Further to the horse meat scandal it appears you may not be getting what’s on the label when you buy fish. If this article is correct seven per cent of fish on sale in Britain is mislabelled. Fish and chip shops, supermarkets and restaurants have been found to be selling cheaper substitutes labelled as cod and haddock. Dr Stefano Mariani who worked on the study found that cod was often substituted with cheaper alternatives such as pollack and Vietnamese pangasius. It seems from the report that this type of mislabelling is fairly widespread and that a lot of it happens even before the fish is delivered to the supermarket.

This two headed bull shark was recently found by a fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico. Discovered by a fisherman when he opened the uterus of an adult shark it is thought to be the first confirmed discovery of a two headed bull shark foetus. It is thought that the shark would have died soon after birth had it gone to term.

This impressive looking fish was recently caught at a lake in Essex by fisherman James Jones. The fish is thought to be the largest ever freshwater fish to be caught in the UK. It weighs 144lb (65.3 kg). The fish was caught in the Oak Lakes Fishery in Essex. After being weighed it was returned to the water.

There is a lot  focus on saving more cuddly looking endangered creatures but sharks are often overlooked. According to this article some species of sharks could soon be extinct if measures are not put in place to save them. That’s according to a recent study which has found fishermen are targeting the blue shark population off the UK coast using long line fishing nets. The problem seems to be that there is a huge market for shark fin soup in Asia which appears to be causing fishermen to deliberately target the shark population. It is thought blue fin sharks are the most frequently caught shark species with a population decline of almost 80% in some areas since the 1980s.

It has been difficult to track the decline of the species as the fishing industry logs every catch but does not release the data. It does seem, however, that the practice of long line fishing is to blame for the decline, leading for calls for protected areas to be set up. It is estimated that 1.1 million sharks are caught in the Atlantic each year with the majority being sold to Taiwan or Hong Kong. Without better protection for the species the future for sharks looks bleak and one expert has said "There is a good chance that our grandchildren won't see these sharks”.

With otters such as this little guy pictured now being found in most rivers in Britain, the population appears to be doing rather well. There are now thought to be around 10,000 of them in Britain. Whilst this is good news for the species it seems it is bad news for koi enthusiasts. Otters are good at climbing and digging and are naturally drawn to ponds full of large well fed fish. One man interviewed has lost 15 of his carp whilst another found the remains of a £200 fish on his patio. Householders in some areas are now being warned to protect their ponds with metal grids. For those considering more drastic measures they should be reminded that otters are protected and anyone attempting to kill them or disturb them can be fined up to £5,000 or jailed for six months.

A Rare seahorse has recently been found in the River Thames suggesting that there could be a colony present there. The short-snouted seahorse (pictured) was discovered in the river at Greenwich. Although they are usually found along the south coat this is the furthest upriver that they have been found. The one which was found was a juvenile measuring just 5cm long which strongly suggests a breeding colony could be present in the river.

Whilst traditional species of fish such as cod and haddock are still in decline it seems more exotic species are thriving in British waters.  That’s  according to  a recent study which shows profound population changes to common fish species in UK waters. The government funded study has found that whilst cod and haddock are still faring badly, species such as hake, dab and red mullet are becoming more common. The study looked at the most common species of fish and found that of the 36 species studied, 27 were found to be increasing in numbers. The bad news for traditional fisheries is that the nine that were in decline were species that traditionally make up the main catch such as cod, haddock, Pollock and ling. Perhaps based on this we may soon be asking for a red mullet and chips rather than the traditional cod alternative.

That’s according to this article which suggests they are the most endangered group of animals. A report has found that 36% of freshwater wish are threatened. They are faced with problems such as overfishing, pollution and construction. Among the greatest risk of dying out are several UK species such as the European eel and Shetland charr.

That’s according to this article which features an aquarium built by a man called Jack Heathcote. He has built a custom made aquarium underneath his living room. Measuring 12ft 6in x 12ft 8in x 7ft it is the same size as the room above. It also has a viewing window so you can see the fish inside. It currently houses two chainsaw doradids, three 2ft long Pacus, some Pangasius, a Red tail hybrid catfish, two alligator gars, eight enormous stingrays and two Fly River turtles.

According to this article genetically modified salmon has been declared fit to eat by American scientists. The salmon has been genetically modified so that it will grow at a much faster rate meaning it will be almost double in size at the age of 18 months. The fact that it has been declared safe could mean that it is being eaten in America within two to three years and possibly within Britain soon after. Critics of GM food fear the salmon could harm the wild fish populations if they were to escape and some reports have found the GM fish develop misshapen heads and bloated bodies due to their fast growth. Personally I’m not convinced enough research has been done on any possible side effects, I don’t think I will be eating them given a choice.

A fisherman in the Ukraine got a surprise when upon catching a fish a large frog jumped into his net and swallowed it. He managed to get this picture of the frog but was unable to save his fish.

This huge 250lb catfish was recently caught in Italy. It measures 8.2ft long and weighs over 250lbs making it the biggest freshwater fish caught in Europe. It was caught by angler Roberto Godi who needed the help of several other fishermen in order to lift the fish onto a weighing frame.

A rare fish has been rediscovered in Brazil. The fish was originally found 50 years ago when the only known specimen was collected by experts. Since then it has not been seen. The fish lives deep under the ground and it is thought it has managed to survive whilst it’s relatives above ground went extinct. A group of researchers on a recent expedition to rediscover it managed to catch 34 fish. Named Stygichthys typhlops it is from the same group of fish as piranhas and tetras but is unusual because it lives below ground and is blind. It was only found after local people reported seeing it swimming around in open wells, however because the region it lives in is so dry it took some time to find a well where they could easily be trapped. Unfortunately it appears it may now only live in one 25kn long aquifer which with local pressures on the water system could soon be in danger of drying up.

This is interesting it’s a record of what’s inside a whale’s stomach. Marine Biologists cut open a dead whale which they found on a beach near Seattle to see what was inside. They found 190 litres of undigested algae and the following:
Two lengths of duct tape, A metre of electrical tape, Five lengths of fabric, One sock One sweatpant leg, Two towels, Fishing line, One golf ball, 39cm green rope, 1m nylon rope, Red plastic cylinder, One Capri-Sun juice packet, Two grocery bags, 30 scraps of plastic bags, One sandwich bag, One ziplock bag, One rubber band, Some rubbery string, One surgical glove.

According to this article the International Whaling Commission has proposed allowing the first legal commercial whale hunt for 25 years. If it goes ahead the move would end an outright ban. The ban does have a few exceptions which allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to continue whaling. However, the new proposal would replace this ban with its exceptions with strict quotas which would instead strictly monitor all whaling. Environmentalists fear that it could lead to large scale whaling which could further devastate the species. The commission, however, argues that strict quotas would be a better method of control to the current hunts over which it has no control on numbers caught.

According to this article fish pedicures are becoming increasingly popular in Britain. The technique has been popular in Asia and Europe for some time but it appears it is now starting to be used in this country. It involves putting your feet into a bowl filled with small fish which simply nibble the pieces of dead skin away. Before you can put your feet into the tank with the fish you first have to immerse them in a tepid bath to soften any calluses and remove any dirt. You then put your feet into another tank filled with around 150 fish which get to work on the dead skin. It costs £10 for 15 minutes and is meant to make your feet feel smooth and regenerated. If you are worried about the teeth it seems the fish don’t actually have any, they are actually a type a toothless carp which simply lick their food, a process that feels like gentle nibbling.

Environmental groups looking to make bluefin tuna a protected species have been disappointed as the UN has failed to add it to a list of protected species. Recent talks have rejected calls to a ban in international trade raising fears about the future of fish stocks. The proposal met with much resistance from countries such as Japan which opposed it fearing it would hit fishing communities. It makes you wonder, however, what will happen to those same communities when they are no more of the fish left to catch. In all 72 out of 129 members voted against the trade ban and 43 voted in favour, with 14 abstentions.

When it comes to endangered animals many get a much higher profile than the Great White Shark. It seems, though that it is now more endangered than the tiger with only 3,500 left. The findings have led to marine biologists to call for urgent action to stop them going extinct. The population estimates come after a scientists studied and tagged the migration of the sharks using radio transmitters. What was surprising is that great whites travel much longer distances that previously thought, anything up to 12,000 miles in a nine month period. The researchers found that sharks seen in Hawaii were the same ones that were found in California just six months later leading experts to the conclusion there are far fewer sharks left in the sea. Whilst great whites have a bad reputation for attacking people most incidents are thought to be due to the shark mistaking people for seals. With so few left and the fact that most people have little love for sharks, it seems they might not be around for much longer.

Scientists, politicians and wildlife groups are pushing for moves to restrict the sale of bluefin tuna. Campaigners will call for trade restrictions at the next meeting of Cities, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Bluefin tuna is very popular particularly in Japan where it is used for sushi and can often sell for thousands of pounds. Stocks of the fish, however, have dropped by 82% since 1978 in the western Atlantic and those in the eastern Atlantic have dropped by 80% in the same period. The fish is currently being fished faster than the total population can replenish its numbers so if nothing is done it appears the collapse of the species is inevitable. As the world’s main purchaser of the fish Japan are likely to oppose any restrictions.

This massive crab is about to go on show at Birmingham’s National Sea Life Centre. The crab who measures more than 5ft long has been dubbed Crabzilla by some. It has been flown to the UK on route to its new permanent home in Belgium all the way from Japan. The crab will be in Birmingham until the end of March sharing a tank with some of the centres smaller crustaceans.

This interesting looking creature is called the blobfish. The fish which can grow up to 12 inches in size lives at depths of up to 800m which means it is rarely seen. Unfortunately although the fish is not edible it lives close to others that are and so is often caught by mistake with other catches such as crabs and lobsters. Whilst other fish are protected the blobfish is not and so is now at risk of becoming extinct.

A fisherman had a surprise when he caught a live missile in the Gulf of Mexico. The missile was caught 50 miles off the coast of Panama City in an area that the US Air Force and Navy use for weapons training. Bearing this is mind, it might not be as surprising as it first seemed. What is surprising, however, is that the fisherman kept the missile aboard his boat for ten days before returning to port. Once this boat docked the bomb squad was called in to dismantle it. They described it as being in a live and unstable state.

In a rather bizarre attempt to sell more pollack Sainsbury’s have renamed it Colin. Apparently people do not want to ask for pollack when they are shopping and many find the name rather ugly. Colin is what the French call the fish once it has been cooked. It is hoped that the name change will make British shoppers choose pollack as an alternative to cod or haddock. Personally I love pollack and often find that it is nicer than cod. It also has the advantage of being slightly cheaper.

Scientists looking for a rare Chinese river have concluded after a six week search that it is likely to be extinct. The last time the dolphins were counted was in 2006 when only 17 individuals were found. This time when scientists looked for the dolphins they found none at all. If the dolphin is now extinct it will be the first large vertebrate to become extinct for 50 years. Scientists had hoped to find some Yangtze river dolphin’s to transfer them to a protected breeding program but it appears they are too late.

Environmentalists are concerned about a vulnerable colony of porbeagle sharks after a fisherman caught 60 in a day. The sharks, although rare are currently not a protected species. A catch of this size could be enough to wipe out a whole colony due to the fact it would be likely to contain most of the colonies breeding females. The decline of this species is likely to continue until they are listed as a protected species. If this doesn’t happen soon it may be too late.

There have now been two alleged sightings of a Great White Shark off the coast of Cornwall. Whilst coastguards have dismissed the claims as scaremongering scientists have admitted that it is possible the Great White Shark could move into British waters especially as they start to get warmer. There has never been a confirmed sighting of a Great White off the Cornish coast and it is possible that the shark seen was actually a smaller shark such as a mako or a porbeagle.

Fishermen in Zanzibar have caught a creature called a Coelacanth. The fish has many fins and a three lobed tail and was thought to be extinct until one was caught in 1938. Since then two other Coelacanth have been caught by fishermen but its still not known how many of the fish still exist.

A Coelacanth.

It always seems to be the cute cuddly creatures that get most of the press when it comes to conservation. Other animals are overlooked because they are not so attractive. When it comes to sharks they have a really bad press, everyone remembers Jaws and most people will probably admit to finding them rather frightening. Maybe that’s why there doesn’t seem to be much effort to try and save these creatures from extinction. A recent report by a conservation group suggests that sharks could well become extinct within a generation if the practice of eating shark fin soup is not stopped. The soup is popular as a luxury item in China and is often eaten at wedding, mainly because its expensive, you need a lot of sharks to make the soup and they are few and far between. The Chinese currently account for around 90% of the world’s consumption of shark fins. The current demand for shark fin soup continues to rise and as the demand cannot be sustained by the population of wild sharks, the future looks bleak for the shark.

An interesting article here which discusses whether fish have feelings or not. It talks about the assumption that fish have very short memories which has recently been challenged by scientists ,who found fish actually have a memory span of a few months. Now, I feel really bad for keeping my poor goldfish is a bowl when I younger, it must have been really bored, no wonder fish never look very happy.

In order to solve the problem of having too many jellyfish, residents of Fukui in Japan did the obvious thing. They made cookies out of them of course.

I constantly come across articles about creatures I never knew existed. These cow nosed rays live at Scarborough Sea Life centre. Apparently they create so much waste that their tank needs to mucked out on a daily basis. A bit messier than your average fish.