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Published online 4 August 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/454678a
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Lawsuit chips away at fish research
Court order may halt attempts to train sea bass.
Fisheries scientists are continuing an experiment with fish that respond to a dinner bell like Pavlov's dogs, despite a pending US court order that could stop the study.
Food & Water Watch (FWW), a non-profit organization in Washington DC, is suing to halt research by scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, until further environmental analysis is completed.
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FFW are more prone to echo-hysteria than anything scientific. When were human activities close to the sea not associated with food for fish? The problem, in my opinion, is that these organizations gather so much public attention doing pseudo protection for wild animals that they feel glorified when serious scientific work is jeopardized. It's amazing that a serious judge gives them any credit.
Boost wild populations or not, wild fish learning to associate human activity with food or not, fish farming going up/down or not, don't all these things really become questions in the end, which need answers? Who cares about the incentive or controlling/monetary outcome of the research? Isn't it just interesting to know stuff and use the information if and when the need arises (say when your life depended on it)? The first question I guess is 'what is the cost of doing all this in the short and long term in terms of drastically changing the moving equilibrium of the planet'? Cannot see how the costs can be calculated without actually doing the damn thing. Maybe computational fishing can help? Thrash me to pieces if I am wrong.
Another issue beside this, is that this experiment has been done elsewhere before. Some years ago, Norwegian researchers at the Institute of Marine Research conditioned Atlantic cod to feeding on signal, and with good results, too. The report can be viewed here: http://www.imr.no/english/__data/page/6335/Cod_are_smarter_than_you_thought.pdf