Texas’ New Cry: ‘Remember the Minnow!’
Tiny fish are a big deal in Texas. Wildlife biologists are trudging through the muddy bed of the Brazos River, rescuing endangered minnows who are trapped in small pools of water—all that remain of the river after the state’s worst drought in decades. Scientists are taking the minnows to a fish hatchery until the Brazos starts flowing again.
Fortunately for the rest of us, saving fish doesn’t have to include donning waders and slogging through muddy muck. It can be as easy as refusing to buy them from pet stores and relegating them to a tiny bowl to die slowly from lack of oxygen and being poisoned by their own waste. If you already have an aquarium, make sure it is the proper size for your fish.
And, of course, you can save dozens of sea kittens every year simply by leaving them off your plate.
Written by Michelle Kretzer