massive amounts of food in the form of wild caught fish; fish that would otherwise be feeding people of Third World countries. Second, farmed fish have higher levels of pollutants than wild caught fish. Third, sewage from these caged fish negatively impacts the ocean environment. He further argues that OOA can act as an agent of disease for wild populations of fish. Wild fish would starve or get eaten when they fall ill. However there are no predation or starvation pressures on these caged fish, allowing them to spread disease over long periods of time. 

One of his arguments stood in stark opposition to what we had heard in the aquaculture class I'm taking this semester: the sewage issue. In class we learned one of the pros of offshore, open-ocean cages was that you did not have to worry about waste products. The waste would be distributed by oceanic currents and diluted thanks to the massive expanse of the ocean itself. No worries, right? Frazer argues dilution is not the solution; it just becomes someone else’s problem. These differing opinions I believe are a result of each person’s different experiences with aquaculture. My professor is speaking from an aquaculturist’s point of view. Someone who has been in the business to do just that: business. After all, aquaculture is a business, not a science. Frazer’s viewpoint is that of an observer, a possible consumer (although not likely judging by the article). His interests lie with environmental well-being, not with making money. Both opinions are valid; they just come from differing points of view.

In oligotrophic and relatively fast moving waters like Hawaii, I don’t think a few OOA operations would be a problem. The added nutrients from the waste may add to increase in primary productivity, but not much. And would increasing primary productivity a bit be such a bad thing? It may increase food availability for higher trophic position fishes, commercially important fishes. Could OOA increase wild stock biomass? Further, the cages themselves may attract fish, providing refuge in an otherwise featureless environment. This is an observed phenomenon; buoys miles from the islands have been found to attract fishes in larger concentrations than they’d be otherwise.

The promotion of disease in wild stocks is one of Frazer’s most troubling arguments. By protecting and feeding sick fish, OOA cages are a “reservoir of infection.” Diseases among caged fish could transfer to wild populations. Further, Frazer worries some caged fish escape the nets and interbreed with wild stocks, lowering the genetic robustness of the population. Is it possible that OOA is hurting populations of wild fish?

Frazer ends the article by talking about the advantages of Native Hawaiian fishponds and seems to suggest we should be using that aquaculture method rather than OOA. But could we support our demand for aquatic protein entirely from fishponds? What Frazer fails to mention is that the Native Hawaiian population was much smaller than Hawaii's population today, and even with that smaller population it is highly unlikely they were able to provide for themselves enough protein through fishponds.

I think we need to give OOA a chance. We are over-fishing our wild fish stocks and will soon need an alternative source of fish protein. Plus, OOA is far more sustainable and ecologically friendly than mass cattle, pig, and chicken production. Although we could all just become vegetarians and avoid this whole issue. Anyone?  

Check out the article here.

Adventures in Oregon: Pictures

My cousin's son getting ready to rope a bull.

Adventures in Oregon: the family reunion continues

The Box-R ranch was absolutely gorgeous. Way up, high in the mountains close to California, this ranch appears. A long gravel driveway. Dry grassland. Coniferous trees everywhere. Deer. At the end of the long gravel road we pull up to an open meadow. A pasture dotted with cows, horses, and donkeys stretches in front of us. To our left is a white two story house set behind a large droopy tree. The owner's house. Our cabin is further up the gravel road,