Scientists Conclude That Culling Whales Will Not Help Fisheries in Tropical Regions

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Culling whales will not increase fisheries catches in tropical waters, according to a new paper supported by the Lenfest Ocean Program and published today in the journal Science. For years, Japan has argued that reducing the number of baleen whales in the oceans would improve fisheries because whales eat fish that are caught for human consumption. The study published today found that even a complete eradication of whale populations in tropical waters would not lead to any significant increase in fish populations.

Many countries in Western Africa and the Caribbean have been persuaded by Japan to join the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and vote in favor of resuming commercial whaling with the understanding that culling whales would result in increased fisheries catches.

"Our models unequivocally show that removing whales would not significantly increase the amount of commercially valuable fish," said Dr. Leah Gerber, lead author and associate professor of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Science at Arizona State University. "Instead, we found that fishing is having a far greater bearing on the health of the fish stocks in the region. Interestingly, when whales were more abundant before World War II, the fisheries were in good shape."

"The assertion that whales are competing with fisheries for food is, on the surface, very persuasive, because it seems intuitive that these large animals must be consuming enormous amounts of food," said Dr. Kristin Kaschner, an author based at the Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Lab at the University of Freiburg, Germany. "However, competition within ecosystems is a complex issue and needs to be investigated using the appropriate scientific tools."

The authors constructed ecosystem models, which account for feeding interactions between whales and fish, to understand the role that baleen whales play in tropical marine ecosystems in Western Africa and the Caribbean, where baleen whales are known to breed. The scientists used global and regional data, validated through scientific workshops in Senegal and Barbados, to determine whether competition was occurring.

"An ocean ecosystem is greater than the sum of its parts. Removing whales from the equation does not increase the number of fish and impacts the health of the overall system," said Dr. Lyne Morissette, an author based at the Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski, Canada. "We need to focus on truly effective and sustainable management approaches to recover our fisheries."

The researchers suggest these results underscore the important role of science in policy decisions about whales and fisheries interactions. They also emphasize that the goal of ecosystem-based management should not be to manipulate individual components of food webs in an attempt to maximize the amount of fish to catch, but to manage the whole system for long-term sustainability.

"All countries should adopt leadership roles in a common effort to manage our fisheries better," said Dr. Daniel Pauly, an author from the University of British Columbia. "The assertion that fish supply is in peril is legitimate, but the problem is resolved with better management, not whaling."

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Time for a Renaissance in Wildlife Protection

Statement by John Kostyack
Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming
National Wildlife Federation

“It is time for a renaissance in wildlife protection in America. For too long, our threatened and endangered species have been allowed to slip further toward extinction. We must rollback the rollbacks, mend the holes in the safety net, and restore to health the array of plants, fish and wildlife that define our nation’s natural heritage.

“In addition to repairing the damage done to laws meant to prevent extinctions, we must get ahead of the extinction curve. We need to address the climate crisis, restore scientific integrity to our agencies, and invest in a new era of conservation for wildlife and ecosystems.

“For the last eight years, the Endangered Species Act has been a target for attack. Funding has been slashed, protections have been denied, science has been ignored, and responsibilities have been avoided. There is no time to spare in getting our conservation priorities back on track.

“Safeguarding wildlife must be a top priority for both the Obama administration and the new Congress. We need to start recovering species, not simply slowing their extinction. We should protect entire ecosystems, encourage partnerships, and give wildlife agencies the resources they need to succeed. What’s good for wildlife ultimately is good for our communities that depend on healthy forests, rivers, wetlands and other natural systems.

“The elephant in the room must not be ignored any longer. Global warming is already having an impact on wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and partners must quickly develop projections of how the future climate will affect critical habitats and integrate those projections into conservation plans and on-the-ground decisions. We need to update policies to ensure that state and federal agencies incorporate global warming science into their habitat conservation and management decisions. We can no longer assume that the climate of tomorrow will be the same as the climate of today.”

The National Wildlife Federation is America's largest conservation organization inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future.

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UGA Study Reveals Ecosystem-Level Consequences of Frog Extinctions

In some parts of the tropics, frogs are the most abundant land vertebrates. This peculiar-looking casque-headed tree frog is one of the estimated hundreds of species of tropical frogs.

Photo by Scott Connelly/UGA

Streams that once sang with the croaks, chirps and ribbits of dozens of frog species have gone silent. They’re victims of a fungus that’s decimating amphibian populations worldwide.

Such catastrophic declines have been documented for more than a decade, but until recently scientists knew little about how the loss of frogs alters the larger ecosystem. A University of Georgia study that is the first to comprehensively examine an ecosystem before and after an amphibian population decline has found that tadpoles play a key role keeping the algae at the base of the food chain productive.

“Many things that live in the stream depend on algae as a base food resource,” said lead author Scott Connelly, a doctoral student who will graduate in December from the UGA Odum School of Ecology. “And we found that the system was more productive when the tadpoles were there.”

The results, which appear in the early online edition of the journal Ecosystems, demonstrate how the grazing activities of tadpoles help keep a stream healthy. The researchers found that while the amount of algae in the stream was more than 250 percent greater after the amphibian population decline, the algae were less productive at turning sunlight and nutrients into food for other members of the ecosystem. Without tadpoles swimming along the streambed and stirring up the bottom, the amount of sediment in the stream increased by nearly 150 percent, blocking out sunlight that algae need to grow.

The study is part of a larger effort known as the Tropical Amphibian Declines in Streams (TADS) project, which also involves researchers from Southern Illinois University, Drexel University and the University of Alabama. The project is now in its third round of funding by the National Science Foundation and was initiated by Catherine Pringle (UGA Odum School of Ecology) and Karen Lips (Southern Illinois University) in 2000 through a Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) from the NSF. Connelly and Pringle are monitoring in-stream effects of the population decline on algae, while other team members are studying how the loss of frogs impacts other organisms and the transfer of energy between streams and the terrestrial communities that surround them. Preliminary data show that the number of snakes that feed on frogs, for example, has plummeted after the population decline.

“We were there before, during and after the extinction event and were able to look at the ecosystem and measure how it changed,” said Pringle, Distinguished Research Professor in the Odum School and study co-author. “Very rarely have scientists been able to do that with respect to any organism.”

The chytrid fungus responsible for declines has steadily marched southeast across Costa Rica and through much of Panama like a storm front, killing up to 90 percent of frogs in afflicted streams. In 2003, the team set up research sites on two streams in the pristine and lush highlands of Panama. One study site had already suffered a catastrophic amphibian decline, while the other had a healthy population but, based on its location, was directly in the path of the fungal disease.

In the first stage of their research, Connelly and Pringle assessed ecosystem changes that occur when tadpoles are experimentally excluded from small areas of both the healthy stream and the frogless stream. They found that the absence of the tadpoles resulted in more sediment and less productive algae.

In late 2004, frogs in the formerly healthy stream began dying. The team reassessed the stream and found that impact of the frog die-off was even greater than they had predicted in their exclusion studies. “We predicted the direction of the change,” Pringle said, “but underestimated its magnitude.”

The UGA research team is continuing to monitor the health of the streams to get valuable, long-term data. So far the stream has not rebounded. “It’s still sad going back,” Connelly said, to which Pringle added: “Once the frogs die, it’s like an incredible silence descends over the whole area. It’s eerie.”

To date, scientists have not found a way to stop the spread of the fungus in the wild. Broadly applying a fungicide to an entire watershed, Connelly said, would kill beneficial fungi that are necessary for a healthy ecosystem.

But scientists can cure individual frogs in captivity by simply swabbing them with a fungicide. Connelly has worked to protect frogs through Amphibian Ark, a global effort supported by zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums and research institutions that aims to ensure the survival of amphibians by collecting and breeding them. The Atlanta Botanical Garden is one of the key breeding sites.

“The one speck of hope is that if we’re able to collect some of these rare animals, we can cure them,” Connelly said. “As long as we have the money to keep a breeding program going, in the future it might be possible to reintroduce them into the wild.”

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Georgia Sea Turtle Center Selects Founding Visionary As New Director

PRNewswire/ -- The Georgia Sea Turtle Center, located on historic Jekyll Island, Ga., has selected Dr. Terry M. Norton to be its new director. Dr. Norton, who assumed his new position effective September 5, has been integrally involved in planting and nurturing the idea for the center since 2001. He has been the director of veterinary services for the organization since it opened on June 16, 2007, and he will continue to serve in that capacity.

Dr. Norton comes with impressive credentials that include a Bachelor of Science degree from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Tufts University in Boston, and more than twenty years of experience working with zoos, aquaria, and free-ranging wildlife.

"Dr. Norton was an integral part of the early success of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center," said Jones Hooks, Executive Director, Jekyll Island Authority. "He helped create the shared vision that began this great work, and now we're thrilled that he will lead the Center into the future."

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) provides rehabilitation treatment for injured sea turtles and other wildlife; conducts research and professional training in wildlife medicine, husbandry, biology and education; and offers educational programs for the public.

Since the Georgia Sea Turtle Center opened, more than 110,000 visitors have toured the $3 million, 10,000-square-foot facility. A restored 1903 brick building that once supplied power to the famous Jekyll Island Club hotel houses an exhibit area, retail space, and state-of-the-art rooms dedicated to surgery, digital radiography (X-rays), and long-term treatment.

"It's an interactive educational environment," explained Dr. Norton. "Visitors to our center really get engaged. For example, our treatment room has a window so that visitors can actually watch us work on our patients, and we can discuss the particular animal's life history, medical problem, and treatment or surgery. A walkway through the rehabilitation area allows them to see the turtles we are nursing back to health, with the goal of releasing them back into the sea. Our center is the first of its kind in Georgia, and as far as I know, it's the only one in the country that comprehensively integrates rehabilitation, interactive education, professional training, and veterinary research."

An Emphasis on Education and Research

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center's rehabilitation work to protect and preserve sea turtles is just one important aspect of its mission. The center also conducts research and provides educational and awareness programs for the public.

In a twelve-month period approximately 5,000 students from close to 100 different schools and scout groups visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. In addition, the center takes its educational programs into numerous schools. At the same time, GSTC is conducting groundbreaking research to develop diets and nutritional supplements to promote sea turtle health and healing. This research could benefit aquaria and rehabilitation institutions all over the world.

Leading the Way for Others

"Our vision extends beyond our immediate region," said Dr. Norton. "We want our research, conservation, preservation, and educational activities to benefit organizations in other parts of the country and the world. We have already developed training programs for veterinarians and veterinary students from across the United States, the Caribbean, Panama, and other places."

In the spring of 2009, GSTC plans to host an International Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Workshop in partnership with many other institutions, including Ross University in St. Kitts; the Georgia Department of Natural Resources; St. Catherines Island Foundation; the Jekyll Island Authority and Foundation; the University of Florida and the University of Georgia Colleges of Veterinary Medicine; the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet, Florida; the Marine Life Center in Melbourne, Florida; the Turtle Hospital in Marathon Key, Florida; and possibly others.

"My long-term vision is to expand the scope of our mission," said Dr. Norton. "In the future we'd like to develop health-related programs for a wider variety of native wildlife and promote ecosystem health locally and internationally, while at the same time increasing our efforts on behalf of turtles."

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