Ocean acidifcation .

[GordMay]

It may not be a cataclysmic turning point in the climate crisis, but global warming has officially come for your fish tacos. According to a new study*, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, higher ocean temperatures are causing the mercury content of certain fish to increase.
Emissions of mercury have declined over time, which should theoretically result in a decrease in its levels in seafood. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, especially when it comes to big ‘predatory’ fish, like swordfish and tuna, according to the new study. One of the potential reasons is overfishing, which can change species’ diets by altering the availability of certain links in the underwater food chain.
For example, Atlantic cod traditionally feed on haddock but have had to shift toward eating more, uh, juicy Maine lobster (wow, what slim pickings). Because lobsters usually have less mercury in them than haddock, cod’s overall mercury content has gone down. But other species like the dogfish have not been so fortunate. Deprived of their usual diet of herring, dogfish have been gobbling up more squid and octopuses, which are higher in mercury.
And here’s where climate change comes into play: as waters warm, the researchers found, big fish like bluefin tuna have to expend more energy just to survive, so they end up eating more. Like humans after a workout, their metabolism shoots up, and they simply need more calories. So overheated fish are ending up with higher levels of mercury because they’re eating more mercury-containing food than usual.

“Climate change and overfishing increase neurotoxicant in marine predators” ~ by Amina T. Schartup et al.
Abstract ➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1468-9
Full Article ➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s415...rrer=grist.org


The bottom line may be: The authors are blaming (fish) overeating on global warming.

[geoleo]

Back in the early 1960 s there was a widespread highly publicized scare that Swordfish would kill you because they were "contaminated" with Mercury. Later, maybe 15 years later, it was published that Swordfish always had mercury in them. meanwhile I kept on eating broiled swordfish steaks at my favorite little Georgetown restaurant. "The Potomac ." Right by Key Bridge.

[GordMay]

All fish have some mercury. When small fish with low mercury levels get eaten by bigger fish, the amount of mercury biomagnifies. For this reason, long-lived fish and top-level predators like swordfish and shark often have the highest mercury levels.
You can’t see, smell, or taste mercury contamination in fish. Cooking has no effect on it, and you can’t avoid it by cutting off the skin, trimming fat, or other parts of the fish.

Health Canada has identified certain fish as being of more concern when it comes to mercury in fish, including tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy and escolar.

According to the NRDC, king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish, ahi tuna, and bigeye tuna all contain high levels of mercury.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by GordMay

All fish have some mercury. When small fish with low mercury levels get eaten by bigger fish, the amount of mercury biomagnifies. For this reason, long-lived fish and top-level predators like swordfish and shark often have the highest mercury levels.
You can’t see, smell, or taste mercury contamination in fish. Cooking has no effect on it, and you can’t avoid it by cutting off the skin, trimming fat, or other parts of the fish.

Health Canada has identified certain fish as being of more concern when it comes to mercury in fish, including tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy and escolar.

According to the NRDC, king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish, ahi tuna, and bigeye tuna all contain high levels of mercury.

this from a government that is pushing for all people to go vegan and stop eating meat

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by newhaul

this from a government that is pushing for all people to go vegan and stop eating meat

I would have thought that fish flesh is meat because it is from an animal. Isn’t one definition of the word meat, "animal flesh".
Just saying ... I know that's not the general consensus opinion.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by newhaul

this from a government that is pushing for all people to go vegan and stop eating meat

WOW -all those Tuna eating high dollar paying Japanese sushi lovers must start toppling over soon

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I would have thought that fish flesh is meat because it is from an animal. Isn’t one definition of the word meat, "animal flesh".
Just saying ... I know that's not the general consensus opinion.

that's why I said vegan .
Fish are living creatures therefore vegans can't eat them .
Vegetarians can . Distinction without a real difference.

Me I will continue to eat my tuna . And any other big fish I catch.

[GordMay]

Vegetarians, pescatarians, ostrovegans, & vegans: The distinction between which cut-up, and cooked animal bodies (&/or byproducts), people of different faith or opinion choose to eat (or not eat) is a fascinating display of historical, social, religious, emotional, economic, and scientific beliefs.
I, myself, love vegetables, so refuse to eat them.

This just in, from CBC:
Fight climate change by eating meat, Ottawa farmers say
➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...tawa-1.5244343

[GordMay]

[ImaginaryNumber]

Ocean acidification harms cod larvae more than previously thought

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0219111723.htm

[Arthur Garfield]

the Dodo didn't think human would change their climate either

https://news.mit.edu/2019/carbon-thr...xtinction-0708

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by ImaginaryNumber

Ocean acidification harms cod larvae more than previously thought

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0219111723.htm

have you read the abstract of the actual study quoted in the article?
From the abstract

We combined CO2 treatments (ambient: 503 µatm, elevated: 1,179 µatm) with food availability in order to evaluate the effect of energy limitation in addition to the ocean acidification stressor. As expected, larval size (as a proxy for growth) and skeletogenesis were positively affected by high food availability. We found significant interactions between acidification and food availability. Larvae fed ad libitum showed little difference in growth and skeletogenesis due to the CO2 treatment

The way they seem to have gotten the results the title suggests was to limit the food supply considerably. And it is a proven fact that a limited food supply during critical stages of development do have detrimental effects.

Again from the abstract

Larvae under energy limitation were significantly larger and had further developed skeletal structures in the elevated CO2 treatment compared to the ambient CO2 treatment. However, the elevated CO2 group revealed impairments in critically important organs, such as the liver, and had comparatively smaller functional gills indicating a mismatch between size and function.

There was no stated frame of reference for the reduced food supply .

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Arthur Garfield

the Dodo didn't think human would change their climate either

https://news.mit.edu/2019/carbon-thr...xtinction-0708

this article or variations of it have been published for a couple of years .

It is just a writers opinion and not based on any actual study that can be specifically referenced.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Vegetarians, pescatarians, ostrovegans, & vegans: The distinction between which cut-up, and cooked animal bodies (&/or byproducts), people of different faith or opinion choose to eat (or not eat) is a fascinating display of historical, social, religious, emotional, economic, and scientific beliefs.
I, myself, love vegetables, so refuse to eat them.
]

and here I thought vegan, vegetarian , were words used to politely call a person a bad hunter or bad fisherman.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by newhaul

and here I thought vegan, vegetarian , were words used to politely call a person a bad hunter or bad fisherman.

INDEED!