The document provides updates from the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) including: 1) The launch of a new website for the FBA Clear Waters Oral History Project which aims to collect memories around waterways in the Lake District over the past 50-60 years. 2) Publication of the latest issue of the Inland Waters journal and information on how to access or subscribe to the journal. 3) An announcement of an upcoming workshop in Spain on the ecology of inland waters between 13-17 October 2013.

1. Freshwater Matters
What’s happening at the FBA?
Clear Waters Oral History Project
The new website for the FBA Clear Waters Oral History Project has been launched.
The Heritage Lottery Fund is funding the Clear Waters project which aims to
collect memories and stories from local people living and working by the water,
anglers and sport fishermen, FBA former staff and members and people involved
in lake recreation. The project will look back 50-60 years to discover the changes
that have occurred in the Lake District, focusing on Windermere and its catchment
in particular. To find out more and to get involved please see the new website:
www.clearwaters.org.uk.
Latest issue of Inlands Waters now published
The latest issue of Inland Waters – Journal of the International Society of Limnology
(Vol 3(2)) has now been published, concluding the series of papers on a special
theme of Lake Simcoe, Canada (started in the previous issue). A list of contents
and abstracts can be viewed online at: https://www.fba.org.uk/journals/index.
php/IW/issue/view/111. Full-text articles can be downloaded by subscribers
and SIL members. If you do not currently subscribe or are not a SIL member
and wish to have access to the journal, please either take out an individual
subscription (complete the subscription leaflet at https://www.fba.org.uk/
journals/GuidanceDocs/IWSubscriptionLeaflet_2013ForWebsite.pdf and return to
the SIL Business Services Coordinator) or recommend the journal to your library
at https://www.fba.org.uk/journals/index.php/IW/user/recommendLibrary.
Workshop Announcement- Opening Doors: Scientific seminars for young
researchers, workshop on “The ecology of inland waters”
The British Council in Spain in collaboration with the Spanish Council for Scientific
Research is organising a series of scientific workshops to provide opportunities
for researchers from the UK and Spain to meet face-to-face for the exchange of
ideas, knowledge and information on priority topics and to explore future areas
of research and collaboration. The workshop is being held in Estación Biológica de
Doñana (Huelva, Spain), between the 13-17th
October 2013. For more information
and to download a flyer and application form please see http://www.fba.org.uk/
other-conferences-and-courses.
June 2013
Freshwater Matters is a monthly electronic bulletin of the most recent
freshwater news from around the world, compiled by the Freshwater Biological
Association (FBA). It includes updates of what is happening at the FBA and ways
to get involved.
Contents
What’s happening at the FBA?
This month’s articles
State of nature stocktake shows worrying decline
Humanity’s access to fresh water in peril, conference of 500 water scientists
says
Bears that have no fish to eat baby elk instead
Frog once imported for pregnancy testing brought deadly amphibian disease
to U.S.
Zoo seeks mate for last surviving ‘gorgeously ugly’ fish
Amphibians living close to farm fields are more resistant to common
insecticides
Getting to the bottom of why guppies jump
Sun pipes help fish swim to breeding ground
Thinking ‘big’ may not be best approach to saving large-river fish
Rebirth of lake sturgeon

2. This month’s articles
State of nature stocktake shows worrying decline
A report compiled by 25 wildlife organisations across the UK has revealed that
60% of animal and plant species have declined over the last 50 years. Amongst
others, the report highlights that losses of the European eel have been so great it
is now threatened with global extinction, and that despite intensive conservation
efforts, breeding populations of natterjack toads have remained static.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/22609000
Humanity’s access to fresh water in peril, conference of 500 water
scientists says
A global summit of 500 of the world’s leading water scientists issued a stark
message: within two generations the majority of people on Earth will ‘be living
under the handicap of severe pressure on fresh water’. A report, titled ‘The
Bonn Declaration’, considers that the problems are largely self-inflicted, entirely
avoidable and outlines steps that society must take to address them over the
coming years.
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/2110/20130525/humanitys-access-
fresh-water-peril-conference-500-wateer-scientits-s.htm
Bears that have no fish to eat baby elk instead
Research published in Nature this month has shown that the illegal introduction of
lake trout into Yellowstone Lake has had a knock-on effect for elk numbers. Lake
trout are voracious predators and have caused a precipitous decline in cutthroat
trout in the lake. In turn this has led to fewer fish being available for grizzly bear
populations who have turned to eating baby elk. The authors report that this
switch in feeding has reduced the elk population growth rate by as much as 11 %.
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/05/bears-that-have-no-fish-
to-eat-eat-baby-elk-instead/
Frog once imported for pregnancy testing brought deadly amphibian
disease to U.S.
According to a new study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, African frogs,
originally imported into the U.S. for pregnancy tests, may have been the source
of the harmful Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd fungus which has led to the
decline or extinction of over 200 frog species globally.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130515174350.htm
Zoo seeks mate for last surviving ‘gorgeously ugly’ fish
London Zoo is appealing to fish keepers around the world to help with the search
for a mate for a critically endangered species in their collection. The Mangarahara
cichlid (Ptychochromis insolitus) is extinct in its native Madagascar and the three
held in captivity are all male. The final hope for the species is that a private
collector has a suitable mate somewhere in the world.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22468206
Amphibians living close to farm fields are more resistant to common
insecticides
A study published this month in Evolutionary Applications suggests that
amphibians living close to agricultural fields have become resistant to commonly
used insecticides. The mechanism of this resistance is such that it may confer
benefits to the amphibian even when exposed to new insecticides.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130501132058.htm
Getting to the bottom of why guppies jump
The mystery of why guppies jump may have been solved according to new
research published this month in PLOS ONE. Unlike other fish the guppy does
not jump as an escape mechanism or as an adaption for hunting. Instead the
research, suggests that guppies developed the habit of jumping as a way of
dispersing in the environment to colonise new habitats.
http://news.yahoo.com/getting-bottom-why-guppies-jump-135149307.html
Sun pipes help fish swim to breeding ground
The Environment Agency has installed a series of glass domes to allow sunlight to

3. reach a river that flows through a tunnel in Cumbria, UK. By providing a graded
transition from light to dark the domes encourage salmon and sea trout to swim
up the tunnel to reach their spawning grounds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-22351210
Thinking ‘big’ may not be best approach to saving large-river fish
Targeting conservation effort at major tributaries could represent the best
conservation strategy for large-river specialist fish according to work published in
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Traditionally conservation efforts have
focussed on restoring original habitat, however the work suggests that focussing
on tributaries could return more ‘bang for the buck’ in terms of protecting species.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522180342.htm
Rebirth of lake sturgeon
National Geographic reports from a captive breeding rearing facility in Michigan on
efforts to help the largest fish found in North America. Once common throughout
the area, numbers of lake sturgeon have plummeted over the last few centuries
as pollution, habitat loss and overfishing have taken their toll. Now scientists and
volunteers are trying to give young fish a helping hand to aid recovery.
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/18/lake-sturgeon-freshwater-
species-of-the-week/
Please forward this bulletin to any of your colleagues who may be
interested!