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Aquariums: Education or Entertainment?

(Written for Environmental Journalism JR-320)

Written by Caroline Long and Faith Tarpley

Photos and Graphics by Brenna O'Brian, Manna Parker, Margaux Maxwell, and Yishu Wang

Prof: Douglas Struck 

Patrons gather around the illuminated glass as brightly colored fish swim by in schools, admiring sea turtles, sharks and tropical fish at the New England Aquarium in Boston. Visitors enjoy the educational experience they gain on trips like these, but may wonder if the overall cost to the environment and its creatures stacks up to the benefits.

The New England Aquarium exhibits exotic fish and hosts as many as 1.3 million visitors per year, making it one of the most popular aquariums in the country. Staff members are regularly involved in conservation and sustainability efforts.

Scott Dowd, 50, senior aquarist at the aquarium, who recently returned from the Amazon to study the fish trade, rejects the argument that capturing fish for show harms the species.  He is concerned about social as well as environmental sustainability in terms of fish harvesting.

Dowd has been traveling to the Amazon yearly for nearly three decades.  He said he became convinced that rural villages and their environment were sustained by the hand-harvesting of fish that would otherwise die in the annual draught.

“Rural people with limited access to education can earn a livelihood fishing because it alleviates poverty and acts as a driver for environmental protection,” says Dowd. “They care about feeding their kids and to do that they have to protect the environment.”

And education can encourage conservation.  Aquarist Brendan Bennett is in charge of assisting children at The Edge of the Sea tide pool, where visitors can dip their hands in water to play with sea stars, sea urchins, snails, hermit crabs, and horseshoe crabs. “It’s about giving them an experience they want to take home with them,” Bennett says. “I like to tell kids about our partnership with Stop&Shop to provide sustainable seafood, so that way they might bug their parents about shopping there”.

Braelin Pantel from Denver brought her 2year-old daughter Celia, and Pantel’s friend Cally Lilley brought her 3-year-old daughter Zephyr. Pantel appreciates that taking her children to aquariums and zoos at a young age gives them additional “baseline” knowledge, which helps them develop quicker. 

Guénaëlle Maria, an aquarium staff member, says the organization focuses heavily on sustainability. “We do lot of work to promote conservation. We focus on four main areas: overfishing; sustainable seafood; ocean health and acidification; and climate change and habitat loss.”

But other researchers are skeptical of the trade-off. Brian Helmuth is a professor at Northeastern University’s College of Science whose areas of expertise include environmental policy, ecological forecasting, and sustainability. He says the effects of removal of fish from their natural environment depends on their role in the ecosystem, and can be detrimental.

“Removal of a large predator from an ecosystem will have a far greater effect than removing a few smaller fish. Sustainable practices in terms of collection are probably hand collection, but sustainable in terms of what kinds of fish are caught depends on their life history, such as species that are slow to grow or mature, have few offspring, or that can’t be harvested nearly as often as other species,” he said. He added that certain aquariums and foreign communities will harvest an initial broodstock that are only collected once, and then bred in captivity. “This would be the best way of doing things.”

Others question whether it is ethical to keep fish in captivity, away from the uninhibited open ocean.  Jelle Atema Atema is a professor of biology at Boston University, as well as an adjunct scientist and a member of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “Taking fish out of the wild and putting them in tanks for educational or entertainment purposes is a one-way street. It’s no different than taking them out of the water for consumption. You’re still taking them out of their natural environment.”

Despite this, Atema is still an avid supporter of aquariums, as communities can become educated about the need for increased sustainability efforts. “What we really need to stop is natural habitat destruction. People often don’t have any idea what a natural environment looks like, or that it’s even possible to destroy it.” He adds that aquariums and zoos may give children a greater appreciation for rare species, but with a warning. “Taking a few animals to save environments is a good job, but you have to be careful. It might not work for all animals and I would say it becomes an ethical issue. Is the animal still happy in these conditions?”

Global exports of ornamental fish, 2000-2014 (in US$ million). 

Animal rights groups such as Peta2 take a more strident approach, condemning the practice and pioneering the movement ‘Fish in Tanks, No Thanks.’  Hannah Kinder, College Campaign for Peta2, argues against Dowd’s statement that fishing creates a substantial livelihood for people in developing communities, stating that “while supporting rural populations financially sounds like a great reason to support fishing, it is an irrelevant argument for this situation.” She adds that “very few people are buying fish in this manner. Not only is it unattainable for many people, it is still destructive. Rural farmers, like any farmers, are unable to meet the high demand placed on them by consumers.

The question of how to cultivate a sustainable relationship to the environment is becoming increasingly important with the deepening problem of climate change. Scott Dowd warns of the need for a delicate balance between conservation and environmental destruction. “Populations are capable of a dramatic reduction, and then repopulate. But if there is long term destruction to their environment… these fish will disappear.”

Top 10 suppliers of ornamental fish, 2014 (in US$ million). 

Harvard Comes Out on Top Against Local Rival MIT

(Written for Beat Reporting Across Media JR-203)

Written by Caroline Long

Prof: Christine Casatelli

Brains met brawn on Saturday night when Harvard D1 men’s water polo team (16-3) emerged victorious against local rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s D3 team (5-9) at Blodgett Pool in Cambridge with a final score of 11-8. 

With a lively turnout from students of both schools, fans were not disappointed with this entertaining and nail-biting game. Through smart gameplay and valiant defense by goalie Nolan Kruse, who made an impressive 17 saves, the Engineers were able to take the lead multiple times throughout the first two quarters, forcing the nationally-ranked Crimson into a 4-4 tie at half-time. “We came out strong in the beginning and that was a big motivator to just keep it going the whole game” stated Cruz in a post-game interview. “It was awesome to see the whole team just rally together to play better than we have most of the season actually. We were able to perform pretty well against a pretty highly ranked team.”

Both teams continued a back-and-forth in the third quarter until MIT fell to Harvard in the final 8 minutes after MIT missed a potentially game-changing 5 meter penalty shot and a power play opportunity in the fourth quarter. The game was set after several goals by Harvard offense Charlie Owens, Colin Chiapello, and Joey Colton. “I thought we did a good job at not getting frustrated and continuing to work hard on the defensive end of the pool, which allowed us opportunities to get out in transition” stated Harvard head coach Ted Minnis. “I thought we did what we had to do early to keep it close and we had a strong third quarter to help give us a lead.”

After graduating 2 All-Americans, as well as the #1 and #2 highest scorers in MIT history, MIT head coach Dave Andriole notes that the team has been “in a rebuilding season”, and that the school’s academic rigor can often take a toll on the team’s consistency, especially at the beginning of the semester. “My guys are true scholar athletes… they’re warriors” stated Andriole. While Harvard emerged victorious, he believes that the real victory is in the performance of the players. “Winning or losing… it’s just a result. I’m always able to live with that.”

Harvard and MIT will return to the Blodgett Pool next weekend for the Harvard Invitational on October 15th and 16th. The Engineers will face off against Wagner College, University of Toronto, and the New York Athletic Club, while Crimson will battle Bucknell University and Dartmouth University, in addition to Wagner and Toronto.

Boston Police Welcome Diverse Group of Cadets

(Written for Beat Reporting Across Media JR-203)

Written by Caroline Long

Prof: Christine Casatelli

The Boston Police Department has reinstated its Police Cadet Program in what Lieutenant Detective Michael McCarthy is calling "an opportunity to evaluate a group of diverse youth who we hope someday will make fine additions to the police department."

In a statement made this morning, McCarthy, who attended the program himself before joining the force, deemed the new class the most diverse to enter the program. Of the 42 individuals, 20 are African-American, nine are Hispanic, and three are Asian-American. While broadening racial diversity has become increasingly important for the police department, McCarthy believes that the force is also eager to train- eventually recruit- more women, a demographic that is scarce among the BPD.

"We have the largest group of females in this class", McCarthy said. Of the 42 cadets, 15 are female. "We are excited, it's one of the populations we try to encourage to join the police department, and there's a shortage of female applicants at the moment, so this is a great way for us to encourage young females to join".

Last September, Mayor Walsh and Commissioner Evans announced the revival of the Boston Police Cadet program in an attempt to diversify the department. The initiative was to get more women and people of color into the force at the end of their enrollment in the program, and of the 351 applicants who took the police cadet program exam in November of 2015, 60 percent were women or people of color.

Recruiting and cultivating diverse talent was stated as the proper initiative for restarting the program after it was halted due to budget cuts in 2008. For the Boston Police Department, the program, open to current Boston residents ages 18 to 28, is way for the department to instill diversity in the lower ranks. "This is one of the ways in which we can continue to become a more representative department", said McCarthy. "It's something that's always being worked on".

The newest class of Boston Police cadets were sworn in on November of this year and will participate in a two-year apprenticeship, where their duties will consist of taking reports, running errands, answering phones, and traffic duty for their allotted neighborhoods.