Evolution Of Fins And Limbs Linked With That Of Gills

ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 2009) – The genetic toolkit that animals use to build fins and limbs is the same genetic toolkit that controls the development of part of the gill skeleton in sharks, according to a new study. Link to the whole article.

Why Certain Fishes Went Extinct 65 Million Years Ago

ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2009) – Large size and a fast bite spelled doom for bony fishes during the last mass extinction 65 million years ago, according to a new study. Finish the articcle here.

What do you think, any implications for fly fishing? Who can predict, to the nearest millennia, how long before there’s an impact on anglers? (BTW – It sounds like there might be a niche market for piscatorial paleontologists—any takers?)

Study Assesses Impact Of Fish Stocking On Aquatic Insects

ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2009) – The impact fish stocking has on aquatic insects in mountain lakes can be rapidly reversed by removing non-native trout, according to a study completed by U.S. Forest Service and University of California, Davis, scientists.

What do you think, should anglers encourage removing fish from areas where they are not native so native, non-fish species can rebound? What if we’re talking about your favorite tailwater?

Killing Young Fish Results In Population Growth, Study Finds

If you kill more fish, the total population of the species declines. However, kill only small, young fish, the total number of small, young fish increases. This seemingly paradoxical conclusion has far reaching implications for the sustainable management of oceans, and is the result of a theoretical study conducted by a research team led by Prof. André de Roos of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam. Read the rest of the article.

Here is a related article from last December:

Want Sustainable Fishing? Keep Only Small Fish, And Let The Big Ones Go

Scientists at the University of Toronto analysed Canadian fisheries data to determine the effect of the “keep the large ones” policy that is typical of fisheries. What they found is that the effect of this policy is an unsustainable fishery. The whole article.

How close do your state’s regulations match with the research from those two articles?

And here is the other new one:

Fish Health Claims May Cause More Environmental Harm Than Good, Researchers Say

The health benefits of fish consumption have been over-dramatized and have put increased pressure on wild fish, according to a new research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Finish reading it here.

Of course, they keep missing the main benefits of fish “health claims” (at least, I claim these benefits to my wife all the time): It’s not the eating of the fish that gives the benefits, it’s the finding and catching of the fish that brings the benefits.

What thinkest thou?