Monster Goldfish Found in Lake Tahoe
By Tanya Lewis and LiveScience
Thursday, February 21, 2013
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/monster-goldfish-found-in/
Thursday, February 21, 2013
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/monster-goldfish-found-in/
Summary
Aquarium dumping has been a common practice in the U.S. but it has caused a disturbance for wildlife. The species that are dumped into the water become invasive species which interferes with ecosystems. Despite there being no statistics of aquatic animal dumping, scientists know this practice is happening because there is no way the species that humans are dumping could have gotten there naturally. "'Globally, the aquarium trade has contributed a third of the world's worst aquatic and invasive species,' Williams..." The other ways species can invade are by aquaculture, live seafood, live bait, and fishing and recreation vessels. A simple solution to prevent this issue from occurring again is to not dump your fishes, instead call the pet shop that sold you the fish or your state department of fish and wildlife.
Aquarium dumping has been a common practice in the U.S. but it has caused a disturbance for wildlife. The species that are dumped into the water become invasive species which interferes with ecosystems. Despite there being no statistics of aquatic animal dumping, scientists know this practice is happening because there is no way the species that humans are dumping could have gotten there naturally. "'Globally, the aquarium trade has contributed a third of the world's worst aquatic and invasive species,' Williams..." The other ways species can invade are by aquaculture, live seafood, live bait, and fishing and recreation vessels. A simple solution to prevent this issue from occurring again is to not dump your fishes, instead call the pet shop that sold you the fish or your state department of fish and wildlife.
Reflection
I never realized that dumping aquatic animals into nature could be a bad thing because whenever I think about it, people are usually more preoccupied with the fact that they don't want their fishes to die. However, it makes sense though because by dumping fishes in habitats they don't belong in, you would be introducing foreign species into a new habitat which is no different from accidently carrying a species via car from another state to your home state. I have had fishes before but they all died because I over fed them so I never had to think about dumping them.
I never realized that dumping aquatic animals into nature could be a bad thing because whenever I think about it, people are usually more preoccupied with the fact that they don't want their fishes to die. However, it makes sense though because by dumping fishes in habitats they don't belong in, you would be introducing foreign species into a new habitat which is no different from accidently carrying a species via car from another state to your home state. I have had fishes before but they all died because I over fed them so I never had to think about dumping them.
Next Steps
The article didn't mention what they were going to do about the dumping of aquatic animals. The reason for that is probably because there really is no way to prevent people from doing so. The best thing the scientists can do is raise awareness about the effects of dumping aquatic animals so people are aware and won't do so anymore. If I had to guess, then that would be the scientist's next steps.
The article didn't mention what they were going to do about the dumping of aquatic animals. The reason for that is probably because there really is no way to prevent people from doing so. The best thing the scientists can do is raise awareness about the effects of dumping aquatic animals so people are aware and won't do so anymore. If I had to guess, then that would be the scientist's next steps.