If you love to rescue animals, but big pets may interfere with your housing, you can still make a significant contribution to the animal and plant world. Cardinal tetras are not only beautiful small fish, but also heroes of the Brazilian Rainforest.

The Amazon’s preservation lies in the fins of a one-inch ornamental fish. Traveling thousands of miles from Río Negro, Brazil, the Cardinal tetra not only makes a beautiful, cheap and easy-to-keep pet, but also promotes a healthier environment and a happier community.

Between 20 million and 50 million Cardinal tetras are harvested in the Amazon by the Barcelos community of Río Negro, and then exported to the U.S. and other countries. This market brings in more than 60 percent of Barcelos’ income, according to Project Piaba, a conservation organization dedicated to raise awareness about the fish and its impact on the Amazon.

The residents’ livelihood depends on selling the fish, which not only contributes to two-thirds of the area’s economy, but also allows and encourages locals to step away from ecologically destructive jobs, such as timber or torching.

Around 62 percent of U.S. households own pets, and 11.9 million own fresh-water fish, according to the American Pet Products Association 2011-2012 survey. Most of these fish are considered ornamental, and are commonly sold in pet shops for decorative purposes.

The Cardinal tetra is found in almost every pet shop in the Boston area, and is considered one of the “greenest fish” out there. Its rapid and abundant reproduction allows for it to be caught in the wild without depleting the species.

“Getting wild-caught fish is raping the wild,” said Jim Gentille, 61, owner of The Pet Shop located in Harvard Avenue, Allston-Brighton. “But this is not the case with the Cardinal tetra.”

Environmentalists would argue that catching any species from the wild is ecologically harmful, but the Cardinal tetra may be the rare exception. If the fish’s habitat is kept unaltered by human hands and timber free, the Cardinal tetra multiplies by the millions during the rainy season. This habitat preservation and the resulting abundance of available fish is a priority of area fishermen.

According to a survey carried out by Imperial University of London and Cambridge University in 2009, deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have averaged more than 1.8 million hectares per year, almost the size of Kuwait. Contributing to Barcelos’ economy helps local communities to get involved and profit from aiding the environment instead of exploiting it.

“Up until a few years ago, everything was wild-caught,” said Gentille, who has been selling Cardinal tetras for 40 years now – along with other animals, of course. Recently, some distributors have been getting their fish from a farm in Florida, but most available in shops or aquariums come from the wild.

“It is not more expensive, it’s actually pretty close price-wise,” said Gentille. “You get less loss with a farmed fish, but you don’t get as pretty a fish.”

Each Cardinal tetra costs between $2.99 and $3.99, a small price to pay for the world’s lungs. “I probably go through two-to-three dozen per week,” said Gentille. “They are a schooling fish, so we recommend getting five or six (at a time). For most small fish like that there is safety in numbers.”

According to Project Piaba’s website, the trade of Cardinal tetras involves 80 percent of Barcelos’ population, and generated $100 million in worldwide retail sales. The project itself began in 1989, and continues to work toward a globalized result. There is still a lot to be done.

Project Piaba reported in their site, “Since 1989, fish collectors have received $4 to $5 per 1,000 Cardinal tetras. In 208, collectors receive $8 to $9 per thousand, but still cannot compensate inflation.”

With the slogan, ‘Buy a fish, Save a Tree,” Project Piaba hopes to continue making a difference in the Amazon. It extends their hands inviting anyone to participate and be part of the change.

-Alexandra Gyarfas

Photo Credit: Alexandra Gyarfas, Flickr/Leino88

Photo Credit: University of Oregon

Read about this interesting study at the University of Oregon conducted by an eight-member research team who discovered genetic facts about rainbow trout and its influence on the environment.

Two distinct populations of rainbow trout — one in Alaska, the other in Idaho — share a genetic trait that could have huge implications for fisheries conservation and management, report an eight-member research team.

The common trait is a similar rapid rate of development that has allowed these different salmomid subspecies to adapt to their native rivers in Alaska and Idaho. The researchers, in a paper put online ahead of publication in the journal Molecular Ecology, say the similarity, a gene variant, resides in a specific portion of their genomes from where this local adaptation is triggered.

Understanding and applying that knowledge could help guide current and future efforts to save species on the brink of extinction and help rejuvenate dwindling populations, especially as changing conditions alter fish environments, says lead author Michael R. Miller, a National Science Foundation-funded doctoral student in the University of Oregon lab of co-author Chris Doe, a UO biologist and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

Audio with Michael Miller:

1) Overview of the findings

2) The implications

3) Brief take-home message

The research employed two technologies developed at the UO: the cloning technology pioneered on zebra fish 35 years ago by molecular biologist George Streisinger and a speedy genome-analysis tool known as RAD (restriction-site associated DNA markers). Miller and UO biologist Eric Johnson, with input from William Cresko, also a UO biologist, published their initial RAD-tagging technique in 2005.

The clone lines of rainbow trout used in the study were provided by co-author Gary H. Thorgaard, a fish geneticist at Washington State University. He had worked briefly as a postdoctoral researcher with Streisinger in 1978 to learn about a then-developing zebra-fish cloning technique later detailed in a 1981 Nature paper.

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are members of the salmon family. They have a natal homing instinct in which they return to their native streams or rivers to spawn. Occasionally, some end up in other locations and have to adapt, or evolve, to survive in a new habitat. In studying the genetics of populations in the North Fork Clearwater River in north-central Idaho and in the Swanson River of south-central Alaska, researchers noted similar, speedy rates of development — a conserved trait that generally is not the case in rainbow trout, Thorgaard noted.

“We found that these two very distinct populations are using the same conserved variant of the same gene sequence to achieve this adaptation,” Miller said. “We have not identified the exact gene or gene mutations, but we have identified a region of the genome that is very similar.”

RAD gene-sequencing technology allowed the researchers to sort through the fish genomes — rainbow trout populations have between 58 and 64 chromosomes —until they isolated the gene variants, also known as mutations or alleles. “RAD gives us much better details with a much higher resolution on genetic markers than what we could ever see before,” Thorgaard said.

“RAD is being applied widely in the field of fisheries genetics,” Miller said. “This technology is having a huge impact on salmon genetics, for conservation, management and restoration.”

The findings suggest that the same genetic method of adaptation may be used by other salmonids, which includes salmon, steelhead trout, char, freshwater whitefish and graylings. The gene variant found in the study may have arrived just in time for struggling fish populations, researchers said.

“The study suggests that the same genetic types that are associated with adaptation in one population may also be used by another experiencing similar conditions in another area,” Thorgaard said. “This increases our understanding of how adaptation occurs and could help in characterizing populations for conservation purposes.”

Potentially, Miller said, matching fish with the same genetic variants could prove beneficial in increasing populations in distressed areas. “Many southern populations, in California, for instance, are already extinct or depressed, and these populations likely contain gene variants that may become important for the future adaptation of more northern populations as the environment changes,” he said. “If these populations go extinct, we are potentially hindering the future adaptability of other populations.”

Co-authors on the paper with Miller, Doe and Thorgaard were Joseph P. Brunelli and Paul A. Wheeler, both colleagues of Thorgaard at Washington State, and Sixin Liu, Caird E. Rexroad III and Yniv Palti, all of the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture, Agricultural Research Service-USDA, in Kearneysville, W.Va.

The National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Agriculture supported the research.

Photo Credit: Farm Sanctuary

Eco News Network presents our favorite eco-celeb of the week. Each week we will post an article on our favorite actor, actress, musician, etc. who is not only an exceptional artist, but someone who contributes greatly to the environment. We hope you enjoy! This week, we are changing it up and giving you a Thanksgiving inspired celebrity . . . the turkey! Here are some fun facts about Mother Earth’s beautiful creature thanks to Farm Sanctuary.

1. Turkeys express their feelings through color changes on their necks, faces and snoods (the flap of skin under the neck).

2. The bird’s snood turns to bright red when he is upset or during courtship.

3. Turkeys can learn specific details of an area of more than 1,000 acres. Seems like they have a great sense of direction!

4. The feathered creature can recognize his fellow species by their unique voices.

5. Did you know turkeys are not protected by the federal Humane Slaughter Act and are often killed without first being stunned?

6. Every year, more than 46 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving holiday dinners.

This year, if you want to save a life, then visit the Adopt-A-Turkey Project and see how you can prevent a turkey from being slaughtered this year and start a new tradition! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

-Allyson Koerner

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, that only means Christmas is right around the corner, along with shopping! To get ahead of the gift buying game, we will be providing tips on eco-friendly holiday gifts to make your season that much more enjoyable. To start off, here are some eco-pet gifts that your dog and/or cat will truly love!

Hopefully, these pet products provide a fun, yet eco-conscious idea for you and your pets this holiday season. Trust us when we say your pet won’t be able to take their teeth, claws and paws off of these sustainable toys and accessories!

-Allyson Koerner

Credit: Rene Rivers

Scientists and wildlife experts are calling for koalas to be listed as an endangered species amidst fears that climate change is killing off the dwindling population.

Koalas are notoriously poor at adapting. Despite being native to sunny Australia, they don’t fare well in times of droughts and heat waves. Throw in the fact that the population has been ravaged by disease and threatened by habitat loss and it’s not a stretch to see that koalas need protection.

According to Kathy Marks of the Independent, however, koalas could be slowly slipping into extinction. The effects of climate change are placing more environmental pressures on koala numbers.

“This species is supposed to be common,” said Christine Hosking, a nature conservationist at the University of Queensland, when speaking to the Independent. “Yet it’s slipping into extinction under our noses.”

The situation is so dire that several experts, including Hosking, recently presented evidence to a parliamentary committee that was set up to investigate koala health and status.

Koalas are typically difficult to view in the wild, as they hide in the high canopies of tall trees and camouflage with the branches on which they perch.

But if the animal that prides itself on hiding seems to be disappearing, its population is probably doing well, you might think.

Wrong.

According to the Independent, Clive McAlpine, a landscape ecologist at the University of Queensland, believes that there are between just 50,000 and 100,000 koalas left in the wild.

Urban development, agriculture and industry have eaten away at the koalas’ traditional habitat – gum trees. Furthermore, diseases such as chlamydia, cancer and leukemia also affect the koala population.

In fact, Hosking has data that shows that temperatures above 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, are intolerable for koalas – a strange twist since koalas are native to a country that is known for hot, steamy, summertime sunshine.

One problem koala-lovers and conservation experts face is that koalas are still quite numerous in certain regions of Eastern Australia, which provides a false sense of security for those against listing the animal as endangered. But experts say that the population in these areas are genetically limited and devastated by disease.

“There’s a lot of evidence to support the case for action,” McAlpine told the Independent. ”We can’t afford to wait until the population is down to 10,000 before we do something, because by then it will be too late.”

- Kane Carpenter

The BowTie is a 100 percent cotton, all-natural continuous loop joined by a traditional handmade short splice. The toy, handmade in New England, is available only from The Black Dog in Large (8” diameter) and Small (5 1/2” diameter) sizes.

Captain Dave Bill, founder of Island Time Pet Toys and a nautical science instructor at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass., began making these nautically inspired pet toys after realizing that most of what is available today is made overseas. And, that none of them are hand constructed with natural, non-toxic materials. Captain Bill combines his Boy Scout background and love for the sea to create these organic pet toys using traditional nautical rope methods and 100 percent cotton, American-made, non-toxic rope.

Although the BowTie is exclusively offered through the Black Dog, Island Time Pets’ offers other dog and cat toys and leashes at www.islandtimepets.com.

Captain Dave Bill, founder of Island Time Pet Toys and a nautical science instructor at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass., began making these nautically inspired pet toys after realizing that most of what is available today is made overseas. And, that none of them are hand constructed with natural, non-toxic materials. Captain Bill combines his Boy Scout background and love for the sea to create these organic pet toys using traditional nautical rope methods and 100 percent cotton, American-made, non-toxic rope.

Island Time Pets’ toys, collars, and custom leashes are available to purchase at www.islandtimepets.com or at some of New England’s boutique pet retail outlets. For more information email info@islandtimepets.com.

Scott Chapman does too. As founder and president of Hospitality Industry Partnership for Pets (HIP for Pets), Scott is combining his current job with his past. Before joining PetSmart as Learning and Development manager where he oversees training for PetSmart personnel, he spent 20 years in the hospitality industry.

“Working with PetSmart Charities, I see a great need for supplies at shelters across the country,” he says. “My background in the hospitality industry made me think about the towels, sheets, blankets, and other supplies that hotels discard. These items could be going to animal shelters. Many of these items don’t go to human shelters because they may have stains or holes in them. The items are laundered and in fair to good condition and the staffs at shelters welcome getting them.”

“Just think of all those towels at hotels,” says Scott. “In a 500-room hotel, we have about 1500 towels in one corridor that need to be switched out. There are towels in the room, in the laundry, in storage and on the shelf. And hotels with pools have even more towels.

Hospitality and Shelters: A Good Match
HIP for Pets is a separate entity from PetSmart. Scott is doing this with the help of his wife, Ellyn, who works as a groomer at a PetSmart in Phoenix. Ellyn serves as vice president of the company. Also on board are a number of animal activists, trainers, groomers and business people—from the hospitality industry to volunteers at shelters. “It just makes a lot of sense to put animal shelter workers together with people in the hospitality industry,” says Scott.

The word is spreading to major hotel chains and airlines. (Scott says those airline blankets are just the right size for kennels.) He has a number of big name chain hotels ready to come on board, and has a list of shelters that have already signed up.

You Can Join
The program is free. If you are in the hospitality industry—whether you are a small Bed & Breakfast or a large hotel chain, restaurant, airline or other hospitality-related business, visit the online site and click on the words “Everything Counts” in the “Your Donations” column. A list of items from shampoos to newspapers to towels and more pops up. Click on what you can donate, and then put in your zip code. A list of local animal shelters will appear on the screen. Pick one or a handful, and contact them to pick up these items.

Animal shelters can join by clicking on the “Contact” button. Donors can join here too. Fill out the information to be a donating or receiving partner with HIP for Pets. It’s that easy.

Recycling Means Everyone Wins
Animals win, shelter workers win, hospitality workers wins, and our planet wins.

Please share this post with your local animal shelter, and if you know anyone who can donate anything from office supplies to linens to cleaning supplies, have them read this post and then log onto the HIP for Pets site.

Michele C. Hollow blogs at Pet News and Views, a site focused on the positive side of animal welfare. (http://www.petnewsandviews.com)

Captain Dave, founder of Island Time Pets and creator of all-natural handmade pet products, now offers handmade, nautically inspired dog leashes. Combining his Boy Scout background and love for the sea, Captain Dave crafts his organic pet toys and dog and cat products using traditional nautical rope methods and only the finest quality American-made, non-toxic rope.

“My leashes are handmade, made to last, made locally, functional, elegant, and unique,” says Captain Dave.

The new leashes are spliced by hand in traditional nautical fashion using a three-strand nylon rope made by New England Rope.  The bronze hardware is cast in Italy and hand spliced into the rope.  The leashes currently come in brown, but Captain Dave is considering expanding the product line to other colors. Island Time Pets dog leashes are available in 3/8” diameter line for smaller dogs, and ½” line for larger dogs, and in 4’ and 6’lengths.  The Island Time Pets leash retails for between $44 and $56 plus shipping & handling depending on the size. Custom leashes are available in other lengths and in an adjustable style perfect for city dwelling dogs.

Captain Dave started Island Time Pets to provide dogs, cats, and their owners high-quality, handmade, natural toys and products that last. This and Captain Dave’s other toys can be purchased at http://www.islandtimepets.com and at some of New England’s boutique pet retail outlets. In addition to making pet products, Captain Dave is a Nautical Science instructor at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass.

To order or for more information visit www.islandtimepets.com or email info@islandtimepets.com

Photo courtesy of Dusty Rainbolt

Combining his love for the sea and for pets of all kinds, Captain Dave, founder of Island Time Pet Toys, introduces the “Pigtails” a new 100% organic cotton toy that is cat tested and approved. The enticing new cat toy is a six-strand monkey fist, hand-tied of all-natural cotton string around a one-inch jingle bell. The toy combines just the tactile qualities cats love with strong hand-made construction that withstands tough kitty claws with ease. “This toy is so well-made, so well knotted, despite my justifiable cat/string phobia, I would not hesitate to let my guys play with it at any time,” comments Dusty Rainbolt, Vice President, Cat Writers Association. “This toy appeals to many of your cat’s senses. The monkey fist creates an intriguing tactile texture and an interesting pattern for humans to ponder and the bell inside the knot jingles a “come-and-get-me” sound.”

Captain Dave found that most pet toys are made overseas and none of them are made with natural, non-toxic materials.  He started Island Time Pets to provide feline and canine friends with high-quality natural toys that last. The Pigtail retails for $7.99. This and Captain Dave’s other toys can be purchased at http://www.islandtimepets.com and at some of New England’s boutique pet retail outlets.