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Kathrynn Kelley asked: Everybody gets stressed out sometime in their lives. As humans we get multiple options on how to deal with stress.However, most people don’t know that your house cat also gets stressed out, leading to any number of behavior issues. Here are a few helpful bits of information to understanding the everyday stress [...]

The red panda is the first non-primate mammal to display a liking for the artificial sweetener aspartame. This unexpected affinity for an artificial sweetener may reflect structural variation in the red panda’s sweet taste receptor. The findings may shed light on how individual taste preferences and diet choice are shaped by molecular differences in taste receptors.

Nearly half of the world’s recorded fish catch is unused according to a new scientific paper co-authored by WWF. It estimates that each year over 38 million tonnes of fish, taken from our oceans by fishing activities, is left unmanaged or unused, and should be considered as bycatch. In the North East Atlantic, where fishermen target species such as cod and haddock, a fifth of the total catch is unused.

Amanda Nickson, Leader of WWF’s Bycatch Initiative and co-author of the paper says: “The health of our oceans cannot be restored and fisheries sustainably managed if 40 per cent of the global fishing catch is unused or unmanaged. A huge quantity of fish and marine animals are being thrown back to sea dead or dying. Even if this bycatch is retained, there is no way of telling whether it was sustainable to remove it from the sea in the first place.”

The WWF paper estimates the proportion of bycatch in 46 fishing countries (including the North-East Atlantic and Mediterranean & Black Sea areas) and two global fisheries; tuna and shark fin. In redefining bycatch as anything fishers take from our oceans that is ‘unused or unmanaged’, the paper’s estimates go well beyond previous global estimates, which focus mainly on catch which is thrown away and vary from 7 to 27 million tonnes a year. It is likely that the worst case of wasteful fishing is seen in fisheries that target sharks exclusively for their fins where 92 per cent of what is caught is discarded back in the ocean.

According to WWF, bycatch costs fishers time and money, contributing to overfishing, jeopardizing future revenue, livelihoods, and long-term food security. It’s also a major killer of marine wildlife, putting several species at risk of extinction and drastically altering the sensitive balance of ecosystems.

WWF believes that every form of fishing should be managed for sustainability, and that anything removed from the ocean is considered part of that fishing effort. The conservation organisation is calling for strong action on discards within Europe to prevent millions of tonnes of fish being wasted each year.

Giles Bartlett, Fisheries Policy Officer at WWF-UK says: “Simple, proven methods to reduce bycatch are already being implemented by many fisheries in Europe. These include more selective fishing gear and the use of onboard observers to document total catch. However such practises need to become much more widespread and we urge ministers to ensure the upcoming reform of the Common Fisheries Policy addresses this issue as a matter of priority.”

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Bycatch does also include, as examples, turtles, marine mammals and seabirds, but the figures that exist are often estimated by numbers of individuals that are caught, rather than weight and so cannot be applied to this estimate

Authors of the new paper studied a portion of the global fisheries data (concentrating mostly on trawl fisheries) that accounted for 95.2 million tonnes of marine catch, mainly for the years 2000 to 2003. Applying the new definition of bycatch to this data gave an estimated 38.5 million tonnes of annual bycatch, representing 40.4% of the marine catch.

The paper, Defining and estimating global marine fisheries bycatch, will appear in the forthcoming edition of Marine Policy and will be available from the end of April 2009. The paper can be downloaded at http://assets.panda.org/downloads/bycatch_paper.pdf
 

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Janet Nusbaum asked: a cat to share your life with can be a rewarding experience. This furry family member can often be aloof, but he needs your love and care to thrive. In order to protect the health of your cat, it is important that you become familiar with common feline health problems. By knowing [...]

In a genetic leap that could help fast track vaccine and drug development to prevent or tame serious global diseases, researchers have discovered how to destroy a key DNA pathway in a wily and widespread human parasite. The feat surmounts a major hurdle for targeting genes in Toxoplasma gondii, an infection model whose close relatives are responsible for diseases that include malaria and severe diarrhea.

I am wondering about vinegars, especially white vinegar. I've heard that it uses and animal filter, like sugar. A LOT of things include white vinegar, so it would mean a lot to know the deal with that stuff.

This is a very informative post. I'm wondering what the source of information was regarding the maple syrup, and if you're aware of any specific vendors that have been identified as engaging in utilizing animal-derived agents. The "can" be used is what made me a little curious. I'm wondering whether this is actually a fairly common practice, whether it's relatively rare, etc. If this is more info than you have, that's fine, too. I'm wondering b/c I frequently use maple syrup in vegan recipes, and recently received a question about it referencing this post.
Thanks!

One major factor I learned most recently was how much muscle can affect you….here's my stats:

I weigh 185 lbs and I'm 5'5" (pretty tubby, eh?)
According to my BMI, I should weigh 145

According to this, I'm 40 pounds overweight.  YIPES!!!!!

I recently went to the YMCA to get my total body fat tested.  A female can have up to 30% body fat and be considered 'healthy' and not overweight.  I'm sitting at 33% body fat.

According to this, I'm about 5 pounds overweight.  Huh?

Yeah…technically I'm only about 5 pounds overweight.  I have 35 pounds of muscle that the BMI chart doesn't take into account.  I wear a size 12 and on my way to a size 10 jeans.  I wear a size 8 when I'm about 165…lol.  According to the body fat test, I'd almost be anorexic if I got down to 145.

Don't go by BMI!  ESPECIALLY if you're a muscular person.  The YMCA checked my body fat for free and advised what my range should be…check with your local Y!

-Michelle
-Another Newbie