Fish on drugs: cocktail of medications is ‘contaminating ocean food chain’

Fish on drugs: cocktail of medications is ‘contaminating ocean food chain’

By Salomé Gómez-Upegui

Source: theguardian

4/29/2022

Credit: Jose Azel/Getty/Aurora Open

Study in Florida finds ‘widespread’ traces of a total of 58 medications including heart drugs, opioids, antidepressants and antifungals in increasingly rare bonefish and their prey
Seascape: the state of our oceans is supported by
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
About this content
Salomé Gómez-Upegui
Fri 29 Apr 2022 07.00 BST
Last modified on Fri 29 Apr 2022 17.12 BST

Nicknamed “grey ghosts” for their lustrous silver scales, remarkable stealth and speed, bonefish can swim at up to 40mph. This species, protected by catch-and-release laws in the US, is revered by anglers around the world, many of whom visit Florida to seek the elusive fish.

But evidence points to a steep drop in bonefish numbers in south Florida. Populations have fallen more than 50% over four decades, according to estimates by researchers.

Dr Jennifer Rehage, a fish ecologist and associate professor at Florida International University (FIU), has spoken to many anglers about the fish’s disappearance from Florida’s seagrass flats: “They’ve said to me: ‘I’ve fished [bonefish] all my life and I can’t find them. I haven’t seen a bonefish in five years, and it’s freaking me out’.”

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