Sad remnant lake emptied of fish in 15 minutes

This looks like a simple overfishing story, a lake in Mali emptied of fish in 15 minutes. But it goes deeper.

This is a remnant of a once-fertile lake that was bigger and capable of feeding people, but desertification and climate change have turned this formerly green land into a barren place. Now, the ritual fishing is just a pitiful remnant of better days.

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Bad fish

Fish can be bad if you're a fan of biodiversity in lakes. Or at least it's bad to have fish in every lake.

Scientists have found that we're killing biodiversity with our love for fish and our penchant for plunking fish in every lake, pond, puddle, or stream. In Maine, for example, scientists believe that only about 50 lakes are fishless out of about 6,000 lakes.

What happens when we add fish? Various amphibians and invertebrates get eaten up and vanish. Swing by the Journal of the North American Benthological Society if you want to read more.

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Underwater logging

Sounds like a joke, but it's not. Ghana is planning to log trees submerged in a man-made lake in 1964. The trees remain useful underwater because decomposition is slowed underwater.

Canada also has a substantial underwater logging program underway, and efforts will likely show up wherever there is wood underwater. Check out this breathless prose that describes an underwater logging machine:

Triton's Sawfish™ Underwater Harvester represents the first true arrival of viable marine technology in underwater forests. Developed and manufactured by Triton, it is the world's only deep-water logging machine, combining proven elements from timber-harvesting and submarine vehicle technology on an innovative platform.

This is not new, in the US northwest, logs were pulled out of streams to "clean" them, but also because it's an easy way to make a timber quota, haul a few logs out of a stream by a road to top off a year's logging.

There is a risk that mucking about underwater will harm underwater habitat even while it offers the possibility of sparing forests on land.

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Drugs dumped into water

Yet another story about pills and medicines that get dumped into our rivers, lakes, and oceans. The medicines go right through sewage treatment after being flushed.

Today's article focuses on institutional drug disposal, including hospitals and long-term care facilities, from sources such as unused pills prescribed to patients that die, expired drugs, and over-prescribed drugs.

Drugs in our waters are bad for fish, and we need a solution. Check out Smart Disposal for an interesting campaign to solve the problem.

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