NEWS ARCHIVE

Where Does the Fish on Your Plate Come From?

You’ve heard of “peak oil.” Welcome to “peak fish.” Is there room for VC in fish farming and green ag?

By Eric Wesoff

Where does the fish on your plate come from?

Most likely it comes from a fish farm -- 50 percent of the fish in the global human food chain is farmed.

According to NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, approximately 84 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported, and about half of that total is sourced from aquaculture. In 2009, aquaculture crossed the threshold of providing more than half of all seafood consumed worldwide.

With increases in population and consumer awareness of seafood’s health benefits, demand for fish is only going to increase. But because wild stocks are not projected to meet increased demand, future increases in fish supply are likely to come either from foreign aquaculture or increased domestic aquaculture production.

Agriculture 2.0, a recent event covering our food and farming challenges, devoted several sessions to this crucial environmental, commercial, and social issue. Feeding the planet presents immense challenges but provides some opportunities, as well -- hence the turnout from a number of venture firms with an interest in investing and disrupting this market. I spotted VCs from firms such as Kleiner Perkins, Firelake Capital and True North Venture Partners at the event.

I spoke with Kleiner Perkins partner Amol Deshpande at last year's event. He believes there is an investment opportunity in the agriculture space, but it is "painful and difficult to scale."

David Tze is the managing director of Aquacopia, a New York-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage aquaculture companies with investments that include:

• Ocean Farm Technologies: Deep-water net pens and open-ocean aquaculture systems

• Open Blue Sea Farms: Open-ocean, caged "free-range" fish farmers off the north coast of Panama. Open Blue’s initial species is Cobia, a sashimi-grade, marine white fish.

• Oberon: Fish meal replacement for aquafeed generated from waste water.

• Futuna Blue: Domesticating the northern bluefin tuna, from egg, in Spain.

Tze spoke of the challenges facing VCs in this market: VC investors with no experience and few success stories, a lack of defensible IP and scalable business models, capital-intensity and limited management talent.

Environmental challenges from aquaculture include:

• Nutrient and chemical wastes

• Water use demands

• Aquatic animal diseases

• Invasive species

• Potential competitive and genetic effects on wild species

• Effects on endangered or protected species

• Effects on protected and sensitive marine areas

• Effects on habitat for other species

Michael Rubino of the NOAA aquaculture program staff spoke about fisheries and aquaculture in the U.S. He mentioned that doctors and nutritionists have urged the consumption of more seafood -- doubling seafood intake. That would grow U.S. seafood consumption from 6 million tons to 12 million tons. Where is that additional 6 million tons going to come from?

Marine aquaculture in the U.S. is mainly comprised of shellfish farming, but also includes farming of finfish and algae in coastal waters and hatchery production of fish and shellfish to restore fish stocks. Rubino mentioned that China is going to be a net importer of seafood starting next year and echoed the theme: "Most of our future fish is going to be from aquaculture."

Rubino gave a tour of U.S. aquaculture, which ranges from a booming oyster business in New England and the Chesapeake Bay, to large indoor growing systems in Mississippi for tilapia, cobia, and pompano, to open water aquaculture in Hawaii, to wild salmon starts in Alaska. (California has very little aquaculture because of regulatory constraints.)

Aaron Enz is a partner at Watershed Capital, a corporate financial advisory firm focused on clean technology and sustainable business. He said that the future of seafood is aquaculture -- he echoed that aquaculture is now 50 percent of a $400 billion market. He also claimed that 75 percent of fisheries are overexploited.

He cited the pain points for the status quo of aquaculture as being fishmeal and fish oil, coastal water permitting, safety concerns, and disease and antibiotics. The promise, according to Enz, is a paradigm shift in innovation with sustainable production methods that are scalable and commercially viable and that reduce stress on wild fisheries.

Here are a few more early-stage firms in the aquaculture market.

• AgriMarine builds solid-wall containment systems designed to float in inter-tidal regions or fresh water bodies.

• Kona Blue farms open ocean Yellow Tail in Hawaii.

• Sweet Spring Salmon farms fresh water Coho salmon on land.

• The Little Pearl is a caviar retailer supporting American caviar from sustainable and environmentally sustainable sources.

• Umami farms bluefin tuna fed on whole, small pelagic fish with no chemicals, drugs or additives. The company has put resources into a propagation program, and asserts that commercially viable breeding of the northern bluefin tuna could become reality within a few years, eliminating the need for wild catch. Japan is a major customer.

Ray Hilborn, a professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington wrote in a recent op-ed that apocalyptic predictions about the future of fish stocks are exaggerated. The piece said, "Much of the earlier research pointed to declines in catches and concluded that therefore fish stocks must be in trouble. But there is little correlation between how many fish are caught and how many actually exist; over the past decade, for example, fish catches in the United States have dropped because regulators have lowered the allowable catch. On average, fish stocks worldwide appear to be stable, and in the United States they are rebuilding, in many cases at a rapid rate."

He concludes that, "The overall record of American fisheries management since the mid-1990s is one of improvement, not of decline."

Despite the size of the market, the big question for investors is: Are VC growth expectations and scaling requirements even feasible in the admittedly huge aquacultural or agricultural markets? Limited partners in VC firms aren't going to lower their expectations in order to invest in farms simply because it's the right thing to do. The hope is just as greentech became mainstream, so can green agriculture.

Here's a great talk on sustainable aquaculture.

We should consider implementing a National Marine Aquaculture policy, according to Rubino of the NOAA. He said, "We are at a proverbial crossroads -- and we need to take responsibility for our own consumption."

April 15, 2011 - http://arkansasnews.com/2011/04/15/uapb-gains-approval-for-doctorate-in-aquaculture-fisheries/

UAPB gains approval for doctorate in aquaculture, fisheries

Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — A new doctoral program in aquaculture and fisheries at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was approved today by the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

The board endorsed the new program during a meeting in Mountain Home. The program also was endorsed by ADHE Interim Director Shane Broadway and his staff.

School officials hope to enroll the first students into the program this fall.

UAPB’s program, according to an ADHE news release, has tremendous support from the state’s aquaculture industry. Arkansas’ $167 million industry has a total economic impact on the state of more than $440 million per year, including money that recirculates in the economy, the board heard.

“The Aquaculture/Fisheries Center of Excellence at UAPB is recognized as a leader in aquaculture/fisheries teaching, research and extension programs,” board spokeswoman Brandi Hinkle said in a news release.

Created in 1988, it combines resident instruction, research and extension responsibilities into one unit. The center has 47 faculty and staff, including 17 Ph.D. scientists.

Types of fish used in UAPB’s research range from catfish and minnows to goldfish. Students gain knowledge on ecology, pathology, production and marketing.

According to the state Department of Agriculture’s website, Arkansas is the birthplace of warm-water aquaculture in the U.S.

The state’s first commercial farms in the 1940s raised goldfish.

Arkansas’ aquaculture industry has diversified into more than 20 species of fish and crustaceans, according to the department’s website.

March 14, 2011 - http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=9585 

Letter: FDA must revise fish-consumption advice

By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor

U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Tom Coburn (R.-Okla.) on Monday urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revise its seafood-consumption advice for pregnant and nursing women in light of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which for the time encourage consumers to eat seafood at least twice a week for heart and brain health. Updated every five years, the new dietary guidelines were released in late January.

 Since 2004, the FDA and Environmental Protection Agency has warned pregnant and nursing women and young children to limit seafood intake to 12 ounces per week, limit albacore tuna intake to 6 ounces per week and avoid consuming swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tilefish altogether due to the health risks associated with the neurotoxin methylmercury.

 In a 10 March letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Gillibrand and Coburn said the FDA-EPA advisory is inconsistent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent recommendation and with scientific research confirming that the health benefits of eating seafood regularly far outweigh the risk.

 “While the [FDA-EPA advisory] is in many ways medically accurate, the recommendations communicate an overly risk-averse, precautionary principle that has led to unhealthy reductions in seafood consumption among pregnant women,” they said in the letter. Citing the dietary guidelines, they said “the benefits of consuming seafood far outweigh the risks, even for pregnant women,” and seafood’s nutritional value “is of particular importance” during fetal growth and development, as well as in early infancy and childhood.

 Gillibrand went on to say in a press release on Monday that reduced seafood consumption is “causing harm to fetal and child development.”

 “Consumers look to FDA for the most reliable source for dietary advice, yet their guidelines are six years old and inconsistent with more recent recommendations,” she said. “As a mother and a lawmaker, it is critical that the FDA provide the most up-to-date and scientific information on seafood consumption. Parents need this information to make educated decision for their families.”

 Gillibrand and Coburn asked Hamburg to respond to their letter within 30 days, including the FDA’s plans to update the 2004 advisory to be consistent with new dietary guidelines.

The letter is singed by 16 other congressmen and congresswomen, including Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

March 11, 2011

Fish Farm Biosecurity Training for Employees:

DVD Available From the UAPB Aquaculture/Fisheries Center

The introduction of an important disease or aquatic nuisance species onto a fish farm can have devastating consequences. It is essential that employees recognize the importance of biosecurity measures and adopt them in their daily activities. Even the best fish farm biosecurity plans are only as good as the practices of farm employees.  

This Farm Training DVD was written at the request of fish farm owners. The DVD is intended to educate farm employees on basic biosecurity measures for fish farms and it emphasizes the consequences of disease and ANS introduction. The DVD has both English and Spanish versions. Dr. Andy Goodwin developed the presentation and narrated the English version; the Spanish version was narrated by Dr. Carole Engle. For a copy of the DVD, contact Casandra Hawkins Byrd, Aquaculture/Fisheries Center, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, 1200 N. University Drive, Mail Slot 4912, Pine Bluff, AR 71601, cbyrd@uaex.edu , (870) 575-8132.

March 8, 2011 - NAA Action Alert

NASS Advisory Committee Recommends

Reinstating Aquaculture Census

The Advisory Committee on Agriculture Statistics held its annual meeting February 22-23, 2011 in Washington, D.C.  This committee makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture related to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

The following three recommendations were made that are relevant to the Census of Aquaculture:

• The Advisory Committee recommended that NASS concentrate its efforts on its core mission of production agriculture (this includes aquaculture) during the upcoming years of likely budget reductions.

• To cope with likely budget reductions, the Advisory Committee recommended that NASS decrease the frequency of scheduled surveys; for example, to conduct the farm and ranch irrigation survey and the horticulture survey every 6 or 7 years as opposed to every 5 years.

• The Advisory Committee recommended that the Census of Aquaculture be reinstated as early as possible, taking advantage of moving one of the above surveys to a 6 or 7-year cycle.

NASS Administrator Cynthia Clark and Associate Administrator Joseph Reilly will present a budget request for specific surveys to be conducted in 2013 to the Secretary of Agriculture in June 2011.  Since the 2012 budget has already been approved, the earliest that the Census of Aquaculture could be reinstated would be in 2013, collecting data for the 2012 calendar year.

The Aquaculture Census data is crucial to the development and growth of the domestic aquaculture industry.  The last Census of Aquaculture was in 2005.  If the data had not been available for use in the EPA effluents rule-making process, belief is the final rule would have been very different and far more onerous.  2005 data is still being used in the decision-making process on current policy issues from EPA, USFWS, APHIS, FSIS, state water regulations, and state natural resources departments.  

Without Census of Aquaculture data, it is likely that only catfish and trout would have been declared eligible for the feed assistance program.  There are many other species of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, plants, etc. that are part of aquaculture and do not appear anywhere in the data other than the Census of Aquaculture

NAA urges all members to contact USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting the Aquaculture Census be reinstated with funding in the 2013 budget.  Please copy NASS Administrator Cynthia Clark and Associate Administrator Joseph Reilly on the correspondence.  It would also be beneficial to contact your Congressional representatives, urging them to contact Secretary Tom Vilsack with a request for the 2013 Aquaculture Census.  Contact information for Secretary Vilsack and NASS staff is as follows:

Tom Vilsack

USDA Secretary

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Room 200-A Whitten Building
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250

202-720-3631

Cynthia Clark

NASS Administrator

Room 5041 South Building

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250

202-720-2707

Joseph Reilly

NASS Associate Administrator

Room 5041 South Building

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250

202-720-4333

 March 7, 2011 - NAA Action Alert

Bill HR 872 to Impact

NPDES Permitting

Last week Bill HR 872 was introduced in the House of Representatives to amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify Congressional intent regarding the regulation of the use of pesticides in or near navigable waters, and for other purposes, see attached.  In short, this legislation will provide a Congressional "fix" to the Clean Water Act NPDES situation, basically making FIFRA the law of the land regarding regulation of the use of pesticides in or near navigable waters.

As of today, the bill has 22 co-sponsors:

Rep Gibbs, Bob [OH-18]
Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43]
Rep Boswell, Leonard L. [IA-3]
Rep Cardoza, Dennis A. [CA-18]
Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 3/2/2011
Rep Crawford, Eric A. "Rick" [AR-1]
Rep Graves, Sam [MO-6]
Rep Herger, Wally [CA-2]
Rep Holden, Tim [PA-17]
Rep Kissell, Larry [NC-8]
Rep Lucas, Frank D. [OK-3]
Rep Mica, John L. [FL-7]
Rep Neugebauer, Randy [TX-19]
Rep Owens, William L. [NY-23]
Rep Peterson, Collin C. [MN-7]
Rep Rooney, Thomas J. [FL-16]
Rep Ross, Mike [AR-4]
Rep Sablan, Gregorio Kilili Camacho [MP]
Rep Schilling, Robert T. [IL-17]
Rep Schmidt, Jean [OH-2]
Rep Simpson, Michael K. [ID-2]
Rep Tipton, Scott [CO-3]

If your Representative is not currently a co-sponsor of H.R. 872, the NAA urges you to send him/her an email asking them to do so.  Go to: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

As background info, the following is a  letter supported by the National and Regional Weed Science Societies during a Congressional hearing last week regarding NPDES permit problems:

"Dear ______________ ,

The undersigned organizations represent a diverse group of public and private sector stakeholders who could be significantly impacted by a new federal policy under which EPA and delegated states will issue Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permits for certain pesticide applications.  This unprecedented action is the result of a 2009 decision of the 6thCircuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

This national permit proposal couldn't come at a worse time as our national economy struggles to recover from the recession.  This proposal will hit all levels of government and industry, causing further unfunded mandates on fragile industries and governments, creating additional red tape, squeezing existing resources, and threatening further legal liabilities.

Pesticides play an important role in protecting the nation's food supply, public health, natural resources, infrastructure and green spaces. They are used not only to protect crops from destructive pests, but also to manage mosquitoes and other disease carrying pests, invasive weeds and animals that can choke our waterways, impede power generation, and damage our forests and recreation areas.  

For most of the past four decades, water quality concerns from pesticide applications were addressed within the registration process under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) rather than a Clean Water Act permitting program.  We believe these NPDES permits will not provide any identifiable additional environmental benefits.

The permits' complex compliance requirements will impose tremendous new burdens on thousands of small businesses, farms, communities, counties, and state and federal agencies legally responsible for pest control, and expose them to legal jeopardy through citizen suits over paperwork violations.  Ultimately, the permit could jeopardize jobs, the economy and human health protections across America as regulators and permittees struggle to implement and comply with these permits.

We ask Congress to take action before the permits become final. The permit includes unrealistic deadlines for state delegated implementation and compliance, and it has become abundantly clear that many states will not meet the court ordered implementation date of April 9, 2011.  Even at this late date, EPA has yet to release a final permit.  Moreover, pesticide users will not have time to fully understand or come into compliance with the permits by the deadline, further increasing their liability.   

Time is of the essence for Congress to address this looming regulatory threat. We are ready to help you in this effort in any way we can.  

Sincerely,"

 February 27, 2011 - http://hamptonroads.com/2011/02/striper-reels-enough-votes-be-state-fish

Striper reels in enough votes to be state fish

By Lee Tolliver
 

The striped bass has been named the official state fish, but it didn't happen without a fight.

The biggest opponent to the title came from a much-debated fish that is a mainstay of the striper's diet - menhaden.

SB 940 passed easily in the Senate and was forwarded to the House.

There, Del. Jackson Miller amended it to give the honor to the menhaden - a small, oily fish harvested for Omega fatty acids and an important component of the Chesapeake Bay because it is a filter feeder.

Miller, a Republican from northern Virginia, argued that the menhaden was more important to the state economy than a striper, despite numbers that show the recreational angling community spends millions of dollars each year in pursuit of rockfish.

When the amendment was debated on the floor, Accomac Democrat Lynwood Lewis reminded the legislators that a Hampton fourth-grade class had lobbied hard for the original bill.

Miller's amendment lost 49-48.

With the menhaden out of the running, the House voted overwhelmingly - 80- 16 - to honor the striped bass.

February 25, 2011 - NAA Industry Update

AFS Publishes New Drug Guide

The American Fisheries Society - Fish Culture Section has published a new guide to the use of aquaculture drugs.

The Working Group on Aquaculture Drugs, Chemicals, and Biologics has announced the publication of the Guide to Using Drugs, Biologics and Other Chemicals in Aquaculture and a companion tool, the Treatment Calculator, to assist in the calculation of the amount of drug, biologic or chemical to be used for specific aquatic animal treatment needs.

The Guide is being published exclusively in electronic format to facilitate efficient and timely updates in our ever-changing regulatory climate.

For more information about the Guide and Treatment Calculator, as well where to obtain your free downloadable copy click here or go to: http://tinyurl.com/4ara8r2.

February 23, 2011 - NAA Industry Update

USDA Announces Proposed FSIS Catfish Rule

The U.S. Department Agriculture (USDA) has announced a proposed rule requiring inspection of catfish and catfish products by USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). USDA is proposing these regulations to implement provisions as required by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the 2008 Farm Bill.

The 2008 Farm Bill amended the Federal Meat Inspection Act making catfish an amenable species under the Act, thereby requiring that all catfish undergo inspection by FSIS. In addition, the Secretary must take into account the conditions under which catfish are raised and transported to processing establishments as part of the new inspection program.

The 2008 Farm Bill requires the Secretary of Agriculture to define the term "catfish" for this new inspection program. The proposed rule provides two options for the definition of catfish and seeks public comment on the issue. One option is the current labeling definition in the 2002 Farm Bill, which includes all species in the family Ictaluridae. The other option is to define catfish as all species in the order Siluriformes, including the three families typically found in human food channels, including Ictaluridae, Pangasiidae, and Clariidae.

The proposed rule describes the new requirements that will apply to catfish produced in or imported to the United States. Among these requirements is that products labeled as "catfish" must bear either the FSIS mark of inspection or a mark of inspection from the country from which it was exported.

The proposed rule also describes how FSIS will inspect U.S. catfish farms as well as transportation from farms to processing establishments, as required under the 2008 Farm Bill. In this regard, FSIS will focus on factors affecting the safety of the product being produced, such as water quality and feed.

The proposed rule anticipates a transition period during which domestic and international operations will come into compliance with the catfish inspection program. Once the catfish inspection program rules are issued in final form, FSIS will follow-up by announcing the implementation dates for key provisions in the rule.

Comments must be received on or before June 24, 2011, and may be submitted per the following: through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov; by mail to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, FSIS Docket Clerk, Room 2-2127, George Washington Carver Center, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Mailstop 5272, Beltsville, MD 20705; or by e-mail to fsis.regulationscomments@fsis.usda.gov. All comments must identify FSIS and docket number FSIS-2008-0031. Comments will be available for viewing on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/proposed_rules/index.asp. In addition to a public comment period, FSIS intends to hold public meetings on the proposed rule, which will be announced at a later date.

 February 23, 2011 - NAA Industry Update

New Canadian Import Controls
Effective December, 2012

On December 22, 2010, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) published Canada Gazette, Part II, which changes their Health of Animals Regulations and Reportable Diseases Regulations.  These changes will result in new import controls for aquatic animals, which will include an import permit issued from CFIA and a zoosanitary certificate issued in the country of origin.  This effort is focused on preventing the introduction, and/or spread within Canada, of certain animal diseases.  The Agency has published the regulated lists of aquatic species (finfish, mollusc, and crustaceans) and aquatic animal diseases.  The regulation can be read at: http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2010/2010-12-22/html/sor-dors296-eng.html

The regulation was adopted on December 22, 2010 and will come into effect December 10, 2011.  Once these regulations are effective the listed finfish, mollusks, and crustacean species, including live and dead animals for specific end uses, will require aquatic animal import permits issued by CFIA and zoosanitary certification (i.e., a health certificate issued by a veterinarian and endorsed by the appropriate Competent Animal Health Authority) from all exporting countries including the US.  However, the specific conditions of the import permit and language of the health requirements are still being developed by CFIA.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), and United States Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) are working with National Association of State Aquaculture Coordinators (NASAC), National Aquaculture Association (NAA), and other stakeholders to collect aquatic animal export information, submitted on a voluntary basis by affected stakeholders and exporters, pertaining to U.S. aquatic animal producer locations, species production, and intended animal use.  This information will be used in order to assist Canada in the development of their specific import requirements and language (i.e., permit and zoosanitary conditions) in order to facilitate continuous US trade in aquatic animals and products with Canada.

February 18, 2011 - http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/stripers_forever_fighting_deadly_qXKsk1DQKmXkhe0XjSx3pI

Stripers Forever fighting deadly fish disease

By Ken Moran

There is a research project that is trying to stop a disease that is killing off striped bass.

Stripers Forever has announced an outreach initiative to raise money for research on mycobacteriosis, a deadly fish disease that is increasingly prevalent in the Chesapeake Bay where the bulk of stripers that migrate up and down the Atlantic Coast are spawned.

Mycobacteriosis is believed to be nearly always fatal to infected striped bass and can create serious health problems for anglers and anyone else handling those fish before they are cooked. Fishery scientists estimate that more than 75 percent of all striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay system are infected with mycobacteriosis.

There is no known cure for this insidious disease which represents a major threat to the well-being of stripers and thus the future of recreational and commercial striped bass fishing from Maine to North Carolina.

The fund raising appeal being administered by Stripers Forever is called The Mycobacteriosis Research Initiative (MRI).

Donations to MRI will benefit the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), the leading authority on mycobacteriosis. Checks should be made payable to "VIMS Foundation" (write "For Myco Research" on the memo line) and mailed to VIMS Foundation, P.O. Box 1693, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8779.

A link to a secure site for credit card donations appears along with more information about myco under featured links on the left side of the Stripers Forever home page (www.stripersforever.org).

February 9, 2011 - NAA Action Alert

Pyrotechnic Permit Required

Beginning May 1, 2011

Beginning May 1, the Federal explosives laws in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 40, and the corresponding regulations in 27 CFR, Part 555 make it unlawful for any person who does not hold a Federal license or permit to transport, ship, cause to be transported, or receive any explosive materials.  This includes the need for a permit for the use of explosive pest control devices used in some cases to help protect aquacultural crops from bird depredation. 

Senators Cochran, Pryor, and Wicker have introduced an amendment (No. 24) to the FAA Reauthorization Bill (S.223), which would allow ATF to exempt end-users of explosive pest-control devices from the licensing requirement in the Safe Explosives Act of 2020.  The NAA urges all members to contact their Senators and Congressmen requesting support of this amendment.  One talking point is that farmers can purchase shotgun shells to legally kill fish eating migratory birds under a federal depredation permit but will no longer be able to buy explosive pest-control devices (large firecrackers) to scare these same birds.  A shotgun shell actually has about the same explosive material (gunpowder) as an explosive pest-control device.

The following notice and web-link provides guidance on applying for the required new permit and instructions on proper storage. 

The Federal explosives laws in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 40, and the corresponding regulations in 27 CFR, Part 555 make it unlawful for any person who does not hold a Federal license or permit to transport, ship, cause to be transported, or receive any explosive materials.  Individuals or companies must obtain a Federal explosives license prior to engaging in the business of manufacturing, importing, or dealing in explosive pest control devices (EPCDs).  Federal law also prohibits the distribution of explosive materials to, or the receipt of explosive materials by, any person other than a licensee or permittee.  Therefore, any individual or company that purchases or otherwise acquires EPCDs must possess a Federal explosives license or permit.

WS as a Government agency is exempt from the explosive permit or license requirement.  This exemption also includes any Federal agency or any State or political jurisdiction thereof, including cities, municipal airports, and other municipal Government entities.  Cooperators wishing to obtain a BATF license may find information and application forms at: http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2010/11/111210-openletter-fel-use-of-epcds.html

February 1, 2011 - NAA Industry Update

U.S. Government: Eat Fish Twice a Week

For the first time, the U.S. government is advising all Americans, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, to eat seafood at least twice a week for heart and brain benefits. Previously, the twice-a-week recommendation was limited to heart patients.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S Department of Health and Human Services released the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as required by Congress every five years. The guidelines serve as the basis for federal nutrition policy.

In the guidelines, the agencies said: “Moderate evidence shows that consumption of about 8 ounces per week of a variety of seafood, which provide an average consumption of 250 milligrams per day of EPA and DHA, is associated with reduced cardiac deaths among individuals with and without pre-existing cardiovascular disease.”

They continued: “In addition to the health benefits for the general public, the nutritional value of seafood is of particular importance during fetal growth and development, as well as in early infancy and childhood. 

In a report last June, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee declared that Americans eat too little seafood and should be encouraged to eat more for better brain development in babies and heart health in adults. The committee, made up of more than a dozen nutrition experts, was tasked with recommending changes to the dietary guidelines for Americans.

“Consumption of two servings of seafood per week … is associated with reduced cardiac mortality from [coronary heart disease] or sudden death in persons with and without [cardiovascular disease],” said the report.

Jennifer McGuire, the National Fisheries Institute’s registered dietitian, said the mainstream media’s coverage of the recommendation may be even more beneficial than the federal nutrition policy itself. “We know the media is the No. 1 source of nutritional information for consumers,” she told SeafoodSource on Monday. “Now there’s clear, undisputed recommendations for the media to stick to.”

McGuire added that the new dietary guidelines may lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency to change their seafood-consumption advisory for methylmercury, which warns pregnant and breastfeeding women to limit seafood intake to 12 ounces per week.

BySteven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor, www.seafoodsource.com

http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=9085&utm_source

 December 13, 2010 - NAA Industry Update

Secretary Vilsack Appoints Members

to Advisory Committee on Animal Health

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the members of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health.  The following individuals will serve two-year terms on the committee:

·        Mr. Mazimiliano Fernandez, a cattle and sheep rancher from Washington state

·        Dr. John Fischer, a professor of wildlife disease from the University of Georgia at Athens

·        Dr. Andrew Goodwin, a professor of aquaculture at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

·        Ms. Vicki Hebb, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who raises cows, calves and bucking         

         horses

·        Dr. Howard Hill, a veterinarian and pork production virologist from Iowa State University

·        Dr. Donald Hoenig, state veterinarian from Maine

·        Mr. Morris Johnson, a livestock farmer from Arkansas

·        Mr. John Kalmey, a dairy, corn and alfalfa farmer from Kentucky

·        Dr. Charles Massengill, former epidemiologist and animal health laboratory director for the Missouri

         Department of Agriculture and Animal Health

·        Dr. David Meeker, senior vice president of Scientific Services, National Renderers Association from

         Virginia

·        Ms. Judith McGeary, a sustainable farmer and attorney on agricultural law from Texas

·        Dr. Boyd Parr, state veterinarian from South Carolina

·        Ms. S. Gennell Pridgen, a small farm livestock producer from North Carolina

·        Dr. Willie Reed, dean for the school of veterinary medicine at Purdue University in Indiana

·        Dr. Charles Rogers, a livestock dealer and marketer from New Mexico

·        Dr. Philip Stayer, a poultry veterinarian from Mississippi

·        Mr. Gilles Stockton, a ranch operator and farmer from Montana

·        Mr. Brian Thomas, a cattle producer from the Duck Valley Reservation

·        Dr. Elizabeth Wagstrom, a swine veterinarian from Minnesota

·        Dr. Cindy Wolf, a sheep and cattle farmer and ruminant specialist from Minnesota

The committee will advise the Secretary of Agriculture on actions related to prevention, surveillance and the control of animal diseases of national importance.  In doing so, the committee will consider the implications of public health, conservation of natural resources and the stability of livestock economies.

The committee will meet for the first time in January 2011.  A Federal Register notice will be published in the next few weeks containing all of the meeting details.

Nov. 30 2010 - http://blogs.forbes.com/monteburke/2010/11/30/the-largest-black-market-fish-bust-ever/?boxes=businesschannelsections

The Largest Black Market Fish Bust Ever?

By Monte Burke

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of  Law Enforcement has busted a “vast criminal conspiracy” that included the illegal harvest, sale and purchase of more than one million pounds of striped bass with a market value of up to $7 million. The bust, the result of a seven-year sting operation, happened in the Chesapeake Bay, the primary spawning and nursery ground for striped bass on the east coast.

“This may be the largest case of its kind in U.S. history,” said Special Agent Kenneth Endress of the USFWS.

This is welcome news. Fish poaching—whether it’s for bluefin tuna, Atlantic salmon, striped bass, blackfish or many other species—gets very little media play and very little enforcement funding. (For instance, there are only three conservation officers who cover the 650-mile shoreline of the New York City Harbor).

And poaching is a serious issue. It can push a species that’s flirting with extinction even closer to the edge (see: bluefin tuna). It can wipe out a species in a given watershed (see: Atlantic salmon). It can make it impossible for biologists to set realistic species management guidelines (bluefin tuna again).

It can even have serious health consequences for the consumer. Back in late June, I wrote a story about the poaching problems in the New York Harbor. For the story, I accompanied New York Department of Conservation officers Jamie Powers and Kevin Thomas on a sting operation in Manhattan. The conservation officers busted David Pasternack, an Iron Chef contestant, for attempting to sell illegal striped bass at his high-end and much-celebrated seafood restaurant, Esca. The big problem with selling illegal striped bass in New York is the fish very well could be from the city’s harbor. Stripers there happen to be chock full of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which at worst, cause cancer in humans and at best wreck immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems.

In the Chesapeake Bay bust, authorities discovered that a group of commercial fishermen were taking advantage of the area’s somewhat lenient laws and enforcement against illegally harvested and sold fish. But in 2003, an agent got wind of just how many fish were being poached. Together, agents from the USFWS’ Office of Law Enforcement, Virginia Marine Police and Maryland Natural Resources Police formed what was called the Interstate Watershed Task Force. The agents posed as buyers of the illegal fish. Seven years later, they captured and prosecuted the criminals.

Among the busted entities: Profish, Ltd, a prominent seafood wholesaler in the Washington, D.C., area. Profish was fined almost $1 million for buying, selling and transporting illegally caught striped bass (which is a violation of what’s known as the Lacey Act). The vice-president of Profish was sentenced to 21 months in prison. The company’s lead fish buyer was sentenced to 15 months. U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte, who administered the sentences, was quoted in the Baltimore Sun as saying: “Is it Bernie Madoff? Maybe not. But this is serious business.”

On its website, Profish somewhat ironically gives prominent play to its sustainability efforts and ecological commitment.

Three other fish wholesalers and 19 individuals were also prosecuted in the Chesapeake Bay bust.

October 13, 2010 - http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/101013.htm

Alternative Fish Feeds Use Less Fishmeal and Fish Oils

By Sharon Durham
 

As consumers eat more fish as part of a healthy diet, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are helping producers meet this demand by developing new feeds that support sustainable aquaculture production.

Commercial fish farms have traditionally fed feeds that include high levels of fishmeal and fish oil, according to fish physiologist Rick Barrows with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS). But the fishmeal in these feeds comes from small, bony fish species like menhaden, herring and capelin, which are in short supply.

Also, more people around the globe are turning to fish as a source of lean protein, driving the growth of aquaculture worldwide. Aquaculture now supplies half of the seafood produced for human consumption.

To satisfy these demands, Barrows and his colleagues at the ARS Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Hagerman, Idaho, are developing alternative fish feeds made from concentrated plant proteins.

Barrows produces the feed himself using a piece of food manufacturing equipment called a "cooking extruder." Barrows is formulating and manufacturing feeds for several fish species, including trout, salmon, white sea bass and yellowtail.

At the ARS National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center in Franklin, Maine, research leader William Wolters works with Barrows to develop diets for Atlantic salmon, using concentrated plant proteins. Protein levels in most grain and oilseed sources are low and need to be concentrated to reach the high protein requirements of fish.

Wolters is currently evaluating six experimental diets which contain combinations of alternative proteins, plus a fishmeal diet being fed to fish for comparison. According to Wolters, the ongoing studies seem to indicate that the modern alternative diets work better for the fish than previous alternative diets.

Feeds for warm-water fish are being developed at the Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center's facility in Fort Pierce, Fla. ARS fish biologist Marty Riche is working with Barrows to develop feed for pompano, one of Florida's highest valued fish. Riche uses ingredients such as corn, gluten meal, and soy proteins to develop feeds that contain less fishmeal.

Read more about this and other aquaculture-related research in the October 2010 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency. This research supports the USDA priority of promoting international food security and agricultural sustainability.

October 12, 2010 - http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/10/the-anti-salmon-a-fish-we-can-finally-farm-without-guilt/64317/

The Anti-Salmon: A Fish We Can Finally Farm Without Guilt

By Barry Estabrook

October 5, 2010 - NAA Industry Update

First Global Guidelines for Aquaculture Certification

Finalized by FAO Subcommittee on Aquaculture

1 October 2010, Rome/Phuket, Thailand - The first global guidelines for aquaculture certification have been adopted by the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture of the Committee on Fisheries, part of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.  Over 50 countries attended the meeting of the sub-committee, which is the only global intergovernmental forum discussing aquaculture development.

The guidelines, which are non-binding, cover animal health, food safety, the environment and socio-economic issues relating to aquaculture workers.  They will now go to the Committee on Fisheries when it meets in Rome in January 2011 for approval.

If the guidelines are followed in full by countries, certification will enable consumers standing at the fish counter to know whether the shrimp they are considering buying were raised without damaging a coastal mangrove swamp, whether the fish farm worker was paid a fair wage, and whether the shellfish is free of contamination.

Although aquatic animal health and food safety issues have been subjected to certification and international compliance for many years, the new guidelines mark the first time animal welfare, environmental issues and socio-economic aspects have been subjected to compliance or certification.

"These guidelines have been developed to bring some harmony to what is the fastest growing food sector in the world," said FAO aquaculture expert Rohana Subasinghe.  "Certification of aquaculture products has proliferated over the years claiming all kinds of things.  There was no criteria, no benchmarks or agreed principles. Aquaculture products are globally traded and it is important that we ensure responsible production and consumer satisfaction."

The guidelines were finalized after four years of consultation and debate among governments, producers, processors, and traders.

Eighty percent of fish farmers are small-scale, often with a backyard pond for fish or a shrimp pond along the coast.  One thorny issue that had to be resolved was how a costly certification process could be engineered so as not to shut small-scale producers out of the market.

The guidelines call on governments to support capacity building of fish producers for developing and complying with aquaculture certification systems.  "There are ways for small producers to operate within a modern certification system. For example, in India and Thailand clusters of fish farmers share the costs of certification so they are not too heavy for each farmer," Subasinghe said.

http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/45834/icode/

September 22, 2010 - NAA Action Alert

USFWS Petition to Halt Spread of

Amphibian Disease, Chytrid Fungus

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced it has posted a notice in the Federal Register seeking information concerning the possible designation of all live amphibians or their eggs that are infected with chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd) as “injurious wildlife” under the Lacey Act.

The fungus causes chytridiomycosis, a disease deadly to amphibians, and has been identified as a primary factor leading to the listing of a number of amphibian species as threatened or endangered.  If finalized, the designation as “injurious” would require a health certification that live amphibians or their eggs are not infected with chytrid fungus prior to import or transportation across state lines.

Designation of amphibians carrying chytrid fungus as “injurious species” would have many important implications for US 

producers:

-The inadvertent inclusion of an amphibian, which includes tadpoles, in a load of live aquatic animals 

would be a violation of the Lacey Act.

-Producers of amphibians would most likely be required to obtain individual certificates of inspection for 

each interstate movement of amphibians.

-The regulation of chytrid fungus as an “injurious species” bypasses existing regulatory approaches and 

agencies that regulate the interstate movement of important diseases.

The primary goal of this proposed designation is to prevent the spread of chytrid fungus to wild populations of amphibians, however,  scientific investigations* that have looked at the current distribution of chytrid have found the fungus to be widely distributed already in wild amphibians in North America including the East, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest.

The Notice of Inquiry was published in the Federal Register (attached) on September 17, 2010, and explains the chytrid fungus issue and asks the public to provide information on the subject.  The submissions will be reviewed and a decision made whether to proceed with a proposed rule or to take no further action.

The NAA urges all members to submit comments opposing the listing of live amphibians infected with the chytrid 

fungus as injurious wildlife.  

For more details, and to submit comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-R9-FHC-2009-0093.  

The public will have until December 16, 2010, to provide information on the subject of the petition. 

* Ouellet, M et al (2005) Historical Evidence of Widespread Chytrid Infection in North American Amphibian Populations. Conservation Biology 19:1431-1441.

Muths, E.  et al. (2008) Distribution and environmental limitations of an amphibian pathogen in the Rocky Mountains, USA. Biological Conservation 141:1484-1492.

Pearl, C. A. (2007) Occurrence of the Amphibian Pathogen Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis in the Pacific Northwest. Journal of Herpetology 41(1):145-149.

September 17, 2010 - http://www.wfn.tv/news/index.php?blog=410029

New State Record For Striped Bass

August 2, 2010 - NAA Industry Update

NAA Outreach Specialist Participates

in Smithsonian Seafood Event

Aquaculture played a leading role in the “Savoring Sustainable Seafood” event hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on June 11-12, 2010 in Washington, D.C.  The event brought together famous chefs, great food, and expert panel discussions to help spread the word about sustainable resource management. 

Linda O’Dierno, Outreach Specialist for the NAA, participated on the “Sustainability at Home and in the Restaurant Kitchen” panel along with noted chefs, and retailers.  Both panelists and audience members were extremely positive about aquaculture, asked lots of good questions, and came away with a better understanding of the efforts that the industry is making to help ensure that U.S. aquaculture is safe and sustainable, the quality and variety of U.S. products, and the important health benefits of increased seafood consumption.  This is truly a marketable moment for U.S. aquaculture.

The event featured an amazing seafood reception in the Sant Ocean Hall of the Museum that included both farmed and wild caught sustainable choices.  Among the farmed dishes were Olive Oil Poached Sturgeon with Petrossian Caviar; Rappahannock River Oysters and Clams; Panko Crusted Tilapia Cakes; Steamed Barramundi with Red Curry, Chili Jam, and Crispy Shallots; Hog Island Oysters; Cobia with Fennel Salad and Olive Relish; Sunburst Farm Rainbow Trout in Squash Blossom, Green Gazpacho and Young Almonds; Clam Caldine; Louisiana Crawfish Étouffėe; Warm Smoked Sturgeon, Braised Bacon, English Pea Ver Jus; and Mussels Three Ways. 

All seafood was clearly identified as U.S. farm-raised or U.S. wild-caught and had a Best Choice designation from Seafood Watch.  The event was an excellent opportunity to help remind the thirty-nine chefs who participated in the food preparation portion of the program about the wide range of high quality farmed seafood available from U.S. growers.

July 8, 2010 - NAA Industry Update

Emergency Assistance to

Farm-Raised Fish Producers

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that disaster assistance will be issued starting June 30 to livestock, honeybee and farm-raised fish producers that suffered losses in 2008 because of disease, adverse weather or other conditions.  The aid will come from the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).

"American farmers, ranchers and producers should have protection from market disruptions and disasters," Vilsack said.  "The assistance…will be particularly helpful to beekeepers whose bees suffered from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and will also assist other producers facing economic challenges."

More than $10 million in disaster assistance, including more than $6 million to compensate beekeepers for 2008 losses will be issued starting June 30.  Under the program, producers are compensated for losses that are not covered under other Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance Payment programs established by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, specifically Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), and Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Program.  ELAP benefits related to 2009 losses are expected to be issued later this summer.

ELAP eligibility provisions have been amended for both honeybee and farm-raised fish producers.  The modifications include allowing honeybee and farm-raised fish producers who did not replace their honeybees or fish that were lost due to a natural disaster to be eligible for ELAP payments based on the fair market value of the honeybees or fish that were lost.  For more information about USDA Farm Service Agency disaster assistance programs, please visit your FSA county office or www.fsa.usda.gov.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - http://www.magicvalley.com/business/agriculture/article_cf94a49e-f24c-5470-9efe-56cdb78b029b.html

Aquaculture looks for fish meal alternatives

By Cindy Snyder - Times-News correspondent

Aquaculture producers have long known that fish meal wasn’t going to be a sustainable or economical ingredient for fish diets in the long-run. But events over the last four months have proven just how fragile that ingredient source is.

An earthquake in Chile in late February destroyed 20 to 30 percent of that country’s fish meal production capability and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is threatening another leading production area for Menhaden fish meal. And then there’s the impact from increased demand to feed an ever growing aquaculture industry worldwide.

“All of these factors affecting feed prices are out of your control,” Rick Barrows told aquaculture producers during the Idaho Aquaculture Association’s annual meeting in Twin Falls. Barrows is a nutritionist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service who is based at both Bozeman, Mont., and Hagerman. He has led efforts to find alternative protein sources for fish diets for many years.

Plants provide protein for many livestock rations but unlike cows or pigs that are used to a plant-based diet, fish — especially trout — are carnivorous. Their systems have not evolved to utilize plants and that’s one reason Barrows has been so excited about using fungal modification to convert low value plant carbohydrates into proteins.

Unfortunately, several years of work have shown that while fungi are excellent at concentrating plant proteins, fish won’t eat the resulting concentrate. Researchers also tried yeasts and found that in addition to being unpalatable, the concentrated protein had mold issues.

Of the protein alternatives Barrows has studied, locally grown barley continues to be one of the most promising alternatives. Barley meal, 19.55 percent protein, is available, but Barrows is more excited about barley protein concentrate that is 55 percent protein. He likes barley protein concentrate because it does not contain anti-nutrients that either harm fish growth or make the product unpalatable to fish.

However, producers are still waiting for a processing plant to be built in Idaho. Once barley protein concentrate is commercially available, Barrows believes locally grown barley could replace up to 45 percent of fish diets.

Corn protein concentrate is commercially available and a good protein source, but pigment must also be fed to keep the filets from turning brown. Soybean meal also has potential but Barrows calls it the “poster child for anti-nutrients.” Including soybean meal can lead to enteritis in fish, but breeders are working on soybean varieties with fewer anti-nutrients that may offer greater potential for fish diets.

One of the problems with feeding grain based diets is that the fish manure is looser than when fed diets containing animal byproducts. Another problem is that diets must be supplemented with specific minerals and vitamins that animal-based proteins carry but plant proteins do not.

Recent feeding trials at Hagerman demonstrated that fish grew equally well on the ARS-plant based diet when it was properly formulated as fish fed a diet where poultry byproducts were used to replace fish meal or those fed a traditional fish meal based diet.

“All the formulas were more expensive than the reference (fish meal) diet, but it proves that you can go fish meal free and still get good weight gain,” Barrows said. 

Friday, June 18, 2010http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?monthyear=&day=18&id=36970&l=e&special=&ndb=1%20target

Soy use rises in aquaculture

The rise of aquaculture is driving an increase in soy use for aquaculture fish feed.

Currently, the top demand for soy use in aquaculture is driven by China, which generates 63 per cent of global aquaculture. The Chinese aquaculture industry uses as much as 6.5 million tonnes of soybeans, according to estimates.
 
“The amount of soybean meal used for aquaculture in China exceeds the soybean production of Indiana,” said Joe Meyer, United Soybean Board (USB) director and a soybean farmer from Williamsburg, Indiana. “The soybean checkoff continues to work to expand the aquaculture industries in other areas, such as Southeast Asia, Central America and the Middle East.”
 
Currently, 18 countries are using soy-based feeds and production technologies created in China as well as via collaborative research with the soybean checkoff, reports Penton Media.

“The whole fish-feeding industry is in its infancy, and we’re still determining soy inclusion levels in diets and market opportunities for many species,” said Meyer. “Global demand for seafood continues to increase, with the US consuming about USD 15 billion worth of seafood annually.”

“At the same time, the wild catch of seafood is leveling off or decreasing, so there is a large opportunity for aquaculture,” he added.
 
Due to higher costs of fish meal and other plant ingredients, like canola meal and cotton meal, this year more soy products will be used in aquaculture.
 
The increased use of soy protein concentrate (SPC), which has higher protein levels than soybean meal, will enable more feeding of soy to fish and shrimp. Estimated SPC production for 2010 is about 30,000 tonnes, according to the US Soybean Export Council.
 
“Protein levels for fish nutrition are much higher than what we would expect for poultry and livestock, so SPC allows us to develop aquafeeds that meet the nutrient requirements of a number of species of fish and shrimp that have a limited tolerance for soybean meal,” Meyer commented.
 
State soybean checkoff boards from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, South Dakota, Ohio and Minnesota have all joined USB to finance aquaculture-related research and international marketing initiatives.
 
“The work on soy in aquaculture has only begun,” Meyer noted. “We expect to see continued expansion of the aquaculture industry in Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Thailand, India and other markets.”

June 17, 2010 - NAA Industry Update

USDA Secretary's Advisory Committee

on Animal Health

The Secretary of Agriculture intends to establish the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Animal Health for a 2-year period.  The purpose of this Advisory Committee is to advise the Secretary of Agriculture on means to prevent, conduct surveillance, monitor, control, or eradicate animal diseases of national importance.  In doing so, the Committee will consider public health, conservation of natural resources, and the stability of livestock economies. (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-14659.htm)
 
Through its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA is soliciting nominations for membership on this Committee.  Nominations are solicited from interested organizations and individuals, and an organization may nominate individuals from within or outside its membership.  Appointments to the Committee will be made by the Secretary of Agriculture.  Consideration will be given to nominations received on or before August 2, 2010.  (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-14660.htm)
 
For information on the APHIS mission to protect and improve the health, quality, and the marketability of our nation's animals (including various wildlife), animal products, and veterinary biologics, see http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/index.shtml

Friday, 11 June 2010 - http://www.fishnewseu.com/latest-news/world/3671-aquaculture-will-be-dominant-seafood-supplier-within-decades.html

Aquaculture ‘will be dominant seafood

supplier within decades’

ON THE final day of the AquaVision conference in Stavanger, Norway, Professor Frank Asche said he expected aquaculture to become the dominant seafood supplier within a decade or two.

Professor Asche, who reached his conclusion by drawing together results from worldwide market research, said: “The potential for increased production seems larger for aquaculture than other food-producing technologies.”

Professor Asche, who was the co-author of an article on sustainability and global seafood in Science earlier this year, said he expected aquaculture to achieve its dominance through long-term growth without damaging the ecosystems in which it operates.

“There is nothing inherently unsustainable with aquaculture, as long as the producers choose to operate on a sustainable basis,” he said.

Also on the conference’s last day, the AquaVision Innovation Award was presented to Australian firm Marine Inspector & Cleaner for their revolutionary new method for cleaning fish farm nets.

Marine Inspector & Cleaner’s totally new cleaning device for nets, easily operated by one person, is a longed-for invention for fish farmers, it was said, as clean nets contribute to better health, fewer parasites and better fish growth.

Due to the speed and ease of operation, nets can be cleaned on a regular basis, resulting in minimal fouling growth, said Dr Robert Kirschbaum of DSM, which set up the prize.

Bringing the conference, attended by 340 delegates from 26 countries, to a close, Knut Nesse, executive vice-president of the Nutreco Aquaculture/Skretting Group, said: “Aquaculture is a winning industry, there is no doubt about that. Aquaculture is the blue revolution. We are able to supply a growing population with healthy food, but our industry is also fantastic if you look at value created.”

June 10, 2010 - NAA Industry Update

EPA Notice of DRAFT NPDES

Pesticide General Permit from

Application of Pesticides

The EPA has issued a Federal Register notice on the Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Pesticide General Permit for Point Source Discharges From the Application of Pesticides.  There have been concerns that this new regulation may apply with some use of pesticides in commercial aquaculture ponds and recreational ponds.  There is no reference to aquaculture in the Draft, but the permit includes the use of pesticides for aquatic weed and algae control in waters of the US.  The need and impact of a new permitting requirement will likely be determined on a site-specific basis.  Comments must be submitted on or before July 19, 2010.  The full Federal Register notice can be found at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-13468.htm.

Interested parties in the aquaculture community should review the Draft and provide any desired comments to EPA regarding commercial aquaculture facilities that specifically address categories or circumstances for potential inclusion.  Below is a copy of the Fact Sheet and a web link to the Proposed General Permit.  Please note that the EPA will be holding 3 public meetings, a public hearing, and a webcast on the PGP (see below).  All of this information can also be found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=410. 

Pesticides

OVERVIEW

EPA Pesticide General Permit for Discharges from the Application of Pesticides

Proposed Pesticide General Permit

On June 2, 2010, EPA announced the public availability of a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for point source discharges from the application of pesticides to waters of the United States. This permit is also known as the Pesticides General Permit (PGP). The PGP was developed in response to a decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (National Cotton Council, et al. v. EPA). The court vacated EPA's 2006 rule that said NPDES permits were not required for applications of pesticides to U.S. waters. As a result of the Court's decision, discharges to waters of the U.S. from the application of pesticides will require NPDES permits when the court's mandate takes effect, on April 9, 2011. Any use patterns not covered by this proposed draft permit would need to obtain coverage under an individual permit or alternative general permit if they involve pesticide application that result in point source discharges to waters of the United States. This general permit will provide coverage for discharges where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority. For discharges in NPDES authorized states, state NPDES authorities will be issuing their permit. EPA estimates that the Sixth Circuit's ruling will affect approximately 365,000 pesticide applicators nationwide that perform 5.6 million pesticide applications annually.

EPA's PGP regulates discharges to waters of the U.S. from the application of (1) biological pesticides, and (2) chemical pesticides that leave a residue. The following pesticide use patterns are covered under the PGP: mosquito and other flying insect pest control, aquatic weed and algae control, aquatic nuisance animal control, and forest canopy pest control. The PGP does not authorize coverage for (1) discharges of pesticides or their degradates to waters already impaired by these specific pesticides or degradates or (2) discharges to outstanding national resource waters (also known as Tier 3 waters). These discharges will require coverage under individual NPDES permits. Also outside the scope of this permit are terrestrial applications to control pests on agricultural crops or forest floors.

The following documents include the Pesticide General Permit, the Pesticide General Permit Fact Sheet, Federal Register Notice and other information:

Proposed Pesticide General Permit (PDF) (58 pp, 590K)

Proposed Pesticide General Permit Fact Sheet (PDF) (116 pp, 1.2MB)

Federal Register Notice (PDF) (52 pp, 225K)

Questions and Answers on the Proposed Pesticide General Permit (PDF) (8 pp, 92K)

Regulations.gov Docket  (The Docket number for this proposed permit is EPA-HQ-OW-2010-0257.)

Public Meetings, Webcast, and Hearing on the Proposed PGP (PDF) (2 pp, 43K)

Albuquerque, New Mexico: June 14, 2010

Boise, Idaho: June 16, 2010

Webcast: June 17, 2010

Boston, Massachusetts: June 21, 2010

Washington, DC: June 23, 2010

Schedule

Public comments on EPA's draft pesticides general permit will be accepted for 45 days (through July 19, 2010).

EPA intends to issue a final general permit by December 2010. Once finalized, the PGP will be implemented in six states and the territories, Indian Country lands and federal facilities where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority (PDF) (4 pp, 45K). In the other 44 states, the state NPDES authorities will issue the permits. EPA has been working closely with these states to concurrently develop their permits.

Public Meetings, Webcast, and Hearing on the Proposed PGP

During the comment period EPA will hold three public meetings, a public hearing, and a webcast on the PGP. At the meetings, any person may provide written or oral statements and data pertaining to the draft permit. The date, time, and location of these events are as follows:

Albuquerque, New Mexico:  Public meeting on Monday, June 14, 2010 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the CNM Workforce Training Center, Room 101, 5600 Eagle Rock Avenue, N.E., Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Boise, Idaho: Public meeting on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Bureau of Reclamation, rooms 206 & 219, 1150 North Curtis Road, Boise, Idaho.

Boston, Massachusetts:  Public meeting on Monday, June 21, 2010 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., at EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Conference Room 1529, Boston, Massachusetts.

Washington, D.C.: Public hearing on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the EPA East Building, Room 1153, 1201 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

If you would like to present a statement at the public hearing, please contact Virginia Garelick at 202-564-2316 to register your intent to provide a public statement. Speakers will be given up to three minutes (or as time allows) to provide their comments on a first come first served basis. Any additional comments will need to be provided in writing.  EPA will consider all comments received and will include copies of such in the Administrative Record.

Webcast - EPA Draft NPDES Pesticides General Permit (PGP): EPA has scheduled a Webcast to provide information on this draft permit and to answer questions for interested parties that are unable to attend the public meetings or hearing. The webcast will be broadcast on June 17, 2010, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).

 Background information on EPA's aquatic pesticides rule and litigation on the rule

June 9, 2010 - NAA Industry Update

Notice of Solicitation for Members of the

National Agricultural Research, Extension,

Education and Economics Advisory Board

USDA has announced solicitation for nominations to fill 9 vacancies on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board.  The deadline for nominations is July 9, 2010.  To see more information, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-13799.htm or see the full Federal Register announcement below.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary

Notice of Solicitation for Members of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board

AGENCY: Research, Education and Economics, USDA.

ACTION: Solicitation for membership.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App., the United States Department of Agriculture announces solicitation for nominations to fill 9 vacancies on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board.

DATES: Deadline for Advisory Board member nominations is July 9, 2010.

ADDRESSES: The nominee's name, resume, completed Form AD-755, and any letters of support must be sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board Office, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 321-A, Whitten Building, Washington, DC 20250-0321.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Kelly, Acting Executive Director, National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 321-A, Whitten Building, Washington, DC 20250-0321, telephone: 202-720-4421; fax: 202-720-6199; e-mail: david.kelly@ars.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 1408 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3123) was amended by the Food, Energy and Conservation Act of 2008 by deleting six members of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board, to total 25 members. Since the inception of the Advisory Board by congressional legislation in 1996, each member has represented a specific category related to farming or ranching, food production and processing, forestry research, crop and animal science, land-grant institutions, non-land grant college or university with a historic commitment to research in the food and agricultural sciences, food retailing and marketing, rural economic development, and natural resource and consumer interest groups, among many others. The Board was first appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture in September 1996 and one-third of its members were appointed for one, two, and three-year terms, respectively to allow for approximately one-third of the Board to change each year. The terms for 8 members who represent specific categories will expire September 30, 2010. Nominations for these and other vacant categories are sought. All nominees will be carefully reviewed for their expertise, leadership, and relevance to a category. Appointments will be made for two- or three-year terms to maintain the approximate one-third change in membership each year dictated by the original legislation.

The 9 slots to be filled are:

Category F. National Food Animal Science Society

Category G. National Crop, Soil, Agronomy, Horticulture, or Weed Science Society

Category K. 1862 Land-Grant Colleges and Universities

Category L. 1890 Land-Grant Colleges and Universities

Category P. American Colleges of Veterinary Medicine

Category T. Rural Economic Development

Category U. National Consumer Interest Group

Category V. National Forestry Group

Category W. National Conservation or Natural Resource Groups

Nominations are being solicited from organizations, associations, societies, councils, federations, groups, and companies that represent a wide variety of food and agricultural interests throughout the country. Nominations for one individual who fits several of the categories listed above or for more than one person who fits one category will be accepted. In your nomination letter, please indicate the specific membership category for each nominee. Each nominee must fill out, sign, and return a form AD-755, ``Advisory Committee Membership Background Information'' (which can be obtained from the contact person below or may be printed out from the following Web site:

http://www.ree.usda.gov/nareeeab/downloads/forms/AD-755.pdf).

All nominees will be vetted before selection.

Nominations are open to all individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical handicap, marital status, or sexual orientation. To ensure that recommendations of the Advisory Board take into account the needs of the diverse groups served by the Department, membership shall include, to the extent practicable, individuals with demonstrated ability to represent minorities, women, and persons with disabilities.

Appointments to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board will be made by the Secretary of Agriculture.

Done at Washington, DC, June 2, 2010.

Ann M. Bartuska,

Acting Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics.

[FR Doc. 2010-13799 Filed 6-8-10; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE P

June 7, 2010 - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-in--recordbass,0,2433079.story

Ind. man lands 39-pound striped bass,

shattering state record for the sport fish

By Associated Press

ROCKVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A western Indiana man who shattered a state fishing record by landing a 39-pound striped bass says he caught the whopper in a spot where he and his fishing buddies previously had little luck.

Thirty-nine-year-old Jonathan VanHook hauled in the big fish May 25 at Cecil M. Harden Lake in Parke County. It measured 42.25 inches long with a 30-inch girth.

VanHook's 39-pound catch broke the previous record of a 35.4-pound striped bass that an angler caught in 1993 in the Ohio River

Monday, June 7, 2010 - http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/new_jersey/article_a2fae82a-7283-11df-9bfb-001cc4c002e0.html 

New Jersey anglers oppose plan that would

give them more striped bass to catch

By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer

New Jersey anglers find themselves in the strange position of opposing a regulation that would give them more fish to catch.

The issue is striped bass, a game fish that migrates between North Carolina and Maine.

A proposal from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, or ASMFC, would allow greater commercial catches all along the East Coast.

Recreational fishermen, or anglers, normally oppose greater commercial catches amid worries there will be fewer fish for them to catch. Recreational and commercial fishermen have fought such battles for decades.

But New Jersey, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut do not allow a commercial catch of striped bass. New Jersey's Legislature banned the sale of striped bass years ago, and the state's annual commercial allocation, which was 321,750 pounds last year, is given to recreational anglers. The fish are doled out to anglers through a bonus tag program.

The proposal from the ASMFC would boost commercial catches in New Jersey, but they would go to recreational fishermen. So why do they oppose it?

Part of the reason, said Tom Fote, of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, is that most of the bonus tag fish are never caught. New Jersey gets about 300,000 pounds per year but catches a small fraction of them.

In 2008, only 7,345 pounds were landed under bonus tags, which give anglers an extra fish per day. The catch in 2007 was just 13,615 pounds and in 2006 it was 23,656 pounds.

"The bonus tag would be increased if the increase goes through, except we never catch all the bonus tags anyway," Fote said.

Anglers, meanwhile, are concerned with striped bass stocks. Catches have been great in recent years, but they are older fish, Fote said. Stocks of juveniles are down, and stripers in the Chesapeake Bay region are suffering diseases possibly from lack of baitfish to eat. The Chesapeake is a prime breeding ground for striped bass, which migrate up to New Jersey, mixing with stocks from the Delaware Bay and Hudson River. Fote said anglers are worried about taking more fish out of the system.

"The concern here is the Chesapeake Bay stock is not in good shape. There're a lot of strong feelings that we shouldn't be doing this," Fote said.

The ASMFC will host a public hearing on the proposal July 22 at the Toms River Township Clerk's Office, 33 Washington St. in Toms River. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

The Galloway Township-based Recreational Fishing Alliance, or RFA, plans to attend the meeting and oppose any commercial increase. RFA member Adam Nowalsky said more research needs to be done before any quotas are increased.

"Anybody from the recreational side is not happy about it. There are no significant numbers of juveniles entering the stock. The larger, older fish are holding up the stock population. We shouldn't increase the harvest until that is addressed," Nowalsky said.

There are no striped bass harvests allowed in federal waters, which run from 3 to 200 miles offshore. Since 1981, the ASMFC has coordinated harvests inside the 3-mile range.

From 2003 through 2008, the annual commercial catch has averaged 7,091,769 pounds per year, compared with 25,403,865 for recreational anglers. The total catch has averaged 32,495,634 pounds.

Of the 7 million commercial pounds harvested each year, more than half is from the Chesapeake Bay area. The rest of the fish are called the coastal commercial catch, which averaged 2,947,337 pounds from 2003 through 2008.

The problem, the ASMFC says, is since striped bass stocks have bounced back from historic lows, the recreational landings are outstripping commercial catches. Since 2003, the recreational catch has risen by 13.7 percent while the commercial catch has declined by 3.6 percent.

The ASMFC says it wants to increase the commercial quota to "improve equality" between commercial and recreational industries. The exact percentage increase has not been determined.

New Jersey anglers do not catch the bonus tag fish and generally oppose taking any more stripers out of the water.

Nowalsky said the importance of striped bass was clear during most of May when regulations prevented catches of fluke, black sea bass, tautog and scup.

"This year it was the only recreational fishery we had available," Nowalsky said.

New Jersey commercial fishermen for years have battled to get their commercial quota returned to them. Marty Buzas, a gillnet fisherman out of Wildwood, addressed the ASMFC earlier this year trying to get the quota back. Buzas said it "upsets the balance of fairness and equity" while creating hostilities between commercial and recreational fishermen in New Jersey. Buzas said the charter of the ASMFC, which is a compact of East Coast states that regulates migratory fish, says fishery resources should be "fairly and equitably allocated."

"New Jersey commercial fishermen know that they are not getting treated fairly with the way their quota was taken from them. They feel the recreational community did an end-run by making contributions to politicians in order to have laws enacted that banned a commercial harvest and then used their quota to create the bonus tag program," Buzas said.

The good news about stripers is the stock of spawning females is huge. The target is to have 37,500 metric tons of spawning females, and a 2009 stock assessment estimated there are 55,500 metric tons of them.

May 18, 2010 - NAA Industry Update

The Four P’s of a Safe and

Sustainable Aquaculture Industry:

Practices, Presentation, Promotion and the Press

The National Aquaculture Association (NAA) and the United Soybean Board have teamed up with local hosts to sponsor an important one-day workshop, “The Four P’s of a Safe and Sustainable Aquaculture Industry: Practices, Presentation, Promotion and the Press” at ten locations across the United States.  The workshop will provide fish and shellfish producers with the knowledge and skills to market their products more successfully, grow their businesses, help shape the public’s perception of aquaculture at a local level, and work with government decision-makers.

Buyers are increasingly concerned about sustainability, but many are unaware that the traditional definition of sustainability calls for policies and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  To fit that definition, the U.S. aquaculture industry must address environmental concerns on a long-term, global scale; meet the public’s need for a safe, wholesome, healthy, yet affordable food supply; and respond to the socio-economic challenges of the 21^st century. 

Current federal and state regulations help to ensure the sustainable growth of the U.S. aquaculture industry, the use of environmentally friendly practices, and product safety.  Buyers and the public need to understand that U.S. producers adhere to strict federal and state regulations that have the force of law and are a definitive proof of industry standards.

U.S. growers are increasingly challenged by inexpensive imports, environmental advocates who don’t fully understand aquaculture, and negative media attention.  The goal of the workshops is to help producers meet these challenges by arming them with accurate information to respond effectively to government decision-makers, buyers, the general public, environmental groups, and the media.

Farm visits are a great way to help educate people about aquaculture - what visitors see

can be more influential than what is said.  Strategies to make those farm visits more effective will be a highlight of the program.

Workshop presentations include farm practices that demonstrate the absence of exotic diseases and invasive species, as well as regional perspectives of the environmental soundness and sustainability of aquaculture.  Environmentally sound practices are

increasingly important as both large institutional and small regional buyers actively search out eco-friendly growers and develop purchase specifications that include a sustainability component. 

Tough questions about product safety, imported seafood, risk/benefit studies, the advantages of actual seafood consumption versus fish oil capsules, feed concerns, best management practices, and environmental impact will be answered.  Proactive strategies that anticipate negative stories before they emerge will be discussed and stakeholders will be equipped with the tools necessary to reshape negative messages before they spin out of control.

Workshops will provide aquaculture producers with the tools to help ensure that they can provide positive, upbeat, scientifically accurate information to help spread the good news about U.S. aquaculture.  In addition to the actual workshop, each participant will receive a toolbox containing handy references and important information.

Workshop instructors include Dr. Andy Goodwin and Dr. Nathan Stone of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), Linda O’Dierno, NAA Outreach Coordinator, Betsy Hart, NAA Executive Director, and a local speaker.  To help ensure the free exchange of ideas and concerns, workshop participation will be limited to the aquaculture industry.

For those interested in registering or sponsorship opportunities please see below a listing of currently scheduled workshops. 

For more information, please contact the NAA office at naa@thenaa.net or 870-850-7900.

March 19, 2010: http://hamptonroads.com/2010/03/igfa-approves-51lb-5oz-world-record-striped-bass

IGFA Approves 51lb 5oz World Record Striped Bass

Male 20 pound Tippet Fly Rod Class Striped Bass 51lbs, 5oz

Dr. Julie Ball, IGFA Representative, Virginia Beach

I am pleased to announce another approved IGFA World Record from Virginia waters!

Richie Keatley of Norfolk was approved today as the newest World Record holder from Virginia. The 51lb, 5oz striped bass he boated on the fly at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel on December 17th, 2009 topped the existing 43lbs, 12oz record previously held by another Virginia resident, Harry Huelsbeck.

Richie was fly fishing in his 22-foot boat at the Bay Bridge Tunnel using a hand-tied 3/0 Clouser blue-tinted fly. After a nerve racking battle and three netting attempts, once again Virginia fishing history was made! Congratulations Richie!!

March 17, 2010: http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/?q=node/7562

Striped Bass Eradication Bill to be Heard on March 23

Dan Bacher

The Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee will hear AB 2336, the "striped bass eradication bill" sponsored by Assemblywoman Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), on Tuesday April 13th at 9:00 am in Room 437 on the Assembly side of the State Capitol. Everybody who cares about striped bass and other collapsing fish populations on the embattled California Delta should attend this hearing and write letters to show their opposition to this bill.

"Here we have another back door attempt by corporate agribusiness to bypass the state regulatory agencies," said Mike McKenzie of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA). "If they are successful using these tactics, they will soon be after every game fish in the state. As an angling community that does not support this bill we need to, once again, pack the hearing room and the hallways with as many people as we possibly can."

Assemblymember Fuller has introduced AB 2336 to "terminate the management and protection of the public’s striped bass fishery" that inhabits the Bay-Delta estuary, according to John Beuttler, CSPA conservation director. The bill mandates the elimination of all regulations that govern the legal harvest of the fishery thereby eliminating its sport fishing protective status. Even though this would virtually destroy the fishery, the author alleges this is necessary to reduce striped bass predation on salmon and Delta smelt protected by the state and federal Endangered Species Acts.

"This bill is similar to the one the Fuller introduced last year that was defeated by a coalition of anglers who care about the fishery and that acted in concert with sportfishing and environmental groups lead by CSPA," said Beuttler. "That bill was killed in its first committee hearing because the false arguments used by the author significantly overstated the impact of striped bass predation. Scientific testimony provided during the hearing made it clear that striped bass rarely, if ever, eat Delta smelt and that predation on listed salmon is so low that it does not impact the population level of the listed salmon."

Beuttler noted that this bill is different in that it calls for the elimination of “the program enhancement, expansion or improvement of the fishery."

"Ironically, such programs do not exist!" said Beuttler. "It also requires that the Delta Stewardship Council to establish programs to discourage the promotion of the Bay-Delta striped bass as a sport fishery. It further requires the Stewardship Council to evaluate predator suppression options and make recommendations to remedy these problems."

"CSPA finds it absolutely arrogant that Fuller and her bill’s supporters would advocate the destruction of this valuable public resource again!" continued Beuttler. "Why should they be allowed to usurp the professional management and legal authority the government has given the Department of Fish&Game and the federal fishery agencies to protect listed species? The fishery agencies and their scientists know a great deal more about the striped bass fishery and the impacts it has on species of concern. They also understand and what it means for fisheries to co-exist in a dynamic estuarine ecosystem."

Beuttler asked, "So, why are the bill’s proponents focused on destroying the striped bass fishery instead of dealing with the huge problems caused to all the fisheries dependent on the estuary for survival? Why aren’t they fixing the problems cause by the state and federal water projects that have destroyed the estuary’s natural hydrology and the resiliency of its ecosystem? Why aren’t they immediately reducing the significant over allocation of the public’s water exported out of the Delta?"

The bill’s supporters all appear to be agribusiness interests dependent on water exported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. This attack is simply another cynical way to misdirect the government away from the real causes of the Central Valley salmon and Delta smelt collapse - massive water exports to corporate agribusiness and southern California, declining water quality and the failure of the state and federal governments to install state-of-the art fish screens at the Delta pumps.

The striped bass eradication bill was introduced as one of series of recent attacks by corporate agribusiness and their allies against Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations. These include Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign to build a peripheral canal and new dams and Senator Dianne Feinstein's sponsoring of an amendment to bypass Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon, Delta smelt and southern resident killer whales.

The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, an "Astroturf" organization that is comprised of San Joaquin Valley water agencies linked to agribusiness tycoon Stewart Resnick, has also launched a lawsuit against the California Department of Fish and Game to remove fishing regulations that protect stripers supposedly to "protect" Central Valley salmon and Delta.

Striped bass have successfully coexisted with salmon and Delta smelt since being introduced to the estuary from the East Coast in 1879. Stripers, rather than being a "cause" of the Delta smelt and Central Valley salmon population crash, are victims of the same massive water exports and agribusiness pollution that have resulted in the collapse of salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, threadfin shad, green sturgeon and other Delta fish populations. An alarming report released by UC Davis Professor David Ostrach in 2008 documented the maternal transfer of pollutants to striped bass fry in Central Valley rivers and the California Delta, resulting in stunted and deformed fry (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/12/08/18554034.php).

January 12, 2010: http://www.telegram.com/article/20100112/COLUMN10/1120461

Striped Bass Debate Begins

 Mark Blazis, Outdoors

The Striped Bass War is about to have a climactic battle in Massachusetts, pitting the interests of recreational anglers against local commercial fishermen, fish markets, restaurants and tackle shops.

The Committee on Natural Resources is scheduled to debate the “Conservation of the American Striped Bass” at 11 a.m. Thursday in Room A-2 of the Statehouse. House Bill 796 threatens to abolish commercial striped bass fishing. It also would affect recreational fishermen, diminishing their limit to one striped bass per day either between 20 and 26 inches or over 40 inches.

This slot limit allegedly protects more prime breeding stock. Recreational fishermen are currently permitted two fish over 28 inches, all year long. Commercial fishermen have been limited to fishing between July 12 and Aug. 26, with a limit of five fish on Sundays, and 30 from Tuesday through Friday.

Text of the bill is available at www.mass.gov/legis.

H.B. 796 implies that commercial fishermen harmfully diminish striper stocks. The Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission, comprised of experts appointed by the governor to assist in developing laws, rebuts that claim, highlighting the fact that recreational anglers took 90 percent of the 2008 catch.

Far more harmful to stripers is the massive pollution from farming interests around the Chesapeake, affecting spawning and causing lethal disease outbreaks of mycobacteriosis. Worse yet is the overharvesting of bait fish, specifically herring and menhaden, that our game fish depend on.

Respected authorities south of Massachusetts paint a bleak picture of diminishing striper stocks. In contrast, many fishermen and biologists reported plenty of local fish whose movements last season were dependent on the location of baitfish. If you fished where bait schooled, you caught fish. Some feel those results and other population studies confirm continued sound, scientific management of our Massachusetts stocks. Our marine fisheries commission believes that prohibiting commercial fishing will just shift allocation of the resource 100 percent to recreational fishermen, actually hurting striped bass, increasing mortality and lowering opportunities for the public to purchase wild caught bass in local markets and restaurants.

Maintaining stripers at peak levels, without addressing the decimation of critical baitfish populations in the Atlantic, may be harmful to other fishery goals, like the restoration of Atlantic salmon and shad, both of which are struggling. They suffer significant predation of their young by stripers having difficulty finding enough other baitfish. Anglers regularly fishing the Connecticut and Merrimack can attest to this counterproductive feeding by stripers.

Veteran striper fishermen remember the ’80s, when just catching a striper warranted note. Since 1995, stocks have successfully rebounded and remained sustainable under the highly regarded management of our Department of Marine Fisheries. No one wants another crash. Should we discount the success and recommendations of our fisheries scientists? Should we eliminate commercial fishermen rather than wholeheartedly pursue the critically harmful offenders?

Many commercial striper fishermen love their tradition, while for others, it’s just an extension of their recreational fishing, a way to pay for their sport. Then there are some economically challenged Cape Codders who have had to become multitaskers to make a living and really need this extra income. We need to think twice about taking away one of their fragmented means of income. We have an equal obligation to be fair to the fish, which have no alternative means of survival other than our advocacy.

Recreational proponents include Stripers Forever, which characterizes commercial striper fishing as an economically unwise and disproportionately unfair exploitation of the resource; and House Bill 796 petitioners, Reps. Karyn Polito, R-Shrewsbury, and Jennifer Callahan, D-Sutton. The battle lines are passionately drawn, and politicians, rather than fisheries scientists, will ultimately cast the deciding vote.

Mark Blazis can be reached by e-mail at markblazis@charter.net.

January 7, 2010: http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/news/2010/01/07/striped-bass-bill.php?page=all

Wild Striper Bill Coming Next Week

By Nelson Sigelman

A bill that would prohibit the harvest and sale of wild striped bass in Massachusetts begins its upstream legislative journey next week in the State House.

The joint committee on environment, natural resources, and agriculture has scheduled a public hearing on House bill 796, "An Act relative to the conservation of Atlantic striped bass," filed by Rep. Matt Patrick of Falmouth, at 11 am on Thursday, Jan. 14, in room 3A.

The striped bass figures large in Island culture. It is the focus of legions of Island and visiting recreational fishermen and supports a vibrant commercial and charter boat fleet. Past proposed changes in the state's management of striped bass have spawned hot debate and this bill is no exception.

Island lawmakers Rep. Tim Madden of Nantucket and Senator Robert O'Leary of Barnstable sit on the committee that will hear the bill. The public hearing procedure, according to a committee staffer, calls for those who would like to comment to sign in prior to the hearing. There is a three-minute time limit.

Numerous other bills are also scheduled for a public hearing the same day. The committee has some 100 bills to review before March when the current session ends.

The bill as now written prohibits commercial fishing for striped bass and directs the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to create new rules that would only allow recreational fishermen to take one striped bass per day between 20 and 26 inches in length or greater than 40 inches in length. The so-called slot limit is designed to preserve sexually mature breeder bass but still allow for fishermen to take a trophy fish.

The bill would allow for the sale of aquaculture-raised striped bass.

Current regulations allow recreational fishermen to take two fish per day over 28 inches in length. Commercial fishermen are allowed to take fish over 32 inches in length until the state's quota, set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, is reached. In 2009, fishermen who held a commercial rod and reel bass license took almost 1.2 million pounds of fish.

An avid striped bass fisherman, Matt Patrick has a keen interest in the future health of striped bass stocks. In a telephone call from his State House office Monday, he said his concern about the declining number of fish along our shores coupled with information he received from Stripers Forever, a Maine-based nonprofit that supports gamefish status for bass, spurred him to act. The information included data about the economic importance of striped bass and the decline of the brood stock that is essential to the future health of the fishery

"I just thought it was an appropriate and timely piece of legislation to file," Rep. Patrick said. "I knew it would be controversial."

Mr. Patrick said the public hearing is only a start of a public discussion about how best to manage striped bass. Typically, bills may take several years to move through the legislative process, and they often emerge with many amendments, he said.

Wes Brighton, a Chilmark commercial fisherman who fishes primarily for lobster, said he thinks there is much in the management of striped bass that commercial and recreational fishermen could agree on. In a telephone conversation, Mr. Brighton said his main complaint about the bill is that it seeks to bypass science-based management. Legislation should not be used to bypass the management process set up to address fisheries issues, he said.

Mr. Brighton said the striped bass commercial fishery also provides an entry fishing opportunity for young people that does not exist with many other species, either because the fishery is closed or the cost of a license is too expensive.

Better management of the resource, not closing off one group is the answer, he said. "Even though there are size restrictions and it goes from a two to one bag limit, it's just a reallocation of who has access to the fishery," he said.

November 2, 2009: http://capefearbusiness.com/?p=2821

Marine Fisheries Commission Seeks Striped Bass Advisors

MOREHEAD CITY, NC – The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission is looking for commercial and recreational fisherman and scientists to serve on two Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan Advisory Committees.

One of the committees will assist the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries in updating the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River portion of the state’s Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan. The other will assist in updating the section of the plan that pertains to the central and southern waters of the state.

The commission uses fishery management plans as guides for implementing regulations and other management measures.

Individuals interested in serving as an adviser should be willing to attend meetings at least once every two months and actively participate in the committee process. Advisers will be reimbursed for travel and other expenses incurred in relation to their official duties.

October 21, 2009 - http://www.warwickonline.com/pages/full_story_news/push?article-No+Fluke-+Obama-s+ocean+policy+task+force+gets+mixed+reviews%20&id=4076175&instance=home_news_right

Hats off to president Obama for tackling the oceans and the environment in addition to two wars, the worst economy in years, national health care reform and much, much more.

An interim report has been issued by president Obama’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. The task force is recommending some bold steps to insure the well-being of our oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes for now and in the future.

The report in its entirety can be found on the Whitehouse Web site at www.whitehouse.gov , search for the report by its title, “Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force”. The report does not reference recreational fishing uses. But it does suggests spatial planning for oceans and advocates for ecosystem-based management, all of which have raised red flags in the recreational fishing community.

The 38 page report relates proposed policy areas for its agenda and a number of organizational recommendations on how to get the job done. The Task Force recommends the following nine priority objectives.

• Ecosystem-Based Management: Adopt ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for the comprehensive management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.

• Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning: Implement comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem-based coastal and marine spatial planning and management in the United States.

• Inform Decisions and Improve Understanding: Increase knowledge to continually inform and improve management and policy decisions and the capacity to respond to change and challenges. Better educate through formal and informal programs to inform the public about the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.

• Coordinate and Support: Better coordinate and support Federal, State, tribal, local, and regional management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. Improve coordination and integration across the Federal Government, and as appropriate, engage with the international community.

• Resiliency and Adaptation to Climate Change and Ocean Acidification: Strengthen resiliency of coastal communities and marine and Great Lakes environments and their abilities to adapt to climate change impacts and ocean acidification.

• Regional Ecosystem Protection and Restoration: Establish and implement an integrated ecosystem protection and restoration strategy that is science-based and aligns conservation and restoration goals at the Federal, State, tribal, local, and regional levels.

• Water Quality and Sustainable Practices on Land: Enhance water quality in the ocean, along our coasts, and in the Great Lakes by promoting and implementing sustainable practices on land.

• Changing Conditions in the Arctic: Address environmental stewardship needs in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent coastal areas in the face of climate-induced and other environmental changes.

• Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Observations and Infrastructure: Strengthen and integrate Federal and non-Federal ocean observing systems, sensors, and data collection platforms into a national system and integrate that system into international observation efforts.

So how do these policy objectives relate to recreational fisherman? No one knows right now and that has created some concern nationally and locally about the president’s new ocean polices.

Concerns from the recreational fishing community focus on the first objective (above), “ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for the compressive management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes”. The recreational fishing community is concerned about the absence of any reference in objectives (or the report) to the positive impact recreational anglers have on aquatic conservation. Concern over the consequences of spatial planning or zoning of waters could translate in restrictions such as the elimination of many popular recreational fishing areas. In a recent press release Gordon Robertson, vice president of the American Sport Fishing Association said, “Providing the angling public with access to public resources in no less important than conserving those resources”.

Robert Sexton, U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance vice president for government affairs said, “We hope the administration recognizes that sportsman are the greatest conservationists and will not accept any proposal shutting off large tracts of coastal territory to them.”

Local recreational fishing thought leaders agree. Captain John Rainone, president of the Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association, said, “… this is a way to stop recreational and commercial fishing in any areas that the government and special interest groups deem necessary.” The recreational (and commercial) fishing communities feel that this is not a valid way to mange fisheries. “We are constantly put to the task of conserving fish stocks with large minimum sizes, smaller bag limits, shorter seasons and early closures”, said Rainone.

Richard Hitter, a member of the Rhode Island State Fisheries Council and a board member of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association said, “I agree with the idea of managing the oceans on an ecosystem basis rather than piece by piece as it is now done. I do worry though that the people in charge of the task force do not give recreational fishing the status that it deserves. We showed that in RI alone Recreational Fishing contributes over $160-million per year to the economy. “

So overall, the recreational fishing community welcomes policy changes that will enhance the fishery but are concerned about the lack of detail in the plan as it relates to recreational fishing.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Your fishing stories, comments and questions are welcome… there’s more than one way to catch a fish so e-mail Captain Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net. 
 

October 18, 2009 - http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/bal-sp.thomson18oct18,0,1897423.story

Managing to make sense of species management

By ON THE OUTDOORS Candus Thomson, Baltimore Sun

From spawning fish to deer birth control, it's all about mating. That's what drives species management, as practiced by humans on other life forms.

How important? We had three cases last week.

The Young of the Year striped bass survey, which the Department of Natural Resources has used for more than a half-century to measure spawning success, showed a slight decrease this year from the long-term average. Biologists placed the index at 7.9; the average is 11.7.

Tom O'Connell, director of the Fisheries Service, calls it "a decent year" that is "well within the normal range of expectations."

At 3.2, last year was considered a recruitment failure. Three consecutive failures trigger mandatory conservation measures from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

But that's the nature of the beasts. Wet weather, cold temperatures and salinity are just some of the factors that tip the index from good to bad. In 2002, it was 4.73. The next year, it was 25.75. A dry spring in 2006 dropped the index to 4.3. In 2007, it rebounded to 13.4.

Fortunately, the Chesapeake Bay has produced some eye-popping numbers in recent years. In 2001, the index was 50.75, the second highest on record, and 2003 was about half that. Those older fish are about to enter the spawning stock.

"Those are years of incredible abundance where you can fish off one class for a decade," says Eric Durell, the biologist who oversees the survey.

The state has 22 sampling sites in the four primary spawning systems: the Upper Bay and the Choptank, Nanticoke and Potomac rivers. Once a month from July through September, biologists take a seine net and see how many fish born that spring they can scoop up in two passes. The index number is derived from the average number of juvenile fish caught in 132 hauls of the net. So if there are 132 fish caught in 132 samplings, the index number is 1.

Durell notes that from 1959 to 1972, the period before the steep population decline, only four year-classes were above average. Since the lifting of the striped bass fishing moratorium in 1990, 10 year-classes have been above average.

"We're living pretty high off the hog," Durell says. "We've got a lot of good things going for us."

The striped bass numbers will certainly be used in the debate Tuesday night when the Sport Fisheries and Tidal Fisheries advisory commissions hear a request from O'Connell to regulate catch-and-release activity that precedes the April-May trophy season.

Specifically, the Fisheries Service has proposed to limit the number of lines on a boat to six, prohibit the use of bait and dropper, or "stinger," hooks, and require barbless hooks.

More than 75 percent of the East Coast's striper population began life in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Egg-laden females cruising up the coast from warmer waters arrive here early each spring to rendezvous with the boys.

State fishing regulations put spawning waters off limits during that time, but a growing number of recreational anglers - perhaps hoping to break their cabin fever - go out and catch and release the females before the start of the season. The Fisheries Service says there's been a fivefold increase in fishing trips in March and April during the past seven years.

The early birds contend that there's no harm done when water temperatures are low and the fish are released quickly. There is science to back up that claim: The mortality rate on shallow-hooked, expertly handled fish is just below 1 percent.

However, anglers have made themselves more efficient fishing machines, with electronic fish finders and by rigging their boats with so many rods that they look like Sputnik. And from the looks of the photos e-mailed to The Baltimore Sun, it appears there are a lot of folks who don't know how to safely handle a large fish.

Plus, one potentially significant question remains unanswered: Does catch-and-release fishing stress the females to the point that they don't spawn?

The answer will probably elude biologists since penned fish - the kind used in experiments - refuse to spawn naturally.

Why take a chance? The restrictions being proposed for March 1 until the start of the trophy season on the third Saturday in April are pretty innocuous and in keeping with good fishing practices.

Finally, it's worth noting that the Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of the deer contraceptive, GonaCon. The action is being hailed by the animal rights community as a humane alternative to hunting that leaves the issue of birth control between a doe and her attending biologist.

But a few quick points. A dose ranges from $2 to $10. A doe must be tracked down and then marked after being darted with GonaCon; the federal government puts that cost at $500 to $1,000 per animal. A field study in Maryland showed that the effectiveness of the vaccine decreases 50 percent after a year. Maryland has 230,000 deer, half of them females and most of them in wide-open spaces.

So unless Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, the Maine Republican, writes a GonaCon clause in her version of the health care bill, the anti-hunting types had better be ready to pass around a mighty big hat.
 

June 25, 2009 - http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jun/25/four-million-fry-produced-blackwater-spring/

Four million fry produced at Blackwater this spring

from the FWC

The staff at the Blackwater Fisheries Research and Development Center has been busy this spring producing more than 4 million fish for Florida waters.

Dave Yeager, one of the senior fisheries biologists at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) facility near Holt, said the fish include striped bass, white bass, hybrid striped bass and largemouth bass. The fingerlings were either stocked in Panhandle waters or taken to the Florida Bass Conservation Center in Webster or the Welaka National Fish Hatchery in Palatka.

“In the past when we produced hybrid striped bass we collected wild white bass and stripers from our rivers or lakes, but this past year we held both species in tanks at our facility,” Yeager said. “Maintaining the fish on site saved us significant time and effort.”

He said the high-tech method of producing stripers in the past involved injecting female fish with human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone to stimulate egg development and spawning. When striper eggs are very early in the developmental stage, Yeager said, HCG doesn’t work well.

In its place, he said, Blackwater staff developed a new hormone technique. Using the new technique this spring they produced more than 1 million striper fry.

In an effort to measure stocking success, Yeager said, striped bass and white bass fingerlings stocked in the Ochlockonee River and lakes Talquin and Seminole were marked with a dye that produces a yellow mark in the bones of fish. By marking the stocked fingerlings, biologists should be able to determine to what extent hatchery-produced fish contribute to the population, versus natural reproduction.

Although the emphasis was mostly on species other than largemouth bass, Yeager said the hatchery produced and stocked 35,000 fingerling largemouth bass in Lake Talquin. All of the bass are tagged with small, metal micro-tags. He said the micro-tags will be useful in the future for looking at survival rates.

May 1, 2009 - https://www.was.org/Main/Default.asp

WAS Delays World Aquaculture 2009

Due to the progression of events related to the recent swine flu outbreak in Mexico, the World Aquaculture Society in consultation with the partners and sponsors of WA2009 has decided to postpone our World Aquaculture 2009 conference to a future date, 3 to 4 months ahead. We are working with our commercial partners and service providers in Mexico to reschedule the event for September or October 2009.

Our first priority is to set a new date and then we will address the many details and send that information on to you. Rest assured that all abstract submissions, registrations, payments and assignments will be carried over to the new dates with appropriate time for changes/cancellations. We appreciate your understanding and patience and we will be in touch with the aquaculture community as rescheduling details become available.

Thank you for your continued support and we still look forward to WA2009 being the largest and most successful WAS meeting ever!

John Cooksey, WAS Executive Director
Lorenzo Juarez, WAS President
WAS Board of Directors
WA 2009 Steering and Program Committee Members

www.greenvilleonline, April 6, 2009

www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20090406/SPORTS/90406019/1004/NEWS01

Scott Keepfer • Staff Writer

Angler breaks S.C. record with 63-pound striped bass

Once wasn't enough for Terry McConnell.

McConnell, a 55-year-old auto repair shop owner from Eastonolle, Ga., has broken his own South Carolina state record for striped bass with a fish weighing at least 63 pounds.

McConnell's fish, which was 49 1/2 inches long and had a 34-inch girth, was weighed on certifiied scales at 63 1/4 pounds, which will easily eclipse his previous record catch from Lake Hartwell seven years ago. That fish weighed 59 pounds, 8 ounces.

McConnell's latest record breaker was caught on Friday at Lake Russell.

The fish could be a state record in both states since some of Russell's waters in both states. In fact, that's the only thing holding up final certification of the record.

"It was weighed on certified scales, but when they get that large, not too many people have digital certified scales," said Dan Rankin, chief fisheries biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. "It's going to be a new state record; the only question is whether it will be one in Georgia."

The existing Georgia record of 63 pounds has stood for more than 40 years. It was caught by Kelly Ward at the Oconee River on May 30, 1967. At the very least, it appears that McConnell will share the Georgia record.

McConnell's catch continued a steady progression that has seen the state record for striped bass increase on a fairly regular basis. Tiny Lund, the late stock car driver, established the first state record with a 55-pound catch at Santee Cooper in 1963 -- a standard that lasted for 30 years.

In 1993, Sam Porter of Six Mile caught a striped bass at Clarks Hill Reservoir that broke Lund's record by 12 ounces, then James Robinson of McCormick bested Porter's record with a 56-pound fish he caught at Lake Russell in 2001.

McConnell then broke Robinson's record with a 59-8 catch from Lake Hartwell on Feb. 2, 2002, with the record lasting until last Friday.

April 2, 2009 - NAA Action Alert 

Hearing Scheduled on H.R. 669

The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act

The H.R. 669 Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (attached), introduced by Del. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) Chair of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife of the House Natural Resources Committee, would totally revamp how nonnative species are regulated under the Lacey Act.  Currently, the Fish and Wildlife Service is required to demonstrate that a species is injurious [harmful] to health and welfare of humans, the interests of agriculture, horticulture or forestry, and the welfare and survival of wildlife resources of the U.S.

HR 669 substantially complicates that process by compelling the Service to produce two lists after conducting a risk assessment for each nonnative wildlife species to determine if it is likely to “cause economic or environmental harm or harm to other animal species’ health or human health.”  In order to be placed on the “Approved List” it must be established that the species has not, or is not likely, to cause “harm” anywhere in the US.  Species that are considered potentially harmful would be placed on an “Unapproved List.”  Furthermore, HR 669 would essentially ban all species that do not appear on the Approved List, regardless of whether or not they have ever been petitioned for listing or are sufficiently well studied to enable a listing determination

Additional challenges posed by the Act include:

• An immediate, costly disruption in the trade in live species (e.g., shipment delays, increased fees, prohibited species).

• Species will be added to the lists based upon an ill-defined risk assessment process.

• The ability to add or subtract a species from the lists is ill-defined.

• The lists will be unmanageable and unenforceable: 1) taxonomy is continually changing and 2) an unknown but huge number of live species are in-trade.

• The lists focus on taxonomic identification.  All genus and species, native and nonnative, will have to be listed because a USFWS inspector is highly unlikely to be immediately familiar with the identity of live species that are: 1) native to the United States as a whole, 2) native to a specific region of the United States (hence non native to the rest of the United States), and 3) nonnative to the United States.

• An unrealistic timeframe is proposed in the Act for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to create and enforce these lists.

• List creation and management will be managed using a precautionary principle approach.

• A failure to adequately implement the lists will subject the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to legal challenge, potentially leading to a court ordered prohibition in live species trade.

 On April 23^rd members of the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife will hold a hearing on H.R. 669.  It is imperative that NAA members email or fax the Subcommittee members (listing attached) voicing opposition to H.R. 669 and requesting the bill be amended.

HealthNewsDigest.com, March 22, 2009

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Commentary_510/Physician_Heal_Thyself_Some_Wrongheaded_Ideas_About_Fish.shtml

Physician Heal Thyself: Some Wrongheaded Ideas About Fish
 

By Michael D. Shaw, Contributing Columnist

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - The third line of the original Hippocratic oath, as translated from the Greek states, "I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone." In the popular parlance, this has become "First, do no harm." Perhaps Dr. David Jenkins should have thought about that before he submitted his manuscript, entitled "Are dietary recommendations for the use of fish oils sustainable?" to the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The article, which appears in the March 17, 2009 issue of the Journal, was written in collaboration with five others, including Canadian icon, and some say latter-day Baron Münchhausen—Farley Mowat.

The gist of the article is that we must stop eating fish, even if there are health benefits, because insufficient attention has been paid to the potential environmental impact of increased fish consumption, given the serious decline in global fish stocks. In short, relying on fish is not sustainable. The article also calls into question the widely-touted benefits of omega-3 fatty acids.

Jenkins certainly seems to be the contrarian here, and tends to cherry-pick studies that bolster his position, but even then he has to concede that, "At best, fish oils are likely only one factor among others that may reduce the risk of coronary artery disease." Thus, we have the familiar "confounding factors" argument, whereby the parameter under study may only be a marker for an overall healthier lifestyle, and not be the main reason for the health benefit.

Jenkins fails to note that all epidemiological studies are subject to confounding factors, and have statistical control mechanisms in place to correct for such factors, assuming that they are known. If they are unknown, then this becomes a straw man argument, since any study could of course be influenced by unknown factors in an unknown manner—including his!

As to the environmental impact of fish consumption, the article alarmingly notes that, "even at current levels of fish consumption, fisheries globally have reached a state of severe crisis." Interestingly, three of the four studies cited to prove this shrill hypothesis feature two of the current article's authors. In other words, they are quoting themselves as the authority, a practice frowned upon in serious scholarship. This is only done in scientific papers to reference earlier work, and not to prove a statement as sweeping as the one I quoted.

The fourth source, a 2006 paper from Science magazine, entitled "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services," has been roundly criticized...

From several European authorities, including the European Commission, Directorate General Joint Research Centre:

In projecting the extent of future fisheries collapse, we argue that the authors inappropriately extrapolated beyond their available observations and used data on marine reserves and fishery closures that are not representative of global fisheries.

From Ray Hilborn, professor in the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Washington:

The article is an example of the "faith based fisheries movement" which "threatens the very heart of the scientific process," it is "fallacious and inappropriate to appear in a scientific journal," and is "just mind-bogglingly stupid."

From Mike Beck, Senior Scientist of Marine Initiatives with the Nature Conservancy:

"[T]he prediction of global fisheries collapse by 2048...was derived from a simplistic extrapolation that would get you an 'F' in high school statistics."

The article dismisses aquaculture as a solution by referring to a 2000 Nature paper that indicts the practice by informing us that it takes 2.5-5 kg of feed fish to make 1 kg of farmed carnivorous fish. As such, the equation is an "unfavorable one." The trouble with this jejune analysis is that the same equation applies in the wild. Does Jenkins want to kill carnivorous fish in the open sea to save the feed fish, because of the unfavorable equation?

Finally, and most damagingly, Jenkins makes no mention of what must be his actual agenda here. He advocates his oddly-named "portfolio diet," which calls for the avoidance of meat, eggs, poultry, fish, and dairy. This near-vegan regimen—not surprisingly—will lower cholesterol and LDL levels. The big trouble with this sort of diet is that it is prone to deficiencies in protein, calcium, Vitamins D and Vitamin B-12, and requires serious effort to maintain proper nutrition.

There are reports of lactating vegan women producing babies with rickets, because of calcium and Vitamin D deficiencies. But then, one wonders why a vegan would be feeding an animal product to her baby in the first place.

Registered Dietitian Jennifer McGuire reminds us that, "You don't need to be on an extreme diet to be extremely healthy."

Maybe she should tell that to Dr. Jenkins.

Michael D. Shaw
Exec VP
Interscan Corporation

mds1@gasdetection.com
http://www.gasdetection.com

www.HealthNewsDigest.com