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News Archives
Week of April 25, 2004
Bush Administration Assaults the Endangered Species Act
All fish are not created equal
Let me start by saying that the Endangered Species Act is far from perfect. It's a blunt tool trying to do a delicate task, especially in areas where our scientific knowledge is limited. There's no question that it can cause economic upheaval and hinder development, and while I think in many cases that's appropriate, there are legitimate political discussions to be had about where we should place the balance between development and ecological preservation.
But now the Bush administration has decided to count hatchery grown salmon when counting wild salmon for the purposes of endangered species protection. This shocking change in policy comes after a federal advisory panel, convened by the National Marine Fisheries Service, concluded that hatchery salmon cannot replace wild salmon, neither genetically nor ecologically. The group's report, published in March 26, 2004 edition of the journal Science (sub. only), stated that hatchery grown fish have never been found to sustain their populations in the wild, and that several factors in hatchery releases actually contributed to the near extinction of wild Atlantic salmon. In light of this scientific report, it is clear that the administration's decision to consider hatchery salmon the same as wild salmon in counting populations goes well beyond the bounds of legitimate political give-and-take, and into the realm of political pandering. Given that this administration has already been accused of setting science aside for politics, their decision in this case — which will potentially save corporate interests a great deal of money — can only reinforce the perception that Bush cares little for the environment, at least where it affects his corporate cronies.
Let's think for a moment about why we want to save endangered species at all. Off the top of my head, I can think of three primary reasons why saving wild species is important. First, we save their raw genetic material. In the case of wild fish vs. hatchery-raised fish, the wild fish invariably have stronger genetic material. Where wild trout and salmon have interbred with hatchery-bred fish, the young are weaker and live shorter lifespans, and often are unable to sustain a wild population at all (see the article in Science linked above). Since hatchery fish are genetically almost identical to each other, they cannot have the resiliance and ability to adapt that wild populations provide. Hatchery-bred fish, while nominally of the same species, do not fill the function of preserving important genes for future generations. And because hatchery fish are grown more quickly (through heavy feeding) and released early in the season before the wild salmon fry have grown, they have a competitive advantage that helps to decimate wild fish populations, thus costing us valuable genetics over time.
Another reason to save endangered species is because of the ecological role they fulfill. A species may act as food for other species, may help create or maintain habitat needed for the survival of other species, or fill other ecological niches. Removing any species will create a loss of some ecological resiliancy, and removing some species (keystone species) can cause entire ecological systems to collapse or drastically change.
Hatchery reared fish cannot fill the ecological role of wild fish, since they do not follow the same lifecycle or have the same geographical spread as wild fish. Because they do not live in a certain stream, they fail to develop the attachment to specific places as breeding grounds which is a primary characteristic of wild salmon. Since hatchery-raised fish do not disperse along streams in the way that wild populations do, they do not feed the same populations of bears and other animals who depend on them, nor do they disperse their nutrient-rich feces in those places, nutrients which normally would help to maintain riparian vegetation. Salmon are considered to be a keystone species for the northwest coastal rainforest, and a fish that doesn't fill this role can't be considered as part of the wild population.
The third reason that comes to mind for saving endangered species concerns their usefulness specifically to humans, generally for food or recreation. Here too, hatchery-bred fish fall short. While hatchery fish are more consistent in size and quality, they are generally fed on grains and agricultural waste, rather than feeding on other fish as wild salmon do. So the nutritional quality of their flesh is actually less than that of wild fish, containing fewer of the healthful omega-3 fatty acids that we are always urged to eat, and more omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6 fatty acids are linked with obesity and cancer, unlike the omega-3s. In addition, farmed fish have higher levels of toxic chemicals and antibiotics in their flesh, due to the way their feed concentrates chemicals over time. So here too, hatchery-bred fish do not measure up to wild fish in meeting our goals.
Hatchery-bred fish create other problems as well. They may introduce diseases for example, as was the case with whirling disease, where a disease occasionally found in wild populations was enhanced and spread by dense populations of hatchery reared fish. Trout Unlimited, hardly a wild-eyed leftist organization, considers hatcheries to be one of their four "Hs", the primary threats to coldwater fisheries today. In addition, many hatcheries (as with other types of farmed foods) are a large source of aquatic pollution, because of the high density of nutrients and antibiotics the hatcheries generate.
I know I've gone on here much longer than usual, but I believe that this decision is a terrible mistake. As I said, there are important discussions to be had about the balance between ecological and economic concerns, but using an administrative decision to push aside science in favor of commerce does us no good, and will do much harm. I urge anyone reading this to educate themselves on this decision, and then let your representatives know the dangers this decision creates.
Comments? Click here.
Posted by Jennifer on Saturday, May 1 2004, 11:21 AM
Picture of the Day
I'm working on something of substance for later today, but I'm busy for now so I'll just leave you to contemplate this lovely picture of a waterfall.
Posted by Jennifer on Friday, April 30 2004, 12:20 PM
And now for something completely different...
Today is "Poem on Your Blog" Day
In honor of the last day of Poetry Month, we're going to share a bit of poetry. This is my favorite poem: Renascense, by Edna St. Vincent Millay. When I was in junior high, this poem was in one of our schoolbooks. I confess that in the first and only criminal act of my youth, I stole the book, because I wanted to keep this poem with me always. What can I say? We were poor and I didn't have many books, and this tale of death and rebirth sang to me.
As a poem, it's much too romantic and dramatic for people these days, but it still brings me to tears everytime I read it through. It's also too long for this page, so I'll just put a bit here and then link you to the full text over at Bartleby's.
When you're done, if you want more poetry, try reading some by Jane Hirshfield, who has several poems linked from this page at The Atlantic Monthly, or Sharon Brogan, who keeps her own poetry weblog on her site. Happy poetry day!
Renascence
All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked the other way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I’d started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.
Over these things I could not see:
These were the things that bounded me;
And I could touch them with my hand,
Almost, I thought, from where I stand.
And all at once things seemed so small
My breath came short, and scarce at all.
But, sure, the sky is big, I said;
Miles and miles above my head;
So here upon my back I’ll lie
And look my fill into the sky.
And so I looked, and, after all,
The sky was not so very tall.
The sky, I said, must somewhere stop,
And—sure enough!—I see the top!
The sky, I thought, is not so grand;
I ’most could touch it with my hand!
And reaching up my hand to try,
I screamed to feel it touch the sky.
Continued...
Posted by Jennifer on Friday, April 30 2004, 10:46 AM
News of the Day
Zimbabwe may pull out of Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park
 Arguments over title deeds may cause Zimbabwe to pull out of development of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. The park was planned to eventually become a 100,000 sq km. conservation area for African wildlife. Zimbabwe is strapped for cash, and was counting on private interests to help build infrastructure for the park, but private companies are refusing to invest unless they can gain title deeds to various properties.
Market-oriented environmental solutions?
PERC, the Property & Environment Research Center, has put up a list of market-oriented solutions to environmental protection. Note that I haven't reviewed the projects they list, and so I can't comment on their successes and failures, but I'm always interested in innovative approaches to conservation, and thought you might be too. PERC is an advocacy organization which promotes private solutions to environmental conservation.
Thanks to Baysense for the pointer.
Mandatory caps work better than voluntary limits
A report from CERES (the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies), NRDC, and the Public Service Enterprise Group (representing New Jersey's largest utility company) has found that CO2 pollution is increasing and that mandatory pollution caps work better than voluntary cap-and-trade programs. The Bush administration has strongly promoted cap-and-trade over regulatory controls as a way of decreasing air pollution.
Posted by Jennifer on Thursday, April 29 2004, 2:51 PM
More of "The Whale and the Supercomputer"
Just to round this out, here are links to the last three excerpts from The Whale and the Supercomputer, as printed in the Anchorage Daily News.
Part Three: An elder speaks
Part Four: Eskimos bear witness to changing climate in the Arctic
Part Five: Community turns out in force to get whale on icy beach
Posted by Jennifer on Thursday, April 29 2004, 9:04 AM
More evidence of warming
San Rafael glacier melting rapidly
Scientists report that Chile's San Rafael Glacier is rapidly melting, and calving activity has dropped off. The glacier is a World Heritage site and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, as well as a significant tourist attraction. It now stands nearly a kilometer back from where it was 13 years ago. Records show no real change in precipitation over that time, but temperatures have risen steadily. While data on glaciers everywhere is patchy, scientists believe this formation was fairly stable for the last 3000-5000 years. Then over the past 100 years, it began to change. The changes in the San Rafael mirrors changes in many glacial fields around the world.
Posted by Jennifer on Wednesday, April 28 2004, 10:44 AM
Clean Water Gives More Than It Costs
The World Health Organization has released a report which states that providing clean water and sanitation would repay the cost seven times over. Water and sanitation are central to sustainable development, the WHO says, and for each dollar spent returns from $3 to $34 in economic output later on. All it takes sometimes is a little vision, you know.
Posted by Jennifer on Tuesday, April 27 2004, 8:37 PM
Oceans in Peril
 The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy recently released a preliminary report on ocean conditions, including recommendations for a comprehensive ocean policy. They are currently taking public input on the report, if you'd like to comment (the report is 500+ pages, and just so you know, I haven't read it all yet).
This commission is a bipartisan panel of 16 experts, and their report is the largest review in decades of how our country manages ocean resources. Their clear conclusion is that our ocean resources are in great danger — from pollution, over-fishing, and because state and federal agencies do not work together effectively to provide protection.
But the commission didn't just describe the current situation, they also outlined what must be done in order to turn things around, starting with a complete overhaul of the regulatory agencies in charge of marine issues.
Since the ocean plays a vital role in regulating climate (including producing half of the oxygen we breathe) as well as providing recreation, food, and employment, you would think everyone would be in favor of taking necessary action to preserve the health of the oceans around us. Does that political will exist? President Bush appointed this commission; will he support the changes they propose?
Posted by Jennifer on Monday, April 26 2004, 5:19 PM
Another Perspective on Climate
I've been posting climate news a lot lately, mostly about scientific research or reports from advocacy groups. Today's reading is something different. Anchorage Daily News is running excerpts from a new book, The Whale and the Supercomputer, which is a story of two cultures in the changing arctic, where the ice is breaking up as the planet warms. One group consists of the native people who live in the arctic and have over generations adapted to an icy world which now threatens to vanish from beneath them. The other group is the scientists who are there to study climate change, as Alaska is now a center for some of the world's most advanced climate research.
The first excerpt is up now: Bad ice, and getting worse. I was told you need to register to read the stories, but I was able to read this one even though I hadn't registered. If you need to register, though, this is one series that is worth the trouble. It offers a vivid, unique view into a land and life which most of us couldn't imagine, and also tells the story of global warming as it looks to those who are watching it happen.
The ADN plans to publish more excerpts this week, though I don't see the Monday story online yet. I'll link to them as I find them.
Edit: Here's Monday's excerpt. What the whalers taught the scientists.
Posted by Jennifer on Monday, April 26 2004, 10:04 AM
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