The Northern Territory Fisheries Department has declared war on a small aquarium fish which is taking over a Darwin waterway. Fisheries staff are working to eradicate thousands of guppies which have been found at Fannie Bay's Racecourse Creek. They say the pests may have been dumped in the creek from someone's fish tank. Fisheries Minister Chris Natt says the guppies are competing with native species for food and habitat. "If they're left to run wild they overrun the native fish. There's also a case that they may have bacteria or germs within them and that would spread to the native fish and kill them, so it's important that we do get these fish out of the creek," Mr. Natt said. The Government has also begun an education campaign about the dangers of introducing non-native species to creeks and rivers. Mr. Natt says anyone releasing exotic fish into waterways can face fines of up to $20,000."We're just asking people to be very aware of not introducing these type of fish into the creeks," he said. "It's important that we keep our native fish in the creeks, it's their native habitat and we would like to see the native species survive." Click here to see the original story.

Each September a months-long ritual starts up again in the Japanese villages of Taiji and Futo. Fishermen herd hundreds of dolphins into shallow bays by banging on partially submerged rods. Researchers say the dolphins are corralled into nets and then speared, hooked, hoisted by their tails, and finally eviscerated alive. A new consortium of scientists and wildlife officials today called on the Japanese government to end the practice. The “Act for Dolphins” campaign includes members from the New York Aquarium, Emory University, and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The group called the annual hunt "inhumane by any ethical standard" and said it "should be discontinued immediately." Click here to read this story.