When teaching journalism seminars, I often ask: "How many of you have a hunting and/or fishing license?" I usually find that about one in 10 do, at the most.
It stands to reason that journalists could learn a thing or two about boating and fishing, especially now, given that it's
National Fishing and Boating Week.
There are plenty of stories journalists could find to engage the countless readers, viewers and listeners who regularly spend their time with a rod and reel in their hands. Some of these stories involve the environment, invasion of privacy issues and more. Below, I've listed some stories and related ideas that I've found throughout the past couple of days.
Problems fishermen are facingIn the northeast, a dispute is underway over a
national registry of saltwater fishermen.
The Associated Press reported:
"Starting in 2010, federal law requires all the nation's saltwater fishermen to be registered, whether they fish from a boat, dock or the Cape canal's rocky borders. In most states, the registration will come with an annual fee of about $10 to $25.
"Fishery managers say the registry is needed because they don't really know the number of saltwater fishermen or what they're catching — but they could be reeling in enough fish to deplete popular stocks. A registry of anglers will help gather better catch information so fishery managers know if a species is being overfished and can make rules to protect it.
"But the new requirement has met stubborn resistance in the Northeast.
"Of the 21 coastal states in the continental United States, five haven't approved a registry: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and New Jersey, even though the National Saltwater Angler Registry was originally supposed to be in place in January."
The News-Journal in Daytona Beach, Fla., reported that the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council may take action that would affect millions of fishermen in four states -- Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina:
"The fight is over snapper, and fishermen are harvesting fish ear bones to prove their case, the Daytona Journal News reported:
"There are 4.2 million recreational anglers in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina and hardly any of them know their access to the ocean could depend on what those ear bones tell scientists.
"But that's exactly what's at stake.
"The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council wants to close recreational and commercial red snapper fishing from 3 to 200 miles offshore of its four-state jurisdiction. Red snapper populations are drastically out of balance, the council says, and only crisis-like measures will meet their guidelines for action.
"So the council is proposing also closing all fishing for all species of snapper and grouper from 98 to 240 feet deep from Cape Canaveral to mid-South Carolina.
"Red snapper ear bones are critical evidence for the fishermen trying to prove this isn't necessary. They say their records indicate they are catching more big red snapper than they have in a decade.
"Sport fishing represents an annual economic impact of $4.4 billion and 75,000 jobs in Florida, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission figures. That and everything it represents, from fishermen's passion for heading out to sea to fresh local seafood, now lie in the balance."
:
"The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to request an interim rule for red snapper that would close the fishery in federal waters for both commercial and recreational fishermen for 180 days with a possible extension of 186 days.
"The request for the closure, directed to NOAA Fisheries Service, is designed to help address overfishing for red snapper until more long-term management measures are implemented. A 2008 stock assessment for red snapper in the South Atlantic region shows the stock continues to be overfished and is undergoing overfishing at nine times the sustainable level. If approved, it is anticipated the closure would be implemented in late June or early July, 2009.
"The controversial decision to request the interim rule was made in a split vote, 7 to 6 after the Council heard public testimony during its meeting last week in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Fishermen questioned the recent stock assessment and the need for a closure of the fishery, many saying they have observed increases in the number of red snapper, especially along the Georgia and northeast Florida coasts. The stock assessment, conducted through the Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) process, attributes these increases to strong year classes of red snapper in 1998 and 1999 that have now reached legal size. However, the updated assessment shows the stock continues to be overfished and has been experiencing overfishing since the 1970s."
,
extinction The Cleveland
Plain Dealer said last week that
invasive species are threatening the Great Lakes.
At the same time, a real problematic invasive species, Asian Carp,
appear to be dying in the Missouri River.
There are increasing concerns about the
future of the bluefin tuna and
even accusations that companies are beginning to hoard the fish, which could become extinct in a few years.
The Financial Times said:
"The WWF [World Wildlife Federation] environment group warned in a report that the population of large adult breeding tunas will be wiped out completely in three years unless fishing is stopped completely. The WWF is promoting a campaign to stop consumption. Monaco last month became the world’s first territory to stop the sale of blue-fin tuna with the support of shops and restaurants.
"Giant tuna once weighed some 900 kg each. The average fish caught off Libya in 2001 was 124 kg, but over fishing has reduced that to 65 kg last year."
Here is a time line of fishery failure [PDF], as well as graphs illustrating WWF's analysis [PDF].
In California,
water use now threatens salmon and other species to the brink of extinction. Reuters said:
"California's rivers used to brim with trout, salmon, sturgeon and more, but the federal, state and local governments built a monumental system of dams and pipelines in the most populous state that turned a desert into productive farmland and left some rivers dry.
"The state faces a water crisis and a third year of drought. Add climate change and a growing population to the mix, and the fate of some salmon runs looks untenable without change, the National Marine Fisheries Service said in a report ordered as part of a long-running court battle over the salmon.
"It called for a 5 percent to 7 percent cut in water diversions for cities and agriculture from key state and federal water suppliers. Water conservation, recycling and groundwater use could offset the cuts, the report said, but water agencies described a tougher situation."
Restaurants Misleading Consumers
KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Mo., recently found that
restaurants were frequently substituting fish that they had advertised with cheaper species:
"The investigation went undercover inside
20 metro restaurants.
"We took samples from each restaurant and sent them to the
Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
"'She's actually going to extract the DNA from the sample,' said Professor Mahmood Shivji as a technician extracted a thin slice of frozen fish retrieved from one of the tested Kansas City restaurants.
"The Guy Harvey Research Institute's DNA tests would reveal so much mislabeled fish, out of 20 Kansas City restaurants sampled, the tests indicate 17 restaurants -- or 85 percent -- substituted fish, most of them with cheaper counterfeits."
The
Detroit Free Press reported that
a Detroit River island is going from a wasteland to something of a sanctuary.
And there is this story, out of Ocean City, Md.:
"State officials in Maryland say Atlantic striped bass caught in coastal waters should not be consumed because they may contain a toxic substance.
"The Baltimore Sun said Maryland Department of the Environment officials have urged the general public to avoid consuming striped bass and bluefish from coastal waters more than once a month."
