STRIPER WARS An American Fish Story DICK RUSSELL could not have picked a more appropriate title for his splendid account of the conflicts that have been waged on many and varying battlefields over the most popular, most controversial and perhaps greatest inshore game fish of the Atlantic Coast. Known in Chesapeake Bay country and in […]
Month: July 2005
Scientists Warn Fewer Kinds of Fish Are Swimming the Oceans
Researchers who studied decades of catch records from Japanese fishing fleets say fishing has greatly reduced the diversity of fish in the world’s open oceans, leaving ocean ecosystems less resilient against environmental changes like global warming. The scientists, who report their findings in today’s issue of the journal Science, say it has been known for […]
Manchester United boss in US clash with Greenpeace
Stocks of a small, herring-like fish that provide omega-3 essential fatty acids for supplements taken by millions of people could be endangered because of the western world’s obsession with health foods, conservationists warn. At risk is the future of the menhaden fish, which breeds in Chesapeake Bay and lives along America’s eastern seaboard. Vast shoals […]
Greenpeace stages peaceful Omega protest
The organization says menhaden harvests affect the food chain REEDVILLE — Amid heavy security to protect the state’s largest fishing fleet, Greenpeace demonstrators staged a peaceful protest in Cockrells Creek at the tip of the Northern Neck yesterday. “I’m very pleased with the way it went,” said Col. Steve Bowman of the Virginia Marine Police, […]
Fishing for Perch, Casting for Consolation
Some years ago we were wandering around Ireland on vacation and stopped in the little town of Cahirciveen on the coast of County Kerry. The proprietor of our bed-and-breakfast mentioned that a big sea-fishing tournament was underway, so we went down to the harbor to watch the weigh-in. The competitors had come from an angling […]
Pumping Up the Volume
It’s been great being the NRDC’s guest blogger these past couple of weeks, and I’ve really appreciated all the responses. It’s time for outrage at what’s happening to our oceans and their magnificent inhabitants, and I’m glad to have helped fuel the fire. It seems a day can’t go by without something new that gets […]
The Comeback Fish
The thrill of a strike and feeling of holding a rod while trying to reel in a striped bass is a thrill many fishermen find hard to explain beyond acknowledging a respect and appreciation for these intelligent and noble fish. However, environmental journalist Dick Russell explains in his new book, “Striper Wars,” that 20 years […]
Fish Fry
Amid all the talk about what rising temperatures and sea levels will mean for human habitation, not as much attention has been paid to what’s going to happen to our oceans and estuaries. We live on a water planet, and we’re killing it on many levels. Studies cited in my book Striper Wars indicate that […]
Warmer oceans may be killing West Coast marine life
Scientists suspect that rising ocean temperatures and dwindling plankton populations are behind a growing number of seabird deaths, reports of fewer salmon and other anomalies along the West Coast. Jaime Gomez Plankton: Dwindling populations affect other types of marine life. Krill: Shrimplike creatures are an important food source in ocean. Coastal ocean temperatures are 2 […]
Death of the California Delta?
Let’s start by contemplating a few figures: In California, agribusiness is estimated to consume more than 80 percent of the surface water. The biggest users are the cotton barons of the Central Valley, like the Boswell corporation, who employ Hispanic laborers to drench a desert landscape with more pesticides than anywhere else in the world. […]