River waits for the world’s help

Bankok News 18 April 2015 A sanctuary for wildlife and sustenance, the Lower Songkhram River Basin (LSRB) in Nakhon Phanom faces man-made threats like many major ecological hubs around the country. But it's the teasing possibility of a decision that will be made half a world away which could save it. For centuries, the Songkhram River has provided for the residents of the upper Northeast Read More…

Legislature opposes Snake dam removal

Idaho Mountain Express 15 April 2015 Before it adjourned last weekend, the state Legislature passed a memorial expressing opposition to the removal of dams on the Columbia-Snake River system and to contributing water from Idaho’s reservoirs for flow augmentation to benefit fish passage except when expressly authorized by state law. Conservation organizations have long maintained that Read More…

California drought: Delta smelt survey finds a single fish,…

San Jose Mercury News 15 April 2015 BYRON -- There's only one place left on Earth where imperiled Delta smelt are thriving, where their water remains cold and clean. In the wild, the fish is on the brink of extinction. This month, in their April trawl survey, state Fish and Wildlife scientists caught only one of the pinky-sized, politicized fish with an outsized role in California's water Read More…

Many Vietnam’s cities will be submerged due to climate change:…

Thanh Nien News 14 April 2015 People in the Central Highlands and nearby provinces are facing the worst drought of the decade, struggling to find drinking water and watching their crops and cattle die. But 400 kilometers to their north, three people drowned last month due to unusual floods as rainfall hit more than 500 millimeters, the highest in March since 1965. “What’s going Read More…

Sardine population collapses, prompting ban on commercial fishing

SF Gate 14 April 2015 The sardine population along the West Coast has collapsed due to changing ocean conditions and other factors, including allegations of overfishing, prompting regulators Monday to cancel fishing next season and schedule a vote this week on an immediate emergency ban. The Pacific Fishery Management Council agreed to close the fishery from Mexico to the Canadian border Read More…

Making a water society

Khaleej Times 12 April 2015 Vietnam's treatment of Mekong delta has to do with taming water. There is in Vietnam a dense and complex network of hydraulic works comprising man-made canals, dykes and sluices. These were designed (and continue to be) to provide protection against floods, to prevent the intrusion of salinity, and to control irrigation for agriculture and aquaculture in the Read More…

Nation’s rural south studies the road ahead

VietNamNet Bridge 11 April 2015 The Mekong Delta has seen a slow but steady rise in school attendance over the last 40 years, thanks to new roads, schools and modern teaching methods. But it needs to do more to prepare for a future in which fishing and farming jobs become less prominent. As a primary school student in 1975, Ly Hung had to walk five kilometres - often on muddy paths and Read More…

Anglers beware: Dogs trained to find illegal fish

The Bulletin 10 April 2015 OLD LYME — Ruger, a yellow Labrador retriever, has a newly trained nose. Friendly and energetic, he’s accompanying his handler, Environmental Conservation Police Officer Bill Logiodice, from fishing hole to fishing hole today in search of contraband: illegally caught fish. Today is the first day of fishing season, when anglers hit lakes, ponds, rivers and Read More…

Global fish supply shortage feared by 2030

Manila Bulletin 10 April 2015 The world is facing a fish supply shortage of around 50 million metric tons (MMT) annually by 2030 if governments fail to develop conservation measures and improve inland fishing technologies and resources, Rohana Subasinghe of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) disclosed. Subasinghe, also the Read More…

Ca Mau: $9.5 million allocated to cope with climate change

VietNamNet Bridge 10 April 2015 The Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau will spend 198 billion VND (9.5 million USD) to cope with climate change and rising sea levels this year, said Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Van Su. Of the figure, 120 billion VND (5.7 million USD) will be used to upgrade the sea dyke system in western coastal areas and 78 Read More…