When your name can also [...]]]> Next time you’re reeling in that fish, picture Whiskers or Fluffy hooked through the mouth on the end of your line.  At least that is what PETA would like you to do.  In a new PR campaign the animal rights group is attempting to rebrand “fish” as “sea kitten”.  The rationale:

When your name can also be used as a verb that means driving a hook through your head, it’s time for a serious image makeover. And who could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten?

Point well taken.  But I am not sure how I feel about my subject of study (I am an ichthyologist that does research on the fish eye) being renamed.  PETA argues that:

People don’t seem to like fish. They’re slithery and slimy, and they have eyes on either side of their pointy little heads—which is weird, to say the least.

But I love fish, and I know legions of other ichthyologists that love fish too.  And yes, I occasionally meet people, tell them I am an ichthyologist, then explain what that means, find out that they think that is cool, but am then asked:  then you don’t eat fish, do you?  But I also love eating fish, as do most ichthyologists I know.  Is it weird to like eating the group that you study.  I have a mycologist friend (studies fungi) who doesn’t like to eat mushrooms.  But I think that’s an exception.  And yes, many of you study organisms that you probably don’t want to eat.  I am talking to you, entomologists and parasitologists.  But I bet you malacologists out there love your oysters and scallops.  Admit it, you ornithologists eat chicken.

While our love for eating fish, and the need for this important source of protein in the diets of many humans, is leading to the collapse of fisheries and marine ecosystems, making fish seem cute is not the solution.  Ironically, the economic importance of fish and other marine organisms as food will play an important role in turning back the decay of our oceans, if that is possible.  Whether it is restoration of the Chesapeake Bay to bring back the oysters and crabs, research in the Gulf of Mexico to maintain red snapper populations (check out that mahi my ichthyologist friend Will caught) or limits on trawling in the North Atlantic.

But I did have fun making my custom “sea kitten” (see the top of this post).  Although it was labeled a flounder, but clearly has only one eye on the side of its head.  What’s up with that?

The NPR story on the new PETA campaign attracted a money comment:

This story evokes a wonderful memory of a recent trip I had back to my mountain cabin. I had a nice hike and spotted a wonderful Sky Origami (falcon) crushing a Stuart Little (mouse) in its razor sharp talons. When I got back to the cabin I made sure the House Bunny (dog) was in so it wouldn’t get mauled by a Forest Angel (bear) that night.

Chesapeake Bay watermen

Pollution, nutrient runoff and overfishing have destroyed the crab and oyster harvest of the Chesapeake Bay.  Excessive algal growth from the overabundant nutrients produces low oxygen “dead zones” and prevents sunlight from reaching sea grasses on the bottom.  But another casualty has been the local watermen culture.  The uniqueness of [...]]]>  

Chesapeake Bay watermen

Pollution, nutrient runoff and overfishing have destroyed the crab and oyster harvest of the Chesapeake Bay.  Excessive algal growth from the overabundant nutrients produces low oxygen “dead zones” and prevents sunlight from reaching sea grasses on the bottom.  But another casualty has been the local watermen culture.  The uniqueness of the Chesapeake Bay has produced a one of a kind fishing way of life based on crab and oyster harvesting over hundreds of years.  A new report from the Washington Post details how the people involved in the fishery are trying to adapt to the loss of their livelihood.

Efforts since 1983 to reduce nutrient levels in the bay have not met their goals.  State officials and the EPA recently announced that their previously set long-term goals for bay cleanup will not be achieved and are now setting more short-term goals for reduction of pollution runoff from land.  It does not seem that the crabs or oysters are coming back anytime soon.  The Post profiles three Maryland communities and the ways they are changing with the Bay.  Everywhere on the Eastern Shore of Maryland people are losing the knowledge that came from intimate lives with the Bay – how to predict when crabs will molt based on their shell color so that the more valuable soft shells can be brought to market – or the slang used to describe water conditions on the bay.  Locals have sold off their skipjacks, the sailing vessels used to dredge oysters, and moved on to jobs outside of fishing when they can be found.  One town on the Eastern Shore, St. Michaels, has turned itself into a tourist destination and is often haunted by the likes of Dick Cheney.  Locals find it particularly humorous that the town funeral parlor is now an inn.

There is an excellent collection of maps, photos and videos at the Post site along with their continual coverage of this fascinating science, environmental and societal story.

Crabbing in Virginia

When the Chesapeake Bay crab fishery was declared a federal disaster the Comonwealth of Virginia was promised $10 million in disaster aid. Virginia has decided to use some of that money to purchase back crab licenses to ease the financial burden on local watermen.  The state had already planned to [...]]]>  

Crabbing in Virginia

When the Chesapeake Bay crab fishery was declared a federal disaster the Comonwealth of Virginia was promised $10 million in disaster aid. Virginia has decided to use some of that money to purchase back crab licenses to ease the financial burden on local watermen.  The state had already planned to freeze 800 crabbing licenses for 2009 (these were licenses that had not been used for the past several years).  And they will ban a type of crabbing called dredging, in which hibernating female crabs are scraped off the bottom of the bay.  Some of the federal funds will also be used to pay crabbers to find and remove ghost pots – lost pots that continue to catch and kill crabs.

Virginia and Maryland hope to sustain crabbing as a sustainable fishery in the Bay.