[Editors] MIT warns of dumping seafood

[Elizabeth Thomson]

MIT News Office
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room 11-400
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA  02139-4307
Phone: 617-253-2700
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www

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MIT warns of dumping seafood
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For Immediate Release
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2006
Contact: Judith Pederson, MIT Sea Grant
Phone: 617-252-1741
Email: jpederso at mit.edu

--PHOTO AVAILABLE--

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--In its latest outreach campaign, MIT Sea Grant has 
developed an educational pamphlet to encourage people not to release 
or dump live and fresh seafood and seafood waste into the wild.

"Live and Fresh Seafood: Into the Pan, Not Into the Wild," provides 
details about proper handling and disposal of live seafood and 
seafood waste and is designed to prevent the introduction of marine 
and freshwater invasive seafood, such as finfish, crabs, oysters, 
clams, turtles, algae and any animals or plants that may travel on 
seafood and seafood products.

Invasive species are animals and plants that are introduced to new 
ecosystems, where they cause economic or environmental damage, or 
harm to human health. Each year, the United States spends an 
estimated $120 billion managing introduced species in terrestrial, 
freshwater and marine environments. This includes $1 billion trying 
to eradicate zebra mussels and quagga mussels and $100 million for 
green crabs.

Invasive species are a problem everywhere in the world. In Southeast 
Asia, South American apple snails now threaten rice and taro crops. 
In Ecuador, Asia, Europe and Kenya, Louisiana crayfish are devouring 
local vegetation and damaging dams.

Many pathways lead to these introductions. Invasive species can 
travel in ship ballast water or on the hulls of ships and boats; they 
can escape from aquaculture facilities or be inadvertently released 
during transport; they can introduced by aquarium owners who dump 
unwanted fish and plants into the wild; and they can be intentionally 
or accidentally released by seafood handlers and consumers.

The northern snakehead fish and the Chinese mitten crab are two 
examples of seafood that were released or dumped and are currently 
invading parts of the United States, causing environmental damage 
such as erosion and flooding. In addition, shellfish may spread human 
diseases such as cholera.

The pamphlet also draws attention to types of seafood that are 
illegal to possess in the United States, such as the northern 
snakehead, walking catfish and Chinese mitten crab.

Made possible by a grant from the National Sea Grant Program, the 
pamphlet is available in Chinese, Vietnamese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish 
and English.

For more information or to download the free pamphlet, visit 
http://massbay.mit.edu/seafood.
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Elizabeth A. Thomson
Assistant Director, Science & Engineering News
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
News Office, Room 11-400
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA  02139-4307
617-258-5402 (ph); 617-258-8762 (fax)
<thomson at mit.edu>

<http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www>
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