The Northern Territory news Mon 6 Aug 2012
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2012-08-06
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/241767
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/615609
www.ntnews.com.au Monday, August 6, 2012. NT NEWS. 47 P U B : NTNE-WS-DA-TE:6-AGE:47 CO-LO-R: C-M Y-K Study finds tropical fish at risk from suns rays The coral trout caught at Heron Island and One Tree Island for the study were all captured in less than 20m of water By MICHELLE HENDERSON AUSTRALIAS sunny climate has been linked to high rates of skin cancer in humans, but it now seems fish could also be susceptible. Melanomas have been detected in wild fish populations for the first time in species on the world heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. The most likely culprit is ultra-violet radiation, says lead researcher Michael Sweet from the UKs Newcastle University. The university and the Australian Institute of Marine Science examined 136 coral trout caught at Heron Island and One Tree Island, in the southern area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, between August 2010 and February 2012. About 15 per cent of the fish captured had dark lesions on the surface of the skin, but were otherwise healthy. The lesions were characteristic of melanomas created in laboratories on the fish species Xiphophorus, the research found. The study, published in the journal PLoS One, said the sampled fish were caught in a protected marine park area with no evidence of pollution, and therefore the likelihood the cancers were caused by carcinogenic pollutants was low. Further work needs to be carried out to establish the exact cause of the cancer but having eliminated other likely factors such as microbial pathogens and marine pollution, UV radiation appears to be the most likely cause, Dr Sweet said. Previous studies have shown UV radiation can affect marine and freshwater organisms and can penetrate as deep as 60m. The coral trout used in this study were all captured in less than 20m of water. ntnews.com.aul l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l WEATHER ntnews.com.aul l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l FISHING