Tag Archives: U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Bureaucrats’ power on trial in California wildlife dispute
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service launched a program in Southern California to reintroduce an otter population, imposing penalties for encroaching on the animal’s habitat, Congress passed a law to protect the fishing industry. Federal officials, however, want to penalize fisherman who accidentally encroach on the otters, and now the U.S. Supreme Court will decide how much power those bureaucrats possess. The case, California Sea Urchin Commission v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife, stems from the Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan in 1986 to widen the territory supporting the otter population. >click to read<09:45
Northern California – Daily Salmon Count Predicts Grim Fishing Season
Every year about this time, state and federal fish regulators set recreational commercial fishing quotas for the upcoming salmon season which begins in April and May. The weighty decision is partially based on the number of salmon in the Sacramento River. The question is: How does anyone even know how many fish are actually in the river? The answer lies near the small Northern California town of Red Bluff, about a 45 minute drive from Shasta Dam. Beneath a diversion dam, giant metal buckets churn and rotate in the tide, scooping up anything heading down river — pointedly, tiny Chinook salmon fry making their way to the ocean. Video, Read the rest here 07:56
Carteret officials respond to loggerhead protections
Nearly a year after threatening a lawsuit over proposed federal rules intended to protect loggerhead sea turtles, Carteret County officials got a response to its concerns. It wasn’t what they had hoped for. “Nada. Nothing,” “This is very disappointing, especially after we had a little bit of a victory with the National Park Service decision and saw how that process worked,” Read more here 10:07 (it won’t stop predation, though.)
Elver Conservation Proposals Meet Maine Industry’s Resistance
An analysis by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission finds that American eel stocks are being depleted. The group was in the state today, taking testimony on ways to preserve the species over the long term. But Elver fishermen and dealers say strict measures like additional quotas aren’t needed to protect eels along the eastern seaboard. Listen and read more here 19:32
A desperate try to restock the Potomac’s sturgeon
Believe it or not, there’s a Chesapeake Bay fish in even worse shape than the recovering striped bass, the troubled blue crab and even the imperiled bay oyster. The Atlantic sturgeon, pushed to the brink of extinction by overfishing and development, is little more than a memory in the Potomac River, ready for a spot in a museum. Read more, and treat yourself to the Wapo comments.
