Fighting Invasive Fish With Forks and Knives 180
An anonymous reader writes NPR commentator Bonny Wolf has a unique solution to battle the threat of invasive fish species in our waterways. She proposes we fight them with a knife, fork, and a few lemon wedges. From the article: "Take the northern snakehead, which has made its way into tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. It competes with native species for food, and then eats the native species, not to mention the odd frog or bird, with its mouthful of sharp teeth. It's been called "Fishzilla." It breeds fast, has no natural predators and can grow to be 4 feet long. The northern snakehead hangs out in grassy shallows, making it hard to catch. But a couple of years ago, Maryland started promoting the snakehead as an eating fish. Its harvest has increased from zero to 5,000 pounds a year."
Take the , (Score:1, Insightful)
Bioaccumulation Ahoy (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, the solution for harmfull PCBs, mercury and shit isn't tp eat less fish, but to let less of that crap get in to the waters in the first place. A nation wide "don't poop where you eat" idea. And yes, it will cost some money, your tax money, to enforce the regulations. And yes, it will need some rules on what you can just dump into the rivers and lakes and ocean. And fuck the profits. You can't take the money with you anyways. Leave the damn ball cleaner and better than it was when you were born. That's really the only worthwhile goal mankind has at the moment that we can really do something about. Ihabitating space won't happen for a while, and needs more research. Earth we can save today, if we, as a species, could only get our collective heads out of our asses. Every bit helps. Do your share.
Re: Bioaccumulation Ahoy (Score:3, Insightful)
Okay, here's your first citation.
http://www.elizabethriver.org/ [elizabethriver.org]
Now, having worked on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, I can assure you that it is common in the newspapers to have articles about projects to restart clam and oyster aquaculture, which crashed, resulting in a spike in pollution in the water.
But more to the point, I worked at Atlantic Metrocast, where the land had been taken over by the military during world war 2, and all kinds of extremely toxic munitions leaked in. That site is a superfund site, paid for by the Federal Government, because they are the ones who polluted it.
To the south is Julian Creek, where munitions were just dumped into the water, and the cancer rates and birth defect rates are sky-high.
Oh, I haven't mentioned the shipyards yet. They also were dumping in the river, aah, welding materials, lead, whatnot. AND, when the company at the old Bells Mill site needed to turn the mashland of their worksite into solid land, they used fill from the shipyards. So as you walk along the land at BayShore Concrete, you'll every so often find all kinds of heavy-metal-laden industrial parts there, embedded in the ground.
Oh, and don't forget right by the Gilmerton Bridge where there's a recycling center that tears down ships.
Now, that's just the Elizabeth. Let's move on up to the James, where you have Tenneco/Newport News Shipbuilding, the Navy's ship graveyard, and of course Smithfield Hams. And all that agricultural land that gets sprayed every year.
Or how about the Shenandoah River, which five years ago practically died due to heavy metal pollution in the Shenandoah Valley, and dumps into the Chesapeake Bay through Maryland?
Citation needed, I gave you one; I mentioned a few other places where you can find more.
One hint is that wherever you find the military, destruction is not far behind.
Open your eyes and look for yourself, and quit with the laziness, because that's what it is.