Maryland public hearing on proposed oyster policy draws a crowd

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Citizens descended on the small town of Wye Mill, Maryland at Chesapeake College Thursday, August 5th to attend the final public comment period for Maryland’s sweeping new oyster policies. The overcast and muggy weather provided a sober backdrop for intense discussions on how Maryland will manage the future of the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica)— a [...]

Book Review: The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One

Monday, July 26th, 2010

By my estimation, seventy-five-year-old author Dr. Sylvia Earle has spent more than 1% of her life underwater. If her dives were connected in time, it would be as if she slipped into the ocean on New Year’s Day and did not re-emerge until some time after Labor Day.
Her book chronicles her experiences as a 1960s [...]

International aquaculture course stresses natural systems thinking for fish farming

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 12th annual International Aquaponics and Tilapia Aquaculture Course in St. Croix at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI). I was able to meet and learn from many wonderful people who traveled from about 21 U.S. states and 18 countries including Canada, Mexico, six Caribbean islands, [...]

Aquaculture Bill to Protect Ocean Ecosystem

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

A new aquaculture bill entitled the “Research and Aquaculture Opportunity and Responsibility Act” introduced last week by Senator by David Vitter (Louisiana) is worthy of support. As described in the press release, the bill calls for a 3.5 year delay on new offshore aquaculture permitting. The bill would require a report to Congress on the [...]

Fish and Health: More to the Story

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

I’d like to expand a little on my recent interview for a CNN piece by Elizabeth Landau entitled “Farmed or wild fish: Which is healthier?”
At face value, this question can partialy be answered by comparing the nutritional content in farmed and wild fish and weighing the health benefits of fish consumption against the risks of [...]

Maryland Governor’s new plan for oysters in the Chesapeake Bay blends conservation and aquaculture

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Image via Wikipedia

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley held a press conference in Annapolis, MD last Thursday to announce a plan to restore the oyster population to the Chesapeake Bay by prohibiting oyster harvesting in selected areas (Baltimore Sun; oyster plan pdf).Those most affected by the plan will be MD watermen; O’Malley offered them $2.5 M in [...]

Alabama bans imported catfish after testing

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Farmed catfish made news in November as Alabama Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks announced a ban on all untested fish from Vietnam and China due to antibiotic drug residues detected in imported catfish from those countries (Associate Press). Catfish from Vietnam (i.e. basa, tra, or pangasius all called “Vietnamese catfish”) and China’s channel catfish [...]