Science Debate: dedicated to bringing science out of the shadows

It's been a while since I have mentioned ScienceDebate.org. This is an organization dedicated to revitalizing the position of science within public awareness and the policy-making decision process. This is something I feel strongly about: the role of science is critical with regards to many of the worldwide issues facing us today. Whether it is climate change, alternative energy, conservation, or medicine - the information that we will need to make decisions and set policy will come from the research and data that science produces.

And yet society has lost touch with much of the scientific world, seeing science as obscure or irrelevant. But, especially today, that couldn't be further from the truth. And whose to blame? Well, it's a little bit between both sides. Society has lost interest in science, perhaps with the end of the space race. By reaching the moon, one of the most momentous goals was reached by man and we have perhaps been living in the letdown of that event ever since.

But the science community has also allowed that to happen. By not making mass communication a vital component of their research, by not realizing that reaching the layman with the results and implications of their research is almost as important as the research itself, they have stepped back into the academic shadows and must now fight for attention and funding.

ScienceDebate.org tries to close that gap. Here is a link to two video clips from their web site: an MSNBC interview with Chris Mooney, ScienceDebate's founder, and a portion of a speech by Vice President Al Gore to a group of scientists at a meeting of the AAAS. I found both clips very interesting.

According to Chris Mooney, a recent survey showed that 84% of scientists believe that global warming is man-made (so there is some room for healthy debate on the issue). But only 49% of the general public believe the same. That discrepancy is indicative of the problem.

Click here to watch the videos at the ScienceDebate.org web site and learn what ScienceDebate.org is all about.

Aquaculture News: greenhouse gas emmissions and fish meal substitutes

A lot of interesting discussions have come out of the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This one was reported in Science News and concerned the carbon footprint of aquaculture operations.

I am one of those who is a firm believer in aquaculture as a method to meet seafood demands without decimating wild populations, but it is in its infancy and is experiencing all of the growing pains associated with a new technological enterprise. According to the AAAS panel, in the growing/feeding process there are greenhouse gas emissions associated with the type of food used (in addition to harvesting/catching and shipping methods). Monitoring aquaculture operations in several countries, it was determined that when certain types of plant-based meal are introduced, there is a lower level of greenhouse gas emissions. However, not all plant-based meal produces positive results; wheat gluten or palm oil produced higher gas levels.

However, there are others hard at work at other possible beneficial substitutes. Reported in the Coloradoan, a Fort Collins brewery is developing a technique in which a portion of it's brewery waste products can be converted into a fish meal substitute. (Not sure if you end up with drunken fish, though!) The significance of finding a replacement for fish meal is due to the declining populations of anchovies and sardines. These "feeder fish" not only support the fish meal trade but are important prey items for larger fish, all the way up to tuna and dolphins (not to mention its value to low-income human populations).

There are those who say that fish raised on fish meal, as opposed to plant meal, tastes better. This may be due to the different oils found in each. According to the Fish Site, a Brazilian soybean processor is developing a technique for extracting oil from algae which would be high in omega-3 fatty acids, similar to fish meal. An acre of algae can produce up to 42,000 gallons of oil compared to only 210 gallons from an acre of soybean. The company is also looking into methods for capturing the CO2 emissions given off by the processing plant and directing it to the algae which uses it in photosynthesis.

With industrial open water fishing continuing to deplete fish populations worldwide, each stride to improve the efficiency and environmental impact of aquaculture is a great step forward.

Many thanks to Seaweb.org for the heads up on these news items.

Scientists Confer: signs of progress in ocean conservation

The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science recently concluded in Chicago and one of the results of the meeting was a recognition of progress in several areas of ocean conservation, particularly regarding fishery management in developing areas and coral reef health in protected or managed areas.

Several areas were cited for improved sealife populations due to effective fisheries management including Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Vanuatu. These regions were able to develop management programs that involved local communities in determining and managing protected areas. One of the challenges being faced is in "mid-development" countries - countries that have a growing commercial need for fishing but do not have the infrastructure in place to effectively manage their ocean resources. Poorer nations do not have the commercial means to severely impact their local sealife populations whereas well-developed countries have the required infrastructure in place to implement and enforce management policies. In between are the transitional mid-development countries that need both large bureaucratic and local community involvement - and there are places that have done that successfully.

"One of the things that we’re seeing that is giving me some signs of hope is that in many places throughout the Western Indian Ocean, there’s a real trend toward co-management. We’re seeing a very big devolution of power of managing of coastal resources from centralized governments toward communities," said Josh Cinner, social scientist from James Cook University. "There are some instances where you see examples of blending customary management and contemporary management. Where we do see this happening, we see great success—places like Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, where there is considerably more fish inside of these community-managed areas."

During the annual meeting, it was also noted that healthy reef marine ecosystems have been shown to better withstand changes in their environment (temperature change, coral bleaching, etc.) - much like a healthy individual's ability to better ward off diseases due to good health that builds a strong immune system. The Pacific's Northern Line Islands were cited as an example and broader success is hoped for as these islands are within the larger U.S. National Marine Monument recently established.