State lifts advisory for Ventura County shellfish, sardines, anchovies
State officials have lifted an advisory to avoid shellfish harvested recreationally off the Ventura County coast and all sardines and anchovies caught locally because of elevated levels of domoic acid.The Aug. 20 advisory warned against eating recreationally caught mussels and clams; all anchovies and sardines caught locally, both commercially and recreationally; and internal organs of all crabs and lobsters from Ventura County.The California Department of Public Health says recent samples confirm the levels of domoic acid have declined to safe or undetectable levels. Domoic acid is a naturally occurring nerve toxin that can cause illness or death in humans, according to the agency.No cases of human poisoning from the acid are known to have occurred in California, state officials said.For additional information click here.
DFG and Partners use Aircraft and Submersible Camera to Count Pacific Sardine
Department of Fish and Game (DFG) pilots and biologists, along with partners, used new technological tools above and below the water to study the sardine fishery.
DFG, in partnership with the California Wetfish Producers Association, flew over Southern California waters in DFG’s Partenavia P68 Observer aircraft to complete surveys for Pacific sardine in coastal waters. Also for the first time, DFG confirmed the aerial identification of the fish from a vessel positioned on the schools, using a submersible video camera. During the August surveys, DFG biologists photographed schools of sardine to capture distribution and abundance.“These surveys will help DFG to manage this sustainable fishery and add to our limited understanding of sardine distribution throughout the Southern California Bight,” said Michelle Horeczko, Senior Environmental Scientist on the Coastal Pelagic Species Project. “Data from these surveys may also be used by West Coast scientists as part of a new effort to look at the full range of sardine data from Canada to Mexico.”Continue reading full story here.
Is Fish Poop Critical To The Ocean?
Professor Deborah Steinberg of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) has dedicated her professional life to investigating crustaceans and their role in the “biological pump,” which is the process by which marine life transports carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and ocean’s surface to the deep sea. This cycle removes the carbon to a depth where it contributes nothing to global warming.
In a new study published in Tuesday’s issue of Scientific Reports, professor Steinberg partnered with Dr. Grace Saba of RutgersUniversity and retrained her focus from crustaceans to small forage fish in order to gain an understanding of their role in this carbon removal process.The research pair collected their data off the coast of southern California on an exploratory expedition aboard the research vessel Point Sur. Building on Steinberg’s knowledge of copepods and other small, drifting marine animals, gleaned from two decades of research, the team wanted to explore whether forage fish like crustaceans played a discernible role in the biological pump through their consumption of photosynthetic surface algae and subsequent release “fecal pellets”.Read full story here.
Eating Fish While Pregnant Halves the Risk of ADHD
The amount of fish a woman eats while pregnant may affect her child's chances of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Eating fish twice a week was linked to about a 60 per cent lower risk of a child developing certain ADHD-like symptoms, according to research from the Boston University School of Public Health.But the type of fish eaten is key.Elevated mercury levels, which can occur from eating certain types of fish, such as tuna and swordfish, were also tied to a higher risk of developing ADHD symptoms such as a short attention span, restlessness or being easily distracted.'The really important message is to eat fish,' said assistant professor Sharon Sagiv, the study's lead author.Read full story here.
Fish on Fridays: Omega 3s vs. Mercury - Is Seafood Good For You?
It seems there’s a never-ending see-saw battle in scientific research about certain consumables. Red wine will decrease incidence of cardiovascular disease! No it won’t. Dark chocolate will lower your body mass index! Or not.Seafood is no different. For every report that Omega 3 fatty acids are the fountain of youth, there’s another study warning seafood lovers about looming poison from excessive quantities of heavy metals, especially mercury. But are Omega 3s really that beneficial? And what to make of reports that selenium in fish can counterbalance the negative effects of mercury? And just what the hell is selenium, anyway? What’s the truth about fish?Of course, there’s no black-and-white answer, but I’ll try to sort through a few of the bigger issues and provide a bit of guidance about what to look for at the fish counter to maximize the benefits and reduce your risk.First of all, a disclaimer: I’m an ocean policy wonk, not a doctor, so take all this info with a grain of salt (figuratively, people, watch that blood pressure!) and ask your doctor if you have deeper questions—particularly if you’re pregnant.Read more here
Fishermen Cash In On Giant Demand For Squid
Seeing more restaurants offer calamari on their menus brings a huge smile to Neil Guglielmo's face.The rising popularity of the marine delicacy has helped Guglielmo and fishermen like him in Ventura County rake in more revenue, especially within the past few years.Owner of the Captain Squid company and captain of the 70-foot squid fishing boat the Trionfo, which unloads its catch in the Port of Hueneme five days a week, Guglielmo said the past few seasons have been some of the most profitable years he has seen in his more than 50 years of fishing."The past couple of years have been phenomenal for squid fishing and so far, we're doing really good," Guglielmo said. "A few years ago, we would come back with our catch and fish market (officials) would tell us they already had enough. Nowadays, they get mad when we don't go out."Fishermen throughout the nation saw some of their highest catch numbers in years in 2011. According to a recent report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. seafood catch logged a 17-year high last year.Read full story here- vcstar.com
Fishery Management: An Analysis of Fish Stock Assessments
Center for American Progress
Counting Fish 101
An Analysis of Fish Stock Assessments
George Lapointe, Linda Mercer, and Michael Conathan 
Science is integral to fishing operations. Without the ability to estimate how many fish exist in the ocean there’s no way to determine how many of them we can catch while allowing the remaining fish populations to stay viable. But fish live in a mostly invisible world beneath the ocean surface, they move around constantly, and they eat each other.
This creates a dynamic population structure that’s incredibly difficult to track, making fish virtually impossible to count. Thus, fisheries scientists—like political pollsters or other statisticians—must rely on imperfect data to make their predictions about the status and health of fish populations.
They take these data—some of which they collect, some of which come from fishermen—and plug them into scientific models which, in turn, create estimates of population health. Because the entire population of a given species is frequently divided into subpopulations known as “stocks,” these estimates are called “stock assessments,” and they form the backbone of modern fishery management in the United States.
These assessments provide an estimate of the current state of a fish population and, in some cases, forecast future trends. This tells us whether fishery management goals arebeing met and indicates the type of conditions to which the fishery will have to adapt in the near future. In an ideal world, scientists would have the resources to provide managers with updated stock assessments for each species every year, but their expense and complexity mean they can only be updated periodically.
Regardless of how frequently they can be updated, strong, science-based stock assessments are the key to future sustainability, not just of the fish but also of the fishing industry. Fishing is an inherently unstable business, yet strong, accurate science can give fishermen a better understanding of whether their resource will remain healthy, and if it does, how many fish they will be allowed to catch. This in turn allows fishermen to make informed business decisions and stabilizes coastal economies.
Read the full report here.
Sea Level's Rise Focus of Summit
Projections of dramatic change draw group to UCSD to strategize about vulnerabilities of affected areas
LA JOLLA — Climate researchers, social scientists and policy experts from across the Pacific Rim convened at UC San Diego last week to get ahead of seas projected to rise so dramatically that they could create some of the most visible effects of global warming.
Representatives from about 20 leading research universities and nonprofit groups in South Korea, Russia, Indonesia and elsewhere met to prepare for potentially catastrophic effects on 200 million people and trillions of dollars of coastal assets.
Sea levels off most of California are expected to rise about 3 feet by 2100, according to recent projections by the National Research Council. Higher seas create challenges for port cities from San Diego to Singapore, including the potential for dramatically increased damage to coastal roads, homes and beaches — especially during storms.
“All future development has to be assessed in regards to future rises in sea level,” Steffen Lehmann, professor of sustainable design at the University of South Australia, said during the conference. “Reducing the vulnerabilities of urban (areas) is the big topic, the big task ahead of us now.”
Potential responses include managing a retreat from eroding bluffs and reshaping coastal areas to buffer development from higher water levels. “The missing link (is) between the science and those guys in planning offices and architecture firms and city municipal offices,” Lehmann said.
David Woodruff, director of the University of California San Diego’s Sustainability Solutions Institute, organized the workshop to address that problem with cross-disciplinary discussions that move toward international action.
“We are trying to affect societal change,” he said. “The sooner we start scoping options, the less expensive it will be to save current infrastructure.”
The workshop was sponsored by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, a consortium of 42 leading research institutions. Participants drafted a report about rising sea levels for top university leaders so they can make the topic a priority with national-level leaders around the Pacific Rim.
“I really think universities can play a key role,” said UC San Diego’s Charles Kennel. “They are right at the pivot point between connecting knowledge to action. … One of the places they need to transfer their knowledge to is adaptation to climate change.”
A warming climate causes sea levels to rise primarily by heating the oceans — which causes the water to expand — and by melting land ice, which drains water to the ocean. Sea levels at any given spot depend on a complex interaction of factors, such as ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns and tectonic plate movements.
Global sea level has risen about 7 inches during the 20th century, the National Research Council said.
While sea-level-rise projections aren’t a sure thing, they are widely accepted by mainstream scientists. Skeptics see it as a waste of money to plan for problems that may not materialize for decades, or may be more modest than predicted.
Read more on the Union-Tribune San Diego.