Insecticides linked to freshwater fishery collapse in Japan www.upi.com

New research suggests the use of insecticides on rice farms in Japan led to the collapse of fish populations in Lake Shinji.
Photo by Bernard Gagnon/ Wikimedia CommonsNov. 1 (UPI) -- New research suggests the use of neonicotinoid pesticides by rice farmers contributed to the collapse of two freshwater fisheries in Japan.
To suss out possible causes of the fisheries collapse, scientists examined 10 years of water quality data collected by previous survey efforts, collected both before and after the collapse.
Extensive water quality data, combined with laboratory toxicity testing and ecological models, allowed scientists to simulate the long-term impacts of neonicotinoids on freshwater fish populations.
The year after farmers began spraying rice fields with neonicotinoids, water quality data showed the number of zooplankton in Lake Shinji plummeted.