Calling Them Shrimp Just Wouldn't Make Sense

The headline reads like the title of a science fiction move: Giant Prawns Invade Texas. Known to be in the Gulf of Mexico for the last few years, giant Asian tiger prawns have now appeared in Texas waters.

These prawns are speculated to be aquaculture escapes and have taken hold in the gulf coast waters where they threaten the native white shrimp, crabs and shellfish. One theory is that floods washed them out of aquaculture ponds in South Carolina, the Caribbean or one of the gulf states.

The prawns are big and competitive and compete for the same food sources as their native relatives. The tiger prawns also think nothing of dining on their smaller cousins and small crabs too.

The giants are known carries to 16 different diseases that are known to be lethal to native species.

I'm guessing due to their large size, sometimes better than a foot long, these prawns are so named because calling them shrimp just wouldn't make sense.

More information on these alien invaders can be found at ProtectYourWaters.net

Pennsylvania is Looking for Fisheries Biologists

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is seeking individuals interested in a career as a fisheries biologist.

The PFBC currently has one vacancy each for a Fisheries Biologist 1, Fisheries Biologist 2 and Fisheries Biologist 3 in Centre County.

Interested individuals have until Sept. 21 to submit a job application with the State Civil Service Commission, which opened the Fisheries Biologist exam on March 20. Applications must be received or postmarked by Sept. 21. The announcement and exam will be suspended after that date.

Nature of work:

Fisheries Biologist 1 - Work in fisheries research or fisheries management for the PFBC. Conduct studies in fish pathology, fish culture, water chemistry, and fish nutrition; conduct stream and impoundment surveys; compile, analyze, and report technical data used to recommend ways to preserve and enhance the aquatic resources.  Assist state and federal agencies in establishing water quality criteria, conservation education, and joint resource management.

Fisheries Biologist 2 - Perform work described for the Fisheries Biologist 1 level, but with a greater degree of independence, responsibility, and technical proficiency.  Serve as an agency representative on various committees and projects.

Fisheries Biologist 3 - Supervise fisheries management or fisheries research; design, coordinate, oversee, and participate in surveys and scientific studies; analyze collected data and prepare technical reports containing specific conclusions and recommendations.  May serve as an agency representative on various committees and projects; respond to inquiries from professionals, government agencies, special interest groups, and the general public; and develop and conduct workshops, training sessions, and presentations.

How to apply:

Please use the link below to view the test announcement for this position. Scroll to the heading “Engineering and Environmental Control.”

• http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/jobseekers/11372

Interested individuals can print the civil service application from the following location:

• http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/
  general_information/14274/civil_service_application/590494

For general employment information, visit the State Civil Service Commission’s website at www.scsc.state.pa.us.
Contact
PFBC Human Resources
ra-pfbchr@pa.gov
717-705-7820

$882.4 Million in User-Generated Funding goes to State Wildlife Agencies

Hunters, Anglers, and Other Recreational Users Provide
Support for Critical Conservation Projects

More than $882.4 million in excise tax revenues generated in 2012 by sportsmen and sportswomen will be distributed to state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies to fund fish and wildlife conservation and recreation projects across the nation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.

These funds are made available to all 50 states and territories through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration programs. Revenues come from excise taxes generated by the sale of sporting firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing equipment and tackle, and electric outboard motors. Recreational boaters also contribute to the program through fuel taxes on motorboats and small engines.

“The sporting community has provided the financial and spiritual foundation for wildlife conservation in America for more than 75 years,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “Through these programs, hunters, anglers, recreational boaters and target shooters continue to fund vital fish and wildlife management and conservation, recreational boating access, and hunter and aquatic education programs.”

“The financial support from America’s hunting, shooting sports, fishing and boating community through their purchases of excise taxable equipment and hunting and fishing licenses is the lifeblood for funding fish and wildlife conservation; supporting public safety education; and opening access for outdoor recreation that benefits everyone,” said Jeff Vonk, President of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. “Fish and wildlife can be conserved, protected and restored through science-based management and it is critical that all these taxes collected be apportioned to advance conservation efforts in the field.”

The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program apportionment for 2013 totals $522.5 million. The Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Program apportionment for 2013 totals $359.9 million. As a result of the statutorily required sequester, these apportionments have been reduced by 5.1 percent, or approximately $39.2 million. Additional Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration grant funding to the states has also been reduced, for a total sequestration-related reduction of approximately $44 million.

The Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program reimburses up to 75 percent of the cost of each eligible project while state fish and wildlife agencies contribute a minimum of 25 percent, generally using hunting and fishing license revenues as the required non-Federal match.

Funding is paid by manufacturers, producers, and importers, and distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program to each state and territory. For information on funding for each state, visit http://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2013/pdf/Master_apport_table_Final_2013.pdf.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs have generated a total of more than $15.3 billion since their inception – in 1937 in the case of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program, and 1950 for the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Program – to conserve fish and wildlife resources. The recipient fish and wildlife agencies have matched these program funds with more than $5.1 billion. This funding is critical to sustaining healthy fish and wildlife populations and providing opportunities for all to connect with nature.

Please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program website at http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/ for more information on the goals and accomplishments of these programs and for individual state, commonwealth, and territorial funding allocations.

Midway Journey

Midway Island is more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent and more than 1200 miles form any other coast line. Yet on this atoll there is a devastation occurring. Watch this trailer for Chris Jordan's The MIDWAY media project and you will be amazed that this island can be the home of a 62 year old Albatross, one of the oldest wild birds to ever hatch young. But be prepared as this film is a journey through a devastating environmental tragedy.

Learn and see more at http://www.midwayjourney.com/

Scientists Link Climate Change and Gray Snapper

Models Project Northward Distribution Shifts Using Temperature, Estuarine Habitats as Key Factors 

NOAA scientists continue to develop and improve the approaches used to understand the effect of climate change on marine fisheries along the U.S. east coast. Their latest study projects that one common coastal species found in the southeast U.S., gray snapper, will shift northwards in response to warming coastal waters.  

In a study published online December 20 in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and the University of North Florida developed projections of gray snapper distribution under several climate change scenarios. Gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) is an important fishery species along the southeast U.S. coast.

Associated with tropical reefs, mangroves and estuaries, gray snapper is found from Florida through the Gulf of Mexico and along the coast of Brazil. Juvenile gray snapper have been reported as far north as Massachusetts, but adults are rarely found north of Florida, leading researchers to look at estuarine habitats as a key piece of the puzzle.

"Temperature is a major factor shaping the distribution of marine species given its influence on biological processes," said Jon Hare, lead author of the new study and director of the NEFSC’s Narragansett Laboratory in R.I. "Many fish species are expected to shift poleward or northward as a result of climate change, but we don’t fully understand the mechanics of how temperature interacts with a species life history, especially differences between juvenile and adult stages."

Hare and NOAA colleague Mark Wuenschel, a fishery biologist at the Center’s Woods Hole Laboratory, worked with Matt Kimball of the University of North Florida to project the range limits of gray snapper, also known as mangrove snapper, using coupled thermal tolerance-climate change models. Kimball also works at the Guana-Tolomato-Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve in Florida.

Gray snapper was chosen for this study given previous temperature and physiological studies by all three authors, providing a foundation upon which to build. Hare and colleagues believe their approach applies more broadly to other fishery species that use estuarine areas during their life history. Those include a large number of commercially and recreationally important species such as summer flounder, black sea bass, weakfish and pink shrimp.

NOAA scientists continue to develop and improve the approaches used to understand the effect of climate change on marine fisheries along the U.S. east coast. Their latest study projects that one common coastal species found in the southeast U.S., gray snapper, will shift northwards in response to warming coastal waters.

Unlike earlier studies on climate change and its impact on species like Atlantic croaker, Hare and colleagues developed a model based on a specific hypothesis that is supported by laboratory experiments and field observations. Their new study is based on laboratory research that determined the lower thermal limit, the temperature at which a fish can no longer survive. This limit is expressed as cumulative degree days below 17°C (about 63°F). The team then equated these limits to estuarine water temperatures. Prior research has shown that estuarine temperatures are closely related to air temperatures, so the team then linked the thermal limits to air temperature. Projections of coastwide air temperature were then extracted from global climate models and used to project changes in the distribution of thermal limits for juvenile gray snapper.

The researchers made climate projections for winter water and temperatures for 12 estuaries from Biscayne Bay in south Florida to northern New Jersey. Data collected in previous studies from the Guana-Tolomato-Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve nearJacksonville, Florida, along with temperature data from the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserves in New Jersey, provided valuable background information.

The results indicate that gray snapper distribution will spread northward along the coast into the future. The magnitude of this spread is dependent on the magnitude of climate change: more CO2 emissions resulted in greater northward spread.

The uncertainty in the study’s projections was also examined by the researchers, who looked at multiple global climate models and the uncertainty in each model’s estimates of lower thermal limit. Surprisingly, biological uncertainty was the largest factor, supporting calls for more research to understand and characterize the biological effects of climate change on marine fisheries.

This latest study by Hare, Wuenschel, and Kimball joins a growing number of studies that predict climate change is going to affect marine fish distribution and abundance, creating challenges for scientists, managers, and fishers in the future.

"Further, this works supports the conclusion that along the U.S. east coast, some species will be positively affected by climate change while other species will be negatively affected." Hare said. "There will be winners and losers."

"In the past we have assumed that ecosystems were variable but not changing. Now we understand that they are both variable and changing," said Hare. "That complicates the big picture since each species and each ecosystem is different."

"The challenge facing scientists, managers, and fishers alike is identifying the potential effects of climate change and developing a response that will increase the long-term sustainability of resources," Hare said.

US Fish & Wildlife Service Announces $20 Million in Grants to Conserve Coastal Wetlands

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced $20 million in grants to 24 critical coastal wetland projects in 13 states and territories to conserve and restore coastal wetlands and their fish and wildlife habitat.  An additional $21.3 million in matching funds will be provided by partner contributions from state and local governments, private landowners and conservation groups through the 2013 National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants Program. 

Coastal areas comprise less than 10 percent of the nation’s land area yet support a significant number of wildlife species, including 75 percent of migratory birds, nearly 80 percent of fish and shellfish and about half of all threatened and endangered species.

“These coastal wetlands are extremely important to the future of both wildlife and humans,”  Director Dan Ashe said. “As Superstorm Sandy showed, it is essential to have natural wetlands available to act as a buffer against extreme weather events. 

“Coastal wetlands also serve as some of nature’s most productive fish and wildlife habitat while providing improved water quality and abundant recreational opportunities for local communities. These grants will help our state partners implement some high-quality projects that support conservation and outdoor recreation."

The grants will be used to acquire, restore or enhance coastal wetlands and adjacent uplands to provide long-term conservation benefits to fish, wildlife and their habitat. States and territories receiving funds are California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and American Samoa. 

The National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and funded under provisions of the 1990 Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act. Funding is provided by Sport Fish Restoration Act revenue – money generated from an excise tax on fishing equipment, motorboat and small engine fuels.

A 50-State Report lists more than 100 of the country’s most promising projects, including three projects that will be supported by today’s grants. These three projects are:

• Dickinson Bayou Wetland Restoration Project – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was awarded $500,000 to restore and enhance approximately 27 acres of estuarine intertidal emergent wetlands and tidal channels along Dickinson Bayou part of the Galveston Bay estuary, a nationally significant ecosystem benefiting invertebrates, fish and wildlife species. The project also will improve water quality and enhance recreational fishing and birding opportunities for the public.
• Illinois Wolf-Lake Powderhorn Lake Connection – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, in partnership with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and Openlands, was awarded $1 million to acquire coastal wetlands within the Millennium Reserve in southeast Chicago. The acquisition will expand the amount of contiguous, protected coastal wetland and natural areas to about 1,200 acres on an important bird migration route. This acquisition will increase opportunities for outreach, education and outdoor recreation in economically disadvantaged and underserved communities in the Chicago area.
• Penobscot River Restoration – The project was awarded $1 million to remove the Veazy Dam on the Penobscot River and restore about 225 acres of in-stream habitat and about 65 acres of streamside habitat. Removal of the dam will enhance connectivity and functional value of 188,000 acres of wetland habitats for native sea-run fish, including endangered Atlantic salmon, endangered shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon, and eight other fish species. The project is a joint effort between the Penobscot Indian Nation, the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, six other non-governmental organizations, the State of Maine, the Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and hydropower companies.

Including the 2013 grants, the Service has awarded about $320 million to coastal states and territories since the program began in 1992. When the 2013 projects are complete, about 298,000 acres of habitat will have been protected, restored or enhanced as a direct result of these grants. 

A complete list of projects funded by the 2013 grant program can be found online at http://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2013/pdf/2013awardslist_v2.pdf.

2013 Atlantic Tropical Storm & Hurricane Names.

Storms started being named by the National Weather Service in 1953. Prior, there was a naming system in the West Indies that used the saint's day that a hurricane landed on for its name. This system was used for a couple of hundred years until the US military started using the phonetic alphabet to name storms. Storm number one would be named Able, storm two, Baker and so on. This went on until the phonetic alphabet was changed in 1953 and the National Weather Service began using female names for storms.

In 1978 using just female names ended, first with the Pacific storms, and male names were added to the mix. Today there is an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization that assigns storm names. They don't appear to a real creative group since they rotate the same names on a six year cycle. This system has been in place since 1979.

Some storm names have been retired. This honor is given storms that are extra horrific. The well recognized storms, Katrina, Igor, Ivan, Andrew, Gloria and Hugo are just a few of the retired names.

For 2013 the Named Storms for the Atlantic are:

Andrea
Barry
Chantal
Dorian
Erin
Fernand
Gabrielle
Humberto
Ingrid
Jerry
Karen
Lorenzo
Melissa
Nestor
Olga
Pablo
Rebekah
Sebastien
Tanya
Van
Wendy
In the event a year is extra stormy the names then become the Greek Alphabet beginning with Alpha.

Pennsylvania DEP Provides Update on Susquehanna River, Waterways

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) its final 2012 Integrated Waters report, a biannual assessment of the state’s rivers and streams required by the federal Clean Water Act. The report describes the health of various waterways in the state and, where needed, the state proposes listing waterways as impaired.

“Our final report is firmly grounded in sound science, and we expect that EPA will agree with it based on the science presented,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “Based on the science and law, we do not believe that the main stem of Susquehanna River should be proposed as impaired under the Clean Water Act. While we recognize that the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and others had requested that DEP propose to impair a 98-mile stretch of the Susquehanna River, as we have pointed out on many occasions before, that view is based on very limited, piecemeal data and is not supported by the existing data or the law. But DEP takes the concerns expressed about the Susquehanna very seriously and we are doing something about it. We will be taking, separately, a comprehensive and strategic approach to ensure that the Susquehanna River is protected.

“My staff will be working with the Fish and Boat Commission, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the U.S. Geological Survey to ensure water quality and aquatic life are being protected in the Susquehanna River. In particular, we recognize that there are issues facing smallmouth bass, such as what is called young-of-year die-offs; lesions on adult bass; and inter-sexing of the species,” Krancer said. Inter-sexed fish are males with female characteristics, and young-of-year are recently hatched bass.

“The actual cause of these issues has not yet been determined or linked to any particular water quality issue, but DEP is dedicated to finding the answer through a disciplined scientific approach.”

DEP’s work in this area has been underway for some time. Last summer, agency staff spent 187 combined days on the river collecting hundreds of samples to characterize the water quality in the Susquehanna and its many tributaries. Samples collected included fish, macroinvertebrates, algae, chemistry and data on the river’s dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature.

“Our scientists report that there does not appear to be any demonstrated cause and effect between water quality and the young-of-year die-offs, which, is contrary to what the Fish and Boat Commission has suggested is happening in tributaries outside of the Susquehanna, including the Delaware and Ohio river basins,” Krancer said. “Within the Susquehanna River, this condition has appeared in a few tributaries and the impact is limited to smallmouth bass.

“Our scientists also tell me that no cause and effect can be established right now between water quality and the tumors and lesions found on adult bass. It is not at this point clear how prevalent the tumors and inter-sex conditions are throughout the river, nor if they are related to the young-of-year die-offs,” Krancer said. “It is important to note that the Fish and Boat Commission has not reported any diseased young-of-year in the lower Susquehanna this past summer.

“We plan on keeping our efforts up,” Krancer said. “We will continue sampling at 30 locations throughout the Susquehanna River basin to develop a very comprehensive set of data. We will continue to look at water quality issues facing the river, such as pesticide runoff; hormone-disrupting compounds and nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen.”

The agency will also continue to consult with Dr. Hunter Carrick of Central Michigan University, a respected algal expert, and Dr. Vicki Blazer of the U.S. Geological Survey, a respected fish pathologist.

Secretary Krancer also announced a veteran DEP staff member will serve as Susquehanna River Coordinator to ensure the continuing efforts with the river happen efficiently and with scientific rigor.

“Should the data indicate that a proposed impairment listing is called for in the Susquehanna or any waterway, we would do so,” Krancer said. “In addition to this, we continue to move forward with a very comprehensive federally mandated Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), which is in part responsible for improved water quality across the Chesapeake Bay watershed that includes the Susquehanna.”

To view the 2012 Integrated Report and its accompanying comment and response document, visit www.dep.state.pa.us and click “Water,” then “The Bureau of Point and Non-Point Source Management,” then “Water Quality Standards” on the right-hand side, then “Integrated Water Quality Report - 2012.”

Pennsylvania DEP Announces Comprehensive Oil and Gas Development Radiation Study

At the direction of Governor Corbett, the Department of Environmental Protection announced today it will undertake a study to look at naturally occurring levels of radioactivity in by-products associated with oil and natural gas development.

In the coming weeks, DEP will seek a peer review of its study plan and begin to sample and analyze the naturally occurring radioactivity levels in flowback waters, treatment solids and drill cuttings, as well as associated matters such as the transportation, storage and disposal of drilling wastes

DEP routinely reviews radioactivity data in wastes the oil and natural gas industry and other industries generate, and the information the agency has obtained to date indicates very low levels of natural radioactivity. This study, which is expected to take 12 to 14 months, is aimed at ensuring that public health and the environment continue to be protected.

“This administration is undertaking what will be the most comprehensive study of its kind anywhere, and Gov. Corbett has directed us to do so in order to be proactive for the future and to continue Pennsylvania’s leadership in responsible development of domestic natural gas resources,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “This thorough and rigorous study, which will focus on conditions here in Pennsylvania, is further demonstration that states are best suited to responsibly oversee the natural gas exploration and production activities taking place in our respective borders."

“DEP’s current regulations and monitoring networks are designed to protect the public from exposure to unsafe levels of radiation, and our regulations in this field have led the nation for years,” Krancer said. The agency will collect samples of flowback water, rock cuttings, treatment solids and sediments at well pads and wastewater treatment and waste disposal facilities. The study will also analyze the radioactivity levels in pipes and well casings, storage tanks, treatment systems and trucks.

Throughout the study, DEP will provide progress reports to its water, waste, radiation and citizens’ advisory councils.

Pennsylvania is the only state that requires through regulation that landfills monitor for radiation levels in the incoming wastes. Should waste trigger a radiation monitor, the landfill must use a conservative and highly protective protocol that DEP developed to determine if the amount and concentration of the radioactive material can be accepted. This protocol ensures that the materials, such as Marcellus Shale drill cuttings and other sources of naturally occurring radiation in the waste stream, do not pose a risk to public health during disposal.

Drill cuttings and other materials associated with oil and gas have occasionally triggered radiation monitors at landfills. DEP’s data indicates that less than half a percent of all drill cuttings produced by the Marcellus Shale industry in 2012 that were disposed of in landfills triggered radiation monitors. The cuttings did not contain levels of radioactivity that would be harmful to the public, and they were safely disposed of in the landfills.

In 2011, DEP announced the results of in-stream radiation water quality monitoring for seven rivers in Pennsylvania. The monitors were placed downstream of treatment plants that had been discharging treated Marcellus Shale wastewater, a now defunct practice as a direct result of DEP’s call to industry to cease delivery of wastewater to plants that were not equipped to fully treat it. The in-stream monitoring results showed that radioactivity levels in all seven rivers were at or below normal background levels and below federal safe drinking water standards.

In 2011, DEP also required 14 public water suppliers to report early the results of routine monitoring for radioactivity in drinking water. Such monitoring is required as part of the state’s oversight of public water supplies. Most results showed no detectable levels of radioactivity, and the levels that were detectable did not exceed safe drinking water standards.

DEP will work on the study with Perma-Fix Environmental Services of Pittsburgh, which has worked with the agency as a consultant on health physics and radiological issues and has assisted DEP for more than a decade with radioactivity monitoring and assessments.

The agency will consult with independent members of academia to peer review the project’s detailed study plan. Once the peer review is complete, DEP will publish the study plan on its website, where the agency’s proposal for the study is currently viewable.

For more information and to view the study proposal and a summary of the study, visit www.dep.state.pa.us and click the “Oil and Gas Development Radiation Study” button on the front page.
 

New Jersey asking saltwater anglers to participate in survey

The Division of Fish and Wildlife would like saltwater anglers to participate in an angler survey. The survey measures not just what fishermen catch but it also looks at the effort and way they fish.

Information on what wasn't caught is just as important as what was caught. State biologists are looking for this information to better understand the states fish stocks so informed decisions can be made in increase New Jersey's recreational fishery opportunities.

If you fish in NJ saltwater and would like to participate simply follow this link: http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/marinesurvey.htm