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Alaska lawmakers accused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of violating federal law by shutting down hunting on its lands during the government shutdown, saying a 1980 law guarantees state residents must have access to the land.

Approximately 1,000 dead fish have been found floating in a pond at the National Mall, the National Park Service has confirmed. A Park Service crew will test the water and algae levels at the Constitution Gardens pond Thursday. However, the number is not unusual for that pond, officials said, due to the construction and design of the area. The Park Service said it's long stressed the importance of redesigning the pond to maintain a better ecological balance.

A new species of shark that "walks" along the seabed using its fins as tiny legs has been discovered in eastern Indonesia, an environmental group said Friday. The brown and white bamboo shark pushes itself along the ocean floor as it forages for small fish and crustaceans at night, said Conservation International, whose scientists were involved in its discovery. The shark, which grows to a maximum length of just 80 centimetres (30 inches) and is harmless to humans, was discovered off Halmahera, one of the Maluku Islands that lie west of New Guinea. Bamboo sharks, also known as longtail carpet...

We've extensively documented that radioactivity from Fukushima is spreading to North America. More than a year ago, 15 out of 15 bluefin tuna tested in California waters were contaminated with radioactive cesium from Fukushima. Bluefin tuna are a wide-ranging fish, which can swim back and forth between Japan and North America in a year:

I just thought it was an interesting story to share here. http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/dinner_invitation/

Talk about one that got away. An Arkansas man who caught a record 68-pound striped bass sued the International Game Fish Association for denying him a $1 million prize in their contest. Rodney Ply, 41, of Diamond City, Ark., entered the "Hook-a-Million" contest, which offered a $1 million prize for any angler who caught a fish that broke a world record using a Mustad-brand hook .

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here it is. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta admit a long-standing error. "There is no benefit in reducing salt." Again, from the Centers for Disease Control: "There is no benefit in reducing salt." They are correcting a long-standing error. These are the kind of stories I just eat up. I just lick these stories like a salt lick. I love these stories. I just love it when conventional wisdom is turned upside down, when the food Nazis are exposed as the deceitful frauds that they are. "A recent report commissioned by the Centers...

The more militant members of the N.R.A. and most of its leaders may be un-American. By “militant” I don’t mean those who wish to protect recreational shooting and hunting; nor do I mean those who, like Justice Antonin Scalia, believe that there is a constitutional right to defend one’s home and family with firearms. These are respectable positions (although I am deeply unpersuaded by the second). I mean those who read the Second Amendment as proclaiming the right of citizens to resist the tyranny of their own government, that is, of the government that issued and ratified the Constitution in...

Ever since Asian carp were accidentally introduced into U.S. rivers in the 1970s, the invasive fish have been hungrily making their way to the Great Lakes, causing residents of the watershed to dread the arrival of carp in delicate Lake ecosystems, and their potential impacts on the 7 billion dollar fishing industry that represents a major economic driver for the region. Now, a new study suggests that Asian carp have breached southern Lake Michigan, although they have not yet arrived in numbers great enough to devastate native ecosystems. Scientists at Notre Dame University, Southern Michigan University, and The Nature Conservancy...

About a couple of weeks ago, in one of the political threads, Zatarain's Crispy Southern Style Seasoned Fish-Fri Mix was discussed. I wish I would have saved it because FReepers had included their favorite Zatarain fish recipes which sounded DELICIOUS. Please, could you share them with us again?

This is just the latest revelation in the stealth inflation and food fraud theme I have written about frequently in recent months. The non-profit group Oceana took samples of 1,215 fish sold in the U.S. and genetic tests found that that 59% of those labeled tuna were mislabeled. It seems that “white tuna” should be avoided in particular as “84% of fish samples labeled 'white tuna' were actually escolar, a fish that can cause prolonged, uncontrollable, oily anal leakage.” Oh and if you live in my hometown of New York City, you should pay particular attention: Big Apple has big...

I'll bet no one else around here owns a calibrated radiation survey meter! I have posted this before, but it's worth repeating. A few months after the Fukushima meltdown, I took my survey meter to the grocery store. California veggies...fine. Fish display...fine. Canned tuna shelves....UH OH. I measured .05 rad/hour. That's over one rad/day. Since the tuna was in cans, the alpha and beta particles would not be detected, IIRC. If I remember my particle physics, my meter must have been detecting gammas or neutrons. If someone ingests the radioactive particles in the tuna, they will be irradiated from the...

The acting U.S. Commerce Secretary on Friday ordered federal regulators to return about $544,000 in unjust fines collected from 14 fishermen or fishing businesses, most of whom worked Northeast waters. Secretary Rebecca Blank also directed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to forgive two other complainants a combined $150,000 in debt. Her decisions followed the second phase of a lengthy probe into charges by New England fishermen of abusive, unfair treatment by the officers and attorneys who enforce the nation's fishing laws. Blank's decisions mean nearly $1.2 million in unjust penalties has now been ordered returned to fishermen. In May...

The Most Frequently Mislabeled Fish Dina SpectorDec. 11, 2012, 12:46 PMIf you live in New York, and buy or eat fish, then at some point you probably received something different than what thought you were getting, The New York Times' Elisabeth Rosenthal reports. A surprising number of mislabeled seafood items end up in grocery stores and restaurants, a new study by conservation group Ocenana revealed. More specifically, researchers found that 56, or 39 percent, of 142 fish samples DNA tested were were different from what they claimed to be. Fish labeled as white tuna often turned out be escolar (a...

In an unusual development that researchers are calling evidence of adaptive behavior, some catfish have taken to jumping on land to hunt live pigeons. Discover Magazine's Ed Yong writes, "These particular catfish have taken to lunging out of the water, grabbing a pigeon, and then wriggling back into the water to swallow their prey. In the process, they temporarily strand themselves on land for a few seconds."Researchers captured video of the European catfish, which reside in the River Tarn in southwestern France. In the footage, several of the fish, which range in length from 3 to nearly 5 feet, are...

The species, formally known as 'Etheostoma obama,' is one of five newly discovered fish that scientists have named after a U.S. president or VP. President Obama may not have won many Southeastern states in his recent re-election, but he did make waves across the Republican-leaning region. And thanks to two scientists from Georgia and Missouri, his Southern profile is still growing — although some of his flashiest new acolytes don't have a clue who he is. That's because they're fish, one of five new species found by ecologist Steve Layman of Geosyntec Consultants and biologist Rick Mayden of Saint Louis...

• Obama is one of five new species of darter fish discovered by researchers • The freshwater fish has distinctive bright orange and blue colours and is generally found in fast-flowing rivers around America • Other species named after Teddy Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and vice president Al Gore A new species of fish has been named after President Barack Obama by the researchers who discovered it. The freshwater fish has distinctive bright orange and blue colours and is generally found in fast-flowing rivers around America. It is one of five new species of darter - the smallest member...

Want to feel old? Talk to anyone under the age of 50 about meatless Fridays. Odds are, they will have no memory of it. They will have no knowledge of why Catholics were called “mackerel snappers,” nor will they laugh at tired George Carlin routines about going to hell for eating a hot dog. And they sure as heck won’t know why many restaurant chains still have their fish specials on Fridays. But for all you youngsters, you might get ready: Friday abstinence may be coming back. Once upon a time, children, Catholics abstained from meat on Fridays as a small act of...

<p>IRVINE, Calif. – An Orange County woman has asked the city of Irvine to erect a sign honoring hundreds of truck crash victims -- who were fish.</p> <p>About 1,600 pounds of saltwater bass died on Oct. 11 when a container truck hauling them to market got into a three-way crash.</p>

I'm shooting for Thanksgiving week in Central Florida, and would love to charter a boat for some offshore (Atlantic) fishing, but not sure if it's worthwhile. I grew up there, but don't know what, if anything, would be worthwhile. 2-4 anglers, looking for an all day trip.