Algemeen

Einen deutlichen Einbruch bei den Fängen bilanzieren die 26 Berufsfischer von der Insel Reichenau und der Höri fürs Jahr 2017. Besonders stark zurückgegangen ist die Zahl bei den in der Gastronomie beliebten Felchen, der wirtschaftlich wichtigsten Fischart, die dennoch 54,2 Prozent des Fangs ausmachte. 98 329 Kilogramm Fisch habe man gefangen, berichtete Werner Keller, der zweite Vorsitzende des Fischereivereins Untersee und Rhein, bei der Hauptversammlung im Hotel-Restaurant Mohren. Das waren 36 553 Kilo weniger (minus 27,1 Prozent) als im Jahr 2016.

Most Britons remain blithely unaware that since the Beatles broke up, we have wiped out half our wildlife. Yet we are not alone. Last week, the French woke up in a dramatic way to the fact that their own farmland birds, their skylarks and partridges and meadow pipits, were rapidly disappearing: Le Monde, the most sober of national journals, splashed the fact across the top of its front page.

During the latter half of the 20th century, it was noticed that global amphibian populations had entered a state of unusually rapid decline. Hundreds of species have since become categorized as “missing” or “lost,” a growing number of which are now believed extinct. Amphibians are often regarded as environmental indicator species because of their highly permeable skin and biphasic life cycles, during which most species inhabit aquatic zones as larvae and as adults become semi or wholly terrestrial. This means their overall health is closely tied to that of the landscape.

Imidacloprid (IMI) is the largest selling insecticide internationally. Little is known about the toxicokinetics of IMI in fish, however. In vivo time-course studies were conducted to study the distribution and elimination of IMI in rainbow trout. Animals confined to respirometer-metabolism chambers were injected with a low (47.6 ìg/kg), medium (117.5 ìg/kg) or high (232.7 ìg/kg) dose directly into the bloodstream and allowed to depurate.

Federal scientists have determined that a family of widely used pesticides poses a threat to dozens of endangered and threatened species, including Pacific salmon, Atlantic sturgeon and Puget Sound orcas. The National Marine Fisheries Service issued its new biological opinion on three organophosphate pesticides - chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion - after a yearslong court fight by environmental groups.

A 2015 study co-authored by Paul Ehrlich, professor emeritus of biology, and colleagues showed that Earth has entered an era of mass extinction unparalleled since the dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. The specter of extinction hangs over about 41 percent of all amphibian species and 26 percent of all mammals, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which maintains a list of threatened and extinct species.

Mit rund 25'800 bedrohten Tier- und Pflanzenarten sei im zu Ende gehenden Jahr ein neuer dramatischer Höchststand erreicht worden. Ein Jahr zuvor waren es noch 24'000 bedrohte Arten. "Wir Menschen verursachen das grösste Artensterben seit Ende der Dinosaurier", resümierte Eberhard Brandes, Vorstand des WWF Deutschland. Auch in der Schweiz gingen die Bestände einiger Arten merklich zurück. Mehr als 40 Prozent der Insektenarten in der Schweiz gälten als bedroht, darunter Bienen und Schmetterlinge, sagte WWF-Sprecherin Perrette Rey in Lausanne auf Anfrage.

Rivers in England are contaminated with powerful insecticides, new testing has revealed, increasing concerns over the impact of the toxic chemicals on fish and birds. Eight rivers in England are heavily contaminated with neonicotinoid pesticides. Two of the rivers, the Waveney on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk, and the Tame in the West Midlands, had an “acute level” of pollution, according to tests conducted by the Environment Agency last year.

Salmon is a unique kind anadromous fish that are born in the fresh waters of rivers and streams. They swim to the ocean as they grow older and return to their home stream to lay eggs when the time comes for spawning. Every year, millions of salmon return to their home stream and produce their next generation of fish. Some species of salmon make several trips in their lifetime, while others make just one round trip before they die. Salmon are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.