Friday Fishy News - May 25

[Flattieman]

Study shows primitive fish had genetic wiring for limbs

By Will Dunham

Reuters Africa

May 23

Primitive fish already may have possessed the genetic wiring needed to grow hands and feet well before the appearance of the first animals with limbs roughly 365 million years ago, scientists said on Wednesday.

University of Chicago researchers were seeking clues behind a momentous milestone in the evolution of life on Earth -- when four-legged amphibians that descended from fish first colonized dry land. These first amphibians paved the way for reptiles, birds and mammals, including people.

"What we're interested in here is the transition from fin to limb -- a great evolutionary event," palaeontologist Neil Shubin, an author of the research with colleagues Marcus Davis and Randall Dahn, said in a telephone interview.

They studied one of the most primitive types of fish on Earth -- the long-snouted paddlefish Polyodon spathula -- and found the fish that predated the first land vertebrates may have possessed genetic underpinnings for limb development.

"What we found is that aspects of the genetic program and the patterns of gene activity that serve to make hands and feet are actually found in the fins of fish -- not just any fish but in primitive living fish," Shubin added.

The research was published in the journal Nature.

Paddlefish, found in freshwater locales in the United States and China, are early "ray-finned" fish. Their fleshy fins are structurally similar to fish predating the first land creatures. Their fins contain cartilage thought to correspond to the upper arm bone of land vertebrates, Shubin said.

While paddlefish are ancient, they did not exist at the time of the vertebrate conquest of land, but are seen as an evolutionary offshoot of some fish around at that time.

GENE PATTERNS

The researchers looked at so-called Hox genes -- which play an important role in limb development -- in paddlefish pectoral fins. They inserted molecular markers to track where these genes are active in the fin, and found the activity pattern resembled what these genes do in limbs of land dwellers.

The findings run counter to the theory that the appearance of limbs was a novel evolutionary occurrence requiring great genetic changes to enable the first limbed creatures to adapt to their new environments of streams and swamps.

The first forests sprouted up roughly 385 million years ago, with towering trees resembling modern-day palms, helping give rise to new freshwater ecosystems.

Shubin and other scientists last year announced the discovery of the remains of a creature called Tiktaalik dating back to 375 million years ago and seen as a missing evolutionary link between fish and the first land vertebrates.

It had fish-like characteristics, but it boasted a skull, neck, ribs and parts of limbs resembling the first amphibians such as Acanthostega that arose 5 to 10 million years later.

"So it seems like you had the genetic tool kit (for limbs) for a long period of time," Shubin said. "And then, when the new ecosystems appear at around the time of Tiktaalik and slightly before, that's when forms started to use that to make true fingers and toes and stuff like that."

WTO Is Key to Avoiding Collapse in Fish Stocks, Scientists Say

By Warren Giles

www.bloomberg.com

Geneva

May 24

The global supply of fish is on the brink of collapse and without an agreement at the World Trade Organization to stop overfishing, damage to marine life may be permanent within decades, a group of scientists warns.

Government aid worth $20 billion a year, or a quarter of the value of the global fish catch, is aggravating the problem, say scientists led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Canada and Daniel Pauly of the University of British Columbia. Harmful techniques including bottom trawling, which scrapes the ocean floor, are made viable because of the handouts that subsidize fuel and improve equipment on fishing vessels.

The U.S. is pushing for new WTO rules outlawing aid such as low-cost fuel or loan guarantees for gear that allows boats to stay at sea for longer and catch fish more easily. An estimated 90 percent of so-called big fish such as swordfish, tuna and marlin have already disappeared, Worm wrote in a study published in Nature magazine in 2003.

``The WTO negotiations represent the best opportunity to control worldwide subsidies to the fishing sector,'' the scientists wrote today in a letter to WTO Director General Pascal Lamy. ``The majority of the world's fish populations are in jeopardy from overfishing and if current trends continue, will be beyond recovery within decades.''

Global fishery subsidies of all types total as much as $34 billion a year, with Japan and the European Union together accounting for more than a fifth of that amount, according to a study last year by the University of British Columbia. The handouts keep too many people in the fishing industry, undermining efforts to conserve fish stocks, the study said.

The WTO negotiations are part of wider efforts to get a global accord cutting farm subsidies and import duties on machinery and to simplify customs paperwork.

Heart attack victims should take fish oil pill daily

By Jenny Hope

Daily Mail - UK

May 22

Thousands of heart attack survivors will be prescribed fish oil supplements on the NHS each year to prevent a repeat attack.

New guidelines recommend cardiac patients get one gram of omega-3 fatty acids every day to reduce the risk of dying by up to 45 per cent.

However, the guidelines only suggest pills for patients who have had a heart attack in the previous three months and are not getting enough oily fish in their diet.

An estimated one in five of 270,000 patients surviving a heart attack each year is expected to benefit.

But more than 1.2 million Britons who survived a heart attack before March will not qualify for supplements - which cost around £1 a day.

Experts drawing up guidelines for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said lifestyle changes were as important as drugs in preventing a recurrent heart attack.

Patients will be told to follow a Mediterranean diet, which is typically rich in fruit, vegetables, grains, olive oil and fish.

They should also be given advice on giving up smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, safe drinking levels and exercising for 20 to 30 minutes a day.

Cardiac rehabilitation, including advice on diet and exercise, is also given a new priority.

Professor Gene Feder, who worked on the guidance, said research evidence supported starting fish oils in the first three months after an attack.

While NICE did not suggest other heart attack victims stop taking fish oil supplements, "what we feel confident about is that three-month window", he said.

The estimated cost of prescribing fish oils is £7 million in the first year.

London GP Dr Sarah Jarvis, chairwoman of the International Cod Liver Omega-3 Foundation, said the guidance marks a turning point in preventing recurrent heart attacks.

But she was sceptical about the reason for withholding fish oils on the NHS from many thousands of survivors who might benefit.

She said "A Mediterranean-style diet and fish oil omega-3 should be actively recommended and prescribed for all patients being discharged from hospital following a heart attack.

"It is much healthier and more cost effective for the NHS to recommend fish oil supplements to patients than some drugs that are widely prescribed to patients for many other conditions."

"It's a cost-cutting measure which is short-sighted as preventing heart attacks is very cost-effective."

She added that a major study from Japan published in The Lancet last month confirmed the advantages for people before they have even had a heart attack.

Professor Feder denied that restricting free access to the pills was a cost-cutting measure. He also said patients would be advised not to take beta-carotene (vitamin A) supplements and doctors should not recommend vitamin E, C or folic acid to reduce heart attack risk.

Although the UK death rate from coronary heart disease has been falling since the early 1970s, it still remains one of the highest in Europe, with more than 103,000 deaths a year.

Omacor, which is licensed for post-heart attack treatment, has been shown in clinical trials to cut the risk of sudden death by up to 45 per cent.

Omega 3 fats are important throughout adult life for mental wellbeing but in particular help heart patients, and those with arthritis, by blocking the body's response to inflammation.

They cut blood fats, reduce the chances of a blood clot and block dangerous heart rhythms that might otherwise prove fatal.

Steve Shaffelburg, Policy Manager at the British Heart Foundation said "These NICE guidelines are welcome - but we have been here before. "We have already seen many Government documents and clinical guidelines which stress the importance of cardiac rehabilitation for all eligible patients, but it still remains a ‘Cinderella service’, with 60 per cent of heart patients who need rehabilitation still not getting access."

Foreign predator fish threaten local species

Reuters - South Africa

May 22

Predatory imported fish such as trout, bass and carp are crowding out many local species in one of the few places in the world still rich in biodiversity.

First introduced in the 18th century and hugely popular with local and foreign anglers, the imported fish form an integral part of a burgeoning recreational fishing industry, estimated to contribute about R18billion to the economy.

But they are invasive and have already made several species in the Western Cape extinct.

One site in the Cape Floristic Region where indigenous species are fighting for survival is the Bot River, which flows through wetlands housing waterfowl and wild horses in a fertile valley of wine farms.

"It's a sad river," said Dean Impson, aquatic scientist at Cape Nature Conservation. "These are sad rivers from an ecological point of view because they are like little deserts, the alien fish are in them and they've eliminated most, if not all, of the indigenous fish."

A new plan to rid local rivers of the fish has sparked a fresh environmental debate, and could pit the interests of fishing and tourism against those keen to preserve indigenous species.

Some conservationists are hoping to use a controversial natural poison to eradicate the invaders as part of a global effort to save the freshwater fish, which experts say are among the most threatened group of animals on earth.

Impson is among those conservationists who, with backing from the World Bank, hope the biodegradable poison Rotenone can help to protect the Western Cape from alien fish.

Other ecologists fear Rotenone, an insecticide and piscicide derived from the roots of beans, could do more harm than good in the fragile freshwater ecosystems.

Although it targets a narrow range of species, it also kills insects and in rare circumstances, humans. So it poses high risks for an area that is also home to a rich diversity of plant species, experts say.

A UN study last year said human activities were causing the biggest wave of extinctions since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65million years ago.

Global warming, pollution, expanding networks of cities and roads, a growing human population and invasive species - such as rabbits in Australia - are putting many native species under pressure.

In North America at least 150 species of fish are critically endangered or extinct, according to professor Jenny Day, head of the freshwater research unit at the University of Cape Town.

In East Africa's Lake Victoria, as many as 200 species have been wiped out by just one fish, the Nile Perch.

"Extrapolated on a global scale, thousands of species of fish are likely to become extinct in our lifetime," said Day.

Many types of local fish in rivers running through the Cape Floristic Region have also fallen victim to the alien species, which were still being introduced up to the 1960s from Asia, Europe and North America.

The local species are much smaller than the newcomers and have evolved without naturally occurring predators.

As a result, nine out of 19 indigenous species in the Western Cape are listed as critically endangered.

These include the Cape Galaxias, a relic of the ancient polar supercontinent of Gondwana, which included most of the land of the southern hemisphere and broke up about 65million years ago.

The fish's closest relatives are found in Chile, Australia and New Zealand.

Another four species are listed as vulnerable in the region.

The Cape Action for People and the Environment group is underwaterheading the battle against alien fish with support from the World Bank's Global Environment Facility, which helps countries fund projects to protect the environment.

A study set for next month will determine Rotenone's impact on aquatic biodiversity and whether it has any adverse social or economic effects.

If approved, Rotenone could be used.

If Rotenone is not approved, conservationists may turn to other methods such as electro-fishing, where an electric current is used to stun and catch fish.

Conservationists may in any case soon have another battle on their hands as local fishermen restock rivers cleared of alien fish for their lucrative industry.

Eugene Kruger, editor of SA Bass magazine, said the threat from the alien fish was exaggerated.

"They have only impacted on inconsequential little fish in the streams of the Western Cape," he said.

Are you getting the fish you ordered?

By Stuart Watson

WCNC News - California

May 21

When you go to a fish market, it’s easy to tell a catfish from a grouper – and not just by the price. But once the fish is cooked, it’s harder to tell the two fish apart. Our investigation found a pattern of fish substitution, and in some cases, it could threaten the diner’s health.

We began by taking hidden cameras and going dining, but instead of eating all our fish, we scooped it into plastic bags, sealed it and shipped it to a lab where we paid for it to be DNA tested - to see if you're getting grouper when you order grouper.

At Vinnie's on South Boulevard we ordered the signature grouper sandwich. We also ordered grouper at RJ Gator's on University City Boulevard.

WCNC reporter Stuart Watson can be heard clearly on the hidden camera video asking, "That's grilled grouper right?"

The RJ Gator server replies "Yes sir."

And at Boardwalk Billy's in the University Shoppes, the server asks, "What you need, just a fried grouper sandwich?"

Watson replied, "Grouper sandwich, make it grilled."

We also tested sit-down restaurants: Bonefish Grill on Pineville-Matthews Road and McCormick & Schmick's in South Park.

Watson tells the McCormick & Schmick’s waiter, "I want to get grouper."

The SouthPark server says, “OK,” and adds "I would, think (it's) one of our best dishes."

We shipped our fish to the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where Dr. Mahmood Shivji compared the DNA of the fish we ordered to federal databases of other known fish.

“Actually I was shocked by the results in the sense that I didn't expect the magnitude of substitution that we found in these particular cases,” said Dr. Shivji.

Bonefish Grill was the only restaurant that actually served us grouper. The results: four out of five restaurants substituted another fish for grouper.

Dr. Shivji says, “The consumer is buying a mislabeled product and paying a higher price for it and that is really consumer fraud.”

But if it's not grouper - what are diners eating?

At Vinnie's - home of the original grouper sandwich - the "original grouper" sandwich is actually catfish. When we went back to ask the manager about it - he said he had no idea.

The Vinnie’s Manager said, “We don't do that. We don't condone any misleading whatsoever.”

At the highest priced restaurant, McCormick & Schmick's at Southpark, the menu said we were getting fresh North Carolina black grouper from the Albemarle Sound for $22.95. Our test showed the fish was actually in the croaker/drum family. Managers said they'll look into it.

The McCormick & Schmick’s managers said, “We never want to put something on that isn't what it is. I'll get that date. I'll go back through and I'll try to pinpoint it.” General Manager Matt Ryder later phoned to say the restaurant had modified the menu and the chef is now ordering fish with the skin on.

The lab couldn't even match the DNA of the fish that was served as grouper at RJ Gators. They don't know what it is. One thing they do know: “We were able to tell with complete certainty it was not a grouper,” said Dr. Shivji.

The manager at RJ Gators showed us the box the grouper filets are delivered in. It's clearly labeled grouper, product of China.

“It's what we serve, (it) is grouper,” said RJ Gator’s manager.

And at Boardwalk Billy's, our lab found the grouper was again catfish. The kitchen manager also showed us the box which he insisted was grouper.

“This is our grouper filets, here which is Asian grouper, definitely not catfish,” said the Broadwalk Billy manager.

But the so-called grouper is labeled "Pangasius Hypothalamus, product of Vietnam."

The Broadwalk Billy manager added, “I definitely believe in truth in advertising and anything on the menu is 100 percent what we say it is.”

But Pangasius Hypothalmus is just a fancy way of saying Asian catfish. It's not grouper.

In two cases the fish we got when we ordered grouper were really catfish.

And not just any old pond raised catfish.

Asian catfish – raised half a world away in Vietnam.

Then we learned that the same kind of fish has been banned in some southeastern states because it contained antibiotics banned in food by the FDA.

Keep in mind WCNC’S DNA tests found not one but two of the five grouper samples were really catfish.

The kitchen manager at Boardwalk Billy's in the University Shoppes in Charlotte produced the box he said the fish came from - labeled Pangasius Hypothalmus - Asian catfish - product of Vietnam.

Jeff McCord who represents the Catfish Institute, an industry trade group of American catfish farmers, told us such substitution is “…out and out fraud and because some of the products are potentially harmful it's an extremely dangerous fraud.”

“Potentially harmful" because - as an Australian documentary distributed by the Catfish Institute shows - Vietnamese catfish are often raised in the polluted waters of the Mekong River. The documentary depicts stagnant, putrid water where even the fish are dying. And some Vietnamese farmers have kept the catfish alive by killing fungus with an industrial dye known to cause cancer.

Two years ago Alabama's Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks tested Vietnamese catfish and found traces of the cancer-causing dye plus antibiotics banned by the FDA, and barred the tainted fish from the state. Just last month the Vietnamese fish again tested positive for a type of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones which also have been banned by the FDA in the food supply.

“It’s very simple,” said Commissioner Sparks. “As long as they continue to use those wide-spectrum antibiotics and we catch it, we're going to ban it, we're going to turn it around and we're going to ship it back to them.”

Authorities in the catfish producing states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Georgia have also tested or banned the Asian catfish.

But at Boardwalk Billy’s the kitchen manager said it's common industry practice to serve the catfish as grouper. He said he knew a couple of restaurants that serve the exact same thing including Vinnie’s – a bar and restaurant. And our test found the "original grouper sandwich" at Vinnie's on South Boulevard in Charlotte is actually catfish as well.

The kitchen manager at Boardwalk Billy’s told us he had bought the same product from SYSCO and, in his words, “They all label it grouper.” SYSCO is one of the nation’s largest food suppliers. The manager at Vinnie’s on South Boulevard said SYSCO supplies his so-called grouper. But a local SYSCO manager denies this, saying SYSCO supplies some food to Vinnie's but not fish.

This isn’t the first time SYSCO has been mentioned in connection with a fish switch.

A fishing industry insider in the Florida panhandle tipped federal agents three years ago that SYSCO and other food dealers were buying catfish labeled as grouper. Last year a Panama City importer, Danny Nguyen, pleaded guilty to the federal fish scam and is currently serving a sentence in prison.

In a sworn affidavit filed as part of a search warrant in the case, a confidential informant told federal authorities she alerted the food dealers to the swap, but she said most "...continued to buy and sell (catfish) as grouper because of the profit...."

Asian catfish costs a third less than American catfish and much less than real grouper, which is caught in the ocean and not raised in ponds or aquaculture. Jeff McCord of the Catfish Institute said, “Chinese catfish goes for a dollar or more a pound less. Catfish filets sell for about three dollars a pound so a dollar difference is huge.” SYSCO was never charged in connection with the Panama City case. The company said it cleared itself in the seafood fraud case. An internal investigation concluded SYSCO never bought fish from the guilty importer.

WCNC also followed fish to another big supplier. Remember the box of fish labeled "grouper" that the manager showed us at RJ Gators in the University area of Charlotte? The box marked "Product of China.” Remember our test couldn't tell what this fish was - just that it wasn't grouper.

Also printed on the corner of the box from RJ Gators was the name of the distributor: Slade Gorton and Company, Boston, Massachusetts, one of the nation’s largest seafood importers.

Jeff McCord of the Catfish Institute responded, “Slade Gorton is a major, major distributor so if they are mislabeling, to me this says this is an extremely common practice in the United States."

But Slade Gorton's vice president of sales insists the fish was grouper. He said the company does its own outside testing for every shipment from China and those tests verify the product labeled grouper was in fact grouper.

So why didn't the DNA tests WCNC paid reach the same conclusion?

The Slade Gorton sales manager said it might be because we tested cooked fish, which he claimed would change the DNA from raw fish. But Mahmood Shivji, the Ph.D at the Guy Harvey Research Institute who conducted our tests said it’s not possible to change the DNA of fish without subjecting it to extremely high temperatures.

The head of the Food and Drug Safety division at North Carolina’s Department of Agriculture said he will investigate the restaurants and food suppliers named in our report. He said he’ll ask for samples of the fish labeled as grouper for testing. If he confirms the fish is not grouper, he says it’s a violation of state and federal law and he’ll take action.

Flattieman.