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Sunday, February 10, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Atitlan at Last
A view of Panajachel, Guatemala. |
Some background:
About a year ago, I decided to apply for the prestigious Fulbright fellowship-nine months I spent on the application! I am sad to say I was not awarded the Fulbright, nominated YES by the International Institute of Education, accepted NO due to political issues on Guatemala's side. The integrity of my research proposal was eventually recognized and the hard work paid off. I am proud to say I am now a National Geographic Young Explorer. I arrived in Panajachel, Guatemala four days ago and will be spending the next three months immersing myslef in the Maya fishing community of Lake Atitlan.
So please, join me on this 'exploration', send me your thoughts, your concerns, and your love.
My first friend encountered in the Maya highlands. |
My proposal (Not interested? Scroll down):
Encouraging
environmental stewardship of Lake Atitlán through community-based research
while establishing baseline knowledge of the Guatemalan fishery:
I propose to establish foundations for monitoring of the
Lake Atitlán fishery and to improve the ability to monitor potential toxins produced
in surface water cyanobacterial blooms. Extensive surveys of the Lake Atitlán area will be
conducted to understand the social and economic dimensions of the local
fishery. Community-based techniques will include efforts to monitor and restore
lake ecosystem health while contributing to the preservation of traditional
ecological knowledge.
History
of Lake & Scientific Collaboration
Lake Atitlan holds economic, social, sentimental, and even spiritual
importance for many Guatemalans, especially the major Mayan ethnic
groups inhabiting lakeside villages. These rural communities rely on
the lake for drinking water, bathing, recreation, textiles and
fisheries. In 2008, 2009, and 2011, thick green cyanobacterial blooms
coated 40% of the lake's 137 km2surface area, visible from
NASA satellites. Understandably, following these visually stunning
blooms, the local communities panicked, fearing the lake was sick. In
April 2010, a group of international and local scientists and
organizations came together to conduct a snapshot assessment of the
lake's status and to capacity build an integrated framework for ongoing
monitoring. Although the 350 meter deep lake remains healthy, the
eutrophication process has accelerated in the last few years; measures
must be taken to reduce the nutrient loading, otherwise the lake may
become irreversibly altered.
Public Health Risk of Cyanotoxins
Produced
by a wide range of cyanobacteria species in surface waters worldwide, cyanotoxins
exhibit diverse effects on organisms depending on the specific toxins. As public understanding of these blooms increases, alarm over potential adverse
health effects of these toxins also emerges.
Following the 2009 blooms, the Guatemalan government declared the water and
fish unsafe for consumption, resulting in widespread panic and almost complete
loss of income for local fishermen. Luckily,
to date, no appreciable concentrations of cyanotoxins have been found in Atitlán
waters. Yet, because of potential drastic shifts
in nutrient dynamics of the lake in coming years, a toxin-producing
cyanobacterial species could become dominant.
Cyanotoxins have been shown to accumulate in fish and shellfish tissues,
creating a large public health concern for local villages and populations.
Methodology and Rational
Understanding aquatic species presence, distribution, and
risks of accumulation will allow for more focused research to be conducted on critical
species, identified in this study, in the event of future toxin detection. The results of this project will enhance
ability to abate human health risks caused by potential cyanotoxin exposure.
Goal #1: Establish
baseline scientific data of the local fisheries through fish surveys around the
lake for long-term monitoring of lake health. I will build on existing fish
surveys conducted in April 2010 and by undergraduate student Hugo Villavicencio
at UVG. To be completed with the use of
snorkel surveys, minnow traps, and scuba surveys in collaboration with La
Iguana Perdida, the local dive center, these surveys will determine numbers,
types, and rough health estimates of fish.
Goal #2: Provide
natural history knowledge of lake fisheries from interviews with fishermen. Local fishermen hold the most
knowledge about fish, fish community composition and food web changes over time;
their day-to-day work keeps them embedded in the lake’s ecology. I intend survey development to be a dynamic process in which to engage local fishing communities and extend an avenue for their voices in local conservations efforts.
Goal
#3: Review literature for potential human health risk from fish consumption.
A scientific literature review will be conducted to answer the
following questions in order to better inform future risk assessment efforts:
1) Are locally-consumed fish known to accumulate major cyanotoxins? 2) Which species are the most sensitive and
might be used as bio-indicators in the event that toxins are detected?
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