No way for fish

摘要

Invasive species are a menace. In the Mediterranean, poisonous pufferfish frequently turn up in fishermen's nets. Summer swarms of stinging jellyfish close beaches as far west as Italy. And in the east, rabbitfish are eating most of the algae that native species rely on. Along with some 350 other non-indigenous species of marine life, all three migrants arrived from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. Marine experts are concerned that even more invasive creatures will turn up in the Mediterranean now that Egypt has started work on doubling the capacity of the Suez Canal with enlarged, deepened and new waterways. Egyptian officials have said the work will not add to the problems and are due to present an environmental-impact assessment to the European Commission. But Europe's administrators have been lackadaisical about seeking controls to stem the invasion, says Argyro Zenetos of the Greek government's Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Athens. What, in any case, could Egypt do about it?