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Our relationship to fishes in the modern era is deeply problematic. We kill and consume more of them than any other group of vertebrates. At the same time, advances in our knowledge of fishes and their capabilities are gaining speed. Fish species diversity exceeds that of all other vertebrates combined, with a wide range of sensory adaptations, some of them (e.g., geomagnetism, water pressure and movement detection, and communication via electricity) alien to our own sensory experience. The evidence for pain in fishes (despite persistent detractors) is strongly supported by anatomical, physiological and behavioral studies. It is likely that fishes also seek pleasure, as evidenced by their willingness to approach divers to receive caresses that may mimic those given out by cleaner-fishes who seek to curry favor with valued clients. Observations of play behavior in fishes present another possible source of pleasure, or at least relief from boredom. Some fishes are also subject to emotional stress and will take action to relieve it. Fishes routinely recognize other individuals. Their social lives involve cooperation, virtue, democracy, deception, and cumulative monitoring. Courtship and sexual behavior are highly variable across species, and parental care is known for about a quarter of all fish species. Based on the cumulative research now available, we may conclude that fishes are deserving of levels of protections comparable to those deemed suitable for any other vertebrate. Currently, however, our treatment of fishes falls far short of such a standard.

"The Fulton Fish Market started out in 1822 as a general food market like others in the city because it was located in a residential neighborhood. The merchants who operated there began to specialize in fish during the 1850s because there were efficiencies associated with wholesaling one product from a central location. In its heyday during the late-nineteenth century, fishing boats would bring their catch directly to the market's dock and sell them off the boat to the wholesalers with stalls there. From shad to salmon, oysters to turtles, everything from the water that people in the New York area wanted to eat came through this market. Despite its many difficulties, the Fulton Fish Market lasted longer than other legendary neighborhood-based business districts because its denizens recognized that in at least one important sense it had to change with the times. As fishing grew in scale and dietary importance, fishmongers learned more about the environmental effects of their business than even fishermen themselves. Even though volume at the market increased over the course of the twentieth century, the Fulton Fish Market and the area that surrounded it became a museum neighborhood, a place to go where people could observe a dying way of life and still get the freshest fish possible at that time. Gentrification overtook the market, much as it did other parts of Manhattan, not because its operations were inefficient, but because no industry could afford to remain on real estate which had become so valuable, so quickly. The working lives of the people who operated every part of the fish provisioning chain - with the Fulton Fish Market at its center - serve as the basis for explaining larger changes in the city and in society that led to this gradual but important transformation. The book straddles economic history, food history, urban history, environmental history, and the history of immigration. It is very clearly written, and should also reach general readers interested in NYC history"--

I present a little-known example of flexible, opportunistic behavior by a species of fish to undermine Key's (2016) thesis that fish are unconscious and unable to feel. Lack of a cortex is flimsy grounds for denying pain to fish, for on that criterion we must also then deny it to all non-mammals, including birds, which goes against scientific consensus. Notwithstanding science's fundamental inability to prove anything, the precautionary principal dictates that we should give the benefit of the doubt to fish, and the state of the oceans dictates that we act on it now.

I respond to five commentaries on my 2016 book What a Fish Knows. The commentaries express more harmony than dissent about my interpretation of fishes as cognitive, aware individuals deserving better treatment by humankind.

The Fulton Fish Market stands out as an iconic New York institution. At first a neighborhood retail market for many different kinds of food, it became the nation's largest fish and seafood wholesaling center by the late nineteenth century. Waves of immigrants worked at the Fulton Fish Market and then introduced the rest of the city to their seafood traditions. In popular culture, the market—celebrated by Joseph Mitchell in The New Yorker—conjures up images of the bustling East River waterfront, late-night fishmongering, organized crime, and a vanished working-class New York.This book is a lively and comprehensive history of the Fulton Fish Market, from its founding in 1822 through its move to the Bronx in 2005. Jonathan H. Rees explores the market's workings and significance, tracing the transportation, retailing, and consumption of fish. He tells the stories of the people and institutions that depended on the Fulton Fish Market—including fishermen, retail stores, restaurants, and chefs—and shows how the market affected what customers in New York and around the country ate. Rees examines transformations in food provisioning systems through the lens of a vital distribution point, arguing that the market's wholesale dealers were innovative businessmen who adapted to technological change in a dynamic industry. He also explains how changes in the urban landscape and economy affected the history of the market and the surrounding neighborhood.Bringing together economic, technological, urban, culinary, and environmental history, this book demonstrates how the Fulton Fish Market shaped American cuisine, commerce, and culture

This study investigated information needs among fish farmers in Ife Central Local Government area of Osun State, South West Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 80 of the 160 fish farmers registered by the Zonal Office of Osun State Agriculture Development Project. A self-developed questionnaire segmented into sections was used to elicit information covering respondents' background, information sources, their credibility and usefulness as well as information needs. The findings revealed that sixty-five percent were males while thirty-five percent were females. The majority (65%) was married and fell within active years (30 years) and had primary education. Catfish was mostly farmed (40%) followed by Tilapia (23%) and Heterobrancus (20%). Monoculture was predominant (42.5%) and locally formulated feed was used by the majority (34%). Homestead concrete (30%) and earthen pond (30%) were commonly used among respondents. The majority of respondents (76.3%) were new entrants. Information needs of respondents covered both technical and economic areas. The greatest information needs of fish farmers was on the construction of the modern pond at 73.8 percent, feed formulation techniques at 71.3 percent, feeding operation at 66.3 percent, method of improving fingerling breeds and stocking operation at 62.5 percent and 61.3 percent respectively. It can be concluded tha t the most useful information means and sources are through mobile phones, radio, professional colleagues, religious organizations and the internet. The study recommends that Agricultural extension should identify information needs of fish farmers as well as prominent sources of information so that they can be targeted properly for extension activities.

Freshwater fish communities in Ecuador exhibit some of the highest levels of diversity and endemism in the Neotropics. Unfortunately, aquatic ecosystems in the country are under serious threat and conditions are deteriorating. In 2018–19, the government of Ecuador sponsored a series of workshops to examine the conservation status of Ecuador's freshwater fishes. Concerns were identified for 35 species, most of which are native to the Amazon region, and overfishing of Amazonian pimelodid catfishes emerged as a major issue. However, much of the information needed to make decisions across fish groups and regions was not available, hindering the process and highlighting the need for a review of the conservation threats to Ecuador's freshwater fishes. Here, we review how the physical alteration of rivers, deforestation, wetland and floodplain degradation, agricultural and urban water pollution, mining, oil extraction, dams, overfishing, introduced species and climate change are affecting freshwater fishes in Ecuador. Although many of these factors affect fishes throughout the Neotropics, the lack of data on Ecuadorian fish communities is staggering and highlights the urgent need for more research. We also make recommendations, including the need for proper enforcement of existing environmental laws, restoration of degraded aquatic ecosystems, establishment of a national monitoring system for freshwater ecosystems, investment in research to fill gaps in knowledge, and encouragement of public engagement in citizen science and conservation efforts. Freshwater fishes are an important component of the cultural and biological legacy of the Ecuadorian people. Conserving them for future generations is critical.

This Article reviews the authority of federal and state governments to manage wildlife on federal lands. It first describes the most common assertions made by state governments regarding state powers over wildlife and then analyzes the relevant powers and limitations of the United States Constitution and federal land laws, regulations, and polices. Wildlife-specific provisions applicable within the National Park System, National Wildlife Refuge System, National Forest System, Bureau of Land Management, the special case of Alaska, and the National Wilderness Preservation System are covered, as is the Endangered Species Act. We reviewed an extensive collection of cases of conflict between federal and state agencies in wildlife management on federal land These cases show how federal land laws, regulations, and polices are frequently appeared by federal agencies in an inconsistent and sometimes even unlawful fashion. They also demonstrate how commonalities found in state wildlife governance, such as sources of funding and adherence to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, often exacerbate conflict over wildlife management on federal lands. Federal land management agencies have an obligation, and not just the discretion, to manage and conserve fish and wildlife on federal lands. We debunk the myth that "the states manage wildlife and federal land agencies only manage wildlife habitat" The myth is not only wrong from a legal standpoint, but it leads to fragmented approaches to wildlife conservation, unproductive battles over agency turf and an abdication of federal responsibility over wildlife. Another problem exposed is how the states assert wildlife ownership to challenge the constitutional powers, federal and laws, and supremacy of the United States. While the states do have a responsibility to manage wildlife as a sovereign trust for the benefit of their citizens, most states have not addressed the conservation obligations inherent in trust management; rather, states wish to use the notion of sovereign ownership as a one way ratchet-a source of unilateral power but not of public responsibility. Furthermore, the states' trust responsibilities or wildlife are subordinate to the federal government's statutory and trust obligations over federal lands and their integral resources The Article finishes by reviewing the ample opportunities that already exist in federal land laws for constructive intergovernmental cooperation in wildlife management. Unfortunately, many of these processes are not used to their full potential, and states sometimes use them solely as a means of challenging federal authority rather than a means of solving common problems. Intergovernmental cooperation must be a mutual and reciprocal process, meaning that state agencies need to constructively participate in existing federal processes, and federal agencies should be provided meaningful opportunities to participate in, and influence, state decision making affecting federal lands and wildlife.

"Between 1986 and 1994, East Africa's postcolonial, political settlement was profoundly challenged as four revolutionary 'liberation' movements seized power in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda. After years of armed struggle against vicious dictatorships, these movements transformed from rebels to rulers, promising to deliver 'fundamental change'. This study exposes, examines and underlines the acute challenges each has faced in doing so. Drawing on over 130 interviews with the region's post-liberation elite, undertaken over the course of a decade, Jonathan Fisher takes a fresh and empirically-grounded approach to explaining the fast-moving politics of the region over the last three decades, focusing on the role and influence of its guerrilla governments. East Africa after Liberation sheds critical light on the competing pressures post-liberation governments contend with as they balance reformist aspirations with accommodation of counter-vailing interests, historical trajectories and their own violent organisational cultures"--

Between 1986 and 1994, East Africa's postcolonial, political settlement was profoundly challenged as four revolutionary 'liberation' movements seized power in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda. After years of armed struggle against vicious dictatorships, these movements transformed from rebels to rulers, promising to deliver 'fundamental change'. This study exposes, examines and underlines the acute challenges each has faced in doing so. Drawing on over 130 interviews with the region's post-liberation elite, undertaken over the course of a decade, Jonathan Fisher takes a fresh and empirically-grounded approach to explaining the fast-moving politics of the region over the last three decades, focusing on the role and influence of its guerrilla governments. East Africa after Liberation sheds critical light on the competing pressures post-liberation governments contend with as they balance reformist aspirations with accommodation of counter-vailing interests, historical trajectories and their own violent organisational cultures.