From Greenpeace: The Tuna Industry’s Got a Dirty Little Secret
From PlanetSave: Annual Quota of Bluefin Tuna Caught in 1 Week
GreenPeace again: The harsh reality of longline fishing
From SeafoodWatch: Seafood Watch Pocket Guide
Salmon farm off BC coast. Photo by Obominog via flicker.
Salmon disease is, unfortunately, not new to the wild but is increasing at alarming rates. The cause of this? It is not global warming or water change – salmon farming is the culprit. Alterations of the living style of these fish and stocking practices have created new viruses and increasing fatalities. As it turns out, this is harmful not only the fish, but also other species further down the food web, including herring.
Photo by d∂wn via flickr
On Sunday, November 13, Derrick Jensen is leading a day-long talk at Berkley University where environmental authors and changemakers will gather together to be interviewed in front of a live audience about crucial issues facing the state of the planet today and how a strong resistance movement can be built to reverse, lessen or stop these issues altogether, before it is too late.
Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), the same company Greenpeace influenced Mattel to stop working with, has been destroying Indonesian rainforests to make Paseo-brand tissue products. These tissues are in many major supermarket chains and as Greenpeace points out, “Paseo products have no recycled content — they’re made of 100% virgin tree fiber. Worse, those trees come from pulpwood plantations that are eating into Indonesia’s rainforests and destroying the last Sumatran tiger habitat.”
Worse still, APP refers to the brand as “fully sustainable” (hence the cartoon) and “100% made in the USA”.
Photo by Deanpamus via flickr
For over fifteen years Barefoot Wine has been an active partner with Surfrider Foundation in saving our coastlines. But five years ago Barefoot decided that they could take it a step further and created their own foundation, Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project in coordination with Surfrider. Their mission is straightforward: to keep the world’s beaches “barefoot friendly.”
Photo by wwarby via flickr
Have you ever thought about what kinds of animals live in North America, and how that compared to what existed here before humans recreated the landscape? Josh Donlan and colleagues from Cornell University have, and in 2005, suggested a radical but thought-provoking way to reintroduce some megafauna into our area.
From Grist: Panda poop could revolutionize biofuels
From the American Chemical Society: Panda poop may be a treasure trove of microbes for making biofuels
Grist again: Even Tea Partiers don’t think environmental protection kills jobs
Photo of fanged frog by Rafe M. Brown
In ecology, there are many factors that contribute to the number of species in an area. One idea is that the more space there is, the more opportunity for more species to exist. But Ben Evans and scientists from McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) have found an anomaly; nine unrecorded species and the rapid adaptation of new fanged frogs have been recorded in the small island of Sulawesi.
Extinct bird species by Barbol via flickr
Do you love conservation areas and protected landscapes as much as I do? If so, I’m sorry to tell you the bad news, but they won’t be enough to conserve and restore global biodiversity.
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Flagship Species: Thinking Past the Cute and Cuddly
When you think of species that are suffering due to human-caused environmental harm, what first comes to mind? It’s likely that you think of a polar bear, or maybe a panda. Maybe even a sea turtle or clownfish (Finding Nemo, anyone?). These are called flagship species – the environmental “spokes-species” for the rest of the fauna at risk. But rest assured, there’s advantages and disadvantages to pushing certain animals into the media spotlight.
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