They're trying to Dam the Mekong River!

[beano_baby]

Its always one trade off for another. I live in the western US and within 50 miles of two large dams. These two dams provide Electricity to 100's of thosands of homes and business and saves 100's of tons of coal from being burned every year. Without these dams we would have no water since we live in the dessert.

Its sad to see what happens to the natural eco system. But nature is amazing at adapting and as much as I hate to see these changes, its an essentual part of life in some locations.

[pufferfreak]

Considering how immense the population of socal is those dams are a necessity. There is always a pro and con to most every situation though.

[marksrush]

True to a certain extent, however all too often the "pro" means what's good for us humans only, and the "con" means the bad effects on everything else. I think we all know which side usually wins out.

[pufferfreak]

Well i know how you feel but when peoples lives are at stake it is often the winner of the situation. Don't get me wrong because i am a tree hugger . Just saying though. I believe situations like drilling in alaska ridiculous though. We really should be looking for alternative sources of energy.

[emartin]

I'm sure they will implement similar plans that the Chinese did with the Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam is opened for full flow every so often to allow trapped sediment to flow through.... Granted it's not the natural flow but it's better than nothing.

I'm not sure this will harm the puffers though. It's MUCH MUCH MUCH better that they are going to supply their own people with fresh water and cheap electricity than having oil tankers go up and down their rivers to bring fuel.

Here in the USA we had a NASTY oil spill on the Mississippi river that took weeks to clean up... Poorer countrys (thanks to imperialism and depletion of THEIR natural resources) won't be able to clean up such oil spills... Or at least they won't be able to act quickly as we did or as thoroughly.

On the plus side, dedicated hobbyists like us will preserve these species forever.

The greatest danger to world waters are NOT pollutions (though that is a huge danger obviously) but introduced species. Lake Victoria was thought to have either the same or MORE species of cichlids and other fish than Lake Malawi (and Lake Malawi has nearly 1,000 confirmed species and lots more undiscovered realms of the lake). Here in the Atlantic Ocean either from hurricanes flooding homes or people releasing them we have a Lion Fish problem. They are decimating our reefs ecosystems and they have no natural predators here like they do in the Indian Ocean.

Just my opinion. Human development isn't always bad. Just be glad that they aren't building a giant chemical power plant and dumping the chemicals in the water (like they and many factories used to do here in the USA until they were caught and banned from doing so and forced to pay for cleanup). We can't even eat our native fish here in the US without the risk of cancer! How ridiculous is that!!!

~Ed

[Lil' Swimz$]

What?

[Lil' Swimz$]

What?! I eat crappies and bluegills like crazy!!!

[emartin]

What?! I eat crappies and bluegills like crazy!!!

In Wisconsin you are probably safe with eating the fish. Your state fish and wildlife department will be able to confirm that. Just around more populated states the waters are very polluted and the fish are loaded with PCBs and other contaminants that make it deadly for us if we eat it too often.

[Lil' Swimz$]

That's a relief.

[emartin]

That's a relief.

http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/hlthhaz/fs/ ... 20to%20eat?
http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/hlthhaz/fs/PCBlink.HTM
Here you go. It says that you should avoid eating too much of the larger predatory species, especially if they are from the great lakes and mississippi river.

BUT, that Wisconsin's inland lakes and rivers and ponds are pretty safe.

Since PCBs are stored in fat, smaller, leaner, shorter-lived species such as bluegills, crappie and yellow perch contain very low or undetectable levels of PCBs.

Great Lakes fish and fish from the Mississippi River are more likely to contain PCBs than fish from Wisconsin inland lakes and rivers.

~Ed

[Dadof4]

What?! I eat crappies and bluegills like crazy!!!

Being in WI I watch this pretty close, mainly because I do a lot of river fishing where there was heavy pollution for years. If you are on inland lakes you don't have anything to fear, they weren't used as a dumping ground or waste water discharge repository. If you're catching fish out of some areas of the larger rivers you need to be a little careful but not overly concerned. I would not eat a bug Walleye out of the Mississippi or a bottom feeder out of some of the rivers though....