Tiawan To Ban Whale Shark Fishing in 2008

On March 27th of this year, Taiwan's annual quota of 30 whale sharks was reached for 2007.  There will be no quota for 2008.  Two of this years sharks will be displayed at the Georgia Aquarium; the remaining specimens were either tagged and released (12 fish) or processed as food.  The shark's delicate tofu-like flesh is considered a delicacy in several Asian nations.



What remains to be seen is what impact the ban will have on whale shark displays currently under construction like the one at Marineland in Niagara Falls ON.

Regina Aquarium Society Show Returns

The Regina Aquarium Society has revitalized their semi-annual tropical fish show after a 12 year hiatus. Fish Shows are excellent opportunities to learn from others and grow our skills as aquarists. They are also excellent opportunities for addicting exposing young people to the hobby.

For More Information:
Coverage on The Leader-Post
Regina Aquarium Society Homepage
Saskatchewan Reef Society

Georgia Aquarium Shark Pups Now Online

The Georgia Aquarium has launched a new webcam featuring their recently hatched Zebra Shark pups. The pups aren't currently on display in the main aquarium and until today were only visible to people taking the behind the scenes tour.

View the pups online:
http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/exploreTheAquarium/webcams.aspx.

From AJC.com

New England Aquarium To Sell Naming Rights

The New England Aquarium is seeking to sell naming rights for certain exhibits in order to finance refurbishment and expansion. Exhibits on the table include the marine mammal exhibit & central ocean tank. Renaming the aquarium itself isn't on the table.

From BostonHerald.com

3 Aquarium & Pond Plants Placed on Idaho's Most Wanted List

Water Hyacinth, Brazillian Elodea and Hydrilla have been placed on Idaho's list of noxious weeds and are now banned from the state. They are believed to have entered the habitat from people dumping out aquariums.

From MagicValley.com

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture is warning retailers that it's now illegal to sell the plants. And local governments will begin enforcing the ban by eradicating the weeds from waterways and writing tickets to those in possession of the plants.

"We have not done any monitoring on our waterways for these species yet," said Kali Van Leeuwen, Twin Falls County's weed and pest supervisor. "But we'll begin mapping this summer."


Photo Credit: Clay Mask

Improving the visitor experience with Cyborg fish.

Alright, so the title may be a bit of an exaggeration, but Singapore's underwater aquarium has deployed what it describes as the first RFID fish tagging system. RFID tags for fish is nothing new, all Asian Arrowana's have been legally required to wear one for years now and I would be truly shocked if large aquariums like Monterey Bay & Georgia don't use them extensively in their large mixed animal displays to assist in husbandry efforts.

What is unique about this instance is the fact that the chips are tied to informational displays. When an appropriately tagged fish swims near the sensor for a given display, additional information about the species is displayed. Currently, the system is only being used for Pacu & Arapaima in an Amazon river display. The aquarium is discussing applying the technology to its shark display as well.

Personally, I think there is a lot of potential for more "smart" infographics that enrich the actual display. The current generation of touch screens that require identifying the fish you see by scrolling through screens and tapping the illustration of the fish, aren't the most effective tool and tend to break down completely during high traffic periods.

I don't feel the system would work on displays of smaller organisms as the size of the chip and density of animals would provide pretty severe engineering challenges. I do feel that there may be a place for image recognition technology for these exhibits.

Oh, and the total price for this setup: under $20,000 US.

From the register.co.uk

Asexual Reproduction found in Hammerhead Sharks

One of the three hammerhead sharks at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha Nebraska has given birth. This is the first case of asexual reproduction found in sharks. Three females are on display and have not had contact with a male shark in three years.

From Deep Sea News

Asian Snakeheads Still Thriving in Maryland Waters

Despite the press coverage and sterilization of the pond in which snakehead stocks were first discovered; the northern snakehead continues to make inroads into American waterways.

A recent study conducted by Nick Lapointe a post-doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech revealed that most snakeheads winter in known habitat but that atleast one individual ventured into new territory. Given the size and vibrancy of the snakehead population near Mount Vernon, further expansion of the fish should be expected.

From WDBJ7
Photo Credit: WinVictorious

Taiwanese Officials OK export of 2 Whale Sharks

Taiwanese officials have gotten over their reservations concerning permitting export of 2 additional sharks for the Georgia Aquarium. Once on the display the aquarium will have 5 sharks in an aquarium designed to accommodate 6.

We decided that there are no problems with their experience and techniques" in handling the whale sharks, Zhuang told the Atlanta newspaper. Zhuang, an associate professor at National Taiwan Ocean University, said the two whale sharks would probably be exported to the United States in June. Officials are waiting for some paperwork from the aquarium before finalizing the deal, he said.

The Georgia Aquarium continues to decline commenting on its intentions to add more whale sharks to its collection. The Georgia Aquarium is currently the only aquarium outside of Asia to display these animals. A new aquarium is underconstruction in Niagara Falls that has announced intentions to put whale sharks on display in the near future, however.





From: China Post

Osaka Whale Shark Dies

Yu-chan, A 20 foot whale shark that had been on display in the Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium has died. The fish was taken off exhibit for treatment on May 7th when it stopped eating. A young male shark named Kai-kun went on display this morning. This is the second whale shark on display in an aquarium to die this year. Ralph, a male shark on display at the Georgia Aquarium died in January.

Photo of Yu-chan credit Mshades

Goldfish Care Tips:

Goldfish are undoubtedly one of the most common pet fish. The array of colors and shapes of modern varieties only increases the demand for these animals. Unfortunately, few people know how to care for these occasionally delicate fish.  Here are few tips for their care.

• Dip goldfish in a 3% salt dip before adding them to your display.
  
  
• Never add the water from the transport bag into your aquarium.
• Clean the aquarium regularly and invest in powerful filters. Goldfish possess a larger girth than other fish the same length and grow to a respectable size. They require powerful filtration to accommodate their bulk.
• Feed the goldfish sinking pellets and feed them sparingly.
  
  

From www.insidebayarea.com

Georgia Aquarium Reports 25% Drop in Attendence

The Georgia Aquarium has reported a 25% drop in attendance compared to last year. Most aquariums get a 30% boost in attendance for their first year or so. Once the novelty of the aquarium drops off the attendence drops down to what is considered a "normal" level. For the worlds biggest fish tank this translates to about 900,000 people in 3 months.

From ajc.com

Feeding Plankton for Fun and Profit

Russ George and his company Planktos want to save the world.  The idea: seed the ocean with iron to cause a plankton bloom that will pull CO₂ from the air then sell carbon credits to German factories.  The problem with this plan is simply how poorly understood planktonic ecosystems are.  Will the plankton actually fall to the bottom of the ocean as marine snow and actually remove carbon from the atmosphere or will they boom and decompose resulting in the release of methane and other greenhouse gases more dangerous than CO₂.



There are other potential catastrophes as well.  Reduced biodiversity in the plankton, emergence of diseases, toxic red tides and many other problems could be caused by this method.



From NYTimes

NYTimes Covers Coral Rehabilitation Efforts

The NYTimes is covering the ongoing efforts of the Mote Marine Laboratory to restore damaged coral populations in the florida keys.  FishkeepingOnline covered this story a few weeks ago  As is usually the case with NYTimes coverage.  They do a good job examining the story in a bit more depth.  Perhaps the biggest concern of mine in seeing the article was the photograph of corals growing in a frag rack.



Given the aggresive nature of corals, it is generally advised to hobbyists that they be grown in monoculture.  Yet the image displays a wide variety of species (Including gorgonians which are exceptionally aggressive) growing in the same cultivation rack.



From NYTimes.com

Japanese Artificial Jellyfish Aquarium

As spectacular as they are, jellyfish have no place in the average home aquarium. Although moon jellies in particular have rapidly become a public aquarium staple over the last 20 years and companies like Midwater Systems have made an admirable effort working to build a market for home jellyfish kreisels, this isn't something that will likely take off any time soon.

This artificial home aquarium is reasonably realistic: (you tube video), won't result in any dead animals and most importantly it's definitely cooler than a lava lamp.

AudioCubes.com - Banpresto Aquapict LED Jellyfish Aquarium - AQUAPICT