For MSc candidate Madeline Cashion, sharks have always been a part of her life. “When I was very young my mother would make me write poems and I wrote them about sharks. I think I was fascinated by how powerful they are. Somewhere at home I have a book of those poems, shark facts that I collected, and collages I made as a child.” That would not be surprising for a child growing up near the ocean, but as Madeline puts it, “growing up in land-locked Calgary, it was a bit odd.”
With her interest firmly fixed on the oceans, Madeline began her academic career with an undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University, before coming to the University of British Columbia to work with renowned marine scientist, Dr. Daniel Pauly, and the Sea Around Us project.
She studies shark fishing; primarily how many are fished, what species are caught, what fishing gear type is used to catch them, and what does this mean for shark populations. “They are fished widely internationally, but not much is known about the catch. We need to know because about a quarter of the class of fish that includes sharks are threatened with extinction. They are very important for marine ecosystems, so we need to be sure we understand what is happening with their exploitation.”
Lemon Shark. Photo: Albert Kok/Flickr
Madeline is developing a method to discern which species of sharks are caught, which she hopes will eventually be used globally. For now, she is testing her methods in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. “This area is contained,” she says. “There are no international waters, just waters that are split into countries that border them, so it is easier to develop the method.” And there are lots of shark species to study. “In the Mediterranean there are big oceanic pelagic species, such as shortfin mako sharks, porbeagle sharks, (which are critically endangered), blue sharks. There are also little sharks that live on the bottom, like catsharks and nurse sharks, these are highly impacted by trawlers which scrape the bottom of the sea. Sharks have been fished in those seas for a long time, sometimes targeted specifically, but also caught as bycatch, which means fishers are not trying to catch them but do anyway. Sharks don’t do well when they have been sitting in a fishing net, or hooked, for many hours and then released. They often die, depending on the species. So it is really important to find out where the bycatch is happening and to which species.”
She acknowledges that as a top predator sharks are feared, but points out that in a given year only a handful of people may die from shark attacks, while in the same period, humans kill approximately 63-273 million sharks (2013 figures). “Which is worrying because they are an integral part of the marine ecosystem. As a top predator, if they are caught then you are reducing the control on the species below. For ecosystems, such as coral reefs, this means that reef health is affected. They become less and less resilient, unable to adapt to climate change, or deal with invasive species, (such as lionfish in the Caribbean).”
Madeline enjoys her research on sharks, and hopes that more women become involved in the sciences. “UN figures say that only about 20% of researchers in science are women. That is very small; too small. We need to encourage them to stay focused on the sciences at a young age.” She points to her experience volunteering at the Vancouver Aquarium. “When I am at the Aquarium we teach kids about marine biology and conservation. The curriculum program we have there is science-focused, but also very accessible. And at young ages you don’t see any differences. They all soak it up. Girls are just as interested as boys. We need to encourage any interest a child has,” she concludes.
Madeline is happy to share one of the shark facts that fascinated her as a child. “Sharks are older than trees,” she says with excitement. “Sharks have been on this Earth longer than trees have. They’ve had so much time to evolve, and it is why there are such crazy forms of sharks; some eat plankton like the basking shark, and some are top predators like tiger sharks and white sharks.
“I think it is that diversity, and how key they are for the ecosystems, that drives me to study them.”
Madeline discusses her research as part of the UBC’s 3 Minute Thesis competition
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards seek to recognize and encourage world-class research and artistic creation, prizing contributions of lasting impact for their originality, theoretical significance and ability to push back the frontiers of the known world.
These international awards span eight categories: Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics), Biomedicine, Ecology and Conservation Biology, Information and Communication Technologies, Economics, Finance and Management, Contemporary Music, Climate Change and Development Cooperation.
The Prix d’Excellence recognizes the highest level of achievement in marine sciences and important contributions to ICES vision.
Like the community ICES envisions, this award is broader than ICES. Contributions within the ICES region and throughout the world are recognized. Candidates for this award need not have had an association with ICES, although their work and achievements will be relevant. They will have contributed to the sustained use and conservation of marine ecosystems through their research, scientific leadership and/or leadership in the objective application of science to policy. Innovation, teamwork, mentoring, and objective communication with the public exemplify the career of the recipient of this award.
The Prix d’Excellence is presented every third year at the ICES Annual Science Conference (ASC). Travel expenses to the ASC to receive the award will be paid from revenue from the conference registration fee, and the recipient’s registration fee will be waived in the future.
Nomination package:
Initially, nominations simply require a name and a few sentences about the nominee. The Awards Committee may then request additional supporting materials to assist the decision-making process.
The AAAS Award for Public Engagement with Science, formerly “AAAS Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology” established in 1987, recognizes scientists and engineers who make outstanding contributions to the “popularization of science.”
The recipient receives a monetary prize of $US5,000, a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration, and reimbursement for reasonable travel and hotel expenses to attend the AAAS Annual Meeting to receive the prize.
Eligibility
Eligible nominees include active or retired scientists and engineers from all disciplines, who have contributed substantially to the public’s engagement with science or technology.
Materials to be considered include websites, books, magazines, and newspaper articles; video, film, and broadcasting; lecturing; museum presentation and exhibit design; and other public outreach activities, local, national, and/or international.
Only materials produced for general audiences, as opposed to professional or trade audiences, will be considered.
Employees of the AAAS are not eligible.
Nominees considered “early career,” which is defined as an individual who has been in thier current field for less than seven years and pre-tenure or job equivalent, including post-doctoral fellows (meaning the nominee is typically within 7 years of receiving a PhD) may be eligible for the AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science.
Requirements
for the nominee: name, position, institution, e-mail, phone, and professional and home addresses;
for the nominator: name, position, institution, e-mail, phone, and professional and home addresses;
a statement of the public engagement activities that form the basis for the nomination (PDF, 500 word limit);
at least two representative material samples or other documentation which illustrate or describe the nominee’s contribution (PDF);
the nominee’s CV (PDF);
and the names and e-mail addresses of two supporting persons whom AAAS may contact for more information on the nominee and their contributions.
Note:
Nominations must be made in English.
Re-nominations MUST include a cover letter (PDF) recapitulating the application material, listing additional work since last submission, and explaining why the nominee deserves to be reconsidered.
All physical material (books, CDs etc) submitted becomes the property of AAAS.
The President’s Fishery Conservation Award, is presented in two categories:
(1) an AFS individual or unit, or
(2) a non-AFS individual or entity, for singular accomplishments or long-term contributions that advance aquatic resource conservation at a regional or local level.
Nomination package:
A strong and detailed letter describing the nominee’s contribution and the evidence for accomplishment at a regional or local level
Nominations may be supported by multiple individuals by signing one letter, or by submitting supporting letters in addition to the main nomination letter.
If the nomination is for an individual, CV of nominee
Nominee’s title and full contact information (address, email, and phone)
To an individual or organization for a singular accomplishment or long-term contributions that advance aquatic resource conservation at a national or international level.
Nomination package:
A detailed letter of nomination to address award criteria, and the evidence for being “significant at a national or international level”
Nominations may be supported by multiple individuals by signing one letter, or by submitting supporting letters in addition to the main nomination letter.
If the nomination is for an individual, CV of nominee
Nominee’s title and full contact information (address, email, and phone)
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards recognize fundamental contributions in a broad array of areas of scientific knowledge, technology, and humanities and artistic creation.
The disciplines and domains of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards are:
Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics)
Biology and Biomedicine
Information and Communication Technologies
Ecology and Conservation Biology
Climate Change
Economics, Finance and Management
Humanities and Social Sciences
Music and Opera
The Climate Change award recognizes both research endeavours in confronting this challenge and impactful actions informed by the best science. In Humanities and Social Sciences, the award will alternate annually between these two disciplinary domains, with this eleventh edition dedicated to the Humanities. Finally, the Music and Opera category encompasses composition, instrumental and vocal performance, musical and stage direction, and video art creation associated with musical or operatic works.
Requirements
Award category for which the candidate is nominated
Name of the nominating institution and officer/body, with the corresponding contact data (postal and e-mail address, plus landline and cell phone numbers)
Letter of nomination signed by the nominating officer/body
Candidate particulars including institutional affiliation and contact data
Description of the salient contributions of the candidate and reasoned arguments for the nomination (maximum of three pages, single spaced)
The AAAS Newcomb Cleveland prize is awarded to the author or authors of an outstanding paper published in the Research Articles or Reports sections of Science. Each annual contest starts with the first issue of June and ends with the last issue of the following May.
An eligible paper is one that includes original research data, theory, or synthesis; is a fundamental contribution to basic knowledge or is a technical achievement of far-reaching consequence; and is a first-time publication of the author’s own work. Reference to pertinent earlier work by the author may be included to give perspective.
Requirements
Throughout the year, readers of Science are invited to nominate papers appearing in the Research Articles or Reports sections. Nominations must be submitted in the online form. Final selection is determined by a panel of distinguished scientists appointed by the editor-in-chief of Science.
When it comes to jellyfish, Lucas Brotz is rapidly making a name for himself as an international expert. Even David Suzuki called him ‘Canada’s foremost jellyfish researcher.’ For the last ten years he has been studying the enigmatic invertebrates, gauging their populations and the growth of jellyfish fishing around the globe.
Brotz, who recently completed his doctoral degree at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, spoke about jellyfish population dynamics, jellyfish fisheries, his Michael A. Bigg Award for Student Research win, and the growing taste for jellyfish.
Are jellyfish populations on the rise?
Overall, yes, jellyfish populations are increasing.
Working with members of the Sea Around Us, and my supervisor, Dr. Daniel Pauly, we used a global network of sixty-six Large Marine Ecosystems and we found information on jellyfish populations for about forty-five of them. In those forty-five we found data for increasing populations in about 60% of them, over the last 60 years. While there were some areas were they were decreasing (about 10%) or remaining stable or so variable that there was no trend (30%), overall we are seeing a strong global trend of increases in jellyfish populations and jellyfish blooms. The other thing we noticed is that this increase is happening in disparate locations around the world. Not just in one location; we saw increases in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, also around Namibia in Africa, the Bering Sea, even Hawai’i and Antarctica.
What is causing this increase?
Some of the population changes are definitely linked to a number of anthropogenic factors. The big five are global warming, overfishing, pollution, coastal development, and translocation of invasive species.
Global warming sees the temperature of the water rising, causing some jellyfish to increase their reproduction or expand their ranges. Conversely, some jellyfish that thrive in cold waters may be negatively affected; however what we are seeing in many areas is a reduction in diversity of jellyfish types but an increase in abundance.
A lot of fish eat jellyfish or are direct competitors for food and as the Sea Around Us figures show, we remove more than 100 million tonnes of fish from the oceans every year. This overfishing frees jellyfish from predation and competition, allowing their populations to build.
When pollution such as fertilizers and other chemicals enter the ecosystem, it causes eutrophication, basically a depletion of oxygen in the water. It is not that jellyfish thrive in low oxygen environments, but they are very tolerant, and can even store oxygen in their tissues, like a little scuba tank.
Coastal development has actually been a boon for jellyfish. As part of their reproductive cycle, many species develop larvae, which become polyps and then grow asexually into baby jellyfish. For polyps to grow they need the right environment; proper water temperatures, salinity, available food, etc., and in many cases they like to be right up underneath structures. So when humans develop a coastline there are huge amounts of shaded habitat – marinas, piers, breakwaters, infrastructure from oilrigs and aquaculture. On many structures all around the world scuba divers are going underneath and discovering they are brimming with jellyfish polyps.
Finally, translocation of invasive species is having a huge effect. If a shipping tanker pumps in water in one location, to use as ballast for example, they will pump that out in other locations and all the creatures that were in that water go with it. We’ve seen instances where a jellyfish that is not native to a sea or an ocean show up there and thrive, bloom out of control.
Humans are having a huge impact on jellyfish populations; how are jellyfish affecting us?
Well, everyone knows that jellyfish can sting people and so those numbers are increasing. They can interfere with a number of other industries as well, getting caught in fishers’ nets and intake pipes in boats. Every year we hear about power plants, built near the ocean to take advantage of cooling sea water, going into near meltdowns because of their intake pipes are clogged with jellyfish. They can also interfere with aquaculture farming.
On the plus side, they are also very helpful. They are food for a lot of marine creatures, fish, even the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle that eats almost nothing but jellyfish.
Research on jellyfish has led to breakthroughs in biotechnology that led to a couple of Nobel Prizes. There has been some work with jellyfish in the biomedical world, looking at how it can be used for arthritis research and in cancer research. They have been investigated for their material properties in construction, and they are also huge tourist attractions, both in their natural environment and in aquariums. They are fishmeal for farm animals, like chickens and pigs. And they are also being fished specifically as food for humans.
Jellyfish fisheries are becoming pervasive around the globe.
Fishers prepare to unload their catch in Ecuador, photo by Evelyn Ramos
There have been at least 20 countries involved in jellyfish fisheries, either in the past or currently, and that number is growing. Jellyfish have been served for a very long time, mainly in Asia, but spreading around the world. We are consuming many more jellyfish than people actually think; the global catch of jellyfish for human consumption is now exceeding 1 million tonnes. That is pretty significant because it exceeds the catches for what we consider popular seafood here in North America, like scallops or lobster.
The major jellyfish fishery is in China; they catch more than half the world’s consumption. Jellyfishing also occurs in other Asian countries including Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. We are now seeing them develop in Mexico, Ecuador in South America, even one in the United States where a number of shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico have converted their boats and at certain times of the year to fish for jellyfish.
Certainly in the Americas, the jellyfish fishing industry is in its early stages. It has varying degrees of success in the USA and especially Mexico, proving to be a boon for local fishers, however no market has yet developed for jellyfish from fishing nations like Argentina, Peru, or Canada.
How is jellyfish eaten? The most common way to serve jellyfish is thinly sliced into strips and served on its own with some soy sauce or sesame oil, or as an ingredient to a more elaborate dish like a stew. They have a taste of the sea, and the salts or chemicals used in processing, with a unique texture – chewy and crunchy. It reminds me of al dente pasta.
Even within the Asian market there are variations; the Japanese prefer a bit more crunch than the Chinese, so it depends on the species, the recipes and the target market. Here in Vancouver you can go to Chinatown and get a package to thaw or soak overnight. There are even snack products that you can buy and eat right out of package.
Still, I think there is a lot of work to be done by food scientists and food engineers to figure out what are the best ways to prepare and serve edible jellyfish. And as for it catching on with North American consumers, I am not sure it will happen any time soon.
Congratulations on winning the Michael A. Bigg Award for student research.
Lucas Brotz wins Michael A. Bigg Award
I am very humbled. To receive this from the Coastal Ocean Research Institute and the Vancouver Aquarium is a huge honour – I did my undergraduate degree in astrophysics and wanted to be an astronaut, and then I worked at the Aquarium and realized that underwater and outer space were very similar. Both are unexplored realms, inhospitable to humans, with no oxygen. We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the ocean floor, and that really piqued my interest. To come back many years later and to be acknowledged by the Aquarium, a place that helped shaped my career, is a wonderful validation.
From astronaut to aquanaut
We have yet to find an alien in outer space, but underwater, I can’t think of a more alien creature than the jellyfish. It has been a pleasure to study them and there is so much more to learn.
Global warming sees the temperature of the water rising, causing some jellyfish to increase their reproduction or expand their ranges. Conversely, some jellyfish that thrive in cold waters may be negatively affected; however what we are seeing in many areas is a reduction in diversity of jellyfish types but an increase in abundance.
The most common way to serve jellyfish is thinly sliced into strips and served on its own with some soy sauce or sesame oil, or as an ingredient to a more elaborate dish like a stew. They have a taste of the sea, and the salts or chemicals used in processing, with a unique texture – chewy and crunchy. It reminds me of al dente pasta.
