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
Friday, October 27, 2006
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!
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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
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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.
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.
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.''
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
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.
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.
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.
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."
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."
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