Monday, December 11, 2006

Large Mine Threatens Fly Fishing Mecca

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: A large mine in the heart of some of the best salmon and trout fishing in the world is a fly fisherman's worst nightmare, says an official of a trade association.

"The prospect of hard rock mining in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska scares the hell out of the fly angling community and the businesses that service it," American Fly Fishing Trade Association President Robert Ramsay said. "These are some of the most cherished fly fishing waters on earth."

more

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Will You Catch The One Million Dollar Fish?

Somewhere along the coastal waters of South Florida roams a sailfish worth $1 million.

Almost anyone is eligible to collect the cash prize for recapturing the tagged fish, but first they have to register for one of Tony Albelo's two upcoming billfish tournaments -- the Sailfish Kickoff, Dec. 7-10, or the Mayor's Cup, Jan. 25-28 -- both out of Monty's Marina in Coconut Grove.

Whoever might be lucky enough to catch the fish must clip off the numeric tag, release the fish unharmed and present the tag to tournament officials for verification. Everyone on board will be required to submit to a polygraph test.

more info

B.A.S.S. Monopoly?? Stupid

Call me a purist but I think these branded versions of Monopoly are just stupid. Doesn't everyone already have a copy of Monopoly somewhere in the back of their closet? Just giving the real estate different names doesn't make the game any more fun to play. My all time favorite version is the National Parks one - yes, build hotels in our National Parks. Stupid!

"You don’t have to be an angler to enjoy the B.A.S.S. Fishing Lakes Edition of the world’s most famous board game, Monopoly. As you play the lakes edition, you’ll enjoy reeling in your bass fishing prize catches, collecting properties like Lake of the Ozarks, Lake Okeechobee, Lake Erie, the Potomac River and Lake Champlain. Railroads are now Loudmouth BASS, BASS Times and BASS TV shows. Even the traditional Monopoly money takes on a fishing flavor with Mr. Monopoly holding a fish in one hand and a rod in the other. The Monopoly B.A.S.S. Fishing Lakes Edition costs $29.99."

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Thief Goes Fishing

Thief Goes Fishing for Bank Deposits
The Associated Press
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; 4:22 PM


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A thief used a hook and line not to snag fish, but to remove bags of cash from a bank's night deposit box, police said.

Police would not say how much money they believe was taken, but think the thief made off with 11 deposit bags, Bloomington police Sgt. David Drake said.

An employee of the Fifth Third Bank branch called police Monday morning after noticing that there were far fewer deposit bags than usual, Drake said.

Authorities found the deposit box had been damaged, with one of the metal security pieces sheared off.

"It would've taken a lot of force to take that off," Drake said.

Next to the piece of broken metal, police found a dowel rod with fishing line and a hook.

Drake said authorities believe whoever broke into the deposit box dangled the hook and line into the box and fished out the deposit bags, one by one.

The bank did not have security cameras aimed toward the deposit box, police said.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Animal Activists Kill 15,000 Fish

Animal activists free 15,000 farmed fish to their deaths
By Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor



POLICE have warned fish farmers to increase their security after 15,000 halibut were released from their cages in an attack believed to have been carried out by animal rights activists.
Thousands of dead fish are being washed up along the west coast of Scotland after the raid at Kames Marine Fish Farm, near Oban. The perpetrators are thought to have attacked last week. Detectives believe that the attack could be linked to a spate of other farm attacks throughout the country. The letters ALF (Animal Liberation Front) were spray-painted near by.



The loss is estimated to have cost the fish farm at least £500,000 as boats, cranes and offices were also vandalised. The halibut died from starvation or getting caught in seaweed. They were also being eaten by herring gulls and otters.

The fish farmer, who did not wish to be identified, said: “They claim they liberated them into the sea but sadly, as we all know, farmed animals, whether they are fish or any animals, don’t survive unless they are looked after.

The fish farmer added: “We farm them in a sustainable way. The welfare of the fish is at the forefront of our minds. Isn’t it better to have farmed fish than to be pillaging the seas where stocks are declining dramatically?”

Fish farms in Scotland, Kent and the South West have been attacked in the past year.

Singh's Buyers Remorse

When he wanted to build his throphy pier in Seal Cove, it was in case his wife had a medical emergency...

"The buyer of Boston's most expensive condominium, the $14.3 million penthouse at the swank Residences at Mandarin under construction at the Prudential Center, sued the developers to get out of the deal, saying the unit doesn't have enough light.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in US District Court in Boston, the prospective buyer, Florida real estate developer Pritam Singh, said that Mandarin's proponents, CWB Boylston LLC, intentionally withheld information about how much light was available in the penthouse, and how much shadow was created by nearby buildings. Singh said the issue was "of critical importance" to himself and his wife and business partner, Ann Johnston, who suffers from seasonal affective disorder, which triggers depression in the dark winter months."

more from the Boston Globe Article



http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/12/05/moving_out/

Monday, December 04, 2006

Stocking Stuffer Suggestions From Fishboy III


This unique multitool features a HAMMER! Give 'em the hammer this year and never be without a tools to tackle the honey do list!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Fishermen Part II


How about one of these handy little pocket knives? Only six bucks at www.fishboy.com!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas For Fishermen


We have a ton of great little gadgets and gifts for fishermen at Fishboy.com - check out our survival tools, multitools, antenna bobbers, Christmas lure ornaments and a whole lot more!

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Aquarium Fish Puts Man In Hospital

EAST ROCKAWAY, N.Y. -- A man was taken to a hospital after tangling with a venomous fish in his home aquarium, police said.
A one-spot foxface rabbitfish bit the 19-year-old Tuesday night while he was working on his fish tank in East Rockaway, said Nassau County Police Officer Thomas Brussell.

The species has venomous spines on its back, according to fishbase.org, an electronic database maintained by researchers. Also called the blotched foxface rabbitfish, the fish is found in tropical seas off western Australia, the Philippines and other parts of the western Pacific Ocean.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Lego Mindstorms NXT Tip: Help Files

I found that the NXT software will not find the help files if you have FIREFOX set as your default web browser. Setting Internet Explorer as the default web browser solved my problem of not being able to find the help files.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Can you identify the Fish Guts Thugs?


THE two thugs who tipped an Esky full of fish guts and urine on a sleeping homeless man look set to get away with it. Eighteen months after they were captured on security camera the case has gone cold. Police have a suspect – but the poor quality of the security footage has made it difficult for them to mount a case to charge him. Not even a forensic specialist enlisted from interstate has been able to make a conclusive match between the footage and photographs of the suspect. The scientist says one of the suspects has altered his appearance since the incident, making it difficult to make a conclusive match. And unless someone comes forward to dob them in – and police are sure someone is protecting them – they may never face court.

The reward for information is still up for grabs.

Anyone who can reveal Reg's callous attackers is urged to contact Townsville CIB or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Black Eye Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is frequently referred to as "Black Friday". One of the major U.S. holiday shopping days, it is the day many U.S. consumers begin their annual Christmas shopping. The day is heavily promoted by retailers both in newspapers and with television commercials. The origin of the term "Black Friday" comes from the shift to profitability many retailers experience during the holiday season. Black Friday was historically when retailers went from being unprofitable, or "in the red," to being profitable, or "in the black".

But this year I think we can officially call it "Black Eye Friday" since retailers in pursuit of having the best deal around have cause frenzied shopping mobs - fuelled by lack of sleep, large doses of coffee, hours of standing in the cold, pumped up sales promotions and very limited discounted products (example $250 laptops at BestBuy, only 18 per store) -- the day after Thanksgiving has turned into a melee of shopping madness.

And what do the stores gain anyway? I recall going to Staples one early morning with my Father and Father-In-Law. We grabbed the deals and went home. We didn't stick around and shop. -- EMF

Scientists Develop Robotic Fish

BEIJING, Nov. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- A team of scientists thinks our ancient predecessors developed vertebrae and a backbone to stiffen their bodies so they could swim more powerfully and has developed robot tadpoles to help prove the theory.

The far-distant forebearers of humans and other vertebrates were much softer than their descendants. Instead of backbones they had flexible rods know as notochords. By evolving vertebrae the attached muscles could generate more force.

"The fossil record shows vertebrae evolved independently at least four separate times. That shows they must really be functionally important," said vertebrate physiologist John Long at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

To test this idea, Long and his colleagues built robot fish with backbones of varying strength to simulate extinct animals. They then "mated" the best swimmers to see how generations of "offspring" evolved to swim better.

The robots -- "Tadros" -- were modeled after the larvae of marine animals known as sea squirts, swimming creatures that still have notochords.

Each Tadro had a single electronic eye, a motor, a computerized brain that controlled its motions, and tails made of gelatin of different lengths and stiffness. The robots had bodies between six and seven inches long, with tails two to four inches long, and swam along the surface.

The scientists raced three robots in eight-foot-diameter fish tanks, each swimming to and around a light hanging above the tank.

After seeing which fish swam best, the research team "mated" them using computer simulations that modeled the genetic mixing that occurs during sex to produce the next generation of Tadro tails. The best swimmer was given the greatest mating success and opportunity to pass along its traits, while poorer swimmers were less fortunate.

After 10 generations, Long and his colleagues found that as swimming performances improved, stiffer tails evolved.

"One thing vertebrates really brought to scene were large, fast, active animals, and this part of the anatomy has a direct connection with that," Long said.

But Long said that only 40 percent of the increased swimming efficiency could be related to stiffer tails, which meant other factors were involved, including how easily the tail turns.

"We plan to investigate what that next 60 percent is," Long said.

The research team intends to add a "predator" into the tank during the next swimming competition to see how Tadro tails evolve then. This hunter will try to collide with the robots, while the Tadros will try to avoid it.

This next generation of Tadros will detect the predator using infrared sensors that mimic the pressure-sensitive organs of fish, known as lateral lines.

"We also plan not just on making the backbone stiffer, but on putting in vertebrae, to make them bend, to have joints, and see how that changes things," Long said.

Long and his colleagues reported their findings online Nov. 17 in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Two Fishermen Spend 30 Hours Floating In Cooler

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Two fishermen who spent nearly 30 hours floating in a large fish cooler have been rescued.

Crewmen on a Navy aircraft spotted Duane Grove and Robert Christenson more than 70 miles off the coast of Jacksonville yesterday afternoon.

A Coast Guard helicopter later hoisted them to safety.

Both men were listed in good condition last night at St. Luke's Hospital in Jacksonville. They had mild hypothermia.

The Coast Guard says the pair's boat was hit by a large wave Thursday morning, listed and began to take on water. One man was knocked overboard; the other escaped through a window.

They had no life preservers and couldn't get to the life raft, so they climbed into the floating fishing box.

Half Cooked Lobster Caught?


July 20, 2006—Batman fans will remember Two-Face, the villain with a mug that's half handsome and half gruesome. Recently a Maine lobsterman caught a different kind of two-faced prey—a lobster that looks half raw and half cooked.

Alan Robinson of Steuben, Maine, hauled up this two-toned lobster last week while bringing in his catch near the town of Bar Harbor (see Maine map).

Half of the animal is mottled brown, while the other is bright orange—the color lobsters turn after they've been boiled.

In his 20 years of catching the crustaceans, Robinson says, he has never seen anything like it.

"I thought someone was playing a trick on me," he told the Bangor Daily News. "Once I saw what it was … it was worth seeing."

He wanted others to see it, too, so Robinson donated his unusual catch to Maine's Mount Desert Oceanarium, where experts were able to shed some light on the find. Two-toned lobsters, they explain, are rare but not unheard of.

The shells of American, or Maine, lobsters usually sport a combination of yellow, red, and blue pigments. But the animals grow symmetrically, with each half of the body developing independently of the other.

In the case of Robinson's catch, half of the lobster's shell was lacking the blue pigment, giving it the appearance of having been cooked to a turn.

All this makes Robinson's fifty-fifty find one for the record books, the Oceanarium's staffers say.

The aquarium has received only three two-toned lobsters in 35 years, they note, and the odds of finding one that's exactly half and half is about 1 in 50 million.

—Blake de Pastino

"Crusty" The 10 Pound Lobster Steamed

ELGIN, Scotland, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A hotel recently cooked up one of the largest lobsters caught off Scotland by divers, and now locals are upset about it.

The 2-foot long, 10-pound crustacean, known as "Crusty," was a beloved local celebrity that should have been saved and not eaten by the Mansefield Hotel guests in Elgin, irate residents told The Scotsman.

"We reckon it could be as much as 50 years old," said Kenneth Ross of the Elgin-based Burgsac Sub-Aqua Club. "To kill such an old beast is very short-sighted; the meat would not have been very good and, in my opinion, such a rare example of our coastal marine life should have been left where it was."

The hotel maintained that it couldn't pause to ponder the celebrity status of every lobster brought in to them. They said "Crusty" was some tasty eating for about four guests.

No More Fish Tossing

ITHACA, N.Y. Cornell hockey fans are being searched tonight for a surprisingly healthy weapon _ fish.
Big Red fans traditionally toss fish on the ice before the start of the annual Harvard men's hockey game.

But Cornell officials this week told fans to arrive early for tonight's game to be searched. Those found with fish or alcohol will be expelled from the rink.

Sometimes a lobster or octopus is tossed among the dozens of fish.

But Harvard players know to line up far from the student section, out of the line of fire.

If someone throws a fish during the game, Cornell usually receives a bench minor penalty.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Fantastic Salmon Recipe for the Holidays

Grilled Salmon Fillets with Chilli Coriander Pesto
This recipe is great for casual entertaining as it can be assembled hours beforehand and grilled at the last minute.

Serves 4

4 x salmon fillets, skinned
handful of fresh coriander, about 30g
(2 x supermarket packets)
1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
grated zest and juice of 1 lime
½ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp light olive oil

1. Remove any thick stalks from the coriander (small ones can be left on), roughly chop and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add the chilli, garlic, lime zest, juice and salt and whiz until the ingredients are well chopped.
2. With the processor still running, pour in the olive oil until the mixture is a wet paste. You can store the chilli coriander pesto in a jar in the fridge for several days.
3. Preheat the grill to high. Place the salmon fillets on a baking sheet and spread one side with the pesto. You could cover and store them in the fridge at this stage if serving later. Grill at least 10cm from the heat. Depending on the strength of your grill and the thickness of the salmon, they should take 8–10 minutes to cook.

Tip. You can also spread the pesto on boneless chicken breasts, which will take 20–25 minutes to grill.

Robotic Turkeys On Poacher Patrol

CONCORD, N.H. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is buying six robotic turkeys to help it catch poachers.
The turkeys can't gobble, but they can fan their tails and bob their heads -- even after an indirect shotgun blast.

The agency is buying one for each of the state's six fish and game management districts.

Colonel Jeff Gray says Fish and Game has had great success catching poachers with deer decoys. The department also has robotic decoys of elk, coyote and other game species.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Catching Catfish Bare Handed


There is nothing quite like the thrill of catching a 60-pound catfish with your bare hands, and that's just what Oklahoma fishermen have been doing for hundreds of years. Although you won't find the term in Webster's Dictionary, noodling is the ancient sport of submerging one's body in murky water and using fingers as wiggling bait to catch these underwater monsters.

Filmmaker Bradley Beesley's award-winning documentary OKIE NOODLING
chronicles the tradition from its roots as a Native American hunting technique to the present day status of this rural subculture.

Bull Shark Attacks 22' Watercraft

From a reader in TEXAS (June 2000)

Last year a local news station in Texas reported that a large bull shark had attacked and severely damaged a 22' boat off the coast of Gulf Shoals, Alabama. No one was reported to of been hurt from the incident. The Coast Guard rescued the occupants. When news reporters asked what they would do now, the fishermen said, "I guess we will have to get a bigger boat."
-- Texas angler

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Sherried Lobster Bisque

45 min 15 min prep

3 tablespoons butter
6 stalks celery, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon lemons, zest of
1 1/3 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in cold water (or no starch)
1 1/3 cups half-and-half
1 lb lobster meat, cooked
2 tablespoons dry sherry
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon red sweet bell peppers, slivers

1. In a large pan, melt the butter, add the celery, onion, thyme, red pepper flakes and lemon zest.
2. Cook until vegetables are softened, about 20 minutes.
3. Gradually stir in broth and half and half.
4. When warm, stir in cornstarch.
5. Heat on medium until bubbly and thick, about 10 minutes.
6. Add the cooked lobster, sherry, salt and pepper.
7. Garnish with red pepper slivers.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Seal Cove Bruins Fans Spotted By Paul

"I was watching the Bruins game the other night
and there was a lady in the stands holding up a cardboard sign
that said "bruins fans from seal cove, maine" pretty funny..." - Paul Ocepek

Monday, November 06, 2006

NEW FISHING FREEBIE: FREE GIFT TAGS

Just in time for holiday gift giving time! Fishboy is offering free fishing gift tags with every purchase. The perfect touch for your fisherman's gift!

Friday, October 27, 2006

Freak Accident - Fish Kills Swimming Teen

Cairo - An Egyptian teenager choked to death after a fish entered his mouth as he was swimming, Egyptian daily al-Wafd reported on Thursday.

Eighteen-year-old Yasser Ahmad Hussein was swimming in lake Qaroun, south-west of Cairo, when the freak accident occurred, the paper said.

Yasser was celebrating the three-day feast marking the end of the religious fasting month of Ramadan by swimming with his friends in the lake in al-Faiyoum governorate.

Medics at the scene failed to resuscitate the youth who died before he reached hospital, the paper said. - Sapa-dpa

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Who Ever Smelt It Dealt It - Exclusive design from Fishboy.com


Smelts are a family, Osmeridae, of small anadromous fish. They are common in the North American Great Lakes, and run in large schools along the coastline during their spring migration to their spawning streams. The family consists of some 16 species in six genera.

The fish usually reach only 6 inches (15 cm) and are a food source for salmon and lake trout. It is one of the few fish that sportsmen are allowed to net, using dip nets, either along the coastline or in the streams. Some sportsmen also ice fish for smelt. Smelt are often fried and eaten whole.

Smelt roe is bright orange in color, and is often used to garnish sushi.

The Boy's Own Book of Outdoor Sports (early 1900s) adds:

In the United States this fish seldom exceeds ten inches in length, and the usual size is from five to eight inches. In South America they can grow to the length of two feet, are semi-transparent, and are most delicious eating. Some of them caught by American sailors at the Straits of Magellan were thirty inches long by eight inches round the body. The smelt is exceedingly plentiful in the waters around Boston, and they are also taken in the rivers of New Jersey and the ponds of Long Island. They are of a pale green color on the back, with silvery sides, and a satin band running along the sides. They may be called a sea fish, though they run up fresh water streams in the spring to spawn. They are caught in October and November, and in the winter months by breaking holes in the ice. The tackle used for the smelt is a silk, or silk and hair line, with Limerick trout hooks Nos. 2 to 5, on single gut leaders. The sinker should be pretty heavy to overcome the tide. Shrimp bait is generally used, or small pieces of minnow or frog will answer. If you wish to fish them through a hole in the ice, take a piece of small brass wire a foot and a half long, put it through a piece of lead for a sinker, and fasten your hooks at both ends. Tie on a cotton or flax line and then drop your hooks. You can use three or four of these lines at different holes, setting them, while you are either skating or running round to keep warm. In this way you will get a fine string of smelts in a short time. Smelts will live, breed and thrive when transferred to fresh water ponds; and by some people these fresh water smelt are considered the best eating. They live a long time out of water and hence are good eating after being carried long distances.

Smelts were traditionally an important winter catch in the salt water mouths of rivers in New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Fishermen would go to customary locations over the ice using horses and sleighs. Smelt taken out of the cold salt water were much preferred to those taken in warm water. The smelt did not command a high price on the market, but provided a useful supplemental income in times when wants were much less.The smelts were "flash frozen" simply by leaving them on the ice and then sold to fish buyers who came down the rivers on horse and sleigh. They were also an excellent winter meal. They were gutted, heads and tails removed and rinsed in cold water then dipped in flour mixed with salt and pepper and fried in butter. Served with boiled potatoes and pickled beets, they were a welcome addition to winter fare.

On the Maine coast, smelts were also a sign of spring, with the run of these small fish up tiny tidal estuaries. Many of these 'rivres' were small enough that a person could straddle the water and, leaning over, dip a bucket and get a good catch of smelt. This was a nighttime operation, and people might line up to get their time over the stream. Served with head and tail removed, salt and pepper, and often a dusting of cornmeal before frying.

Smelts are also found in the waters of Puget Sound in Washington State and in certain tributaries of the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. They are caught by means of dip nets in the rivers, smelt rakes on the salt water shorelines or by jigging from docks and boats.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Fish Farts



FARTING FISH SHIRTS ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.FISHBOY.COM!


Some Fish Pass Wind to Communicate

By Sarah Ives
National Geographic News
January 08, 2004

"Cutting the cheese." "Breaking wind." Whatever the expression, people have long been taught that passing wind in groups is rude.

But for herring, a type of fish, group "tooting" sessions may be an important way of communicating.

A research team, led by marine biologist Ben Wilson of the Bamfield Marine Science Centre in Canada, recently did the first ever study that says these fish talk to each other by breaking wind.

Wilson and his team studied herring from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The team caught fish and put them in large tanks to watch their behavior.

"It turns out that herring make unusual farting sounds at night," explained Wilson.

Wilson and his team named the noise Fast Repetitive Tick (FRT).

Herring use FRT to communicate with each other in the dark. The noise seems to allow the fish to find each other without alerting predators. Traveling together can help fish stay safe from their enemies.

Fish pass wind differently from humans. Instead of having gas, scientists say that herring gulp air at the surface. They store the air and release it through a hole in their rear ends.

The scientists say that FRT sounds could help fisherman find herring.

But the scientists worry that noise from boat engines could hurt the ability of herring to communicate with each other by passing wind.

Tooting fish? The idea may sound funny. But for herring, the ability to hear each other pass wind could be the difference between life and death.

Stingray's Declare War On Man!

Tired of the shuffling feet of beachgoers, Stingray's have declared war on human's! First it was The Croc Hunter now its a 81 year old Florida man!

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

Florida man, 81, critical after stingray jumps on to boat and attacks

AN 81-YEAR-OLD man was in a critical condition in Florida yesterday after a stingray jumped on to his boat and stung him, leaving a foot-long barb in his chest.

"It was a freak accident," said David Donzella, the acting fire chief of Lighthouse Point. "It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We still can't believe it."

Fatal stingray attacks like the one that killed TV celebrity Steve Irwin last month are rare, marine experts say. Rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, but the venom coating the barb usually causes just a painful sting for humans.

James Bertakis, of Lighthouse Point, was on the water with his granddaughter and a friend on Wednesday when the stingray flopped on to the boat and stung him. The women steered the boat to shore and called emergency services.

Mr Bertakis was apparently trying to remove the spotted eagle ray from the boat when he was stung, police commander Mike Oh said. The ray, measuring about 3ft across, was dead in the boat, he said.

Surgeons were able to remove the barb from Mr Bertakis' chest. He suffered a collapsed lung and underwent surgery early yesterday.

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1552782006

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Best Fishing Gift for a Fishing Buddy


This time of year everyone is looking for the perfect fishing gift for their favorite fishing buddy. Should you give them a tired old slogan on a cheap t-shirt? How about some of these ancient chestnuts: Fish Fear Me Women Want Me, Bite Me, Shut Up And Fish, Give A Man A Fish, Caution Does Not Fish Well With Others etc etc. You get the drift, the same old sayings you've seen a thousand times, ripped off from one unoriginal company by another unoriginal company. Usually ironed on to a flimsy white t-shirt that quickly ends up in box of car wash rags.

Well, Fishboy is here to offer something new, something FRESH, in the world of fishing related t-shirts. Check them out and if you don't agree that offer the freshest fishing t-shirts around, don't blame us when your fishing buddy waxes the car with that "Old Fishermen Don't Die" t-shirt you give him.

Schoolboy Catches A Piranha

Fishing boy lands piranha
From correspondents in Manchester
October 18, 2006
A 14-YEAR-OLD boy fishing at his local pond in England has landed a man-eating piranha, an exotic native of tropical South America.

Josh Boyle hooked the deadly fish from the water in Reddish Vale, Stockport, Greater Manchester.

A keen angler, Josh realised it was a piranha and held its sharp teeth at arm's length in a towel.

The schoolboy even had the presence of mind to take a snap of the fish on his mobile phone to prove to his friends and family he was not telling fishy tales.

"It was easy to get it back on to the bank because I had the net," he said.

"Then I went over to my mate and said 'It's a piranha' and he didn't believe me.

"Then he had a closer look and admitted it was. My brother used to keep piranhas as pets so I know what they look like."

"I was shocked - but it was as shocked as me. It had big teeth but it wasn't trying to bite me and it looked pretty weak."

Josh returned the fish to the water but later found it dead.

"It was in cold water so it was dying," he said. "Somebody probably dumped it there.

"I think it's the most exotic fish I'll ever catch. I want to get some piranhas as pets but my mum won't let me."

Josh, who is a member of the Prince Albert Angling Society, was not having much luck when he cast his line into the pond one Monday in August.

He was with his brother Callum, 16, and another friend at their regular fishing spot when the man-eater took the bait.

He pulled the fish in to his net before taking its picture.

Piranhas are rightly feared in the Amazon and other South American warm freshwaters where they hunt in huge shoals.

Growing up to 40cm in length, the fish have teeth sharp enough to bite through a human finger.

Fishy Fish

KENNEWICK, Wash. — Austin Kenyon insisted his smallmouth bass was one for the state record books. The state, however, wasn’t hooked.

In fact, it ruled that the bass was packed with lead weights.

Two of Kenyon’s friends signed statements saying the fish had been tampered with when it was weighed on a state-certified scale.

“Our determination is that the fish had been stuffed with lead weights at the time it was inspected,” said Keith Underwood of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Kenyon, 22, of Kennewick, claimed the fish he caught Labor Day weekend was legitimate. He said it weighed 9.32 pounds on a state-certified scale.

Ray Wonacott of Ellensburg holds the record with an 8.75-pound smallmouth bass caught in 1966.

About a half-dozen state officials were involved in a monthlong investigation into Kenyon’s bass.

The fish was caught Sept. 2, weighed Sept. 5 and inspected by state officials Sept. 6. By the time the state wanted a closer look, Kenyon had already taken it to be mounted.

State officials and anglers began questioning the would-be record, saying common formulas used to calculate fish weight didn’t support Kenyon’s claim.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Abandoned Acadia: Pine Hill Picnic Area


Sure Acadia National Park can get crowded in the summer, especially on the hot spots such as Jordan Pond, Mount Cadillac, Sand Beach and Thunder Hole. But there still are quite a few areas that no one seems to visit. Especially on the "Quite Side" of the island in the Seal Cove area.

We discovered one of these areas on a beautiful October Sunday. Planning on hiking the Western Trail off of the Long Pond Fire Road we found the parking spot (yes spot not spots) in front of the trail head taken. So we turned around and parked at Pine Hill. Now Pine Hill is a very strange place. Its a loop of road with seemingly no purpose. There is no view. No trail heads. No picnic tables. Nothing. Its like an abandoned parking lot.

But at one time I have long suspected, it must have been a picnic area with a view of Hodgdon Pond. Its all overgrown now and the art of picnicing seems to have been tossed aside by modern society in favor of fast food. Looking for clues to the original purpose of this area we found a stone staircase leading to somewhat of a trail. We followed what we thought was a trail into the woods and discovered a number of stone fire pits complete with cooking grates. We also found one red metal trail marker in the shape of a bird stuck in a tree. Obviously some kind of trail was here but its not maintained and it felt like we were the first humans to set foot on the trail in many, many years. -- Edward Fielding

Goliath Grouper - Big Fish Bounce Back

The goliath grouper, nearly gone from Florida waters two decades ago, is back in a way befitting a fish that commonly grows larger than a refrigerator.

Finned hulks routinely frustrate anglers off the southwest coast, gulping would-be catches and busting tackle. They lurk on reefs and wrecks off the Keys, where dive captain Spencer Slate sees them regularly enough to nickname one 250-pounder ``Bruiser.''

''He's a huge fish and just a delight for divers,'' said Slate. ``They are absolutely the most docile creatures in the world.''

Docile, aside from the occasional bump, bite or freakish fatal encounter with humans that show goliaths aren't the super-sized puppy dogs with scales they often seem. They're the biggest beasts on the reef, short of the largest of passing sharks, and freight-train strong when they decide to kick tail.

Last month, a diver off Key West speared one of modest size and drowned when the powerful fish bolted under a coral head, entangling him in a trailing line.

SPECIES RECOVERING

The goliath grouper has now rebounded to the point that federal fishery managers in the Gulf of Mexico are, for the first time in 16 years, considering at least partially lifting a ban against killing them. If approved, a small but undetermined number of anglers might get to keep their goliath catches under a program to provide samples for scientists.

A decision is a year or more away. But a growing number of fishing groups and guides, who have clamored for years to relax restrictions, believe there are plenty of fish to support dropping the ban now.

Some even argue there are too many in some areas. The biggest brutes, which can top a quarter-ton, are particularly thick on wrecks and other hot spots in the Gulf, where many anglers blame them for vacuuming up lobster, fish and everything else.

''An awful lot of people out there believe things are out of balance,'' said Karl Wickstrom, editor-in-chief of Florida Sportsman magazine, which put the goliath on its cover this month. ``You create problems when you get too many of one species.''

Wickstrom isn't advocating an unregulated season, but what he called a ''conservative'' phase-in -- a six-month window when recreational anglers could keep one fish per boat.

Under state and federal restrictions imposed in 1990, anglers must release any goliaths they catch. Spearing them or selling their meat is illegal.

No one disputes the biggest member of the grouper family has rebounded. In March, the National Marine Fisheries Service dropped goliaths as a ``species of concern, a list of stocks at risk of overfishing.

But scientists aren't ready to pronounce goliaths recovered enough to catch and filet.

There is much uncertainity about them and not so much data, said Nancy Thompson, director of the Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami, which is overseeing a goliath study for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Council.

Still, she agreed, the rise merits at least a look at tweaking the fish's protected status.

''We're being very cautious about it but, yes, we're willing to talk about it,'' Thompson said. 'It's not everybody going out willy-nilly taking a fish and saying, `Here's an otolith (an ear bone used to assess age).' It will have to be controlled.''

One question is whether the rebound extends further up the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, where goliaths were once common.

''It's very difficult to draw conclusions based on seeing a lot of animals in the Keys and Southwest Florida,'' Thompson said. ``It's like looking at a small part of a snapshot and making a conclusion about what the whole picture is.''

EASY CATCH

Then there are the characteristics that got goliath, known as jewfish until the objectionable name was changed in 2001, in deep trouble in the 1980s.

Goliaths move slowly, readily approach humans and will eat just about anything in front of them. Despite their bulk and power, that behavior made them easy targets for seafood trade and trophy hunters.

''I would just like to point out to anyone who is really gung-ho to reopen this fishery that the reason they're off limits is because they're so susceptible to overfishing,'' said Libby Fetherston, with the Ocean Conservancy.

Chris Koenig, a marine ecologist with Florida State University working on the stock assessment, said concerns about goliaths gobbling everything around them are unfounded.

While grouper will certainly make a meal of a struggling fish at the end of an angler's line, no different than sharks and barracuda, Koenig said their main diet is actually unappealing.

''They eat fish that other fish can't or won't eat,'' he said.

The goliath, armed with small teeth but a cavernous mouth, is designed to consume the sea's slow-movers -- stingrays, catfish, blowfish and other prey that depend on weapons, not speed, to survive.

''When they swallow something, they swallow it alive and whole,'' he said. ``Whatever they eat dies in their stomach.''

Koenig also cautioned that the rebound of the last two decades may slow as mangroves, an essential nursery for the fish, continue to disappear outside the protected Everglades and 10,000 Islands.

''If it wasn't for that mangrove habitat, we would never have seen this kind of recovery,'' he said.

Many argue the big brown fish should just be left alone.

Divers have found goliaths, one of the largest sea creatures most people would want to get close to, only add to the underwater attractions.

''My personal feeling is they should let them all go. I'm not anti-fisherman by any means, but I enjoy diving with them,'' said Slate, who owns Cap'n Slate's Atlantis Dive Center in Key Largo. ``That goliath grouper is worth millions down there swimming around.''

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

New from Fishboy! Catch. Release. Repeat. Hats



Hot new fishing hats and caps from Fishboy - funny fishing stuff!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Killing Fish To Save Them?

More Animal Rights Nuts Over The Edge...

BOSTON -- Arrests have been made in connection with a fire that damaged a Cambridge tropical fish store Sept. 27.

Middlesex County officials said they arrested three men identified as Thanh Trinh, 42, of Charlestown, Zachary Azzam, 17, of Cambridge, and Dennis Nickerson, 21, of Somerville.

The three men were scheduled to be arraigned in Cambridge District Court Friday afternoon and charged with willful burning of a building, malicious killings of animals, cruelty to animals, larceny of property over $250, larceny from a building.

The fire at the Boston Tropical Fish and Reptile Store at 243 Monsignor O’Brien Highway killed some of the animals. Spray paint scrawled on the walls indicated the fire had been set by animal rights activists.

Don't Start A Nuclear War While Fishing!

South Korean soldiers fired about 40 shots as a warning after five North Korean soldiers crossed a boundary in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two country’s forces, South Korean military officials said.

It was unclear whether the North Korean advance, which occurred shortly before noon near a stream, was intended as a provocation, an official at South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on condition of anonymity, citing official policy. No one was hurt, and the North Koreans retreated.

“It’s not clear whether it was intentional or whether it was to catch fish,” he said, adding that four of the North Koreans were unarmed, and the fifth carried a rifle.

Jumping Fish Dangers

The recent case of two Plant City residents injured when their boat crashed after a sturgeon nearly jumped aboard on the Suwannee River is not nearly such an isolated incident as it seems.

In fact, there have been numerous cases of sturgeon jumping into boats on the Suwannee, including seven just this year.

The incidents are likely on the rise because gulf sturgeon have now been protected from all harvest since 1991, and appear to be making a strong comeback on a number of north Florida rivers. The species was commercially harvested to the brink of extinction in the early 1900s, with the slaughter including destruction of a large population in the Hillsborough River.

The fish live for decades and attain huge size, up to 200 pounds. They spawn in the headwaters of coastal rivers, according to biologists at the Florida Wildlife Research Institute, but live most of their lives in the middle and lower reaches of the rivers.

Why they jump is not clear - it may be, like mullet, just because they can - or it may be that fish lazing on the surface are frightened by fast-approaching boats. In any case, the impact has caused a number of injuries for Suwannee boaters, and anyone boating there would be wise to keep a sharp eye out and keep their speed down.

To be sure, sturgeon are not the only jumping fish that can cause problems for boaters. Flying fish are notorious for jumping into fast-moving boats, particularly after dark. Captain Tommy Butler of St. Pete, who runs offshore charters in a high-speed boat, built a "dome" over his console to protect his customers on the pre-dawn run out, so frequent were the impacts.

On a trip I made with Butler a few years back, it sounded like someone was throwing baseballs at the dome as we raced offshore at 50 mph. When we arrived at the continental shelf, we had our bait already collected - there were dead flying fish all over the deck.

Several years ago in the Florida Keys, a hooked barracuda jumped aboard a charter boat and sliced open a lady angler, requiring dozens of stitches to repair the damage. The "attack" was accidental according to local skippers - 'cudas frequently make long, arching jumps when hooked, and this one just happened to find the boat in its way.

There have been similar cases of king mackerel, which sometimes "skyrocket" as they attack bait on the surface, landing aboard boats and injuring anglers.

Tarpon at Boca Grande Pass are famous for landing in the boats of the closely packed fleet during the May through July season there. In a few cases, the 100-pound (and larger!) fish have landed on top of anglers, gave them a bloody, slimy pummeling, and then jumped back over the side.

Their problems were minimal, though, compared to the problems of Bermuda angler Ian Card, as reported in August in the London Times.

Card, aboard his father's charter boat Challenger, was standing about 8 feet from the stern when a hooked blue marlin, estimated at 800 pounds and 14 feet long, leaped across the boat, impaled him on its three-foot bill, and took him over the other gunwale with it!

Card was pushed underwater, still impaled through the chest, but was able to push himself off the bill. He surfaced some 50 feet behind the boat with blood pouring from a fist-sized wound. He was quickly hoisted back aboard by the horrified crew.

Amazingly, after a fast trip to the hospital and plenty of surgery, Card survived the wound.

In short, while fishermen are obviously a lot more dangerous to fish than vice versa, there's always the possibility that the tables can be turned, sometimes with awesome consequences.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Teddy Bear Kills Thousands

A Child's teddy bear has been blamed for the death of 2,500 fish at a reservoir in New Hampshire in the United States.

State officials believe the bear was dropped into a pool and clogged a drain, blocking the flow of oxygen to the pool and suffocating the fish.

Hatcheries supervisor Robert Fawcett said: "We've had pipes get clogged, but it's usually with more naturally occurring things like a frog or even a dead muskrat," he said. "This one turned out to be a teddy bear and we don't know how it got there."

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Fishboy's Latest Catalog

Click here or visit www.fishboy.com

Friday, September 22, 2006

3.5 Earthquake Shakes Bar Harbor

Reported here first! Bar Harbor was the epicenter of a minor earthquake this morning!

Earthquake Details
Magnitude 3.5 (Minor)

# Date-Time Friday, September 22, 2006 at 10:39:23 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time

# Friday, September 22, 2006 at 6:39:23 AM
= local time at epicenter


Location 44.370°N, 68.220°W

Depth 5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program

Region MAINE

# Distances 2 km (1 miles) SSW (205°) from Bar Harbor, ME

# 30 km (19 miles) SE (138°) from Ellsworth, ME

# 51 km (32 miles) ESE (117°) from Bucksport, ME

# 302 km (188 miles) ENE (58°) from Manchester, NH

# 325 km (202 miles) NE (45°) from Boston, MA

Location Uncertainty Error estimate not available
Parameters Nst= 13, Nph= 13, Dmin=129.5 km, Rmss=0 sec, Gp=270°,
M-type="Nuttli" surface wave magnitude (MLg), Version=7

Source Weston Observatory, Boston College, Weston, Massachusetts, USA
Event ID ussyav

Link to the Robotic Fishbowl video

Robotic Fishbowl - So goldfish can check out their non-aquatic environment.

Robot Gives Goldfish Legs

Robot allows fish to roam land

Updated Thu. Sep. 21 2006 3:50 PM ET

Brian Jackson , DiscoveryChannel.ca

A fishbowl hooked up to a pair of wheels and a computer allows a goldfish access to land.

Artist Seth Weiner is calling the invention contemporary art. "The Terranaut Project" is on display at the Exit Art gallery in New York until Dec. 23.

A camera mounted above the fishbowl is pointed down and tracks the fish movements. The information is then wirelessly transmitted to an onboard computer. There, the fish movements are converted into wheel movements.

It won't be seen racing down the street any time soon. The vehicle moves much slower than walking-speed.

It's also unlikely the fish can appreciate the experience - the bending of light caused by the concave fishbowl ruins visibility to the outside world. But that hasn't stopped the fish from 'growing new legs' in the world of web-fame.

From a YouTube video to being featured on tech-nerd web pages and blogs, to winning a contemporary art award voted on by readers of an online newspaper, Terranaut is literally everywhere.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Sunfish - Our First Line of Defense

Fish is used to detect terror attacks

By MARCUS WOHLSEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SAN FRANCISCO -- A type of fish so common that practically every American kid who ever dropped a fishing line and a bobber into a pond has probably caught one is being enlisted in the fight against terrorism.

San Francisco, New York, Washington and other big cities are using bluegills - also known as sunfish or bream - as a sort of canary in a coal mine to safeguard their drinking water.

Small numbers of the fish are kept in tanks constantly replenished with water from the municipal supply, and sensors in each tank work around the clock to register changes in the breathing, heartbeat and swimming patterns of the bluegills that occur in the presence of toxins.

"Nature's given us pretty much the most powerful and reliable early warning center out there," said Bill Lawler, co-founder of Intelligent Automation Corporation, a Southern California company that makes and sells the bluegill monitoring system. "There's no known manmade sensor that can do the same job as the bluegill."

Since Sept. 11, the government has taken very seriously the threat of attacks on the U.S. water supply. Federal law requires nearly all community water systems to assess their vulnerability to terrorism.

Big cities employ a range of safeguards against chemical and biological agents, constantly monitoring, testing and treating the water. But electronic protection systems can trace only the toxins they are programmed to detect, Lawler said.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Asian Carp Soon To Be Seal Food

A fish that’s becoming a growing problem in Midwest rivers might end up being fed to sea lions and penguins in zoos if a pilot project successfully develops.

Courtesy photo
Silver carp jump into the air as a U.S. Geological Survey research boat passes by in this University of Missouri photo. A pilot project would turn nuisance Asian carp into food for zoo animals.

Researchers for the University of Missouri-Columbia, the federal government and the Saint Louis Zoo are collaborating on a plan to create a market for two troublesome Asian species: the silver carp and the bighead carp.

Both species seem to be taking over the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers. Silver carp are particularly hazardous because they’ve been known to leap out of the water and land in boats.

"These are powerful, powerful fish," said Rob Hayward, an MU fish researcher. "A 25-pound fish jumping 8 feet out of the water and landing in a boat creates quite a hazard."

Work is under way to develop fish patties made of ground up Asian carp that can be served as food to captive zoo animals. If the commercial market develops, it could provide multiple conservation benefits.

One dividend would be a reduction in the number of the troublesome fish in the rivers. The other benefit is the reduction in fishing pressure on species such as herring and mackerel, which are now fed at zoos at a cost of 30 to 70 cents per pound.

Ellen Dierenfeld, a fish nutritionist at the Saint Louis Zoo, said the carp food source could be modified to provide for additional fat content and nutrient quantity. Questions still abound about texture and whether the fish food will stick together when the trainer tosses a morsel to a sea lion for positive reinforcement. "We’ve done the toss test of a cake," Dierenfeld said today. "A couple of interns have thrown them back and forth to make sure they hold together and to make sure the texture is right.

"The animal palate will be the trickiest," Dierenfeld added. "We can make the most nutritious diet, but the animal may not like it."

With humans in the United States, that’s certainly a problem. Hayward said the Asian carp is in high demand on dinner tables in Asia and Europe. If Americans craved the fish the way others around the world do, there wouldn’t be a population problem in U.S. rivers. "This is the most commonly consumed fish worldwide," Hayward said. "We are the oddballs."

The Asia carp species were first noticed in 1993. No one knows how they got into the rivers, but some suspect that they might have escaped an impoundment in the south during the great floods that year.

Duane Chapman, a research fish biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said the Asian carp feed on tiny fish and plant organisms that are food sources for small fry of native species. Chapman said while it’s difficult to measure the carps’ impact, a recent natural survey in Illinois found that samples of bigmouth buffalo and gizzard shad were smaller than in the past - an indication that they are growing more slowly than before.

At the same time, Chapman said Asian carp grow quickly, making it difficult for them to be prey for predators such as walleye and flathead catfish.

Hazard, Chapman and Dierenfeld hope the project will create a market that will make it worthwhile for commercial fishers to collect the Asian species with nets.

"We hope to have a product ready to test with animals that’s nutritionally complete in the spring," Dierenfeld said. "Now, if the fish eaters will just bite into it."

GIANT FISHING LURES

Check out these incredible giant antique fishing lures from Fishboy.com! In the picture is a regular sized lure and above that is the decorative wall hanging lure that will make a great Christmas present for the fisherman in your life!

Thursday, September 14, 2006

New Fall Line Up From Fishboy!


Here is are the latest releases from Fishboy. Watch Fishboy.com for availablility. We'll be adding new designs in the coming weeks.

Redneck Fishing Tourney - Carp Fly Amok


(CBS) At what they call the "Redneck Fishing Tournament" in Bath, Ill., there are two main rules, CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports.

One, you can't use a fishing pole.

"You catch em' in the air, they fly," one fisher explains.

That leads to the second rule: Fish at your own risk.

"They'll nail you!" a fisher says.


One guy just got a black eye and a broken nose — from a fish! Can't imagine that? Well, just wait till we hit the good spot.

The fish are Asian carp, and whenever they hear a boat motor they absolutely freak. The noise scares the carp out of them, so to speak. All of them — and there are tons.

Of course, with so much flack in the air, someone is bound to take a hit. "America's Funniest Videos" would kill for this stuff.

Watch Steve Hartman's "redneck" fishing lesson

It may go without saying, but this particular species of fish has grown a little out of control. It's not even native to the region. It was introduced by accident about a decade ago and is threatening rivers and lakes from Louisiana to Minnesota.

Researchers say the problem is that the fish are such big eaters and fast breeders that they force out all the indigenous species. The federal government has even built underwater electric barriers to try and stop the invasion.

Of course that won't help here, which is why Betty Deford started the fishing tournament in the first place.

"I do have something against these fish — they tried to hurt me," Betty says with a laugh.

In three hours, 70 boats caught 1,800 carp. But, unfortunately, that's a drop in the bucket. They really need a better answer. They need it so badly it hurts.


©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Grouper Drowns Diver

Key West diver who drowned after spearing giant fish identified

By Jason Lowell
sun-sentinel.com
Posted September 13 2006, 10:39 AM EDT

KEY WEST – The Monroe County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday identified the diver found drowned over the weekend, apparently after spearing a giant fish and becoming tangled in a line underwater.

The preliminary autopsy of Gary Cagle, 42, indicates that he drowned while free diving in 25 feet of water about a half mile off of Smather's beach.


Detective Mark Coleman believes the diver drowned while spearing a Goliath grouper, commonly known as a jewfish. After Cagle's wrist became entangled in the spear line, he was effectively pinned to the ocean floor when the fish retreated into a coral rock.

Cagle was last seen at noon on Saturday. He was found Sunday morning by the Coast Guard and Key West Police divers.

Other tests must be completed before a final autopsy is released.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The Hummer Generation?

Boy, the last time we purchased a happy meal my son got a pull back friction Hummer car. I thought how strange. There was no tie in to a movie or tv show which is usually what the Happy Meals push. This time it was a car company pushing their image on what? The next generation of car buyers? I don't think so. Hummer isn't exactly a entry level car. No I think what is going on here is much more sinister. Hummer is trying to allow Mom and Dad to buy a gas-guzzler without their off spring questioning the decision. Mom, Joey's family has a small car that gets great gas milage, how come you and Dad are blowing my future with our gas guzzling, air polluting tank?

Since the Happy Meal episode I've seen on Yahoo something about "Download Hummer Kids Content". Even Target is selling Hummer products to decorate your room with gas guzzling SUVs. Hummer is attempting to create a Hummer generation out of our youth, a generation of self absorbed jerks with the attitude, Screw You I'll Run You Over If You Don't Back Off. I guess its kind of like Bush's foreign policy. Maybe Hummer will get a cabinet position?


The Union of Concerned Scientists has this to say on the matter:

"McDonald's decision to peddle the quintessential gas-guzzler, the Hummer, shows a tremendous lack of sensitivity and care for the health and well-being of America's kids.

The Hummer H2, one of the eight models offered as a promotional toy, achieves an estimated 11-14 miles per gallon and costs nearly $100 to fill up at today's gas prices. Like many other large, inefficient vehicles, the H2 emits significantly more smog-forming and global warming pollution than most passenger cars on the road today, placing children, whose respiratory systems are still maturing, at risk for the wide variety of health problems associated with auto pollution.

Targeting the next generation of car buyers with pro-Hummer marketing sends the wrong message--that gas-guzzling in the face of environmental, public health and national security concerns is desirable. This campaign serves only to undermine McDonald's efforts to improve its environmental and public health image, including its laudable decision to reduce the use of antibiotics by its poultry suppliers."

Take action! http://ucsaction.org/campaign/8_21_06_mcdonalds_hummer_toy/w3g8e832f5bmxmj

Ethel - The Opera Singing Lobster



Here at Fishboy, we know all the good toys can be had at Gobler Toy Company. Ethel the Opera Singing Lobster is just one example of the fine toys put our by Ira Gobler and crew. Its the quality fun you remember as a child. Who could for get playing with Senor Sandwich? Or Fu Manchu, I Love You - my sister loved hers. I always asked Santa for the Rocket Head toy but never got it.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Fish Memories

Having a memory like a goldfish could actually be a good thing, says a Sydney scientist who has spent 10 years proving fish are not as dumb as we think.

Fish are not the bowl-circling dimwits we imagine and could be as socially able as monkeys and elephants, Dr Culum Brown of Macquarie University says.

The biology lecturer has spent the past decade putting fish through learning and memory tests, which he says shows they are much deeper thinkers than they look.

For a start, Dr Brown says the three-second memory of goldfish is a myth: "It's completely ridiculous that an animal could survive without a memory."

Fish are so clever, Dr Brown says, that those schooled in survival skills can even teach their captivity-raised peers how to get by in the sea.

To help prove his theories, Dr Brown put rainbow fish into a tank with a mock trawler net with a single hole and watched how long it took them to find an escape route.

"Without any prior experience the fish learned where the hole was in about five runs," he says.

A year later, the same fish managed to find the hole on their first try, which Dr Brown says shows they easily recalled the skills they had learned.

In another study, Dr Brown scared intertidal gobies from a rock pool and as they dived for safety found they plopped precisely in surrounding pools.

"This suggests that fish are able to form mental maps similar to those people use when planning a route to a familiar destination," he says.

Dr Brown also studies "social learning" among fish, where fish trained to recognise predators and wild food teach captivity-bred fish how to survive.

"Fish can be trained en masse and then used to train other fish," he says.

"What we've found is the latter groups of fish learn more rapidly when ... placed with trained fish."

The research could prove useful to the aquaculture industry, Dr Brown says.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

History of Tremont, Maine

History of Tremont, Maine
From
A Gazetteer of the
State of Maine

By Geo. J. Varney
Published by B. B. Russell, 57 Cornhill,
Boston 1886

** Maine historical sketches **


Tremont, in Hancock County, embraces the south-western portion of Mount Desert Island. Tinker’s, Moose, Hardwood, Grott’s and Longley’s Islands are also within its limits. The feature from which the town takes its name is the three contiguous peaks of Beech Mountain, and east and west peaks of the Western Mountains. Dog Mountain has been carefully prospected with spade and pick, for money hidden by Captain Kidd. The peak known as the “Lover’s Scalp” has, on its eastern side, an almost perpendicular descent of 900 feet to the waters of Soines’ Sound. The other mountains of Tremont are Dog, Flying, Bald, Burnt and Mount Gilboa. Dog Mountain is 670 feet in height; Flying Mountain, 300; Bald Mountain, 250; Burnt Mountain, 175; and Mount Gilboa, 160. South West and Bass are the chief harbors, and the villages on these are the principal centres of business in the town. On Heat’s Stream is a saw-mill, and upon the outlet of Seal Cove Pond is a grist-mill. Both streams empty into Seal Cove, which is a safe and convenient harbor. The production of the saw-mill is about 250,000 M. of lumber, and several hundred thousand staves annually. There is also a shingle-mill on Bass Harbor Stream. Some ship-building is done at both Bass and South West harbors. At the latter place is a factory for canning fish, and at West Tremont is a fish-curing establishment; also the large brick-yard of the Tremont Brick Co., and a boat-builder’s shop. The “staff of life” to the people of the town is found chiefly in the sea.

Fernald’s Point on Somes’ Sound near the northern border of the town is thought by many to be the site of the ancient “St. Sauveur,” the settlement of the colony sent out by Madame de Guercheville in 1613. “About half across the isthmus and a little up the hill (Flying Mountain), so as to command the water on either side without losing its shelter, are two holes in the ground which are shown as the ruins of the Frenchmen’s cellars. They are a few rods apart, running north and south, 10 to 12 feet long at present, from 2 to 3 feet deep, and of varying width. They seem to have been gradually filled in from the hill above, and overgrown with grass. On the very day of our visit (1866) a spruce, some eight inches in diameter had been cut down in one of them. The old man who was our guide said the cellars were there in the time of his grandfather, who was the first settler, and he always said that they were the remains of the French colony.” Stories of the discovery of gold buried by the French are rife, like those of pirates’ treasures further south. A bank of shells near North East Harbor, on the opposite side of the Sound, probably marks the neighborhood of an Indian village; and Indian relics of various sorts are not uncommon. Tremont was set off from Mount Desert and incorporated in 1848, under the name of Mansel, from Mount Mansel, the name given to the island by Winthrop’s company of emigrants to Massachusetts Bay in 1630; it having been the first land discovered by them. See Eden.

Tremont has two churches, a Congregationalist and a Methodist. Thirteen public schoolhouses, and school property to the value of $13,500, furnish the means of youthful education. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $262,353. In 1880 it was $361,419. The population in 1870 was 1,822. In the census of 1880 it was 2,011.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Hartmann Model Railroad Museum

Visiting the Hartmann Model Railroad Museum with kids is a mixed bag. On one hand there are all kinds of exciting things to look at but on the other there is a lot of expensive things around and the staff is rather up tight about kids. Its kind of a shame because the hobby of model railroading needs to constantly feed itself with new hobbists and where are they going to come from if not from todays kids?

"On a trip to North America in 1991, Swiss natives and model train enthusiasts Roger and Nelly Hartmann fell in love with New Hampshires Mount Washington Valley. Three years later, they moved their extensive train collection and hobby shop into two new 8,000-square-foot buildings" -- The Boston Globe

The Hartmann complex includes the museum, a cafe (I didn't see where this was), a crafts store, a hobby shop and an outdoor ride-on train.

We started at the museum which costs $6 for adults and $4 for kids. Which I guess is ok, with kids you might spend 45 minutes to an hour looking at the collections of model trains and collectible cars and airplanes. Right up front the staff sets the tone for the museum giving instructions on how the 10 or so layouts operate by pushing a button and then the trains run for three minutes and don't push the button multiple times and so on. In other words, don't break our stuff they seem to be saying. My son was interested in watching things move and not so much in looking at all of the display cases so if you went without kids you might spend a lot more time looking around then week did. Although the amount of stuff on display is kind of mind numbing. There is just so much to take in all at once. The museum might have been set up with some dividing walls to provide white space and give ones eyes a place to rest but then the staff couldn't keep such a watchful eye on everyone I suppose.

Of course after doing the museum kids naturally want to ride on the outside train. Unfortunely this is not included with the admission price and you can't directly purchase a ticket for the train. Instead they make you go into the hobby shop and buy some overprices item from a specific table (like a $7.50 bookmark). Then one adult and one kid can ride. Once in the hobby shop they cruelly make it clear to the parents of the kids that the store contains many "dangerous" and "expensive" items an kids need to be kept on a short leash. I guess by dangerous they mean to the parent's wallet.

This policy sets up needless problems between parent and child. 1. The child really just wants to ride on the train and just wants to get out of the store as soon as possible or 2. they want to buy a $600 train set that they see on the shelf.

Most of the stuff in the hobby store is extremely high end (i.e. expensive) European train equipment in the hundreds of dollars range. Since my son is getting older I was very interested in looking around the shop and thinking about bringing my trains out of the attic, unfortunately the shop did not have any kid friendly area to entertain my son so that I could take in all of the stuff in the shop.

My suggestion to the owners of the shop would be to carry kid friendly wooden train stuff like Thomas the Train. And provide an area where kids could play with the wooden train layouts. No doubt they would sell tons of this stuff and keep the kids in a safe area away from all of the "dangerous" and "expensive" adult toys.

If you don't encourage kids to get into model railroading then where are you going to get your future customers???

Over all the place is great especially if you are into model railroading but as the parent of a small child I felt uneasy being their because the staff seemed to be so uneasy with kids visiting the place.

Santa's Village in Jefferson, NH

Last weekend we took a mini vacation one of our favorite places - the White Mountain National Forest region of New Hampshire. We check out a few attractions that we hadn't visited before - Santa's Village in Jefferson and The Hartmann Train Museum in North Conway.

Santa's village was surprisingly good. Its close to being on par with the excellent Story Land in Jackson which is an all time favorite theme park in my family but Santa's Village comes very close. Like Story Land, Santa's Village is very clean and very well landscaped. In fact on a very hot day Santa's Village is even better than Storyland because it is heavily treed so there is lots of shade. The only bad things about Santa's Village is the theme with which may not appeal to older kids or non-Christians since its all about Santa and Christmas. For the adults who get annoyed by Christmas songs in Decemeber it is very strange hearing them on a hot summer day in August. But there are a full day's worth of rides (we didn't check out any of the shows which if you go by Story Land standards - can be rather lame in these small time amusement parks) but their were a nice variety of rides - nothing too scary for little kids except for the Humbug ride which my seven year old refused to go on and from all reports was indeed rather scary. Stand out rides were the Santa's Sleigh mono rail that gives a birds eye view of the park, the excellent antique cars and the adults favorite the bumper cars. There is enough variety here and the lines are shorter then at Story Land at least on the Sunday we went. If you like Story Land give Santa's Village a try, just don't wait too long or the kids might not be into the Santa theme.

Bar Island Sand Bar


This time of year it seems that weekly the Bar Harbor police have to deal with some touron who doesn't understand the concept of tides and gets their car stuck on the sandbar over to Bar Island. Usually its someone trying to be oh so macho with their new SUV.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Sea Coast Fun Park

Update: Sept. 2006 Friend of mine recently visited the park and report that significant changes have been made to the running of the water slides. Radios between the top and bottom attendents are in use and the timing of the sliders has improved greatly.

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As you recall our experience earlier in the summmer....

I had a rather disturbing visit to the Sea Coast Fun Park water slide park today. My six year old was getting clobbered at the end of the slide by larger kids being let down the slide after him too soon.

The problem is that kids of different sizes travel at different speeds down the slides. Also kids on mats move faster than kids without mats.

After the second time my son was pushed under water by the wake of the large kid coming behind him, I spoke to the lifeguard on duty about the timing on the water slide. That should have fixed the problem but... later when it happened a second time I spoke to the lifeguard again and he said basically "What do you want me to do about it I don't have a radio."

A lifeguard at a waterslide/pool with no contact with the person at the top of the slide or anyone else in the park?

The third time it happened I took matters in my own hands and walked up to the top of the slide and explained to the attendent what was going on. I did not feel that the attendent had the mental capability to understand what I was saying so I sought help from the manager.

I spoke to the "manager", a kid named Alan (who someone said is the son of the owner) and explained the serious safety issue and suggested that as in other water parks I have visited the slide be clear before the next person was sent down. He said that it didn't need to be clear and wanted to know what I wanted him to do about it. Did I want attendent fired on the spot?

All I wanted was the safety issue to be looked at, fixed and for someone in this park to actually care if someone got hurt or not.

Alan treated me as an annoyance so I asked for his supervisor's name and number.

I called "June" who appears to be at the park in Windham.

She basically said "I'm three hours away what do you want me to do about it."

Her attitude came across the same as Alan's "hey things happen, don't get so upset" rather than focusing on the serious safety issue that will lead to someone getting seriously hurt.

Another parent in our group also spoke to June in an attempt to explain how concerned we were about the situation and the lack of interest from the park employees to actually fix the problem.

A water park focused on safety would have clear communications from the top and bottom of the water slide and managers who are concerned about their customers safety.

SeaCoast Fun Park has neither.

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About the Sea Coast Fun Park:

This fun park features mini-golf, go cart racing, a climbing wall, paint ball and the water slides. The water slides cost $15 for an all day pass. The two slides empty out into a small pool which also has open swimming in the other half. We've tried the mini golf on a previous outing and it's expensive and not recommended. The greens are not very level and each hole ends up taking six to eight shots to complete.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Martha Stewart's Picnic Boat


Sailing around Seal Harbor this past weekend we also got a gander at Martha's "Skylands II" picnic boat. Unlike every other Hinckley picnic boat I've seen her's stands out because its painted a creamy color instead of the traditional dark blue.

http://www.hinckleyyachts.com/

Here is what she says about the boat:


"When I finally did buy my house, which looks over the sea and the many, many islands that beckon one to venture forth and visit, it came with two deepwater moorings in a small, secluded harbor. (Seal Harbor - Ed) I set out on my search for the perfect boat for the first-time boat owner, fully aware of all the complexities and wary of the fact that a novice had a lot to learn about the region's convoluted coastlines, lobster traps, invisible rocky outcroppings and ledges and very unpredictable weather patterns.

I was fortunate that friends did not steer me wrong or even slightly astray, and that there are extraordinary boat makers and shipbuilders in Maine. I was invited on many day trips aboard all sorts of vessels: sailboats, dinghies and yachts. One in particular tickled my fancy, a craft known as a picnic boat – a traditional, sleek, fast, roomy boat at 36 feet long. Because of something called a jet drive, it can glide safely through the coastal waters of Maine – it has no propellers to tangle in lobster-pot lines Former President Bush just cuts right through them with his obnoxious cigarette boat and then pays off the lobstermen for the damage. -- Ed or seaweed beds.

I tried this type of boat, and ordered one for delivery the following year. I was so happy, choosing the color of the hull and the upholstery for the cushions, outfitting the modest but very workable galley and ordering the most important parts of the boat – the navigational tools and electronics.

We christened the boat Skylands II and in the ensuing years have used it well and often. We've gone whale watching, antiquing in Blue Hill and picnicking on the neighboring islands off the coast of Mount Desert Island. It takes just a few minutes to get to the boat and load on the hampers and coolers, and off we go."


From a CNN show on Martha:

STEVE KAISER, HINCKLEY'S BOAT COMPANY: She basically said if the dogs liked the trip, she was going to buy a boat.

COLLINS: The Hinckley Boat Company has felt the queen's touch. A year ago, Stewart and her beloved chow dogs showed up and took a fancy boat out for a spin.

KAISER: She basically said if the dogs liked the trip, she was going to buy a boat and sooner or later, she did.

COLLINS: Steve Kaiser ended up selling Martha a 36-foot Hinckley picnic boat, but being Martha, it wasn't a simple sale.

KAISER: And I got a call from a producer and they said they would like to film the boat being built and being the conservative down east boat builder, my immediate reaction was how do we get out of this? I think somebody finally shook me a little bit and said, you know, this could be a good thing, to have a film of the boat being built.

COLLINS: Not surprisingly, Martha got her way and millions of her viewers saw her one of a kind egg-colored boat being built.

KAISER: Please do the honors.

COLLINS: When it came time to christen the boat, Martha gave it a good whack.

(APPLAUSE)

COLLINS: For the Hinckley Boat Company, it was a noise heard around the world.

KAISER: Absolutely, the phone just rang continuously, but that was a nice problem to have.

COLLINS: Stewart uses her boat while at Skylands, her summer retreat on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Skylands is a 61-acre estate. Made of paint granite, it sits high atop a hill far above the common man. To visit, one must drive up a narrow, winding, pine-laced road. It is very, very private.

The moss near her estate made it into a magazine article and Skylands; a new paint line was developed. This pale yellow, Cadillac Sunrise, was named for a nearby mountain where Martha has greeted the dawn.

During the day, Stewart can walk century old carriage roads designed and built by John D. Rockefeller, an earlier island resident. Stewart has found the road to fortune wherever she has traveled.

Martha Stewart's "Skylands" Edsel Station Wagon


This weekend we spotted Martha Stewart's classic Edsel Ford Station Wagon downtown in Northeast Harbor. It's not hard to miss its a beauty! Big, brightly painted -- certainly makes a scene in this small little village. It even says "Skylands" on the side just to make sure you know to whom it belongs. I'm not sure of the story on the car but I think I read that it came with the house when she bought the old Edsel Ford estate in Seal Harbor and she had it restored. It really is a knockout!

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

It's Raining Fish

Thiruvananthapuram, India - Fish rained down on the Indian village of Manna last week, startling locals who hailed the phenomenon as a miracle.

In an echo of the Bible's manna from heaven, fish up to 55mm in length plummeted to the ground for 15 minutes in the remote village in the southern state of Kerala.

"I saw fish falling from the sky. At first, we could not believe our eyes," said shopkeeper V.K. Satheeshan.

Residents quickly collected the fish, with some gathering them in jars.

"When I rushed to the spot, I found lots of small fish on the road. Some of the shopkeepers collected fishes in jars," said M. Rajeevan, a local journalist from Manna.

The pencil-thin fish were likely lifted into the sky from rivers by a waterspout, or mini-tornado, according to professor Godfrey Louis of Mahatma Gandhi University in the Kerala city of Kottayam.

Monday, July 24, 2006

This just in...Pet Fish Seizures In Maine

I know the local Pirate's Cove mini-golf had to get rid of their carp. Don't know what the story here is yet...Koi Krack Down it appears. -- Ed

FREEPORT, Maine - Armed game wardens seized 10 exotic fish from the tank of a popular Chinese restaurant, leaving its owner shaken and outraged.
“They treated me like a criminal,” said Cuong Ly, who escaped from Vietnam 25 years ago. “I lived under communism and I felt like I’m back there again.”
Ly, 45, said his pet koi were like family members and their confiscation in what he described as a heavy-handed raid made him “want to explode inside.”

Dead Fish In Wake of Fishing Tournament

Major difference between catch and release for the good of the sport and catch, clip, hold and dump for prize money. -- Ed

Dead Fish

La Crosse
Jul 24, 2006

Just days after a major fishing tournament in La Crosse, hundreds of dead fish are turning up in the water. Nearly 600 dead bass have been collected. The Department of Natural Resources says almost all of them had a clipped tail fin which is evidence they were caught and released during the tournament. This is the second year there's been a major fish die-off after a tournament. Last year, most of the dead fish tested positive for largemouth bass virus. This virus can cause death when the fish is stressed. The DNR says the stress of being caught, held in a livewell, and released might be a factor in the deaths of the bass. Some anglers say they're concerned by the fish deaths, but they're not convinced the tournaments are the cause.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Angler catches the same fish twice in a week ..in the SEA

I GOT THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

By Richard Smith

STUNNED angler Bob Watton turned the tables on the one that got away - when he caught the same fish twice within days.

Bob, 36, first hooked the 11lb sea bass while fishing from his boat two miles out to sea.

When his line snagged on a rock and broke the lucky fish escaped.

But three days later, after taking his boat to a similar spot off Bournemouth, he got another bite and reeled in a 2ft bass.

Bob, a father of two, was amazed to discover the distinctive hook and severed line from his previous effort was attached to it.

He said last night: "It was only when I got it in the net that I spotted the black line and hook with a yellow bead on.

"It was the same fish, there's no doubt. What are the odds of that? Of all the fish in that bit of sea this one ends up on my hook twice. Some trawlermen catch 90 tonnes of bass a day in this area, so it goes to show how many there are. The first time I hooked him I knew he was a hefty fish. He put up a bit of a fight.

"When the fish got away I thought that was the end of it. It's very satisfying to catch the one that got away - because in this case it didn't."

"It's an unbelievable bit of luck. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket this week, because you never know."

There are estimated to be around 10,000 bass in 100 square miles of sea off the Bournemouth coast.

And bookmakers Corals said the odds of catching the same fish twice in those circumstances were about a million to one. A spokesman said: "It's like lightning striking twice in the same place."

A spokesman for Sea Angling Magazine said: "This is very unusual. I have heard of catching the same sea fish in the same session but never three days apart."

Teens rescue cousin with fishing line

"Fourteen-year-old Kong Vang saw his cousin flailing in the water, fighting to stay afloat in the Little Canada pond where six cousins had been fishing," the Star Tribune story begins. "With chaos and panic setting in on shore, Kong cast his fishing line out into the water, hoping to snag Tou Ger Yang...."

A Minnesota county sheriff calls it "one of the most amazing rescue stories I have ever heard," KARE reports, with teens using an 8-pound test line and CPR to save their drowning cousin, also 14. The Twin Cities TV station has video of the relatives and the story that began with a mysterious note left on a windshield.

WCCO adds more in a video and text report. "It was actually a bobber," says Kong Vang about his line casting, "a fake worm with two hooks on it." After three attempts, the 105-pound Tou Ger caught on, WCCO reports. "I was just flapping my hands, and all of the sudden it just wrapped around my hands and the hook got on me too," Tou Ger recalls.

And the Pioneer Press puts some follow-up in its story. "Tou Ger Yang spent four days in the hospital," the paper reports. "He still has water in his lungs, making breathing difficult. But he has recovered enough to go fishing again."

Jerks Topple Cool Giant Fish Display

COUNCIL workmen were repairing the damage to a giant fish on Monday, July 10, after a floral display in the town was vandalised.

A decorative fish in the Triangle was overturned, damaging one of the jewels in the crown of the town's South West in Bloom entry this year.

Joy Seward, vice chairman of Sidmouth in Bloom, said: "We are working hours and hours and hours at the moment, getting everything right to present to the judges on Tuesday morning.

"It's hard because, as fast as you clear up one thing, someone seems to do something silly to another.

"Last year, on the day before judging, one of the fish was turned over.

"Nick Beavis, who made them, came out early in the morning before the judges arrived to repair it.

"It's a shame these people can't put their energy to better use - perhaps they could do some weeding for us instead!"

A police spokesman said they had received no report of the incident.

Brits Choose Fishing Over Sex

"New Fishing Grounds - for divorce that is!" -- Ed

Three-quarters of British sport fishermen would rather go fishing than go to bed with their partners, a survey showed on Thursday.

More than half of the 1 000 anglers surveyed by bookmaker Totesport also said they would rather catch a record-breaking trout or salmon than spend a night with a supermodel.

Fishermen who took part in the poll spent, on average, eight times as much money on fishing equipment than on gifts for their partners.

"It is odds on that there are fishing widows the length and breadth of the country that can relate to these results," said Paul Petrie, a spokesperson for Totesport.

Forty-six percent of respondents also said they lied about the real size of their catch to impress their peers. -- AFP

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Fish With Human Teeth?

A fish caught in Lubbock, Texas, with teeth that look like they belong to a human has baffled wildlife officials in the area, according to a report.

Fisherman Scott Curry reeled in the 20-pound fish on Buffalo Springs Lake and immediately noticed the catch had human-like teeth.

A game warden photographed the fish and is attempting to identify it.

General Manager of Buffalo Springs Lake Greg Thornton told KLBK13-TV in Texas that he has never seen anything like the fish in the 36 years he has lived near the lake.

A search for what the fish may be suggested that it may be a pacu, which is found in South America.

Curry said he believes he saw another similar fish while on the lake.

A Texas television station reported that lake officials will give $100 to anyone catching a similar fish.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Exotic Fish Found In Utah

If you had a pet tiger and got tired of it, would you release it in Central Park. You've got to wonder these people! -- Ed

Man catches piranha-like fish in Utah Lake
By Jessie Elder

It started out as a typical fishing day on Utah Lake for Provo native Jack Clements and his two buddies.

"All the sudden this thing caught hold of my line and took off," Clements said.

Exactly what Clements reeled in differs - depending on who is asked.

While Clements is positive the 13-inch fish is a piranha, authorities at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources disagree.

According to the DWR, the fish is not a carnivorous piranha, but its quasi-vegetarian cousin the red pacu.

"Not as dangerous at all," said DWR outreach manager Scott Root. "[But it] still has some scary teeth."

It's the mouthful of teeth that lead Clements and his fishing cohorts to believe he had caught a piranha. Three BYU biology students who were nearby conducting a survey of the fish in Utah Lake when Clements caught the beast were inclined to agree.

The pound-and-a-half fish, measuring 13 inches long, 8 inches tall and 2 inches wide, was turned into the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

The dimensions are rather large for a piranha, which typically range from 6 to 10 inches, a fact Clements attributes to the fish not having stiff competition for food in Utah Lake.

The red pacu, like the piranha, is a freshwater fish native to South America - not Utah.

While the piranha averages between 6 and 10 inches long, the red pacu can grow to up to 30 inches.

What happens, Root said, is people purchase the red pacu from a pet store, and as soon as it gets too big, it is discarded in the nearest body of water. In this case, Utah Lake.

A definitive statement can't be made, but Root said it's safe to assume this was the only fish of its kind at large in Utah Lake.

As for 62-year-old Clements, he said he has never seen anything like this in the 54 years he's been fishing in Utah Lake.

"That pretty well takes the cake, I've never caught anything like that before," he said.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Giant Catfish Protected


Fishers in northern Thailand netted this huge catfish in the Mekong River on May 1, 2005. Nearly 9 feet (2.7 meters) long, the fish tipped the scales at 646 pounds (293 kilograms).

Last month more than 60 fishers in northern Thailand promised to stop catching the critically endangered giant fish, in honor of the King of Thailand's 60th year on the throne.

Photograph by Suthep Knitsanavanin

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Pam's Crowd Pleaser Garlic and Anchovy Dressing

Our good summer neighbors Rick and Pam recently had the extended us over for dinner and Pam made this most excellent dressing that was served over tuna fish, grilled chicken, new potatos, ripe tomatos and lettuce. It was delish and really pulls together a casual summer dining experience. Here is the recipe:

3-4 Anchovy Fillets
1-2 Garlic Cloves
1 Egg Yolk
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
1 cup olive oil
1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Chop anchovies and mince garlic. Wisk in mustard, egg yolk, vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Dribble in the oil.

Its good on just about anything!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Spying on Fish

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO, June 26 (Reuters) - Thousands of marine animals could be tracked under a $150 million project to understand threats to life in the oceans with technology perfected for supermarket checkouts, scientists said on Monday.

Under the scheme, scientists would implant electronic tags into creatures such as salmon, tuna, sharks, sturgeon, penguins or polar bears to register their movements via acoustic receivers on the floors of the oceans or via satellite.

"Today we know less about our marine life -- how these animals live, where they go -- than we know about the back side of the moon," said Ron O'Dor, head of the Ocean Tracking Network to be set up at Dalhousie University in Canada.

Tagging of marine life is now limited to regional projects. The scheme could give insights into wider ocean migrations and the impacts of overfishing or climate change, helping governments manage dwindling stocks.

Some 35 scientists from around the world will meet in Halifax, Canada, from June 27-30 to launch the network, which is seeking funds to set up listening station arrays in the Arctic, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian oceans and the Mediterranean sea.

The scientists are applying for $32 million from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation to gain tracking technology. That funding is a condition to unlock a total $150 million for the six-year project from other donors around the world.

The implants vary from the size of an almond to an AA battery. When fish pass an array, the implants set off a signal similar to a bar code scanner in a supermarket. Bigger implants can transmit via satellite from creatures that often surface.

Low Fat Fish Ice Cream Anyone?

A deep sea fish is being used to create ice-cream low in fat and calories.

A protein from the blood of the pout fish can lower the temperature at which ice-crystals form, meaning less cream or fat is needed in the final product.

Unilever, the company behind Wall's, Magnum and Carte Dor, has submitted an application to produce the protein using GM technology.

The Food Standards Agency is consulting on whether to allow the technology, which is already approved in the US.

The eel-like pout fish lives at the bottom of the North Atlantic and is able to survive extremely low temperatures, due to a naturally occurring protein in its blood called an ice-structuring protein.

These proteins which can be found in fish, plants and insects protect organisms from tissue damage in very cold conditions by lowering the temperature at which ice crystals grow and by changing the size and shape of the ice crystals.

But rather than extracting the protein from the fish - which Unilever said would be "not sustainable or economically feasible" - the company has developed a way of making the protein in the factory.

The process uses genetically modified yeast to make the protein in large sealed vats.

The genetically modifed yeast is already used in the production of some other foods including cheese.

No genetically modified material would be present in the final product, Unilever stresses in its application to the FSA and the level of the ice-structuring protein in the ice-cream will not account for more than 0.01% of the weight.

Approval

The manufacturing process has already been approved in some other countries including the US where it has been used to make ice-cream which has half the fat and 30% fewer calories than normal.

Low-fat ice-cream could be made using GM technology

An application to use the new technology has been lodged with the Food Standards Agency which is inviting comment.

Unilever said the process had already been approved in the US and other parts of the world.

The FSA said the consultation period was open until 10 July.

"Before any new food product can be introduced on the European market, it must be rigorously assessed for safety.

"In the UK, the assessment of novel foods is carried out by an independent committee of scientists appointed by the Food Standards Agency, the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP)."