|
Draggers Call Off Mid-Coast Strike
EUREKA -- Trawl fishermen have decided to call off a nearly six-week strike with fish processors.
The Fishermen's Marketing Association, which represents about 100 West Coast boats that target Dover, rex and Petrale sole, snapper and other bottom fish, voted to end the effort to establish an agreement with processing companies, said the association's Executive Director Pete Leipzig. “So we told the boats to go fishing,'” Leipzig said. Leipzig said the association will continue to try to reach an agreement with the companies through other means. The dispute started at the beginning of March when prices for fish dropped sharply with a large amount of fish brought in. Fishermen asked for a contract with processing companies, and while there appeared to be some movement toward a deal recently, major processors reportedly weren't interested in dealing with the association. – Times-Standard Giant drift net washes ashore on Maui MAUI -- In Maui, a deadly threat to ocean wildlife has been cut up and hauled away.A half-mile long drift net cut loose by a commercial fishing boat out at sea washed up on the beach in South Kihei. It was so big it took lifeguards and officers with the Department of Land and Natural Resources about two hours to cut the whole thing up. Then county crews took it away to the dump. "Every day I come out here and help clean up the beaches, so I was just afraid it was going to go back up in the ocean and of course the fish get tangled," said resident Jan Richie, who discovered the net. "You get tangled in that, and if you really don't have too much air, you're going down. This whole net is hundreds of pounds," said DLNR officer Buzz Hubert. DLNR says it's an ongoing problem. One to two nets wash up on the beach every month. Because the nets aren't tagged, it's impossible to tell which ships are responsible. Oxnard to get better boatyard OXNARD -- Channel Islands Harbor may soon have two new restaurants to replace one that burned down a year and a half ago, as well as a better boatyard, under two harbor improvement plans approved Tuesday by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.Marine Emporium Landing, which leases space at the harbor, owned a building that burned nearly to the ground in October 2005. The fire destroyed Sea Fresh restaurant and market, along with about 20 other businesses. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved a new lease that will allow two restaurants in the space, along with an office that will sell passes to fishing, whale watching and tour boats. The development also will include new commercial fishing docks to replace the ones that burned and will cost Marine Emporium Landing a total of $7.9 million, according to Harbor Director Lyn Krieger. She said the project will likely be finished next year. The other new lease approved was for Anacapa Marine Services, the smaller of two boatyards off Victoria Avenue. The center is planning a $3.8 million expansion that will take it from 25 boat slips to about 60, said Michael Fairchild, whose family owns the business. - Ventura County Star NOAA Chief Applauds Aquaculture Bill WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV) said he would introduce a bill, at the request of the Administration, to help establish an offshore aquaculture industry.“The Bush administration is working to increase aquaculture in order to meet the needs of the seafood industry as well as the growing demand of U.S. consumers,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said. “I applaud Chairman Rahall's commitment to promote this important industry and the Mingo County Fish Hatchery in working to provide safe and abundant seafood for all U.S. communities, both coastal states and inland.” During a tour of the Mingo County Fish Hatchery in Pie, West Virginia, Rahall and Gutierrez discussed the Bush's efforts to expand the $1 billion U.S. industry into federal waters under the National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2007. The legislation would create a regulatory framework for safe, sustainable aquaculture (fish and shellfish farming) in U.S. federal waters. The legislation includes requirements to ensure that offshore aquaculture proceeds in an environmentally responsible manner, protects wild fish stocks and the quality of marine ecosystems, and is compatible with other uses of the marine environment. – NOAA press release Editorial Analysis: Reader Wants B.C. Fisheries Manager Fired To the Editor:David Einarson is the Area Chief of Fisheries Management for Coastal British Columbia North. I certainly bear him no ill will, but the management of the Skeena salmon fishery is his responsibility, and given the debacle that was the 2006 Skeena salmon fishing season, sending Mr. Einarson packing along with some of his immediate underlings is not only an eminently reasonable response but an urgent action that should be undertaken expeditiously. “The health of Pacific salmon depends not only on their abundance but also on their biological diversity. That diversity includes the irreplaceable lineages of salmon evolved through time, the geographic distribution of these populations, the genetic differences and life history variations observed among them, and the habitats that support these differences. “Diversity of Pacific salmon represents their legacy to-date and their potential for adaptation to future changes in climate, fishing, and habitat. Protecting diversity is the most prudent policy for the future continuance of wild salmon as well as the ecological processes that depend on them and the cultural, social, and economic benefits drawn from them.” I didn’t write these paragraphs. I lifted them verbatim from The Wild Salmon Policy, published by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in 2005. These are the new marching orders for Mr. Einarson and his colleagues, policy drafted in recognition of the fact that Canada is a signatory to the UN Treaty on Biodiversity and that the majority of Salmon populations in this country are in decline. The way in which the Skeena River salmon fishery has been prosecuted for more than a century is in stark contrast to the principles of biodiversity, which explains why all our sockeye stocks, other than the enhanced Babine race, dog and coho salmon, and summer steelhead are in decline. Largely as a result of the coho crisis, the Skeena fishery had taken some small halting steps away from poor fishing practices of yore. In 2006 Mr. Einarson presided over a return to the bad old days. In the face of evidence that the steelhead returns were low, Mr. Einarson and his crew gave the commercial fishing fleet more fishing time. Speaking of Skeena steehead, preeminent fisheries scientist, Dr. Carl Walters, said that letting large fleet fish for a short time was not good, having a small fleet fish day in day out was the worst possible scenario. In 2006 Einarson et. al. let 250 fishers fish weeks on end, including 11 straight days during the peak migration time for summer steelhead. So much for bio-diversity. In January of 2001, Mr. Einarson’s department adopted A Policy for Selective Fishing in Canada’s Pacific Fisheries. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Einarson had a hand in formulating this paper. The policy is smart stuff. For example Principle 4 states: “Four fundamental strategies in fishing selectively to minimize mortalities and maximize chances for survival of non-target fish, invertebrates, seabirds and marine mammals will be adopted through increased knowledge of fishing gear and practices. In order of preference they are: 1. avoidance of non-target species and stocks through time and area restrictions 2. avoidance through gear design 3. release alive and unharmed before being brought aboard or ashore, through gear design 4. release alive and unharmed from the deck of the vessel or landing site (e.g., shore or fishing pier). Selective measures in Skeena have taken the form of recovery boxes, shorter soak times for gill nets, shorter nets, weed lines, and, in the case of seine boats, brailing. In the 2006 fishery, the managers at DFO decided not to worry about enforcing these measures and they chose to do this. Scott Koltish, head of enforcement at DFO, publicly admitted that compliance with the selective harvest measures was poor (and these include the release of steelhead) and it’s little wonder since there was almost no enforcement presence in the Skeena fishery in 2006. DFO’s mandate is to take care of fish, then aboriginal fishers, then sportsmen and commercial fishers. They’ve never fulfilled that mandate. Now after countless hours of deliberation, paid for by taxpayers they’ve formulated two much-needed policies that reflect the reality of the times. But, policy isn’t worth spit if it’s not adhered to. As taxpayers and concerned citizens, we have the right to expect and demand that it is. When it isn’t, we have every right to demand the removal of those entrusted to see that it is implemented and adhered to. If we don’t, Pacific salmon will go the way of Atlantic cod. - Bob Brown in a letter to the Terrace (B.C.) Standard Brief: Group buys lobsters to set them free PORTLAND, ME – Three hundred lobsters have a new lease on life today, thanks to an anonymous group that secured their release in Maine.The episode unfolded in the midst of a lobster shortage and record prices. Pete McAleney from New Meadows Lobster Pound in Portland says a group of young men and women came in and bought all of his one-claw lobsters. McAleney says the group told him that the lobsters were "God's creatures" and deserved a shot at freedom. The cost was more than $3,000. The story quickly made the rounds. Only one other Portland lobster dealer, Harbor Fish Market, reported selling lobsters to someone who wanted to release them. Nick Alfiero from Harbor Fish Market declined to discuss the transaction. – Associated Press News: Poachers Face Sentences for Abalone Spree VICTORIA - A sentencing hearing has begun in Prince Rupert for three men convicted of the largest known poaching of abalone in B.C. history.Randall Graff, Daniel McNeill, and Michael McNeill pled guilty in March to poaching 11,000 abalone found in the back of a Ford F-150 pickup truck in February 2006. They were the first abalone poachers convicted under Canada's four-year-old Species at Risk Act. Each man faces a maximum $750,000 fine. Mr. Graff could also be sent to jail for up to five years, while the McNeill brothers face up to seven years because of previous fisheries convictions. Their sentencing comes as new figures from federal scientists show that northern abalone - once a $1 million-a-year industry in B.C. - will be extinct in B.C. waters by 2051. The as yet unpublished numbers use 2001 data and project ahead 50 years. A federal ban halted commercial harvesting in 1990, but poaching persists. These hand-sized delicacies may fetch between $10 and $15 in the shell on the black market. Penalizing poachers might help reverse the trend in B.C.'s northern waters. Some sites selected in the 1970s for monitoring have seen an 80-per-cent dip in abalone stocks; three-quarters of them have no abalone at all. The three poachers awaiting punishment in Prince Rupert stole nearly double the next-largest seizure of abalone in the province's history. Ten years ago, fisheries officers found 6,200 newly shucked abalone shells and charged two poachers. Aside from possible fines and jail time, they could forfeit the boat, Ford truck and other items used during the crime. The poachers pled guilty under both the Fisheries Act and the Species at Risk Act. The Species at Risk Act conviction adds $250,000 to the maximum penalty and another five years in possible jail time. - The Globe and Mail News in Depth: Deadliest Catch Tough on TV Crews DUTCH HARBOR -- Like most people who work day and night aboard crab vessels in the Bering Sea, Doug Stanley has stories.There was the time he couldn't get his footing on an ice-covered deck in minus 20-degree temperatures. “Every time the boat would stall, you'd be looking at an ice slide, straight down to a 4-foot railing separating you from the water,” he said. He's broken his ribs. He's smashed his teeth. And he loves his life at sea as much as any crusty adventurer who mans Alaskan fishing vessels. 'I cannot explain to you how wonderful and incredible it is for me.' But Stanley isn't a crab fisherman. He is director of photography for Deadliest Catch -- Discovery Channel's most watched and Emmy-nominated show last year, now in its third season. Filmed in the cold, wet darkness of the heaving seas, the documentary-style show, needless to say, demands more from a camera crew than typical reality or wildlife programs. The Deadliest Catch cameramen work in close quarters with the fishermen, sometimes 30 hours at a stretch. Their cameras get wrecked by saltwater, and lenses are constantly fogged or iced over. “You have to be able to do everything they do. This stuff is very testosterone-oriented,” said cinematographer Eric Lange. Doubling as producers, the cinematographers must also capture the characters' stories. That the Emmy-nominated episode was shot with a lens blasted with ice, cod fish and salt water supports that. Johnathan Hillstrand, captain of the fishing vessel Time Bandit, was filmed pulling off one of this season's two rescues at sea. “Me saving that guy -- I don't know if there's anything like that on film,” he said. Crab fishing is considered “deadly” for anyone on board mostly because ballast is tricky to control on fishing vessels that can tip over with the extra weight of ice or too many 700-pound crab pots. Lengthy seasickness can also be dangerous if the person doesn't make the effort to eat or drink enough. But rewards can be high: If all goes well, a fisherman can earn $250,000 in six months. If it doesn't, he might not come home at all. The cameramen said the only comparable job would be a war correspondent. Producer Thom Beers had no idea what he would find when Discovery commissioned him in 1998 to tape a two-hour special on Alaskan crab fishermen. “Little did I know, there would be the worst storm in 25 years, 70-knot winds, 40-foot seas. Two boats sank; seven men drowned. They never found the bodies. “It was a feral experience, such an amazing adrenalin rush. I've never seen anybody work so hard under such harsh conditions. I had to go back.” Four years later, he talked Discovery into another show that found its audience, and its crew, by word of mouth. Some footage will show the crew drinking with the fishermen in Dutch Harbor, the notorious island seaport 800 miles off Alaska where the men regroup between trips. “It's Wild West crazy,” Stanley said. “The bars are the beating heart of the fishing industry. It's the only social environment they know, the bars of Dutch Harbor. Everyone is telling stories. We crawl across the floor on our lips at the end of the night.” That's where the cameramen fish for stories. “I learn everything about each character on the vessel, at the bar, drinking heavy,” Stanley said. “One year we didn't get too much bar time in and it affected the show.” After several seasons together, the fishermen and the cameramen said they have learned to respect and appreciate one another. “The Alaska boy is a different boy from a boy from the lower 48,” said Stanley, who lives in Auburn, Calif. “I have an image of them swinging on a swing set with grizzly bears walking by.” But like them, he said sea life “gets in your blood.” – Los Angeles Times Analysis: Winter Flounder Decline Sparks Research DURHAM, N.H. -- Winter flounder - sold in markets as flounder or lemon sole - in the Gulf of Maine went into serious decline in the 1980s, taking with it a major commercial and recreational fishery. Despite stringent fishing regulations, it's estimated that it could take more than a decade for winter flounder to regain its once-robust place in New England coastal waters.Now, researchers at the University of New Hampshire are setting the winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) fishery on the fast track to recovery. New research indicates that winter flounder is a good candidate for stock enhancement, in which juvenile fish hatched from wild brood stock are raised in captivity and released into the wild. 'We're studying winter flounder because we think they are an excellent local candidate for stock enhancement,' says Elizabeth Fairchild, a post-doctoral researcher in zoology at the University of New Hampshire who has worked with professor of zoology W. Huntting Howell on winter flounder stock enhancement for a decade. Commercial fishermen provide the wild brood stock; Fairchild and colleagues expertly gauge their readiness for releasing sperm and eggs then give the males and females their privacy. The work gets tricky - and makes for fascinating research - when the juveniles reach the size of a potato chip and are ready to join their wild brethren in the shallow coastal waters where winter flounder naturally spawn. Much of Fairchild’s research turns on the challenge of making the cultured fish more wild. In a study published in the Journal of Fish Biology, Fairchild examined several factors that she hypothesized made hatchery flounder more vulnerable to predators: the amount of time it took them to conceal themselves by changing skin color and pattern and burying themselves in sediment, the rate at which gulls preyed on white versus dark-colored flounder on sediment, and the fish's behavioral reactions to predators. Her findings led her to test the effectiveness of acclimatization cages, marine halfway houses that give hatchery-raised fish a protected introduction to the wild blue sea. Fairchild's current studies build on explorations of optimal release strategies. Earlier this month, she released 1,000 one-year-old juveniles in the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary several months ahead of their usual summertime launch; she's hoping that earlier release will mitigate the juvenile flounders' vulnerability to green crabs, which are less prevalent in the spring than the summertime. Fairchild tags the juveniles so she can track their survival over time. She's also starting to explore pre-release conditioning for hatchery-raised fish, to see if they can be 'trained' to have the same reactions to predators and predation as the wild flounder. 'Targeted at the restoration of commercial and recreational fish and shellfish, enhancement is becoming a very important tool in NOAA's fishery management tool box,' says Michael Rubino, aquaculture program manager for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Fairchild's work is part of SCORE, the Science Consortium for Ocean Replenishment, which is a national research group dedicated to developing scientifically-based marine stock enhancement technology. - University of New Hampshire news release News: California Restricts 20% of Central Waters SAN FRANCISCO -- Fishing will be banned or restricted in almost 20% of the Central Coast waters under a decision by a state wildlife commission. The move creates the nation's most ambitious marine reserve system.The refuge program, which will ultimately span the entire coast, is designed to revive California's depleted near-shore fish stocks. Environmentalists largely hailed the decision as a landmark step to protect dwindling fish species, such as rockfish. Fishing groups, however, said the program was too restrictive and would limit what commercial fishermen could catch and what consumers would be able to buy. Friday's action established 29 protected marine areas along California's Central Coast, between Pigeon Point in San Mateo County and Point Conception north of Santa Barbara. The reserves cover approximately 204 square miles, representing 18% of Central Coast waters. About 94 square miles will be designated as "no take" preserves, where all commercial and recreational fishing and kelp harvesting will be forbidden. Limited fishing and kelp harvesting would be permitted in the remaining reserves. Under the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act, the state will hire nine extra Department of Fish and Game wardens to guard the reserves. The commission will designate reserves for the coast from Half Moon Bay to Point Arena, excluding San Francisco Bay, by 2008. Reserves for remaining coastal state waters -- including San Francisco Bay -- will be chosen by 2011. The designation process has been long, arduous and often acrimonious. Environmentalists, sport anglers, commercial fishermen, spear fishers, recreational divers and kelp harvesters all jockeyed for favor with the commissioners -- and against each other. But the complaints -- for the Central Coast, at least -- are now all consigned to the past. For better or worse, the reserve program will move forward. And most of the people involved in the process think that's a good thing. - San Francisco Chronicle Brief: Chef Wants Patrons to Listen to Their Supper LONDON -- Diners at one of the UK's top restaurants are being invited to listen to MP3 players as they eat because its chef believes sound can make the flavors more intense.Heston Blumenthal serves up unusual dishes such as snail porridge and bacon-and-egg ice cream at the Michelin three-starred Fat Duck in Bray, west of London. Now Blumenthal is pushing the boundaries further by asking customers to listen to the sound of breaking waves to heighten the taste of a new dish called Sound of the Sea. The dish consists of seafood such as baby eels, razor clams, and oysters plus seaweed on a bed of tapioca, which resembles sand. Blumenthal told Square Meal magazine that he had conducted a series of tests with experimental psychologist Charles Spence at Oxford University three years ago, which indicated that sound could enhance the sense of taste. "We ate an oyster while listening to the sea and it tasted stronger and saltier than when we ate it while listening to barnyard noises, for example," he said. Other dishes currently being developed by Blumenthal include whisky-flavored sweet gums served up on a map of Scotland and a sculpture of a rosebush hung with crystallized rose petals. - Middle East Times Restaurant Review: In Moscow, it’s Sushi MOSCOW -- Sushi bars have invaded Moscow over the last several years, as a wave of inexpensive raw fish has swept into the city.At the same time, the number of new up-market Japanese restaurants can be counted on one hand. The arrival of Yoko, Arkady Novikov's latest Japanese creation, is thus an interesting phenomenon for bucking the trend. Yoko's first striking feature is the spectacular view. Inside the restaurant, the interior is largely clad in lightwood and some pale marble. The simple yet sophisticated design is pleasantly uncluttered and organic. The restaurant's head chef, Gennady Kim, previously worked as sous-chef under Seiji Kusano, executive chef of Seiji. Yoko prides itself on its fresh fish, which is flown in twice a week from Tokyo's seafood auction markets. The menu offers a classical range of sashimi, sushi and rolls, with the sashimi ranging in price from 550 (about $19 U.S.) to 1,410 rubles, sushi averaging around 130 to 240 rubles and rolls going for 120 to 790 rubles. The mains come prepared with various European touches such as Japanese mayonnaise or balsamic vinegar. Choices include prawns in garlic and ginger sauce (680 rubles), sea perch with teriyaki sauce (740 rubles), black cod with teriyaki sauce (810 rubles) and salmon with vegetables and teriyaki sauce (640 rubles). The restaurant's other main drawing card -- Kobe steak -- also comes teriyaki-style (3,850 rubles for a 210-gram serving). Sake starts at 580 rubles for a 150-milliliter portion, while Sapporo beer costs 280 rubles a half-liter. - Moscow Times News: B.C. Salmon Farming Supported by Public Campbell River -- A recent poll taken by Ipsos Reid, on behalf of the British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA), shows increasing support for sustainable aquaculture in British Columbia.A majority of respondents (65%) said they support the development of a sustainable salmon farming sector in BC; and less than 1% identified salmon farming as the top environmental issue facing BC today. An earlier survey showed that 60% of respondents believed salmon farming increased job opportunities and 41% said a benefit of salmon farming was that it resulted in less pressure on wild salmon stocks. These polling results also coincide with a recently released preliminary report, commissioned by the BC Legislative Assembly's Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture. The report shows the economic benefit of salmon farming to be nearly double than previously reported, crediting salmon farming with generating 7784 jobs. The report compares salmon farming, the wild commercial salmon industry and the salmon sport fishery on a number of economic variables including jobs (direct, indirect and induced) as well as economic trend indicators. According to farmgate production numbers salmon farming show a 93% growth from 1997 (36,600 tons) to 2005 (70,600 tons) and a 95% increase in total processed output over the same period: $190 million in 1995 versus $371 million in 2005. – BCSFA press release News: Lobster Prices Out of Sight PORTLAND, ME -- A combination of weather, water temperature and the timing of fishing seasons has pushed retail lobster prices to about $15 a pound, probably the highest ever.''Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong,'' said Peter McAleney, owner of New Meadows Lobster, which had exhausted its supply Monday. ''At these prices, ham and lamb is pretty cheap.'' Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute, said this winter's harsh weather, particularly the wind, made it tough for lobstermen to get out on the water. Even if they had gone out, he said, they'd find few lobsters, because the ocean water temperature is below normal for this time of year. When the water is abnormally cold, lobsters are less inclined to eat, so they are unlikely to search a trap for food. ''It's the highest I've ever seen,'' said Steve DiMillo, owner of DiMillo's Floating Restaurant on the Portland waterfront. The price ''has been ramping up for the past few weeks, and we've been buying less.'' DiMillo said he's been paying $45 a pound for lobster meat and $11.50 a pound for whole lobsters - wholesale. He's added a 25% surcharge to all lobster dishes to help cover the higher cost, which is leading some customers to try different menu items. McAleney said lobsters are selling for about $18 a pound in New York, but ''even with the high prices, they're not catching much, so it doesn't even pay for the fuel'' to head out. The weather should improve - sometime. The water will begin to warm and perk up lobsters' appetites, and the Canadian lobster season will start soon. Bayer said Canadian waters are divided into about 40 districts with different opening and closing dates, but most will open by the end of the month. - Portland Press Herald News Brief: Aquarium Web Site Nominated for a 'Webby' SANTA CRUZ -- The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Web site is one of five sites that have been nominated for a 2007 Webby Award in the education category.The Webby Awards are an international award honoring Web sites, online film and video, interactive advertising and mobile content. A 550-person panel of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences will vote on the award. The panel includes musician David Bowie, political writer Arianna Huffington and "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening. The Seafood Watch program and Web site started in 2000 to help consumers and businesses make seafood choices that promote sustainable fisheries and healthy populations of ocean wildlife, according to the aquarium. The site offers regional and national pocket guides to sustainable seafood that can be downloaded and other information. The Web site is also eligible for a Webby People's Voice Award, which is voted on by the public at large. Award winners will be announced May 1 and presented June 5 in New York City at the 11th annual Webby Awards Gala. The Seafood Watch web site can be found here. - Santa Cruz Sentinel News: Again, Farmed Fish Passed Off as Wild LONDON -- Farmed fish are being falsely sold as "wild" in a widespread scam that is costing consumers a fortune, leaked research has revealed.An investigation commissioned by the Food Standards Agency found that salmon, sea bass and sea bream supposedly caught on the open seas had in fact been reared in captivity. Since wild fish typically sells for twice as much as farmed fish, consumers are being blatantly ripped off. The Food Standards Agency confirmed that the findings of its research indicated the scam was taking place, but said further work was needed before the full report is published. Consumers are being increasingly encouraged by T.V. cooking shows to spend money on quality ingredients, and concern about animal welfare is also a factor in higher demand for "wild" produce. Britons spend some £2bn a year on wild, organic or free range products. Fortunately, thanks to the huge difference in diet, there are differences between wild and farmed fish when analyzed by scientists, who looked for a variation in the chemical make-up of the cells in their flesh. A spokeswoman for the Food Standards Agency said: "We will release our report at some point over the next two weeks. These are our initial findings, but we're still waiting for commments from the fishing industry and other scientists. - The Daily Mail (UK) In Depth: To Your Health, Part I ATLANTA -- If you can't remember why you walked into the room, don't worry. You're probably just getting older.During your 30s, the blood flow to your brain begins to decrease, making it more challenging to remember events or details as well or as quickly. Despite the decline in mental abilities, your intellect remains the same, as does your ability to grow intellectually and emotionally. "This is great news," says Larry Tune, professor of psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine, referring to a former belief that the brain essentially stopped growing at a certain age. "The brain continues to develop, and we continue to grow, but in different ways," he says. Fighting the inevitable mental decline takes the same effort as does the fight against the body's aging process. The brain and body are intimately related, so what's good for one is also good for the other. And that's diet and exercise. The brain requires a continuous source of fuel from the foods we eat, so have a nutritious breakfast and eat healthy meals and snacks throughout the day, recommends the American Dietetic Association. Studies indicate that green leafy vegetables, fruits like blueberries and strawberries and fatty fish aid short-term memory and delay dementia. Along with eating a well-balanced diet, keep your blood pressure and cholesterol levels low to reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Exercise not only helps lower blood pressure but also helps your body deliver oxygen-rich blood to the brain. Staying physically active is essential to keep the mind healthy. The brain operates on the "use it or lose it" principle, says Carol Dallas, a neurotherapist in Sandy Springs. Depending on what we use or don't, the network of highways carrying information in the brain can be reduced to a few roads and sidewalks, she says. Dallas says there are key exercises that work the brain, such as cross-lateral movements that require both sides of the body and the brain to operate together. Roswell psychologist Neal Cohen says there are brain workout programs now available online and on DVDs. Studies suggest that challenging your mind with crossword puzzles, memory tests and reading may also contribute to better brain function. Mental calisthenics keep the brain stimulated and active. – Atlanta (Ga.) Journal-Constitution News: To Your Health, Part II TOKYO -- Yamaha Motor Co. said it will release its first health food product Thursday in the form of “Astivo,” a supplement that contains a natural pigment known as astaxanthin found in large quantities in salmon and crab.The new product has its origins in Yamaha's research into a technology to absorb carbon dioxide using photosynthesis of microscopic algae, as part of its efforts to tackle environmental degradation. The company focused on Haematococcus algae, which makes astaxanthin, and succeeded in effectively culturing the algae. The major motorcycle maker will be in charge of the entire manufacturing process, from raw material to supplement. Astivo will be available only by mail order, selling for 5,000 yen per pack of 60 pills. Yamaha already provides the raw astaxanthin material to some 10 firms, many of which are food makers. - Jiji Press News: To Your Health, Part III A type of omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may help slow the growth of two kinds of brain lesions associated with Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.The researchers at the University of California, Irvine, said their finding suggests that a diet rich in DHA -- found in fish, eggs, organ meats, micro-algae, fortified foods and food supplements -- may help prevent the development of Alzheimer's as people age. In this study with genetically modified mice, the scientists found that DHA slowed accumulation of tau, a protein that leads to the development of neurofibrillary tangles, one of the two signature brain lesions of Alzheimer's. The researchers also found that DHA reduced levels of the protein beta amyloid, which can clump in the brain and form plaques, another kind of lesion associated with Alzheimer's. "We are greatly excited by these results, which show us that simple changes in diet can positively alter the way the brain works and lead to protection from Alzheimer's disease pathology," study co-author Frank LaFerla, professor of neurobiology and behavior, said in a prepared statement. The study, published in the April 18 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, adds to growing evidence that diet and lifestyle changes may help people lower their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, the researchers said. - HealthDay News Editorial Analysis: Lobster Industry Must Deal with Whales Large, lumbering, long-lived and intelligent, the northern right whale hovers at the brink of extinction.Only about 300 of these leviathans survive in the western North Atlantic. Despite its being listed as an endangered species under federal law since 1970, its population has not recovered. Every year, right whale numbers are whittled back because of injuries suffered after being struck by ships or entangled in fishing gear off the New England coast. Lobstering is a lone bright spot in Maine's fishing sector. Last year, lobstermen landed 66.6 million pounds, a haul worth $272.5 million. Mainers land 60% of the U.S. lobster harvest. But lobster traps are connected to each other -- and those colorful buoys -- by long ropes in which whales have a tendency to become entangled. Between 2001 and 2005, 24 whales were confirmed to have been entangled in fishing gear. At least six died from drowning, or from injuries and stress caused by dragging ropes and nets behind them. In February, two environmental groups filed a lawsuit against federal agencies for failing to come up with a plan to protect right whale numbers within the statutory deadline. They want the government to issue new rules requiring that the lines connecting lobster pots sink to the bottom, and that they have weak links so snared whales can break free. Lobstermen have asked to be granted intervenor status in the lawsuit so they can have a say in how it turns out, since the changes could make fishing more expensive and increase their loss of gear. Important research on new kinds of whale-safe fishing gear has been stalled by a lack of federal funds. Congress' failure to pass a budget in 2006 has kept this program flat-funded. There is no time for complacency. A judge might conceivably shut down the fishery. This problem has festered for too long. Both the right whales and the lobster industry are in grave danger as long as this remains unsolved. – Portland (Me.) Press Herald News In Depth: Oregon Trawling GRANTS PASS, OR: Scientists taking a new look at old videotapes of the seafloors off southern Oregon found that areas showing tracks from the nets of fishing trawlers had fewer numbers and kinds of fish than places that were undisturbed.Studies worldwide have documented the damage bottom trawling does to seafloor habitats, but this is the first to look at fish numbers and diversity on muddy seafloors on the West Coast's Continental Shelf, where bottom trawlers do much of their work, the study said. A review of videotapes taken in 1990 from a manned submersible in an area known as the Coquille Bank off southern Oregon found that in areas showing roller tracks in the mud from bottom trawling nets, there were 20% fewer fish, 30% fewer species of fish and six times fewer invertebrates, such as crabs and seapens. 'We are not suggesting trawling be banned,' said Mark Hixon, a professor of marine biology at Oregon State University and lead author of the study, published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. “The question must be asked whether we want to sacrifice these ecological communities, not even knowing what the long-term effects of bottom trawling might be, or whether some mud areas of the Continental Shelf deserve permanent protection,” he said. Two years ago, federal fisheries managers banned bottom trawling on 300,000 square miles off the West Coast to protect coral beds, kelp forests, rocky reefs and other areas deemed essential fish habitat. But there have been no efforts to protect the muddy seafloor that covers most of the Continental Shelf, scientists said. Some areas of the shelf are temporarily off-limits to bottom trawling until rockfish populations rebuild from overfishing. “This doesn't mean you shouldn't do trawling everywhere,” said Rosenberg, a professor of natural resources at the University of New Hampshire and a former deputy director of NOAA Fisheries who did not take part in the study. “You have to manage where trawling occurs and what level of impact we can sustain without reducing the resource productivity. This kind of study provides some good information that allows you to start to do that.” About 120 bottom trawlers are still fishing off the West Coast, down from about 500 in 15 years, said Brad Pettinger, administrator for the Oregon Trawl Commission. They catch shrimp, sole, rockfish and other bottom-dwelling species popular in West Coast fish markets, as well as hagfish, black cod, and thornyheads that are exported to Asia. Pettinger said fishing has never been better, and there is little of the muddy seafloor on the shelf that hasn't been fished. He doubted that areas scientists identified as undisturbed actually were, because currents would quickly cover the tracks left by fishing gear. – Associated Press News Brief: Japan to Open Cold Storage in Russia Far East NAKHODKA -- A deep-freeze warehouse with a capacity to store up to 3,500 tons of fish and seafood will be constructed in the town of Nakhodka by several Nakhodka fishing companies together with Japanese company Hiro Kikaku. This is the first mutual project of its kind in the Russian Far Eastern fishing industry.The decision was announced at the meeting of Nakhodka’s Mayor Oleg Kolyadin and Hiro Kikaru’s top managers. The project, planned to start at the end of 2007, aims both to export high quality fish and seafood products to the Japanese market from Primorye fisheries and help block the poaching of marine resources. According to Hiro Kikaku’s top managers, business relations with the Russian partners are developing successfully but they are hindered by large volumes of contraband seafood supplied by Russian poachers to Japan. Poached seafood considerably slashes the prices in Japan and law-abiding companies suffer losses. The total investment by the Russian and Japanese combined will be $7 million, the statement said. For the past three years, the Hiro Kikaku company has been actively cooperating with Nakhodka’s fishing export companies. The volume of shrimp exported to Japan totals 1,200 tons per year which accounts to almost 25% of Japan’s overall annual consumption. - Vladivostok News News: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint PALO ALTO -- Global warming activists have a new ally in their fight to save the planet -- lunch.It turns out that food and the energy it takes to make it is one of the largest human activities contributing to global warming. The average American creates 2.8 tons of CO2 emissions each year by eating -- even more than the 2.2 tons each person generates by driving, according to recent research (Echel and Martin, 2006). Beginning on Earth Day, 2007, Bon Appetit Management Company -- the nation's pioneer in "greening" food service, is launching a national campaign to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and help their guests do the same. With 400 cafes in corporations, universities and specialty venues nationwide -- including Yahoo!, Oberlin College and the Seattle Art Museum -- Bon Appetit will encourage chefs and diners to think about how their food choices could help ease the climate crisis. The Low Carbon Diet will include: • Reducing the use of beef by 25% -- Livestock production is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. • Sourcing all meat and poultry from North America -- 80% of the energy used by the food system comes not from growing food, but from transporting and processing it. • Sourcing nearly all fruits and vegetables from North America, using seasonal local produce as a first preference and using tropical fruits only as "special occasion" ingredients -- Most bananas have traveled 3,000 miles in high-speed refrigerated ships to reach an American breakfast plate. A local apple might be grown within 10 miles. • Serving only domestic bottled water and reducing waste from plastic bottles -- Americans throw away 40 million plastic water bottles every day. • Reducing food waste -- Goal of 25% reduction in three years or less. • Auditing the energy efficiency of kitchen equipment -- In home or commercial kitchens energy losses of up to 30% can be easily corrected for very low cost. - PR NewsWire News In Depth: Scientist Says Bering Sea Disappearing KODIAK -- As the Bering Sea warms, what Kodiak fishermen catch in the next 30 years may be different than anything in the past."We don't really know what we will be fishing for," Mike Litzow, research fisheries biologist for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, said Tuesday. Litzow described the effects of global warming on Alaska fisheries before a well-attended gathering at Kodiak High School as part of a WhaleFest lecture series that continues through Monday. His lecture was titled "Effects of Global Warming on Bering Sea Fish and Crustaceans." "The Bering Sea is disappearing," Litzow said. Litzow said it is not that the changing fisheries could be detrimental to Kodiak fishermen, but that the transition could be difficult. Litzow showed how warming temperatures in the earth's oceans are driving changes in the kinds of animals in the seas. Warming waters in other parts of the globe, such as on the Oregon and California coasts, result in migrations like the smooth pink shrimp now showing up in Alaska waters, Litzow said. Litzow said climate change has already changed Bering Sea fisheries compared to 30 years ago, with shrimp and crab fisheries nearly gone, while salmon and groundfish are booming. "The bottom line is that temperatures are driving changes in biology," Litzow said. Because of decreasing ice cover in the Arctic, the numbers of fish caught in the Bering Sea are larger in the north now than in the south due to a shift of 31 kilometers since 1982. "Pollock, halibut, rock sole and snow crab are all moving north," Litzow said. As the decline in the temperature ratio between arctic and subarctic continues, Litzow said, sea communities become more diverse and there is an increase in the average number of predators preying on smaller animals, such as cod eating sand lance, which feed on zooplankton, then zooplankton feeding on algae. The cod chain ultimately ends with a processor and then the dinner table. Global warming, which many attribute to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, can affect the oceans with as little as a 1 degree change in temperature, which has occurred in bottom water since the past century. He said acidification is higher in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea than it is anywhere else in the world. – Kodiak Daily Mirror News In Depth: Human Medicines Threaten Aquatic Life Government officials and pharmacists are urging people to stop flushing unused medications down the toilet, claiming drugs like Prozac and Ibuprofen are showing up in surface waters, fish and other aquatic life.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and American Pharmacists Association have launched a public education campaign -- SMARxT DISPOSAL -- to reduce the flow of medications into the nation's sewer systems. A portion of the more than 3 billion prescriptions Americans fill each year are flushed down toilets, or discarded in landfills; some of those compounds end up in lakes and streams, according to federal officials. "Medications that are flushed down the toilet or thrown straight into the garbage can and do find their way into our nation's waterways every day. Those drugs are present in water that supports many species of fish and other wildlife," said H. Dale Hall, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Recent studies in Michigan and elsewhere have found a variety of drugs -- including antidepressants, birth control compounds, heart medication, Tylenol and caffeine -- in rivers where sewer systems discharge treated wastewater. Those compounds have been found in the Grand River, near Grand Rapids, and the Huron River, near Ann Arbor, a state official said. Scientists have found Prozac harming mussels in Ohio rivers and drugs feminizing male fish in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Federal officials and the American Pharmacists Association said the best ways to dispose of medications are:
Rick Rediske, a professor of water resources at Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute, said the presence of caffeine in surface waters shows that prescription drugs are not the only potentially harmful drugs in surface waters. Rediske said chemicals found in an array of common products -- including hand sanitizers, insect repellent and sunscreen -- are being found in surface waters. He said some chemicals in those products can accumulate in fish tissue and other aquatic life, while others contribute to the formation of antibiotic resistant bacteria, so-called super bugs. "I would guess that most of the pharmaceuticals we're seeing in wastewater is not from improper disposal but from people using these drugs, excreting them (in urine and feces) and the drugs passing through wastewater treatment systems," Rediske said. – Muskegon Chronicle |