Millions of anchovies die on Spain beach

Yahoo/AP ^ | 9-29-06 | Harold Heckle

[STARWISE]

Millions of anchovies — a protected species in Europe — have died in northern Spain after an unexplained mass beaching, officials said Friday.

The fish, all juveniles, were found stranded along large stretches of Colunga beach, 35 miles east of the port city of Gijon, a normally pristine seaside landscape in the verdant province of Asturias.

"More than three tons have been found so far, and our main — untested — hypothesis at the moment is that they tried to flee from predators and accidentally beached," said Luis Laria, chief coordinator of a marine protection unit working with the government.

Laria said a European Union moratorium on fishing anchovies along the northern Atlantic coast of Spain and the western coast of France has been in place for two months. Less rigorous fishing restrictions had been used for the previous two years.

These anchovies are considered susceptible to extinction and are therefore closely monitored by scientists, according to Spain's Environment Ministry

[hosepipe]

[ "More than three tons have been found so far, and our main — untested — hypothesis at the moment is that they tried to flee from predators and accidentally beached," said Luis Laria, chief coordinator of a marine protection unit working with the government. ]

I have seen this happen many times.. Schooling fish(pilchards) chased to shore by predators.. Jack Crevalle("Jacks") in that/my case... Most would flop around until they got into the water again.. but not all.. Amazing sight..

[CaptRon]

I'm with ya except for the capers...

[JackDanielsOldNo7]

I see Rove is playing around with his new button on his weather machine. The Wipe Out Wildlife button.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

To complement the obligatory "Bush's Fault" posts, herewith be the obligatory "Was Helen Thomas in the water?" post.

[Strategerist]

I have no doubt that the number of anchovies in Europe are seriously depleted - baitfish are SEVERELY depleted all over the world - you can have 5% of the number of anchovies that there should be to provide forage for larger fish, and STILL have millions of anchovies - they SHOULD exist in simply unbelieavable numbers.

People have gotten to be so rabidly knee-jerk in their contempt for any environmental issue (largely in mirror-image imitation of rabid-knee jerk enivironmentalist nutcases) that they're not realizing that there actually are severely overfished species of fish.

[Cobra64]

Fish fatwa.

[Cobra64]

They should have a law that prevents fish from beaching themselves.

Especially if they're topless.

[Smokin' Joe]

Waiting for the reports that suggest Global Warming caused this or perhaps policies of the Bush administration.

Or secondhand smoke...

[Young Werther]

"Aliche!" My Gram's favorite topping.

What's with this pineaplle stuff??????

[BallyBill]

I wasn't even there.

[STARWISE]

ROFL!

[Youngman442002]

Boss....we got cats....

[STARWISE]

Goat cheese, chicken, mozzarella and pineapple pizza is actually good.

[OldFriend]

Oh no...............my hubby's pizza will have to go nekkid.

[Cobra64]

Send in the Cleanup Cats

(wait for the fish and flush)

[Froufrou]

Spain?!

[yankeedame]

Anchovies stink when you cook them.

Only when they're not cooked correctly which, I'll admit, is about 99% of the time.

-- Think of anchovies as a flavor -- tart, slightly salty, etc. -- 1 to 2 anchovies fillets are plenty for a pot full of sauce.

-- There are actual real anchovies fishies that are sold somewhere, but for the great unwashed like us, it's anchovie-filets-in-a-jar.

-- Like most everything else in life, you get what you pay for. Anchovy fillets are oil is good. Anchovy filets in olive oil are best.
Anchovies in salt in salt are alike the little girl with the curl right in the middle of her forehead: When they are good (processed right) they are very,very good. When they are bad they are horrid.
When people turn up their nose at the thought of anchovies, its because they've had one of those really crappy anchovies"R"-us-packed-in-salt-techinically-ediable anchovy fillets.

-- How to prepare? Simple! Take the fillet(s) out of the bottle with a fork. Mash them to a pulp either with the fork or the flat of a knife. Then mash up the pulp. Then scrape it up and dump it into the sauce. A hundred bucks says you could never guess you are eating something with anchovies in it.

-- Once opened, anchovies have a pantry/shelf life just a tad less than those tallish, skinny bottle of little teeny peppers in vinager you see on resturant tables in the South.

Class dismissed!

Thank you...You're very welcome!
No...no...thank YOU very much!

[Waverunner]

Fooled by European hygiene once again, the lemming gene is activated in anchovies

[JesusBmyGod]

Waiting for the reports that suggest Global Warming caused this or perhaps policies of the Bush administration.

Either that or it was all the fish poop in the water that made it uninhabitable. The little fishes got tired of swimming in feces. After all I read a study that Wildlife Waste is a Major Water Pollutant, and I always believe everything I read. /s

[rawcatslyentist]

Here in Louisiana, we have a swamp pizza. Shrimp, crawfish, crab, and andouille sausage. I like it with the bell peppers and onions also. Oh yeah spiced with Tony's seasoning.

Awesome!