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Clarifications, Re: Fish Sustainability

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Image Credit: Huffington Post Images

I take responsibility for what I write, always. Therefore, I offer a few clarifications and additional explanations to my previous article, "Sustainable Fish Do Not Exist."

In my previous article, I stated that 80% of fish are overfished or overexploited. This 80% figure did come from a FAO report. However, 1) this report was a little outdated, and 2) I did incorrectly state the terms "overfished" and "overexploited" figure.

I do appreciate fisheries management groups for pointing this outdated information to me, along with my misnomers.

In reviewing the most recent FAO report from 2016, What I should have written was that close to 90% of fish are fully-exploited or overfished. To be more specific still, 58% are fully exploited and 31% are overfished.

What this means is that 58% of fish stocks are already at their maximum-production yield with little to no room (if any) to grow in extraction. 31% of fish stocks are already overfished or overexploited, and this figure has been growing since 1974 and continues growing every year (see FAO graph below).

While it is worth noting that 10% of fish stocks globally are underfished, this percentage been falling since 1974.

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Image Credit: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2016) - State of World Fisheries.

Meanwhile, world population is expected to grow by another third by 2050 - nearing 9.7 Billion people (see chart below), and some fish stocks are already on the verge of collapse.

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Image Credit: United Nations (2015) World Population Prospects

In fact, a recent 2016 FAO report - "Fish to 2030" states, "Supplying fish sustainably--producing it without depleting productive natural resources and without damaging the precious aquatic environment--is a huge challenge. We continue to see excessive and irresponsible harvesting in the capture fisheries and in aquaculture. Disease outbreaks among other things, have heavily impacted production..."

So, while aquaculture and fish farming are growing and now represent about 1/2 of all fish produced in the world, there do remain some problems including pollution, disease outbreak, and some excessive use of wild fish as food for farmed fish, though this too, is improving.

Thus, it is remains difficult for me to understand how increased overexploitation and an increased world population who desires to consume more fish, could remain sustainable.

What's more, several fish species have been declared as critically endangered and threatened with extinction by the International Union on the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

And, to exacerbate the lack of sustainability in fisheries it has further been reported by the National Institutes of Health fish oils may not be as beneficial as believed. They are certainly not detrimental, but they don't really provide any major benefits.

According to the Institutes of Medicine, only the plant-based sources of omega-3s, Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA) and Linolenic Acid (LA) have reference intake values known as adequate intake levels, essentially meaning the minimum level we should be striving to eat every day. Meanwhile, DHA and EPA, the "famous omega-3s," those found in fish, do not. Besides that, DHA can be obtained from algal sources of omega-3.

Finally, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, climate change is expected to create problems with ocean health and fisheries health, through acidification (increasing mortality of certain shellfish and corals), temperature changes (displacing fish stocks), changes to important ocean currents, and even by worsening or increasing oceanic dead zones.

So, to conclude: I did mis-report some figures on overfishing. However, with overfishing growing and underfishing declining, with world population growing, climate change, and some overfishing and collapse of fisheries already present, I still believe that sustainable fish are hard to come by.

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On Finding a Rare and Special Bosque Treasure
During my regular excursions into the Bosque, the nearby grove of cottonwoods that border the Rio Grande (the largest such grove in New Mexico, North America, and supposedly the world), I'm always on the lookout for something remarkable and memorable -- something to revisit or to show to my Bosque-buddies. Most of these memorabilia are living, like a friendly coyote that hangs out in the same area, a school of carp in a ditch, or a certain Cooper's hawk that is sure to return to her nest every spring and with her mate conceive and nurture that year's nestlings. Others are unliving, like the stump that others and I had previously written about: a holy place for prayer, meditation, and meeting new friends.

Two days ago on a new path, I came on a very special Bosque treasure. It was a group of beautiful and healthy flowers (it's monsoon season in New Mexico). They are lily-like, tall, white, and proud. In the high desert where flowers - especially large, showy ones -- are scarce and thus looked upon with much admiration. No wonder the natives of the Southwest were enticed by the Jimson Weed (datura) to interact with it in several ways just as I was; however, for me, that meant learning about this beautiful find in the Internet.

For example, Peruvian-born American author Carlos Castaneda in his writings beginning with The Teachings of Don Juan in 1968 wrote extensively about this plant, in which he claimed that a "Yaqui Man of Knowledge" named Don Juan instructed him in the preparation and uses of all parts of the plant, roots, leaves, flowers and seeds for recreational and spiritual purposes.

Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium) is also called Sacred Thorn Apple, Sacred Datura, Devil's Snare, Angel Tulip, Mad Apple, Peru Apple, and Locoweed) is the name of a poisonous perennial plant and ornamental flower of southwestern North America. The leaves and seeds are used to make medicine as well as in spiritual practices around the world. Despite serious safety concerns, jimson weed is used to treat asthma, cough, flu (influenza), swine flu, and nerve diseases. Some people use it as a recreational drug to cause hallucinations and a heightened sense of well-being (euphoria).

Here are some interesting tidbits I harvested on the web about my new-found flower:

In 1676, a group of soldiers in Jamestown, Virginia accidentally dined on a salad made from D. stramonium leaves. They proceeded to exhibit very bizarre behavior. Thus the name became Jamestown Weed, which morphed into Jimson Weed.
Many North American peoples blend datura leaves with other herbs and kinnikinnick smoking blends to assist in "vision quests" (a rite of passage in some Native American cultures consisting of a series of ceremonies led by Elders including a complete fast while alone at a sacred site in nature.)
Anglophone settlers in California often called it "Indian whiskey" because of its ritual intoxicating use by many tribes; the name "sacred datura" has the same origin.
The Mixo of Oaxaca, Mexico believe that the plant spirit of datura is an elderly wise woman. When they harvest the seeds of the plant, they pray that she may heal the illness of the individual for whom the seeds are being harvested. The seeds are then consumed ritually.
Among the Zuni people, the powdered root is given as an anesthetic and a narcotic for surgery. They also apply a poultice of root and flower meal applied to wounds to promote healing. The Zuni people also use the plant for ceremonial and magical purposes. The root pieces are chewed by a robbery victim to determine the identity of the thief. The powdered root is used by rain priests in a number of ways to ensure fruitful rains.
"I asked Aunt Bett why we couldn't pick that beautiful white flower that bloomed in the evening and on into the night. She sat me down right then and there and told me the story of near death and destruction brought about by the misuse of the Devil's Plant. And she made me promise to never touch Devil's Plant no matter what, 'cause the devil got ahold of anybody who did." [from an Appalachian journalist]

So, in conclusion, I will be revisiting and paying my respects to the patch of Jimson weeds, until they retire for the winter; I will show them to my Bosque buddies; and I will eagerly await their return each late summer monsoon season; but what I won't do - I promise - is give their leaves, seeds, or roots a taste - or even a feel

Seedpods to carry about with you:

From Aldo Leopold: The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: 'What good is it?
From Henry David Thoreau: I went to the woods because I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow.
From George Washington Carver: I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
From Carlos Castaneda: For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length--and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.

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Just Stop Hurting Elephants
It's undeniable; elephants are majestic, captivating, inspiring, and magnificent. People across the globe pay attention to their well-being and their plight.

They amaze us as they traverse the African savannah or navigate the Asian tropical forests in matriarchal herds: grandmothers, mothers, daughters, granddaughters, aunts, nieces, and cousins, all living together in strong family systems. They disperse vital seeds, ensuring an enhanced and viable ecosystem. They mourn the dead in poignant burial rituals.

Yet, despite our profound love for elephants and amazement at their very existence, humans have a unique, inexplicable capacity to bring pain and suffering to individual elephants as we simultaneously engage in behaviors that hasten their demise in the wild.

Captive elephants suffer inexplicable indignity. They are forced to "live" in small enclosures that prevent their naturally gregarious and inquisitive behaviors. They languish with comparable immobility, never able to walk the long distances that their wild cousins do. They are forced to perform insane tricks for gawking onlookers that include balancing on a ball, walking on their back legs, perching their front legs on the elephant before them, and carrying thoughtless humans around a ring.

They don't do this willingly. They are "trained." This training is often accomplished with the use of the barbaric bullhook: a stick with a metal spike at the tip that is plunged behind the elephant's ear or into her leg. It's used to induce action; the right action; the action that the cruel trainer is seeking.

In California, no more.

This week, California governor Jerry Brown signed into law legislation introduced by state senator Ricardo Lara from Bell Gardens that prohibits keeping elephants anywhere that uses a "bullhook, ankus, baseball bat, axe handle, pitchfork, or other device designed to inflict pain for the purpose of training or controlling the behavior of an elephant."

Absolutely amazing! I extend my thanks and congratulations to The Humane Society of the United States, Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), and Oakland Zoo for sponsoring this important bill.

It's quite simple, isn't it? In 2016, there is no excuse for keeping elephants in captivity anywhere. They belong in the wild. But, in 2016, if an elephant is to be kept in captivity, there is no excuse for using a bullhook to control her. If you can't manage without a bullhook, get out of the elephant business.

California follows Rhode Island in making this compassionate legislative change. As far as I'm concerned, that's two states down--and 48 to go.

I certainly hope this puts more and more elephant attractions out of business. That said, there are still so many elephants sadly clinging to deprived lives in American zoos, bullhook or not. The San Antonio Zoo, for instance, has been expanding its captive elephant group by pulling elephants "on loan" from the Ringling Bros. circus elephant center in Florida. Imagine: an elephant is grotesquely forced to do stupid and demeaning tricks in a circus, shuttled around the country by rail. She's chained, year after year. When she's FINALLY "retired" to a comparatively peaceful new home in Florida, she's suddenly sent to a zoo in San Antonio. I think the phrase is something about adding insult to injury.

Again, an enlightened society should be moving elephants out of circuses and zoos, and into peaceful sanctuary life immediately and permanently. No excuses. They suffer in captivity, psychologically and physically. They die young in captivity.

Stop beating them with bullhooks. Stop incarcerating them in a living hell. Just stop.

Keep Wildlife in the Wild,

Adam

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Do You Have a Negative Attitude about Aging?
By Kate Wheeling

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Everyone reacts differently to stressful events, but new research, published last week in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, shows that our outlook on aging could affect how we deal with the stress of daily life.

Past research on how older adults react to stress has produced a mixed bag of results, according to Jennifer Bellingtier, a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University, and lead author on the new study. Some studies show that older individuals handle stress better compared to their younger peers, while others find older adults are worse off. Some show that both groups fare about the same. "We thought aging attitudes could be a factor that explains why these results are all over the place," Bellingtier says.

"The research base is definitely building that it's important to have positive attitudes toward aging," she explains. Adults who hold a more negative view of aging report lower levels of life satisfaction, well-being, and social supports, and they're more likely to be hospitalized or to die young.

To find out if aging attitudes could also influence stress responses day to day, the researchers sent nine days' worth of surveys to 43 adults between 60 and 96 years old. On day one, the survey assessed participants' general attitudes toward aging ("I am as happy now as I was when I was younger," for example). For the remaining eight days, participants filled out surveys before bed about any stressful events -- such as disagreements or health problems -- and their moods.

As the team predicted, stressful events had little effect on the moods of adults with positive attitudes toward aging. On the other hand, participants with more negative views about aging had stronger emotional reactions to daily stressors.

The takeaway, according to Bellingtier, is that it's not just hypothetical, future events like hospitalizations that attitude can influence. "What we're adding is that it's also affecting how you respond to daily life," Bellingtier says. "It's going to affect you right now."

There are, however, several factors that affect the generalizability of these results. The participants were mostly women, and the study group was relatively small (though Bellingtier notes that the team has nine data points for almost every participant, which makes the data set more statistically powerful than other studies with a similarly small sample size). Additionally, all the study participants were from the United States.

"When you're looking at aging attitudes, those are always in a cultural context," Bellingtier says. In the U.S., growing older is not typically seen as a positive thing; in the media, for example, older adults tend to be portrayed as a burden or the butt of jokes. Many other cultures view their elders as wise and worthy of respect. More research is needed to find out if those attitudes protect older adults in other cultures from day-to-day stress as well.

But given the growing evidence that what goes on in our minds can influence what goes on in our bodies, maybe we could all use an attitude adjustment.

This article was originally published on Pacific Standard. Read the original article.

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Autism Causes

By Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog

A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or ASD in a child can be devastating for parents. Scientists have been seeking the cause of ASD for decades but it still remains elusive. ASD is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that result in a wide range of symptoms, disabilities and skills. The official categorization of ASD includes three primary diagnoses: Autistic Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Delays - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome. The diagnosis of Autistic Disorder must include impairments in three cardinal domains: communication abnormalities, impaired social functions and repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Autistic Disorder is more on the severe end of the spectrum with impairments in all three domains. Autistics exhibit marked problems with social interactions, they have delayed and abnormal communications development with as many as 50% not speaking at all. Behaviorally, those affected can be insistent in maintaining routines, resist change and can engage in repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping or rocking.

People with PDD-NOS have some but not all of the symptoms of AD or another Pervasive Developmental Disorder. While those with Asperger's Syndrome have problems with social interaction and respond unusually to their environment much like individuals with autism. However, they do not have the communication and cognitive deficits. They can exhibit unusual idiosyncratic interests in very limited things, for example train schedules, snakes or the weather.

So what causes autism? Twin studies have revealed that there is a strong genetic component to autism. If one identical twin is affected with Autistic Disorder there is a 36-95% chance that the other twin will also be affected. While the risk for fraternal twins is 5-20% which is also the chance of a couple with an autistic child having a second child with autism. The second clue that there is a genetic component is that there are other known genetic disorders in which there are higher autism rates including Downs Syndrome, Turner Syndrome and duplications in chromosome 15.

The search for the gene(s) involved has been underway for many years. There are close to 800 genes that have been found altered in people with autism. It appears that different genes or combinations of altered genes lead to autism in different people. No two autistic individuals are likely to have the same genetic alterations leading. It has been determined that 5-10% of autistic individuals have acquired new mutations not present in their parents' genes. Gene alterations may couple with environmental exposures in causing autism. For example, gestational diabetes, folic acid deficiency at conception, in utero exposure to certain drugs, living near a city with air pollution all increase the risk for autism. There is also some evidence to suggest that the gut microbiome plays an important role in development and disruptions in the normal flora may also contribute to the development of ASD.

Scientists are working hard to understand the complex genetic and environmental factors that are involved in ASD. Unfortunately, the causes of ASD are very heterogeneous. One fact is irrefutable, autism is not caused by vaccinations.

Medical Discovery News is hosted by professors Norbert Herzog at Quinnipiac University, and David Niesel of the University of Texas Medical Branch. Learn more at www.medicaldiscoverynews.com.

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Sunrise in the Alps by Clemens Weiss

After a horrible thunderstorm at night, this sunrise made up for all the trouble we had to go through. Hope you guys like it

. : magic mushrooms : . by Martin Pfister

origin by Marta Bevacqua

out on Irk Magazine, with Juliet Searle and make up by Meyloo follow me on facebook : https://www.facebook.com/MartaBevacquaPhotography/ or instagram @martabevacqua for more photos and news. www.martabevacquaphotography.com

hangs. by Johannes Hoehn

Wake Up! by Erik Johansson

She became absorbed, oblivious to the passage of time. You can pretend to be asleep, but you can't pretend to be awake. A video showing the process of creating this image will be published in a few days...