Friday, January 8, 2010
Monday, November 2, 2009
PhysOrg.com | North Atlantic fish populations shifting as ocean temperatures warm
Sunday, October 11, 2009
New Hampshire | Big Fish / Wrong Place! Biologists Warn of Illegal Fish Introductions
The northern pike, a large female, was 40 inches in length, with a 17-inch girth, and it weighed 18 pounds, 5.76 ounces. Given the difficulty of moving a fish this large and keeping it alive, it is possible that this fish had been illegally transported to the lake some years prior and had matured in the Winnisquam system. Oddly enough, John Viar, a N.H. Fish and Game Department fisheries biologist, had also caught a northern pike from Lake Winnisquam during May of 2009, just north of the site of Arseneau's catch. FULL STORY
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
USGS.gov | Widespread Occurrence of Intersex Bass Found in U.S. Rivers
For Your Information:
Intersex is a group of conditions where there is a discrepancy
between the external genitals and the internal genitals (the testes
and ovaries). The older term for this condition, hermaphroditism ...
www.google.com/health
“Although the USGS has already documented the severity of intersex in individual basins such as the Potomac, this study reveals the prevalence of intersex is more widespread than anyone anticipated, said Sue Haseltine, associate director for biology at the U.S. Geological Survey. “This research sends the clear message that we need to learn more about the hormonal and environmental factors that cause this condition in fish, as well as the number of fish afflicted with this condition.”
The study, said Hinck, presents the observed occurrence of intersex in a variety of freshwater fish species, but not potential causes. “This study adds a lot to our knowledge of this phenomena, but we still don’t know why certain species seem more prone to this condition or exactly what is causing it. In fact, the causes for intersex may vary by location, and we suspect it will be unlikely that a single human activity or kind of contaminant will explain intersex in all species or regions,” she said.
For example, said Hinck, at least one of their sites with a high prevalence of intersex—the Yampa River at Lay, Colo.—did not have obvious sources of endocrine-active compounds, which have been associated with intersex in fish. Such compounds are chemical stressors that have the ability to affect the endocrine system and include pesticides, PCBs, heavy metals, household compounds such as laundry detergent and shampoo, and many pharmaceuticals. Yet other study sites with high occurrence of intersex were on rivers with dense human populations or industrial and agricultural activities, which are more generally associated with endocrine-active compounds.
“We know that endocrine-active compounds have been associated with intersex in fish, but we lack information on which fish species are most sensitive to such compounds, the way that these compounds interact to cause intersex, and the importance of environmental factors,” Hinck said. “Proper diagnosis of this condition in wild fish is essential because if the primary causes are compounds that disrupt the endocrine system, then the widespread occurrence of intersex in fish would be a critical environmental concern.”
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Odd ecological convergence has attracted species from as far away as the Florida Keys for extended stays on the New Jersey coast.
Tourists of a different stripe.
Warm Shore waters draw creatures from afar
This isn't the lead-in to a stand-up routine. It's the result of an odd ecological convergence that has attracted species from as far away as the Florida Keys for extended stays on the New Jersey coast.
Were they lured by the tropical water temperature, which stayed around 80 degrees for more than a month and extended all the way to the ocean canyons, some 70 miles offshore? Did the unexpectedly high tides in June and July carry them here? Was it the wet spring? Global warming?
Biologists and ocean scientists can't say precisely what has prompted species more common to warmer climes to extend their ranges, but this summer has been a treat for birders, fishermen, and naturalists.
Mother Nature choreographs the rituals of migration and mating each spring and summer. Fish, such as menhaden and herring, that serve as food for larger species travel north, drawing game species like tuna and grouper behind them.
Shore birds including egrets, ibis, and herons also come from southern waters, pulling crayfish, minnows, and other nutrition from the ocean and marshlands. Some mate or lay eggs; others seek only the bounty they find on the way.
But sometimes species that don't normally migrate meander into the region, perhaps to expand their range after familiar habitats shrink, biologists say.
"Nature does sometimes provide a wonderful opportunity for people to be able to see things in an area where they normally wouldn't," said Bob Schoelkopf, founder of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, N.J. "Each summer is a different array."
Take the manatee that has hung around the Raritan River and Raritan Bay north of Sandy Hook all summer. Schoelkopf has been keeping an eye on the tropical mammal, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is tracking it to see whether it's the one that has been spotted as far north as Cape Cod in recent years.
Pelicans, a rare sight in New Jersey two decades ago, now are regulars in these parts. Biologists theorize that the large, stocky birds - whose range had been south of North Carolina, in South America, and on the Pacific Coast - may soon nest here, Schoelkopf said.
Though it's usual for the unusual to show up on the New Jersey coast every now and then (the state's situation on a key north-south migration route usually results in a couple of "Wrong-Way Corrigans" each year), it is rare that so many southern species appear in one season, say some.
"I've never seen so many different things from southern waters coming in during one summer, and so big when they do come in," said Dennis McVay, a fisherman who sells bait and weighs catches at Jim's Bait & Tackle in Cape May.
McVay was shocked this month when a Pennsylvania man brought in a 461/2-pound barracuda he said he had caught off Cape May.
"It was a monster, for what it was. It stopped traffic," said McVay, who added that the fish had been weighed outside on his shop's scale.
A 20.8-pound barracuda set a local fishing-contest record in 1998, said Mike Shepherd, 65, of Linwood, N.J., a longtime outdoorsman and a retired Jersey Shore sports editor. No state record is kept for the species because it is so rare here.
Although 80-degree ocean water isn't rare, it is unusual for such a big area to remain warm for so long, Shepherd said. That may have contributed to the presence of so many unusual fish, such as cobia, trigger fish, wahoo, and particularly large white marlin.
Another anomaly was higher-than-expected East Coast tides in June and July. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration makes its tide charts months in advance, but around mid-June, NOAA scientists noticed that tides from Maine to Florida were between six inches and two feet above predicted levels.
This week, the agency will announce in a 30-page document that it attributes the temporary rise to a persistent, widespread southwest "wind field" over the Atlantic Coast and a subtle weakening in the Florida Current.
The current feeds into the Gulf Stream and can influence water depth for thousands of miles. The large wind field helped push more water than usual onto the entire Atlantic coastline, said Mike Szabados, director of NOAA's tide and currents program.
The agency will keep studying why the current weakened temporarily and how it influenced the tide. The data may help determine whether the tides influenced the migration of typically southern species, Szabados said.
Vince Alia, a research associate for the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory, said he was interested to see whether the findings could account for some birds that visited New Jersey this summer.
"This area has long been considered what we would call a 'vagrant trap' for various bird species," Alia said. New Jersey's southern shoreline and cape act as a kind of funnel for migrating birds of all types.
But every now and then a truly atypical species shows up, like the roseate spoonbill spotted in the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, in Galloway Township, inland from Brigantine and Atlantic City, he said.
The roseate spoonbill is a stunning, long-necked creature with feathers a deeper pink than a flamingo's and a spoon-shaped bill that helps it scoop food from the wetlands depths. No one can say for sure why it was there, Alia said.
"That's what makes birding and watching other nature so exciting," he said. "We can never really know why or how something ended up in a particular place for 30 seconds or for weeks and even months."
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
US Arctic fishing policy latest in Can-Am dispute
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Ohio woman said a Lake Erie freshwater drum, or sheepshead, dropped by an eagle smashed the windshield of her car while she was driving
Published: Aug. 12, 2009 at 5:27 PM
"It was a very bizarre situation," Niles said.
"I look in the air and see the most beautiful eagle I'd ever seen in my life," she said. "The next thing I knew, the fish wiggled -- it dropped like a brick and completely shattered my windshield."
Niles said she wound up paying $260 out-of-pocket to have the windshield replaced.