GAINESVILLE, Florida, September 9, 2008 (ENS) – Fishes that once were abundant in North American streams, rivers and lakes are now disappearing, with nearly 40 percent of all species in jeopardy, according to the most detailed assessment of the conservation status of freshwater fishes in the last 20 years.

The report shows that 61 fishes are presumed extinct, and 280 species are classed as endangered. In addition 190 are considered threatened, and 230 fishes are listed as vulnerable to extinction.

An endangered holiday darter from
the southeastern United States (Photo
by Noel Burkhead courtesy USGS)

The new report, published in the journal “Fisheries,” was conducted by a team of scientists from the United States, Canada and Mexico, led by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey. The team examined the status of continental freshwater fishes and those that migrate between rivers and oceans.

“Freshwater fish have continued to decline since the late 1970s, with the primary causes being habitat loss, dwindling range and introduction of non-native species,” said Mark Myers, director of the USGS. “In addition, climate change may further affect these fish.”

The 700 fishes now listed as imperiled for this report by the Endangered Species Committee of the American Fisheries Society are a 92 percent increase over the 364 listed in the previous 1989 study.

The fish at greatest risk are the salmon and trout of the Pacific Coast and western mountain regions. More than 60 percent of the salmon and trout had at least one population or subspecies in trouble, the report shows.

Also at great risk are minnows, suckers and catfishes throughout the continent; darters in the southeastern United States; and pupfish, livebearers, and goodeids, a large, native fish family in Mexico and the southwestern United States.

Fish families important for sport or commercial fisheries are also vulnerable to extinction. One of the most popular game species in the United States, striped bass, has populations on the list.

Twenty-two percent of sunfishes, a family which includes the well-known species such as black bass, bluegill and rock bass, are listed as at risk.

An endangered Alabama sturgeon from the
Mobile River. (Photo courtesy Patrick
O’Niel, North Carolina Department of
Environment and Natural Resources)

The southeastern United States, the mid-Pacific coast, the lower Rio Grande and basins in Mexico that do not drain to the sea are losing their freshwater fish species more quickly than other regions.

“Human populations have greatly expanded in many of these watersheds, compounding negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems,” said Howard Jelks, a USGS researcher and the senior author of the paper.

River systems that are both hotspots of regional biodiversity and also show the greatest levels of endangerment are the Tennessee, where 58 fishes are in jeopardy; the Mobile with 57 fishes at risk; and the southeastern Atlantic Slope river systems where 34 fishes are imperiled.

The Pacific central valley, western Great Basin, Rio Grande and rivers of central Mexico also have high diversity and numbers of fish at risk of extinction, according to the report.

Many of the fish populations at risk are restricted to only a single drainage.

Of fish on the American Fisheries Society’s 1989 imperiled list, 89 percent are either still listed with the same conservation status or have become even more at risk. Only 11 percent improved in status or were delisted.

A threatened sicklefin redhorse from
the Tennessee River. (Photo courtesy
Steve Fraley, North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission)

The authors say the new list is based on the best biological information available.

“We believe this report will provide national and international resource managers, scientists and the conservation community with reliable information to establish conservation, management and recovery priorities,” said Stephen Walsh, another lead author and USGS researcher.

The authors emphasize that improved public awareness and proactive management strategies are needed to protect and recover these and other aquatic species.

“Fish are not the only aquatic organisms undergoing precipitous declines,” said USGS researcher Noel Burkhead, a lead author on the report and the chair of the AFS Endangered Species Committee. “Freshwater crayfishes, snails and mussels are exhibiting similar or even greater levels of decline and extinction.”

For an interactive map showing the fish species at risk, click here [fisc.er.usgs.gov].

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CHICAGO, Illinois, March 28, 2008 (ENS) – To mark World Water Day, celebrated on March 22 each year, hundreds of Chicagoland area restaurants participated in the week-long UNICEF Tap Project. The program was started last year to bring attention to the urgent need for clean drinking water and to help supply parts of the world where clean, safe water is a rarity.

During the week that began March 16, nearly 200 city and suburban restaurants and bars invited patrons to donate $1 for tap water usually enjoyed for free. For every dollar raised, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days.

“Lake Michigan is one of the greatest sources fresh water on the planet. Unlike other parts of the world where clean, safe water is a rare commodity, here in Chicago and throughout Illinois, we are privileged to have access to safe water every day,” said Illinois EPA Director Doug Scott.

“Some of the best things we can do for future generations are to further protect and restore the country’s fresh waterways, continue to make sure the water flowing through our rivers and lakes and into our taps is clean and safe, and continue to urge people to become educated about the scarcity of water through projects like the Chicago Tap Project,” said Scott.

According to a study by the National Resources Defense Council, Chicago enjoys some of the best tap water on Earth.

Some of Chicago’s most notable chefs – including Rick Tramonto, Carrie Nahabedian, Bruce Sherman, Sarah Stegner, George Bumbaris and Paul Virant – and their restaurants lent their support to make Chicago’s Tap Project a success.

“Restaurants are called on weekly to participate in charitable events and the sizeable list of Tap Project participants once again demonstrates the restaurant industry’s tradition of giving back,” said Sheila O’Grady, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, IRA.

“The IRA supports the mission of UNICEF’s Tap Project with Copperblue, Hackney’s Printers’ Row and Va Pensiero as just a few of our member restaurants involved in this important humanitarian project,” O’Grady said.

Tap water is poured at a New York
restaurant during the 2007 inaugural
Tap Project. (Photo courtesy
Tap Project)

The Tap Project was created as part of “Esquire” magazine’s December 2006 ‘Best & Brightest’ issue, to raise awareness about a lack of safe drinking water worldwide. The project raised $100,000 in partnership with the US Fund for UNICEF in 2007. The goal is to raise $1 million this year.

Last year, over 300 New York City restaurants, along with thousands of their customers and individual contributors helped to make the inaugural Tap Project a huge success.

This year, it went national. From Dallas, Texas, to Seattle, Washington, more than 2,200 restaurants took part.

More than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water sources and more than 5,000 children die each day due to dehydration and other water-related illnesses, according to United Nations figures.

“Every year, unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation contribute to the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five,” said UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman the Tap Project celebration March 20 in New York.

“Increasing access to clean and safe water will not only save young lives, it will also help break the vicious circle of poverty,” said Veneman, a former U.S. secretary of agriculture.

“Here in Illinois,” said Scott, “we are fortunate to have an adequate supply of safe drinking water in to meet the needs of our population, and when more than 11 million Illinois residents turn on the tap, they can be assured their water meets the federal health standards.”

The most recent annual Compliance Report for the more than 6,000 public water supplies in the state showed that 99.9 percent of the population served by these systems received water that met all acute standards set by the federal government.

More than 1,700 of the largest community water systems are subject to extensive monitoring and reporting requirements under the oversight of the Illinois EPA for a variety of potential contaminants.

Illinois EPA will oversee additional federal requirements over the next few years, including new limits on disinfection byproducts and other potential contaminants in source water, which can either be from lakes or rivers, or from groundwater wells.

In addition, although there are no applicable federal standards, Illinois recently expanded monitoring for pharmaceuticals in Illinois waterways after trace amounts were found in sampling done in other states by the Associated Press. Previous sampling done by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2002 also found trace pharmaceuticals in rivers and streams across the country.

Illinois EPA has implemented a recent pilot project with local governments to collect more unused medications for safe disposal.

Illinois citizens can access data on their own community water system online by going to the Illinois EPA website at: www.epa.state.il.us and clicking on the “Environmental Facts Online” button on the right side of the home page.

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DES MOINES, Iowa, February 6, 2008 (ENS) – A new initiative to improve Iowa’s water quality was outlined at the statehouse Monday by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers.

The result of a two year watershed planning task force, the Surface Water Protection Act is aimed at identifying problems and preventing pollution in Iowa’s largest lakes, rivers and creeks.

“Iowa needs a coordinated effort to clean up our surface water and improve water quality,” said Deb Ryun of the Conservation Districts of Iowa, who co-chaired the Watershed Quality Planning Task Force.

“We aren’t going to make progress until we assess each watershed and get all of the stakeholders in each watershed to work together,” she said.

The 300 mile long Iowa River
as it flows past the University
of Iowa campus in Iowa City.
(Photo credit unknown)

Iowa’s creeks, rivers and lakes have high levels of silt, sewage and fertilizer pollution. More must be done to protect the state’s sources of drinking water, recreational interests such as kayaking, canoeing and birding, and wildlife habitat.

“Over 20 years ago, the Legislature created the Groundwater Protection Act to improve the quality of our ground water and we’ve had great success stopping contamination of our groundwater. It is time for us to focus our efforts and improve the quality of our surface water,” said State Representative Donovan Olson, a Democrat from Boone who chairs the House Environmental Protection Committee and also served on the watershed task force.

The measure creates a Water Resources Coordinating Council within the Governor’s Office to preserve and protect Iowa’s water resources and coordinate efforts to do so.

It will also complete a statewide water plan focused on water assessments and prioritization.

The Surface Water Protection Act calls for 56 regional watershed assessments and smaller community based watershed improvement and monitoring plans.

Experts would study 11 regional watersheds each year and identify the most pressing needs in each watershed.

Those that present the greatest health risks would be prioritized, and the worst areas would get any available money from the state Department of Natural Resources.

Funding would begin in fiscal year 2010 and the task force estimated about $13.5 million per year would be needed after a five year phase-in.

“We know Iowans want clean water and want to be good stewards of our environment,” said State Senator David Johnson, a Republican from Ocheyedan, who served on the watershed task force.

“While it won’t happen overnight,” he said, “it’s time for us to develop a coordinated, long-term strategy that will improve water quality for every Iowan.”

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Spiegel Magazine Online has recently run a very interesting interview with China’s Deputy Minister of the Environment: Pan Yue. The topic of the interview is the relationship between economic growth in China and the correspondingly rapid increase in pollution and resource scarcity. Is Mr. Yue making the case that the economic growth boom in China has to end in order to avoid environmental apocalypse?

This interview is rather interesting because it looks as if Pan Yue is trying to put out a message to his own government. Mr. Yue states that the unrivaled growth of 9.5% domestic gross product is taking a drastic toll on the environment. In fact he states that by the year 2100 there will be 150 million environmental refugees in China who will need relocation. The rub is that there will be no space for them. It seems as if the ministry of environment within the Chinese government is at odds with the fiscal strategy that the Republic of China is taking.

Of particular concern to Mr. Yue is the growth of deserts and the degree of acid rain falling on the continent. There are towns in China that have been virtually abandonned because a desert expanded into the borders of the town, accompanied by vicious sirocco storms (sand cyclones). The rivers and lakes in the country are tainted by acid and general wastewater pollution, a dangerous precedent for a country with 1.3 billion people.

A big economy like China requires a lot of energy to run factories. One way of feeding energy supplies to the hungry manufacturing complex in China is increased production of Biodiesel. Biodiesel production from crops is a very hot topic these days. It will be interesting to see if China can find a way around damaging the agriculture industry by making biodiesel from food byproducts rather than rezoning traditional agricultural lands into areas where crops are grown exclusively for fuel creation. There is a very intricate relationship of dependency between feeding people with crops and running cars with crops.

Read the complete article here. [www.spiegel.de]

Make sure to comment on this article if you have an opinion about any of this, we welcome your thoughts and ideas.