Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Critics say eels could be smuggled eastwards towards Asia but exporter says they are for ‘restocking’ project Millions of critically endangered eels have been exported from the Severn estuary to Russia this year and conservationists fear export quotas will be increased next year. A tonne of glass eels, the young elvers that swim into European estuaries from the Sargasso Sea each spring, was flown to Kaliningrad this year, double the amount exported to the Russian port the previous year. Continue reading...

Mowi Scotland, which supplies Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, blames a rise in sea temperatures for the deaths, while campaigners say expanding farms will make things worse More than a million dead fish, the biggest mass die-off of farmed salmon in Scotland in a decade, have been recorded at a farm belonging to the UK’s largest supplier. The deaths at two adjacent Mowi Scotland sites in Loch Seaforth on the Outer Hebrides – licensed as one farm by the Scottish government – rose to just over a million during the year-and-a-half production cycle that it usually takes to raise a salmon in seawater, and which in this case began in spring 2023. Mowi supplies salmon to retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Ocado. Many of its farms, including those in the Hebrides, are certified under the RSPCA Assured label, which guarantees higher animal welfare standards. Continue reading...

Efforts to reduce levels of PFAS chemicals in our drinking water are important – but most water supplies are already below the new limits The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council has today released draft guidelines for acceptable levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water. PFAS chemicals are also known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily and can persist in the environment, including drinking water supplies. The new guidelines – which are not mandatory but will inform state and territory policy – are expected to be finalised in April 2025. They propose a reduction in the maximum levels previously considered safe for four key PFAS chemicals: PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS and PFBS. Evidence to date does not establish whether PFAS at exposure levels seen in Australia might increase risks of cardiovascular disease … Established risk factors … are likely to be of a much greater magnitude than those potentially caused by PFAS. Continue reading...

Rapid urbanisation thought to be damaging adolescent health, as researchers say need for medication and diagnostic tests is urgent Millions of teenagers in Africa are suffering from asthma with no formal diagnosis as the continent undergoes rapid urbanisation, researchers have found. The study, published in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, involved 27,000 pupils from urban areas in Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria. It found more than 3,000 reported asthma symptoms, but only about 600 had a formal diagnosis. Continue reading...