Articles By Samantha Baxter

Sunset on the Pacific Ocean, one of many ecosystem that have experienced temperature shifts and changes in the thermal performance of native fish and marine life.

Fish Science and Species

Thermal Performance in Aquatic Species Under a Changing Climate

Under a rapidly changing climate regime with rising average temperatures, aquatic species are just one of many rungs of the global ecological ladder expected to be negatively impacted. Understanding thermal performance under this changing environment and studying the ability of species to adapt and survive is key to managing...

  • Posted June 9, 2025
Baylor researcher Zach Moran with a 6-foot 7-inch Alligator Gar.

Fish Science and Species

Mercury in Brazos River Alligator Gar

Being an apex predator, Alligator Gar can bioaccumulate harmful chemicals like mercury over the course of their entire lives by inhabiting polluted areas and consuming contaminated prey. This transfer of mercury through the food web–also known as biomagnification–is a key driver of bioaccumulation within individuals.  The effects of such...

  • Posted June 2, 2025
CCA president, Rocky Carter, driving boat to one of the reef sites.

Fisheries

Expanding the Jacksonville Oyster Highway: Bioremediation of the New River Watershed

The New River watershed in North Carolina went from a two-decade-long closure of its water resources to hosting a plentiful fishery a few decades later. The change took years of restoration work, and a key part was the installation of millions of small but mighty oysters in the waterway,...

  • Posted May 26, 2025
A river at dawn. such fisheries are home to hundreds of species with varying thermal sensitivity.

Fish Science and Species

Understanding Thermal Sensitivity and Resilience to Improve Fisheries Management

Thermal sensitivity and resilience shape how fish move through an ecosystem and survive. Thermal sensitivity refers to a species’ sensitivity to changes in temperature. Some species are more sensitive than others. Generally, every species has a range of temperatures that they are able to tolerate, and the smaller this...

  • Posted May 19, 2025
Blue Hill Harbor, Blue Hill, Maine. Such marine fisheries like this are essential to ocean carbon dynamics.

Fisheries

Fisheries, Fishing, and Ocean Carbon Cycling

In the conversation on carbon cycling and emissions, fisheries may be overlooked, but the connection between fisheries management and carbon cannot be ignored. Considering the connection between excess carbon and climate change, the role of fisheries and their exploitation is a key part of carbon management. Fish and Carbon...

  • Posted May 12, 2025
Aquaculture along Bingera Weir Road in South Bingera Locality.

Aquaculture

Monitoring the Aquaculture Sector and Meeting Global Food Security Demands

Large-scale monitoring of the aquaculture sector can be challenging on account of the location, number, and size of production facilities. Understanding the scope and growth of the industry is of particular importance to state and international organizations as aquaculture is expected to play a critical role in future food...

  • Posted May 5, 2025
Volunteers of the Angling Trust Water Quality Monitoring Network from Mottram St. Andrew’s Fishing Club test the water for signs of pollution.

Equipment

Anglers Take the Lead: England’s Angling Trust Monitors Rivers and Streams

Rivers and streams are home to millions of aquatic organisms, from freshwater mussels to the most sought-after trophy fish. However, freshwater resources across the world have been impacted by increased rates of pollution in recent years as industry and urban centers expand. Pollutants like phosphates, nitrates, and ammonia flood...

  • Posted April 28, 2025
A pair of otoliths which can be evaluated to assess fish growth rates.

Fisheries

Local and Regional Drivers of Fish Growth Rates

How and why fish grow are heavily dependent on environmental conditions like climatic processes and water quality. Understanding how exactly these stressors impact fisheries as a whole is essential to informed, sustainable management. Environmental variations like wind dynamics and temperatures (air and water) can lead to increases—or decreases—in growth...

  • Posted April 21, 2025
An oyster farm wil floating buoys organized in lines. An early warning system can monitor critical water quality conditions that impact oyster health and development.

Aquaculture

Designing an Observational Early Warning System for Aquaculture

Marine aquaculture operations require close environmental monitoring to ensure the farmed species remains healthy. Because ocean conditions can change quickly, continuous monitoring and the creation of a targeted early warning system can help protect aquaculture farms and their products. Monitoring key measurements like temperature, dissolved oxygen, climate, and wave/current...

  • Posted April 14, 2025
November's Bytemarks Lunch visit to the McKinley aquaculture fish farm.

Aquaculture

Real-Time Monitoring Systems in Aquaculture

Monitoring in aquaculture settings is necessary to avoid fish kills, expensive losses, disease, and other water quality-associated complications. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and other key water quality parameters can all impact growth and production in ponds, so operators must continuously monitor pens and modify conditions if possible. Real-time monitoring...

  • Posted April 7, 2025
Two biologists are pictures holding red bags containing one-year old mussels which are being released into Powell River.

Aquaculture

Impacts of Thermal Stress on Aquatic Species

Under a rapidly changing climate, aquatic ecosystems are exposed to varying temperature extremes—both cold and hot—leading to thermal stress on aquatic species. As defined by Scient Direct, thermal stress refers to the impact on normal physiological functioning as a result of extreme temperatures. Depending on the severity of temperatures...

  • Posted March 31, 2025
Weather station deployed on Davies Reef.

Fish Science and Species

Monitoring in the Great Barrier Reef

An international icon and critical marine ecosystem, the Great Barrier Reef is a cornerstone of the region’s economy, biodiversity, culture, and history. However, anthropogenic stressors and climate change have led to some deterioration of areas of the reef over time, making protecting the reef a challenge for local and...

  • Posted March 24, 2025
An aquaculture pond located along the south shore of Donghai Island, Guangdong. (East of Guitou Village). Such facilities are tied to high nitrous oxide emmissions.

Aquaculture

Mitigating Nitrous Oxide Production in Aquaculture Facilities

As the world turns its focus to refining aquaculture to meet global food demands sustainably, the environmental impact of aquaculture cannot be ignored. In particular, emissions of nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases from aquaculture facilities can worsen climate change due to their potent ozone depletion potential. As a...

  • Posted March 17, 2025
Dusk on the Yangtze River.

Fish Science and Species

Managing Fisheries Within and After Fishing Bans: The 10-Year Fishing Ban in the Yangtze River

Fishing bans are a common regulatory tool used by fishery managers and local officials to restrict the exploitation of a water body and use the time to improve the ecosystem. During a fishing ban, this ecosystem improvement may be natural, such as allowing dwindling populations of highly sought-after fish...

  • Posted March 10, 2025
A Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides), which is a commonly stocked predatory fish.

Fisheries

Minimizing the Impacts of Predatory Fish Stocking with Habitat Enhancement

While the term “fish stocking” may conjure up images of conservation measures deployed by fishery managers to stock endangered native fish, it can also refer to stocking predatory fish, including non-native species, for the sake of anglers. Even in cases where native predators are stocked, fishery managers must balance efforts...

  • Posted March 3, 2025
satellite imagery from the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellites. The image shows eddies, the Loop Current, river plumes and coastal circulation in the Gulf of Mexico using different colors.

Fish Science and Species

Using Satellites to Monitor Fisheries and Improve Sustainability

While there are many methods used to monitor the world’s oceans and lakes, remote sensing technologies like satellites have become more popular for large-scale viewing of water quality, seabed topography, coral reef health, sea surface characteristics and other environmental conditions. For example, Maury Estes, a principal research scientist with...

  • Posted February 24, 2025
Coastline of Gokova Bay, Turkey, a designated marine protected area.

Fish Science and Species

Anglers and Marine Protected Areas: Bridging Public Perceptions and Fisheries Management

The success of various fishery management approaches heavily depends on the participation, investment, and perceptions of stakeholders like anglers, conservation groups, scientists, managers, and the general public. Commercial and recreational anglers, in particular, can make or break conservation efforts like marine protected areas (MPAs). As extractive users, anglers rely...

  • Posted February 17, 2025
Rainbow trout observed in a pocket of water in the Arroyo Seco after they were relocated during from the San Gabriel River due to wildfires.

Fish Science and Species

What Happens to Fish During Wildfires?

While wildfires’ impact on the land is well-known, their influence on waterways and the aquatic life that reside there is a bit more complex. Beyond initial damages, fish are also uniquely impacted by wildfires in terms of how water quality and physical stream conditions change as a result of...

  • Posted February 10, 2025
A group of anglers fishing in National Elk Refuge.

Fisheries

Benefits and Barriers to Effective Knowledge Exchange Between Commercial Anglers and Fisheries Researchers

Local Ecological Knowledge, or LEK, has become a popular topic in fisheries research and management in recent years as the need for local knowledge and investment from commercial anglers and community members is necessary to implement management strategies successfully. LEK can originate from any local group, such as indigenous...

  • Posted February 3, 2025
Lake Erie from Chatham-Kent Highway 3, Chatham-Kent, Ontario

Fish Science and Species

Two-Eyed Seeing Approach in Fisheries Management and Research

The Two-Eyed Seeing approach is a joint strategy that requires the equal collaboration of state and government agencies and Indigenous peoples. While these two groups have historically operated separately, the Two-Eyed Seeing approach calls for management and research topics to include the perspectives, needs, and knowledge of Indigenous populations...

  • Posted January 27, 2025