Fish & Fisheries

"France, Spain and other Mediterranean nations forced the European Union to retreat Thursday from an ambitious plan to save the threatened and prized bluefin tuna."

"Along the Mediterranean coast of France, in the city of Montpellier, prosecutors are quietly putting on trial an ancient French tradition — the fishing and trading of the majestic Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, a sushi delicacy sold in restaurants from New York to Tokyo."

"The Environmental Protection Agency denied on Thursday a petition by several environmental groups to ban lead in fishing tackle, two months after rejecting the groups' attempt to ban it in hunting ammunition."

"Extensive testing of Gulf of Mexico seafood by federal scientists has found only minute traces of the dispersant Corexit, which was used to break up oil from the BP spill, officials say. About 1.8 million gallons of dispersant were applied to the waters' surface and at the wellhead, nearly a mile undersea."

"The New Brunswick and Nova Scotia governments should declare a moratorium on licensing new salmon farms, says the Atlantic Coalition for Aquaculture Reform."

"After five years and four hurricanes, 2010 had all the markings of a banner year for Pete Vujnovich and his array of oyster leases west of the Mississippi River. But the months-long assault of oil in Barataria Bay -- and more importantly the state's decision to unleash fresh water from the river to beat back oil -- has wiped out more than three-quarters of his crop, leaving the next five years an open question."

"HOUSTON — For decades, Falcon Lake was known primarily as an anglers’ paradise, a tranquil reservoir straddling the border with Mexico  where a clever fisherman could catch enormous largemouth bass. These days, however, the lake is developing a reputation for something else: piracy."

"Wild salmon stocks in the north Pacific are being eroded as the fish are forced to compete for food and shrinking habitat with billions of hatchery fish released in to the oceans each year, a new study by scientists in B.C. and Washington state says."

"Japanese police have launched a probe after nets on holding pens for dolphins in the coastal town of Taiji were cut during an annual hunt, possibly by foreign activists, a press report said Wednesday."