Thursday, June 20, 2013

20/06/13: Licence for yellowtail kingfish research; farms on the equator at greater risk from disease; giant catfish faces dam threat

The state government in New South Wales, Australia has granted a licence for an aquaculture research facility at Port Stephens. The 20-hectare farm will research species such as the yellowtail kingfish and will create up to 15 jobs.
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Aquaculture facilities at lower latitudes may be at greater risk from disease outbreaks than operations away from the equator according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

Researchers at the University of New England, Australia and the University of Tasmania, Australia reviewed 114 reports on disease outbreaks at fish farms from Norway to South America. They found a greater prevalence of disease outbreaks at facilities close to the equator.
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The giant catfish faces a new threat in the form on dams along the mainstream part of the lower Mekong river, according to a study commissioned by the WWF.

The study sheds new light on the status of this elusive species, including data on its numbers, distribution, threats and measures needed to prevent its disappearance. While the exact population size is unknown, there could be as few as a couple of hundred adult Mekong giant catfish fish left.

According to the study, the Xayaburi dam on the Mekong mainstem in northern Laos would prove an impassable barrier for the migratory giant catfish – which are capable of reaching up to three metres in length and weighing as much as 300kg – and risks sending the species to extinction.

“A fish the size of a Mekong giant catfish simply will not be able to swim across a large barrier like a dam to reach its spawning grounds upstream,” said the study’s author and associate research professor at the University of Nevada, Dr Zeb Hogan.
eventual extinction.
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Giant Mekong Catfish (Wallago attu)
Giant Mekong Catfish (Wallago attu) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)



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