December 28, 2005
No fish flu
Reuters AlertNet - UN vet dismisses fish farming as bird flu risk
That's good news. I could have had a lot of fun with that, though.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 27, 2005
Merry Ichthmas!
Because they aren't getting enough trees to dump in the lake (because, they say, artificial trees are getting popular again -- are they really?) Arkansas Game and Fish are ending a program where they'd put trees in the lake for fish habitat.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 23, 2005
Two points
1. 15 different sources of manure entering a stream? Yeah, that's bad for the fish.
2. The Daily Nonpareil is a great name for a newspaper.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 07:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Admissions standards are really going downhill
Fish head with two mouths heads to Harvard - Boston.com
A researcher there wants to know if the second mouth is a result of an injury or if it's an actual jaw. He's just getting the head; the fisherman still plans to smoke and eat the fish.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 21, 2005
Mouth 2 Mouth
Double-Mouthed Fish Pulled From Neb. Lake
That's just wrong. The fish is a rainbow trout. Says the head of the fisheries division of the Nebraska Game and Parks Division:
"It's probably a genetic deformity," he said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with it."
Yeah, other than having two mouths!
The fisherman plans to smoke and eat the fish.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 04:10 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
December 16, 2005
Bowing to the inevitable
Study says fishing industry needs help
Hurricane Katrina cost Alabama's seafood industry almost $88 million in boat damage, lost wages and other factors, according to a draft of a University of South Alabama study. Those losses may escalate, the study warns, if assistance does not arrive quickly.
You know what this means. Three words:
Federal. Government. Subsidies.
Let's just pay these guys not to catch fish. It's something for everyone.
- The fishermen will like it, because they'll get money for not doing anything.
- Fish farmers will like it, because it's less competition.
- Environmentalists will like it, because the fish will be left in the water.
- Republicans will like it, because they'll have another group like the farmers that gets massive government payouts while complaining about government interference.
- Democrats will like it, because we'll get to start another massive government bureaucracy.
That just leaves small-government conservatives and deficit-hawk liberals, but who cares about them?
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:23 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 05, 2005
Fish boil!
Scotsman.com News - Latest News - Major fish plant fire investigated
The fire at an Aberdeen warehouse took five hours to contain even though they had a major supply of water right there. Nobody was hurt.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 16, 2005
Welcome to the OC, fish
‘Intersex’ fish found off California coast
[S]cientists caught 82 male English sole and hornyhead turbot off Los Angeles and Orange counties.Of those, 11 possessed ovary tissue in their testes, said Doris Vidal of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, who led one of the studies.
Scientists do not yet know how such sexual defects affect the overall fish population. Nearly a billion gallons of treated sewage are released into the Pacific Ocean every day through three underwater pipelines off Huntington Beach, Playa del Rey and Palos Verdes Peninsula. Although the wastewater is filtered, it still contains contaminants that settle onto the ocean floor. Two related studies found that two-thirds of male fish near the Orange County pipeline had egg-producing qualities.
This sort of thing happens in fresh water, but this is one of the first reported cases in the ocean.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 07, 2005
The poop on fish food
Reuters AlertNet - Chicken excrement for fish stirs concern in Vietnam
I guess that the fish like eating chicken droppings, but it might not be a good idea. In addition to being disgusting, it's a bird flu vector. We're talking a lot of chickensh*t:
The Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper quoted Dong Nai province residents as saying farmers there threw at least 100 tonnes of chicken excrement a day into Tri An lake, whose waters flow into Dong Nai river and run through the country's biggest city.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:17 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
October 25, 2005
Put up your fins!
AP Wire | 10/25/2005 | Norwegian to test fish as crime fighter
Sadly, not fish cops, I'm afraid. She's just going to feed fish to prisoners. Of course, this is Norway, and Scandinavia has (as far as I know) the laxest sentencing policies and nicest prison system in the world already.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 07:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 19, 2005
Note: he's not actually a smuggler
al.com: NewsFlash - Judge won't reverse prison term for Honduran lobster smuggler
So even though there wasn't any, you know, actual law broken, this guy gets to spend eight years in prison. The good news is that they stopped using those little rubber bands to secure him when he's in the courtroom.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 17, 2005
In case you were wondering
Pharyngula::How to euthanize a fish
Another question I get is, "Fish can't feel pain, right?" It's usually phrased exactly that way, too—they aren't looking for an accurate answer, they're looking for a reassurance that casual brutality towards cold and slimy creatures is acceptable. The actual answer, though, is "Of course they can feel pain, you clueless boob! Mind if I put this barbed hook through your lip?"
I just don't know anymore. Some studies say that fish can't feel pain, some say they can.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 13, 2005
I'm surprised
Bayou seafood business resumes
I didn't think that Bayou La Batre seafood processing would ever get going again. Well, the plants are open; let's see if they can actually get the employees, and the product to work with.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 12, 2005
All hail our new snakehead masters
In Rain's Wake, a Deluge of Snakeheads
The Potomac is now Snakehead Central:
"They're in there by the thousands. You could see them literally coming up along the banks. The ones we caught didn't even put a dent in them," said Hammond, 43, an avid bass fisherman from Florida living here temporarily. "We would throw one in the cooler, two others would jump out and we'd have to chase them through the woods."
I'm pretty sure he's kidding about that last. But you never know, with snakeheads. 80 were caught in Dogue Creek Sunday and Monday, and that's just a fraction of their numbers.
Bowers, Hammond and another friend, Tom Dustin, soon got to work. They didn't need bait. With fishing poles armed with three-pronged hooks, they snagged the snakeheads by the backs. They dipped in nets and pulled out clumps of them. They worked into the evening using headlamps to guide their work, hoping, as they had heard, that someone might be offering a bounty for the predatory species."We're trying to get paid," Bowers said.
I kinda doubt it.
(Thanks to Herman.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:03 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
October 07, 2005
Rise of the Fishbots
CNN.com - Robotic fish make aquarium debut - Oct 7, 2005
Not just any robotic fish. Robotic fish that think for themselves!
Created by robotics experts from Essex University, east of London, the creatures move around the tank like real fish, but unlike previous attempts at robotic fish, these ones are not pre-programmed.Instead, they have sensor-based controls, meaning they move around the tank, avoiding objects and other fish, and reacting to their environment as a real fish would.
Until, inevitably, they revolt.
Hu and his team wanted to create the ultimate fish: Aiming to emulate the speed of tuna, acceleration of a pike, and the navigating skills of an eel.
Unfortunately, most of their early attempts had the lying flat on the bottom of a flounder. They've corrected that.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 04, 2005
How did it work the pedals?
Oh, it's just a soccer player named "Fish". Much less interesting.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Carp delenda est
AP Wire | 10/04/2005 | Sparks says 204,000 pounds of Vietnamese fish must be destroyed
I cheated on the headline; the fish are basa catfish and striped pangasius, another type of catfish. Sorry.
Anyway, the Alabama Agriculture Commissioner says that of 21 samples, 19 included fluoroquinolones, antibiotics that are banned in food production. Also, three samples had a synthetic dye commonly and illegally used as a fungicide. And some were labeled "wild caught" but basa catfish are normally farm raised.
That's a lot of food. It's enough for a half-pound fish dinner for one out of eleven Alabamians.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 28, 2005
Calimari all around, then
Scientists Capture Giant Squid in Photos
It wasn't all that long ago that some doubted that giant squid even existed. Now Japanese scientists have photographed them in their native habitat. They're deep sea animals, so it's not surprising they haven't been seen alive before. Apparently they're pretty active down there.
(Thanks to Meryl.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 27, 2005
So go ahead and kill the turtles
Regulators loosen rules on turtles
Shrimpers will be allowed to ditch "turtle excluder devices" for the time being. So they can drown all the turtles they want! Actually, what the government's saying is that the turtle-saving devices in question aren't doing any good because they're clogged with Katrina debris.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 23, 2005
Faith-based endangered species protection
Powderly church protecting rare fish
Good for them, but don't give the Bush Administration any ideas.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ah, "business interests"
Group asks judge to lift sturgeon's protection
The Alabama sturgeon may not, actually exist any longer. But there are probably a few left. That doesn't keep "business interests" from claiming that it doesn't belong on the Endangered Species list. And that it's protected under state law so it'll be okay. That's a laugh; Alabama state law wouldn't keep "business interests" from dumping toxic waste in my bedroom.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2005
You see, disasters cancel each other out
Area seafood industry opposes tsunami-inspired tariff rollback
Because of Katrina, you see, there's no reason to reduce the (illegal) tariffs on seafood from countries devastated by the tsunami last year. Representatives of Thailand and India say that there's hardly any Gulf seafood industry left anyway.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 14, 2005
Another one for my list
al.com: NewsFlash - Health officials: Oysters may have caused hepatitis A outbreak
Of "Why not to eat oysters". #1 is that I don't want to eat a slimy bag of pus. Hurricane Katrina was not involved this time.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 10, 2005
If only we could import it
Between the damage to the fishing industry and to the animal populations themselves, it's no surprise. My former boss George Sarris is ordering from all over to make up for the Gulf devastation, though crabs are still hard to find.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 07:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 05, 2005
I need some relief
In River of Many Aliens, Snakehead Looms as Threat
Ah, the snakehead. That will help me forget my troubles!
Not just the snakehead, though. There's more in the Potomac.
There are carpets of Asian clams and thickets of grass originally from Southeast Asia. Largemouth bass and channel catfish, transplants from other parts of the United States, share the Potomac with carp native to Asia.Feral goldfish have been spotted -- bigger and browner than usual after being liberated from their fishbowls -- along with the occasional piranha. And scientists estimate that 35 percent of the Potomac's fish species were not there 200 years ago.
Feral goldfish! Someone tell the Sci-Fi Channel. I'm working on a Goldfish Terror! spec script.
Anyway, the authorities are worried that the snakehead will displace the largemouth bass, which is itself an invader. Why can't the bass fishermen move to the snakehead? Afraid of the challenge?
(Thanks to Herman.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 01, 2005
Shrimped
The shrimping industry of Bayou La Batre may be dead. Numerous boats were wrecked by Katrina, but that's the least of it. The processing plants without which the shrimp boats are useless were damaged, apparently beyond repair. They could rebuild, but the money just isn't there anymore. It was a dying industry; Katrina might just have been the last straw.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:11 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 16, 2005
Can you do that?
That sure sounds like a Congressional matter ot me. Anyway, the excuse is that the Vietnamese farmers use a type of antibiotics banned for agricultural use. I am all for doing something about the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture. However, I get the feeling that this is more about finding an excuse to prop up local fishermen and fish farms. And scaring people away from the Vietnamese product after it's won recent taste tests.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 15, 2005
This textbook smells funny
College Offers Class in How to Catch Fish - Los Angeles Times
A branch of the University of Alaska at Anchorage is running weeklong classes on how to catch fish. It costs about $1100. Food is extra, because after all if you give a man a fish...
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 12, 2005
FISH: Oh, Sh--!
al.com: NewsFlash - N.Y. manure spill blamed for fish deaths
Three million gallons of liquid manure will do that. Farmers have been warned not to let their cows drink from the Black River (maybe the Brown River now) even though it's really the cows' fault.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:14 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
August 09, 2005
If they can snake it there...
Voracious Snakehead Fish Discovered in a Queens Lake - New York Times
The Dreaded Northern Chinese Snakehead Walking Fish of... New York City? Yup.
The lake has been closed to fishing while the trapping continues. Last Friday morning, Melissa K. Cohen, a biologist, and Katie M. Sheehan, an environmental educator, put on waders and stepped into Meadow Lake's shallow water to retrieve a trap net set the night before.Inside they found a few white perch, a number of squirmy little pumpkinseed fish, a blue crab and a turtle.
But no snakeheads.
"This is just a hit and miss thing," said Mr. Gilmore, who was supervising, "but we know they're in there."
They're sneaky, they are. And tough. The authorities will, I predict, wind up killing this lake only to find that the snakeheads are widespread. They could probably live in the East River, even.
(Via Gawker, who actually thinks they can confine the snakeheads to Queens.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:03 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 08, 2005
He's not very good at it
nbc30.com - News - Fishing Dog Loves To Chase Fish
His owner says he averages one fish per summer.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 07, 2005
Not exactly practical
Steady that bow, kid; Now, shoot that fish!
Too much time on your hands? Consider bowfishing, which is just what it sounds like.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:51 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
July 29, 2005
The Worldwide Leader in Fish
ESPN is now showing competitive bass fishing. In prime time. I know it's a slow night, but this makes the World Series of Poker look action-packed.
I guess this is as good of a time as any to pimp The Road From Bristol, where we're about halfway through the second round.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:04 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 28, 2005
I know one thing
CNN.com - Scientists to breed test-tube sharks - Jul 28, 2005
This is a Sci-Fi Channel TV movie waiting to happen.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 07:43 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 12, 2005
Fish story
Malaysian boy dies after pet fish jumps into his throat (New Kerala, India's Top News Channel)
I am somewhat suspicious of this story since all the reports are from Indian sites and the death reportedly occurred in Malaysia.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:56 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The pork of the sea
Sea Lab facility may be financed by Senate
The check for the Dauphin Island lab (where I once fell in a swamp) is possibly going to be picked up by the U.S. Government, which would make it a branch of the National Marine Fisheries Service office in Pascagoula. All courtesy of Richard Shelby, of course. Shelby also is getting the taxpayers to pick up the tab for:
- $5 million for land acquisition to preserve coastal ecosystems along the Perdido River in Baldwin County and wetlands near Grand Bay.
- $5 million for the Southern Shrimp Alliance's marketing campaign to create a public taste for wild-caught American shrimp.
- $1 million for land acquisition for the Village Point Park Preserve in Daphne.
- $1 million for the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Cen ter in downtown Mobile.
- $12.1 million for a regional task force to track down particularly dangerous fugitives.
I don't know what that last item is doing there, either. Anyway, this will have to go to the conference committee and will probably be whittled down a little.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:42 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
June 29, 2005
Thaing a record
Fish whopper: 646 pounds a freshwater record - Environment - MSNBC.com
The Mekong giant catfish, as a species, is the largest freshwater fish extant. This is a record even for the MGC. Which is endangered, and no surprise when one fish is about 1200 fish dinners, as this one was.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 06:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 23, 2005
Wait a minute
Whale Burger Goes on Sale in Japan | ajc.com
$3.50? For a burger in Japan? That's a pretty good deal, yes?
Miku Oh, an official for Lucky Pierrot, said the chain is only utilizing stock meat obtained from the scientific research and that it wants to preserve the culture of eating whale meat."People in other countries may think (eating whale) is strange, but it is our culture," she said.
Oh said that the whale for the burger is cooked in such a way that "it tastes like beef and tuna, and since it is deep fried it has no odor."
I know that what I look for in a food is "odorlessness".
The Japanese obsession with whaling is getting scary. They're willing to spend millions in bribes "aid" to poor countries to get them to vote against the moratorium. They're trying to get the refuge in the South Pacific (important to New Zealand's and Australia's tourism industries) shut down, and trying to keep another one from being opened in the South Atlantic. And they keep lying about their "scientific" whaling program.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:37 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
June 21, 2005
Also known as a "jerk"
Officers on prowl for ’outlaw’
Some guy dumped a load of hundreds of dead and dying fish in Hawaii's Honolua Bay. Leaving aside that it's pretty tasteless to kill hundreds of animals then leave their bodies behind, the corpses attracted sharks, leading to the order to, yes, close the beaches.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Actually, it's not safe
Riley wants proof LNG safe for fish
Liquified natural gas is poisonous, pressurized, and cold; fish don't like any of that. But that's not his question, it's just more bad phrasing from the headline writer.
Is the LNG terminal planned for Mobile Bay going to damage the area's fishing industry? It seems quite likely that it will. ConocoPhillips is planning an "open loop" LNG process that will spew out water some 16 degrees colder than the surrounding water, which will kill pretty much everything in the area. They say that they need to do this to be financially competitive. It will save $20-40 million a year. The facility is expected to bring in $1 billion a year. Hmm.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:25 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
June 20, 2005
It's purely for scientific research
Whaling states near power on panel - Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune
So say the Japanese when they go whaling. For instance, they have restaurants all over the country constantly testing what the best way to serve whale is.
Anyway, the Japanese and Norwegians have been trying to get the ban on commercial whaling lifted for years but have been blocked by the other members of the International Whaling Commission. They've figured out a way to beat that, though. They're packing the commission with poor countries from Africa and the Pacific and giving them aid to vote their way. They aren't close to the 3/4 majority to overturn the moratorium but are close to a simple majority.
So, if you want to see a whale, I suggest you hurry.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 15, 2005
Little giants
Four Giant Catfish Released Into Mekong
The population of the Mekong giant catfish has dropped by ninety percent in the last 20 years for various human-related reasons. These fish were raised in captivity (the original owner didn't know when he bought them that it's illegal, but there's no penalty) and given as gifts to the World Wildlife Fund. The fish are 99 to 110 pounds each. That's tiny in giant catfish terms; they can grow to up to 660 pounds.
(Thanks to Meryl.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Either way it's bad for the fish
The good fish health news:
Fishupdate.com: Study shows that fish consumption reduces colon cancer
The bad fish health news:
Fish Oil Doesn't Benefit Defibrillator Patients
Fishupdate.com has to go on my blogroll.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:11 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 12, 2005
Off the record...
ON THE RECORDPetros Kartos, co-owner of The Fish Market on U.S. 280 and U.S. 31
Yes, I did once (actually, twice) work at one of the Fish Market Restaurants. I wasn't very good at it.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 10, 2005
Of course there's a World Food Prize
al.com: NewsFlash - Fish researcher receives World Food Prize
Modadugu V. Gupta, research coordinator for the Penang, Malaysia-based WorldFish Center, will receive a $250,000 prize in a ceremony Oct. 13 at the state Capitol, officials announced Friday.Gupta, 65, a native of Bapatla, India, has worked for three decades to develop ways to use abandoned pools, roadside ditches and other small bodies of water to harvest fish for food and income, according to a statement from Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation.
This is the sort of thing that bugs me about anti-fish farming people. In the end, they're mostly taking food out of the mouths and money out of the pockets of poor people, while trying to make fish a luxury good.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 07, 2005
Death by fish
The Daily Telegraph | Rotting fish fumes kill three
Three Thai crewmen died and a fourth lost consciousness and could have joined his fellows. The fish were confined in a hold and they were apparently supposed to clean them out.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 06, 2005
Typical
Marcus' generosity flows like mighty river to GOP | ajc.com
The Georgia Republican Party? In the damp pockets of Big Aquarium.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Site rule
Fish poop could spread drilling wealth - - MSNBC.com
Any story with "fish poop" in the headline is going to get linked.
Methane drilling produces a lot of waste water which is brackish and so no use to anyone. Except maybe fish. And then the fish defecate in the water, which can be used as fertilizer for salt-tolerant plant species.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Customs was alerted by "flipping noises"
Skirt conceals live fish - Unusual Tales - Specials - smh.com.au
"Mom, I don't feel... fresh."
"Honey, maybe that's because of the 51 live tropical fish you have up your skirt."
She did have them in bags, fifteen of those; she was trying to smuggle them into Australia from Singapore.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 03, 2005
The good news for fish
KRT Wire | 06/03/2005 | Common drugs seeping into lakes, fish and water supply
Is that if they don't die or get horribly mutated, they'll be free of headaches, depression, and high cholesterol.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 08:36 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 30, 2005
160 years isn't really an "age" anyway
IMA challenges age-old fish medicine : HindustanTimes.com
Just remember, our government's toadying to anti-science religious nuts could always be worse. They could be the government in this case (apparently the state government of Hindustan and not the national government in Delhi) that pays for people with asthma to have entire fish stuck down their throats. (A different fish each day, of course, and you get your own fish.) Supposedly if you do this for three years, and the fish have the special secret paste in their mouths, it cures asthma.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:41 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 25, 2005
Paging the Sci-Fi Channel
CNN.com - Fisherman�hauls in 124-pound catfish - May 25, 2005
I think you need a followup to your two snakehead films. Catfish! should be the title. If you have a 124-pound catfish, why not a 1,240 pound one?
I have heard, by the way, that catfish live indefinitely and just keep growing until something kills them. There are some people who claim to have seen even larger ones in certain areas. This may be only a tall tale, though.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 01:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 19, 2005
That's irony for you
World's ugliest fish threatened by greenhouse reform
To conform with Kyoto, Canada is supposed to build lots of new hydroelectric dams. Which will mess up the habitat of the armor-plated lake sturgeon. The fish, which can live longer than a century and weigh better than two hundred pounds (if I'm doing my metric conversions right) was once common but now there are less than 1000 left.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
Probably won't
Oyster could make endangered list
Just guessing, but the way that Bush has sucked up to fishing interests, I don't see it happening. There are already limits on harvesting the Eastern Oyster, but in many areas they haven't done enough.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2005
Size matters
Well-endowed fish get the girls - LiveScience - MSNBC.com
Apparently, female mosquitofish rank males by the size of their genitalia. Considering that mosquitofish are about an inch long ("that's body length" the story notes -- naughty!) "large genitalia" is a relative term. And the more-endowed fish swim slower making them a target for predators.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:24 AM | Comments (1)
May 09, 2005
Oh, that's easy
Bill requires labeling genetically altered fish
Just mess with the genes so that the letters GM appear on the side.
I'm not very good at the legal reasoning, I'll admit. But this sure sounds like a matter of interstate commerce, and therefore Congress' responsibility and not that of the Alaska legislature. Or the Oregon and California legislatures which are up to this too. If you want to let local businesses advertise locally caught fish, that's great. Using scare tactics to keep people from buying out-of-state fish is something else entirely.
Moreover, this is labeled the "Frankenfish bill" when everyone knows that the name "Frankenfish" is only supposed to be used of the Dreaded Northern Snakehead Walking Fish.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 11:48 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Actually, I think floods are bad for fish
Newsday.com: Streamside residents say state policy favors fish, promotes flooding
People near Oquaga Creek in New York say that the state, trying to promote trout fishing, has allowed the creek bed to build up leading to flooding. Two men and a dog died in a flood in April. Trout Unlimited, however, claims that the problem is the people upstream not replacing trees on the banks, leading to erosion.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 02, 2005
Oysters are yucky anyway
al.com: NewsFlash - Study says St. Louis Bay oysters are polluted
The oysters in Mississippi's St. Louis Bay are unsafe to eat because they're "laced" with chromium and nickel compounds. So says the Journal of Shellfish Research. Yes, there's a scientific journal for everything.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 28, 2005
Geneology of a fish
VDGIF Press Release > Snakeheads in the Potomac River Update
From what I can tell (I'm only functionally literate in officialese) what they're saying is that:
1. The original population of snakeheads in the Maryland pond were all descended from one couple.
2. But the infestation that's now established in the Potomac is not descended from or related to the Maryland pond population, nor to another population in Pennsylvania.
3. All of the Potomac fish save one adult male that presumably was released separately were descended from one female or from siblings.
(Hat tip: Herman.)
Posted by Mac Thomason at 05:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 25, 2005
Scenes from a prison
SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Metro -- Spear fisherman is arrested
PRISONER 1: So, what are you in for?
PRISONER 2: I robbed a liquor store and wounded the clerk. You?
PRISONER 1: I shot and killed an endangered fish. [Points at PRISONER 3] What's his story?
PRISONER 2: Oh, him? He's just the mayor.
[Thanks to Steve for reminding of that last -- MT.]
The fish in question is a 200-pound giant black sea bass which was apparently well-known to swimmers in the San Diego area. It's estimated that the fish was 50 years old. It's like shooting a pet.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 02:12 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
April 18, 2005
I don't know...
al.com: NewsFlash - Gulf fishermen told to obey the rules, get shrimp licenses
Seems like putting those little tags on them would be really difficult.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 10:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 11, 2005
The age-old battle between fish and crustacean
Snapper against shrimp in Gulf
A group representing recreational fishermen claims that the methods used by Gulf of Mexico shrimpers kill off baby red snapper. They want limits placed on shrimpers. The shrimpers claim that the problem is that the fishermen are catching all the full-grown snapper and not letting them reproduce. Meanwhile, the liquified natural gas facility being built off Dauphin Island will kill off both young snapper and young shrimp.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 10, 2005
A million miles of fish
AP Wire | 04/09/2005 | Fish truck driver honored for 1M miles
Without accidents, mind you. There's one thing you don't want, it's a fish truck in an accident. You'd have catfish all over the road, causing even more accidents. Personally, I appreciate any truck driver who isn't ramming into overpasses like most of them seem to around here.
Posted by Mac Thomason at 12:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack