James Owen
for National Geographic News

February 12, 2008

The growing global appetite for cheap farmed salmon is imperiling wild fish populations across the planet, scientists warn.

The first worldwide assessment of the impact of cultivated salmon on wild stocks found that where native populations encounter salmon farms, the numbers of wild fish crash, on average, by more than 50 percent.

The farmed fish spread diseases and parasites to wild salmon. Some cultivated escapees also interbreed with the native fish, reducing the ability of their offspring to survive, researchers say.

"The overall trend, over and over again around the world, is that salmon farming seems to have a negative impact on wild salmon," said lead researcher Jennifer Ford of Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

To read more, please use the folowing link

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080212-salmon-lice.html

 

From: TCPalm - West Palm Beach,FL,USA

By Elliott Jones
Friday, February 1, 2008

VERO BEACH (Florida) — An injured bald eagle disappeared into the night west of here — and wildlife officials are asking for public help in finding it.

The mature eagle, with a drooping wing, was in a front yard late Wednesday afternoon about two miles southwest of the intersection of Oslo Road and Interstate 95. Then it leaped and fluttered over a large clump of vegetation and vanished in an area of cattle pastures.

Vero Beach wildlife officer Bruce Dangerfield unsuccessfully searched for almost two hours Wednesday night, covering an area about 100 yards in either direction from where it was last seen.

Now Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, Jupiter, is asking anyone who sees the bird to call the wildlife rescue agency that currently is caring for six other injured bald eagles from throughout Florida.

TheStar.com | sciencetech | Bird counts puzzle experts BIRD COUNT PUZZLES EXPERTS

January 30, 2008 Ontario's eagles are soaring while sparrows fall.
Ontario survey shows steep decline for some songbirds, but trend improving for raptors.

The picture across the province is that eagles and most other big birds of prey are doing well but many smaller species, including swallows and other familiar songbirds, are in steep decline, according to a new edition of The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario.

Those in trouble are being hurt by urban sprawl, the intensification of agriculture and a mysterious drop in insect populations that might be related to climate change.

"Population trends are generally positive for birds of prey, but biologists are expressing concern about the fate of grassland birds and those that feed on flying insects," says a statement from the organizers of a massive survey that led to the first update of the atlas in 20 years.

Stephen Hume, Special to the Vancouver Sun

Published: Monday, January 28, 2008

If British Columbia's wild salmon runs were damaged by a sea lice crisis similar to those in Norway, Scotland and Ireland, who should be accountable?

Chief Darren Blaney of the Xwemalhkwu First Nation figures government. So Blaney is urging fellow chiefs to start thinking about class action suits directed at governments constitutionally required to protect wild fish for first nations but which always seem to place industrial interests first.

"I've talked to some of the Sto:lo chiefs about it already," Blaney says. He plans to bring the idea forward again at a cross-border meeting of tribal chiefs and elders from around the Georgia Basin.

This year it's in Tulalip, Wash. Washington tribes share Fraser River sockeye stocks, so he may find sympathy south of the 49th parallel. Not to mention among upper Fraser bands who rely on sockeye runs for food.

The Bird Treatment and Learning Centre in Anchorage, Alaska, took 30 of the bald eagles from the mishap at Ocean Beauty Seafood in Kodiak (see previous articles for details).

 The unexpected flood of eagles is increasing their expenses drastically and they need your help. 

 The following is important contact information from the Center's website :

 Please bring your salmon or cash donation to

Bird Treatment and Learning Center
6132 Nielson Way
Anchorage, Alaska 99518

Or call our office with your credit card donation

907-562-4852

Thank you in advanced for your help!

To see daily updates on the eagles (including pictures), please visit The Bird Treatment and Learning Center here: http://birdtlc.blogspot.com/

A key annual event in the recovery of bald eagle populations is entering its 30th year this week as hundreds of observers nationwide take part in the Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey. Observers from federal, state and local agencies, as well as conservation groups and private citizens, will participate in the survey by counting eagles along standard routes from January 2-16.

"The purpose of the survey is to monitor the status of wintering populations of bald eagles in the contiguous United States by estimating national and regional count trends," said Wade Eakle, the national survey coordinator and an ecologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This is the first time the USACE is coordinating the survey. 

This week, the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) also announces results of a new analysis using the count data from 1986 through 2005. The analysis, based on 178,896 observations of wintering eagles during 8,674 surveys of 746 routes in 43 states, shows counts of wintering bald eagles increasing nationwide at a rate of 1.7% per year. Increases in counts over the 20-year period were highest in the northeast portion of the United States, with a 6% increase each year. In contrast, counts in the southwest portion decreased 1.2% each year over 20 years. Seventy-six percent of survey routes north of 40 degrees latitude had increasing count trends, but only 50% of routes south of 40 degrees latitude showed increasing trends.

Ian Austin, The Vancouver Province

Published: Thursday, January 10, 2008

B.C.'s bald eagles are in fine shape, despite disappointing results at the annual Brackendale Bald Eagle Count.

Volunteers out in the snow last Sunday counted just 893 eagles -- the lowest tally since 1990 -- but B.C.'s top bird expert says the species is in fine shape.

"The North American eagle population is burgeoning," said Myke Chutter, provincial bird specialist with the Environment Ministry. "From 1980 to 2004, the number of bald eagles increased from 70,000 to 300,000 in North America, and from 28,500 to 60,000 in B.C."