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Young, Leroy M. Fish Habitat and Flow: What's the Connection. PA Fish and Boat Commission. PA Fish and Boat Commission, 1997. 28 Oct. 2007 http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/2001/ma2001/habtflow.htm.
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(2) Runoff Pollutants
I. PROBLEMS--
Sediments: Sedimentation also has adverse effects on marine habitats and fish stocks. The sediments decrease the penetration of light into the water, which affects fish feeding and schooling practices, and can lead to reduced survival. Suspended sediments in high concentrations also irritate the gills of fish, and can cause death. In addition, they destroy the protective mucous covering the eyes and scales of fish, making them more susceptible to infection and disease. A high concentration of sediments also dislodges plants, invertebrates, and insects in the delta bed. This affects the food source of fish, and can result in smaller and fewer fish. Moreover, settling sediments can bury and suffocate fish eggs. They carry toxic agricultural and industrial compounds as well. If these toxins remain in the coastal areas they can cause abnormalities or death in the fish. (Environment Canada 2001)
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Heavy metals, industrial toxins, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals: There are a variety of other toxins that can harm fish, even in small quantities. Heavy metals, such as iron, lead, mercury, aluminum, and magnesium are toxic to fish, especially at low pHs. Other toxins, such as PCBs and chlordane are also toxic and tend to bioaccumulate, meaning they build up in members higher in the food chain so that large fish have high levels of these contaminants in their fatty tissue. Not only is this detrimental for fish and ecosystem health, but it is also a danger to consumers, who can also take up the toxins. Health advisories are in place in many parts of the United States for high levels of mercury, PCBs, and chlordane in many fish and other aquatic species ( see state fishing regulations). However, other contaminants that may seem innocuous, like pesticides, can have severe effects of aquatic ecosystems, by poisoning the most sensitive organisms. There is also evidence that pharmaceutical products, especially hormones, in the water has been causing health problems in many species. The source of these toxins is either from direct dumping by companies or individuals (point-source) or by runoff, which picks up the contaminants and carries them into the water during precipitation events (non-point source).Habitat destruction:
II. Solutions--
Aside from regulating point source pollutants (i.e. dumping of contaminants into the water), the most effective way to prevent the addition of contaminants is to establish riparian buffers and wetlands to filter and slow runoff before it carries its toxic load into the waterway.
Riparian Buffers
Importance:
Riparian buffers provide various important stream functions.
(1) Leaves that fall into the water provide energy for headwaters (i.e. a food source).
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These functions are not only important to the biota that lives in these regions year round, but also to anadromous species that come to spawn. For example, salmon require clean gravel for spawning; if silt settles over the gravel, it not only destroys suitable spawning substrate, but it can also smother eggs and the invertebrates that juveniles feed upon (Haberstock). Haberstock also reports that branches and other woody structures provide places for invertebrate prey to live, as well as structural habitat and varied flow patterns that are important for salmon. The improved water quality provided by riparian buffers and the cooling effect they provide are also critical (Haberstock).
SolutionPlan:
Riparian buffers should be established along rivers; the width should be determined based on various criteria as detailed below. To implement this, focus should be placed on education of farmers to take up these measures voluntarily. Governments and agencies that can afford to provide funds to help establish these buffers, offer tax incentives, or to rent land to take it out of production should do so.
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Zone 2: For width determinations, see the method outlined in Haberstock pages 8-14. (see attached document)
Works Cited
A Conservation Catalog. Pennsylvania Conservation Partnership. Pennsylvania Conservation Partnership. 29 Oct. 2007 <http://www.envirothonpa.org/documents/conscatalog.pdf>.
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The Basics of Water Pollution. PA Fish and Boat Commission. PA Fish and Boat Commission. 29 Oct. 2007 <http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/2001/jf2001/waterpoll.pdf>.
Wetlands Importance
Wetlands protect against flooding, they trap sediment, clean water and provide food; however they are constantly being encroached on and disregarded as hindrances to real estate development. They are important for fish health because they reduce the presence of nitrates and increase oxygen levels. Wetlands reduce silt which when it covers fish eggs hinders them from successfully hatching. Wetlands provide a habitat for reproduction, feeding and resting. Perch, pickerel, bass, sunfish, muskellunge, catfish and walleyes breed in wetlands and many are moving towards distinction because of the loss of wetlands.
The main goal in fixing the current state of minimized wetlands (the original 221 million acres have been reduces to less than half of that) is to reintroduce wetlands to counter the current trend, where every year 290,000 acres are lost. When a wetland contains animals that are on the endangered species, the wetlands that contain them are afforded more protection. Thus getting more fish and wetland dwelling animals on he endangered species list would slow down their decline. Wetlands in the US are minimally protected under the Dam safety and Encroachments Act and the Federal Clean Waters Act under a clause to "Avoid, minimize and compensate". If they are really truly going to be protected there needs to be a greater penalty for encroachment, because the current system which requires payment into a wetlands reestablishment fund does not provide enough because new wetlands are always worse than prexisting wetlands which have masterfully balanced ecosystems (as seen by their survival). There needs to be the introduction of new stricter laws under new sectors of legislation, not just title pieces under preexisting legislation. Finally since the encroachment of a wetland includes a litigation process, lengthening the permit process and requiring more in compensation to the wetlands Replacement Fund will turn away more developers, a huge factor into wetlands loss.
Wetland Tourism
I think wetlands Wetlands ecotourism is a really exciting way to present the problem. It is often hard to appeal scientific facts to a non-scientific world. This idea is very similar to an Inconvenient Truth; the most effective scenes in the documentary are ones that include pictures of the polar ice caps melting and poor baby seals stranded. Also this relates in a way back to Professor Sadaways' lecture that he gave during one of the Terrascope lunches on energy. He made the point that if you continue to sell compromises like Toyota does with there Prius, then you won't fix anything, but if you "sell the best ride of your life" then you have a chance at marketing change. With this same concept we need to sell the beauty of the oceans and wetlands and their importance to our visual hungry culture if we have chance at starting to solve the problem. Strengthening wetland tourism through both education (of both the importance and beauty of wetland) and physical marketing campaigns to specific wetlands such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Mediterranean Coast and the Florida keys. Not only does this sort of ecotourism benefit the people of the local communities (who benefit from it directly because tourism is based on natural capital) but also on a large enough scale could start to alleviate the need for fishing in poor area as an economic resource. Of course the most direct benefit however will be the new relationship the tourist receives from realizing the significance of the wetland.
International Wetlands
Our goal in creating a more stable and healthier fish population as it pertains to wetlands translates to lessening the rate of depletion of wetlands and restoring needed wetlands on a basis of regional necessity. While the lack of them is common across the globe, the need for specific ones and often the destruction of them due to natural disasters or human interference varies with location. Thus an important compilation of both local task forces, primarily lead by wetlands international (a compilation of regional offices and groups) assisted by and encouraged by laws and regulations is the best solution. Organizations like Wetlands International play a particularly important role in this setup because they both organize the needed local tasks forces and catalyze the political action process. Wetlands International's mission statement serves to clarify its duality in its proposal that it "works in local areas to help create restoration programs combined with stricter enforcement." These locally funded projects include rebuilding mangrove forests in South East Asia which were depleted after the Tsunami and their lack has hindered fish populations. In India wetlands and swamps are being illegally logged and drained for agriculture which in addition to their mal effects on the fish populations, is causing wild fires and soil oxidation. Regional task forces are politicking in the legislative process to create harsher penalties for this. In Ukraine, maps were drafted up which led to the establishment of the Dniro eco-corridor. With greater funding companies like Wetlands International can be expanded to serve a greater number of regional areas and additional companies with focuses on litigation, tourism and recovery could also be introduced into the global scheme.
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III. Habitat Destruction
Problem:
Conversion of coastal ecosystems for agriculture or aquaculture has adverse effects on marine fisheries because it destroys the habitat of exploited fish stocks. For example, conversion of mangroves in a number of South and South-East Asian countries during the mid 1990s caused an increased risk of diseases in wild stock. It also significantly reduced the recruitment and survival rate of the stocks. Since some 90% of fish stocks depend on coastal habitat for at least parts of their life cycle, this is an issue that should be addressed. (Perrings 2000)
Solutions:
A variety of approaches could be combined more effectively to ensure protection for coastal habitats. The plan should include the establishment of comprehensive wetlands protection policies and programs; wetlands acquisition by federal, state, and local government agencies or private conservation organizations; increased public education; improved standards and policies for agricultural and silvicultural practices; guided investments in public works projects; greater involvement of local governments; designated functional primary nursery areas, including those in inland waters; and financial (tax) incentives for wetlands protection and financial disincentives for wetlands destruction. (UNC) & (Bildstein et al. 1991)
Furthermore, for effective management of coastal fisheries, local spawning and nursery grounds need to be identified (Knutsen 2003). In exploited areas, restrictions on point and nonpoint source pollution (such as sewage and fertilizer runoff) must be passed and enforced. Additionally, population models can be identified to make better regulation. For example, (Rose et al. 2001) suggested a model that categorized freshwater and marine species into three general strategists: opportunistic strategist, equilibrium strategist, and period-life strategists. We have to also keep in mind parameters such as stock biomass, predator consumption, fish mortality and fecundity, and human consumption when devising regulations for management of coastal fisheries (Oguz 2007).We can also create market based instruments for environmental protection in coastal and marine systems. This means assigning property rights (creating markets) and applying taxes, subsidies, user fees and/or charges to address the problem.