Monday, March 26, 2012

Brazil's dam fish cultivation

Brazil's taking a bad idea and teaching it to swim.

As I mentioned not long ago, dam reservoirs are really nasty things to create but once you have them in place they provide enormous advantages for advancing alternative energy. Now Congress is proposing that dam operators find another way to take advantage of them -- raising fish. And not just any fish. We're talking about non-native species like carp and tilapia.

According to my environmental blogger friends over at O Eco, Congressional deputy Nelson Meurer argued that

"Aquiculture has among the greatest potential to increase production of fish in our country, and we have a number of advantages including climate, technology, and abundant hydro resources."

Claudio Angelo over a Folha de Sao Paulo opens his story about the scientific backlash to this with an apropos Jurassic Park reference about trying to control species artificiallly introduced into an environment. Angelo interviews scientists who rightfully point out that the fish not only escape, but also their movement messes with the oxygen content in the water.

Maybe try installing some sewer systems so that waters sheds aren't so contaminated and more fish can live in them? Maybe try making better use of the fish already in been caught? Seems like there are much more logical solutions to the problem.

No comments:

Post a Comment