[City Warned Over Mercury In Fish]

City warned over mercury in fish

HIGH mercury levels have been found in fish in the Gold Coast's main water supply.

Australian bass from the city's Hinze dam had mercury levels similar to toxic amounts typically found in larger marine species, including sharks and sword fish, Channel Ten television news said.

It was not known what caused the elevated levels.

Queensland health authorities have warned people not to eat fish caught in the dam and to avoid consuming large amounts of Australian bass.

Investigations are continuing.

[Biomimetic Ocean Power]

Just doing some more research into this type of energy from the sea and there

are others that are pouring money into sea power generation.

Another is in Alaska which uses underwater turbines, similar to the wind powered variety.

New technology taps energy from ebb, flow of tides

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — In the quest for oil-free power, a handful of small companies are staking claims on the boundless energy of the rising and ebbing sea.

The technology that would draw energy from ocean tides to keep light bulbs and laptops aglow is largely untested, but several newly minted companies are reserving tracts of water from Alaska's Cook Inlet to Makah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula to Manhattan's East River in the belief that such sites could become profitable sources of electricity.

The trickle of interest began two years ago, said Celeste Miller, spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The agency issues permits that give companies exclusive rights to study the tidal sites. Permit holders usually have first dibs on development licenses.

Tidal-power proponents liken the technology to little wind turbines on steroids, turning like windmills in the current. Water's greater density means fewer and smaller turbines are needed to produce the same amount of electricity as wind turbines.

After more than two decades of experimenting, the technology has advanced enough to make business sense, said Carolyn Elefant, co-founder of the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition, a marine-energy lobbying group formed in May 2005.

In the last four years, the federal commission has approved nearly a dozen permits to study tidal sites. Applications for about 40 others, all filed in 2006, are under review. No one has applied for a development license, Miller said.

The site that is furthest along in testing lies in New York's East River, between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, where Verdant Power plans to install two underwater turbines this month as part of a small pilot project.

Power from the turbines will be routed to a supermarket and parking garage on nearby Roosevelt Island.

Verdant co-founder and President Trey Taylor said the six-year-old company will spend 18 months studying the effects on fish before putting in another four turbines.

The project will cost more than $10 million, including $2 million on fish monitoring equipment, Taylor said.

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"It's important to spend this much initially," Taylor said. "It's like our flight at Kitty Hawk. It puts us on a path to commercialization and we think eventually costs will fall really fast."

If all goes well, New York-based Verdant could have up to 300 turbines in the river by 2008, Taylor said. The turbines would produce as much as 10 megawatts of power, or enough electricity for 8,000 homes, he said.

With 12,380 miles of coastline, the United States may seem like a wide-open frontier for the fledgling industry, but experts say only a few will prove profitable. The ideal sites are close to a power grid and have large amounts of fast-moving water with enough room to build on the sea floor while staying clear of boat traffic.

"There are thousands of sites, but only a handful of really, really good ones," said Roger Bedard of the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit organization in Palo Alto, Calif., that researches energy and the environment.

"If you're sitting on top of the best scallop fishing in the world, you can't put these things down there," said Chris Sauer, president of Ocean Renewable Power in Miami. The two-year-old company is awaiting approval for federal study permits in Cook Inlet and Resurrection Bay in Alaska, and Cobscook Bay and the St. Croix River in Maine.

Other prime tidal-energy sites lie beneath San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and in Knik Arm near Anchorage, Bedard said.

Government and the private sector in Europe, Canada and Asia have moved faster than their U.S. counterparts to support tidal-energy research. As of June 2006, there were small facilities in Russia, Nova Scotia and China, as well as a 30-year-old plant in France, according to a report by EPRI.

"I expect the first real big tidal plant in North America is going to be built in Nova Scotia," said Bedard, who led the study. "They have the mother of all tidal passages up there."

The industry is coalescing over worries about dependence on foreign oil, volatile oil prices and global warming. Many states have passed laws requiring a certain percentage of energy from renewable sources, and tidal entrepreneurs think they will be looking to diversify beyond wind and solar power.

Elefant said the industry is still trying to figure out how much energy it will be able to supply from tides, as well as waves.

"While ocean energy may not power everything in the U.S., it will be functioning in tandem with other renewable resources and supplement other sea-based technologies," said Elefant, a lawyer in Washington D.C.

In the United States, wave-energy technology is less advanced than tidal and will need more government subsidies, Bedard said, however, the number of good wave sites far exceeds that of tidal. Wave-power collection involves cork or serpentlike devices that absorb energy from swells on the ocean's surface, whereas tidal machines sit on the sea floor.

Tidal-energy technology has been able to build on lessons learned from wind-power development, while wave engineers have had to start virtually from scratch, Bedard said. But a few companies are working aggressively to usher wave power into the energy industry.

Aqua Energy could start building a wave-energy plant at Makah Bay in Washington state within two years, said Chief Executive Officer Alla Weinstein. Another wave plant, whose backers include major Norwegian energy company Norsk Hydro, is under construction off the coast of Portugal.

Miller, from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said the commission has received applications for three wave-energy permits in Oregon, all filed since July.

Verdant Power shows a preproduction model of the company's electricity-generating water turbine, mounted above ground for testing, at an assembly facility in Troy, N.Y.

[Biomimetic Ocean Power]

Just found out the best part of this story.

BioSTREAM is owned by an Australian company called BioPower Sytems and

is being developed by an Aussie right here in Sydney.

So hopefully, we may all be benefiting from this in the future.

Let's hope their trials are successful.

Pete.

___________________________________

This from their website http://www.biopowersystems.com/index.html

BioPower Systems Pty Ltd. is a renewable energy systems company. It was founded by Dr. Timothy Finnigan, a marine engineer at the University of Sydney and former Technical Director of Energetech Australia Pty. Ltd.

The company is developing new systems for both wave and tidal energy conversion. Experience has shown that traditional engineering methods are uneconomical when applied to ocean energy conversion. At the same time, natural biological systems have already optimised mechanisms for survival and energy-conversion in the marine environment.

In an application of biomimicry, which refers to the adaptation of biological traits in engineered systems, BioPower Systems has copied many of the beneficial traits from natural systems in the development of the new ocean energy conversion systems. The company is currently in the early stages, and technologies are undergoing proof-of-concept R&D, and commercial development.

Laboratory testing will be completed in 2007, and full-scale ocean-based prototypes will be tested in 2008. Commercial units are expected to reach the market by the end of 2009.

[Biomimetic Ocean Power]

Biomimetic Ocean Power

Ocean power is a dark horse in the race for the future of energy--few people know much about it yet, but I predict it will be huge. I also love biomimicry, so I was delighted to discover BioPower Systems Pty. Ltd., a new company using biomimetic designs to generate power from the ocean. They have two main designs--the BioWAVE, which imitates kelp fronds, and the BioSTREAM, which imitates shark or tuna tails.

Both designs are meant to oscillate back and forth in ocean currents rather than rotating like a turbine, and they use a proprietary drivetrain to convert that low-speed high-torque oscillation into high-speed low-torque rotation of a permanent magnet motor. (No doubt a gearbox and a mechanical rectifier.) According to Worldchanging.com, oscillating instead of rotating makes them much less dangerous to sea creatures; the only possibility of harm to fish and other creatures is them getting smacked by a device, which is unlikely, since the waves that push the devices will also be pushing the fish in the same direction. Even the base that holds these devices to the ocean floor is biologically inspired in its design--rather than having a single beefy piling, it has many small “roots“ bolting it to the seabed. This way installing the system is easier and cheaper--it “does not require large specialized vessels or drill rigs due to the small gauge of each bolt.“

BioPower says the BioWAVE (kelp-like) generator captures the widest and deepest swath of wave energy of any device that does not require a huge rigid structure. It also rotates freely, so it automatically orients itself to the wave direction to maximize output. In storms, it can also lay itself flat on the ocean floor to avoid the extreme forces which would rip apart a rigid generator. (Or which would require a rigid generator to be massively overbuilt and more expensive.)

The BioSTREAM (tail-like) generator is basically an active weathervane, which changes its pitch to make the waves push it around. While not as big as the BioWAVE, it should be more efficient: they say “The motions, mechanisms, and caudal fin hydrofoil shapes of [shark, tuna, and mackerel] have been optimized by natural selection and are known to be up to 90% efficient at converting body energy into propulsive force.“ Presumably when you reverse it to convert the propulsive force of waves to energy, the efficiency is just as good. The BioSTREAM would also self-orient to the waves, of course, and in rough seas can “assume a streamlined configuration to avoid excess loading“. They say they are developing the system in sizes from half a megawatt to 2 MW.

At first I thought these systems would be great to adapt to wind power as well (avoiding the whole bird-killing problem, the main objection to wind power). However, both of these systems require the fluid they’re in to go back and forth--they use the power of waves, not the power of ocean currents. This is a fundamentally different ballgame than wind power.

In any case, it will be exciting to see where this goes. Their ideas are still just in the lab, but the company’s Dr. Timothy Finnigan says, “The company is now planning to conduct lab-scale model testing, and follow this with a full-scale ocean-based pilot program in 2008. Commercial units are expected to be available in 2009.“

The BioSTREAM (tail-like) generator is basically an active weathervane, which changes its pitch to make the waves push it around.

[A Real Million Dollar Lure]

A real Million Dollar Lure

California luremaker uses gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies in saltwater design

Call it the perfect holiday present for the angler who has everything.

The only catch?

This gift is a real fishing lure encrusted with gold, platinum, diamonds and rubies … and a price tag that might break the bank, and then some.

Called the Million Dollar Lure, this shiny, saltwater bait is the brainchild of 53-old-old Shell Beach, Calif., entrepreneur Mac Burney, the head man of the MacDaddy Lure Company.

"The Million Dollar Lure has over 4,753 diamonds and rubies," Burney said. "It's got over 3 pounds of gold and platinum and over 100 carats of gemstones."

Burney, whose company also creates other gold- and diamond-encrusted lures and flies, said he got the idea for the expensive tackle at annual outdoor show in southern California.

"A company called High Five had made the winning lure of the Bisbee tournament last year," Burney said. "We were making freshwater lures and someone held up the winning lure and asked if we could make saltwater lures. I said why not?"

According to Burney, that reportedly drew the attention of Wayne Bisbee, one of the head men in the renowned Bisbee billfish tourneys held every year off the west coast of Mexico.

"They all thought I was crazy as a fruitcake," Burney said. "He said if I built it, come on down. Two months later I called him and told him it was complete."

Not only was it complete, it was ready to rock and roll behind the boat. According to the lure's designer, the pricey bait that measures more than 12 inches long "trolls perfect behind the boat, absolutely perfect."

Say what?

You read that right. Burney said such lures are designed to be fished with, not just put in a safe or a shadow box for the wall.

In fact, he said that he used the Million Dollar Lure last week while fishing in the prestigious 26th annual Bisbee's Black & Blue Marlin Tournament off Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur.

Any luck with the high-dollar tackle Burney was tossing into the brine?

"The governor (of Baja) got tapped by something and the lure lost a couple of stones," Burney said. "Then we fished it (ourselves) the next day on the big yacht called the Kahuna. We had a big blue (marlin) come and do a pass by; the film crew and everyone saw it."

"I just wish that a 500-pound fish would have grabbed it, but it didn't."

What if a big fish actually grabs it and makes off like a bandit with the jewel encrusted tackle?

Burney said that the lure — one of a limited edition of 25 — is insured by Lloyds of London.

"We're the only company in the world that Lloyds of London insures our tackle box," Burney quipped. "We fish the most expensive lures in the world."

Burney also said that two pieces of special equipment are on the lure to ensure that it hooks a fish but isn't lost at sea.

One is called a Quick Rig, which features two very strong stainless steel hooks. The other device is a specially built titanium split-ring called the Ultimate Smart Link.

"Those two products are designed especially for the Million Dollar Lure," Burney said. "We take every precaution, but when it comes down to it we stand back and let it go."

What's next for these collector lures encrusted with jewels and covered with precious metals?

Easy, said Burney, more fishing.

"Next time, we'll use the lure in Florida, Hawaii or one of the (locations of one of the) other major tournaments."

Ever the salesman, Burney said "It's the ultimate gift for the trophy room."

For a cool million bucks, you can make that determination.

[Roast Whole Snapper With Shiraz Buerre Rouge]

Roast whole snapper with shiraz buerre rouge

Chef: Kate Lamont

Nibblies with Kate

Degree of difficulty: Low

You need:

1 whole snapper

2 cups shiraz

1 tbls red wine vinegar

1 tsp white peppercorns

½ cup cream

350gm diced cold butter

Method:

Ensure cavity of fish is washed and cleaned. Scale the whole fish and trim fins and tail. Fill cavity with sliced oranges and sprigs of thyme and butter.

Place fish on roasting tray lined with silicon paper. Season well with salt and pepper.

Roast at 180°C until cooked, checking behind the head as it's the thickest part. (The timing will depend on each fish).

Reduce wine, vinegar and peppercorns by two thirds. Add cream and reduce by half. Over a low heat, carefully whisk in butter in small amounts.

Strain and serve immediately.

[Jewfish Fillets In Lemon Coconut Sauce]

Jewfish Fillets in Lemon Coconut Sauce

Chef: Lyn Battle

This is a delicious way to enjoy any white fish fillets, especially Jewfish, which are being caught now at Sweers Island.

Degree of difficulty: Low

You need:

750g Jewfish (or other white fish) fillets

40g butter

3 Tblsp lemon juice

grated rind of 1 lemon

¼ tsp nutmeg

2 Tblsp creamed coconut

Method:

Wash and skin the fish fillets. Melt the butter in a frypan and add the lemon rind, juice and nutmeg.

Add the fish and simmer gently, covered, til the fish is nearly cooked.

Then add the creamed coconut and stir until the mixture is slightly thickened. Serve the fish on a plate with the sauce drizzled over the top.

[Seafood Pie With Leek, Garlic And Chives]

SEAFOOD PIE WITH LEEK, GARLIC AND CHIVES

Serves 4

You need:

1/2 cup dry white wine

6 mussels

8 vongole, surf clams or pipis

1 small leek

40g butter

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

200g firm fish fillets, chopped into bite-size pieces

8 green medium prawns, shelled, deveined and chopped

8 scallops

1 bunch chives, chopped

1 cup bechamel sauce (see separate recipe)

40g grated gruyere cheese

juice of 1 lemon, or to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

2 sheets ready rolled butter puff pastry

Method:

Heat half the wine in moderately hot pan. Add mussels and vongole, cover and cook until shells open. Remove as soon as they open.

Remove mussels and vongoles from shells.

Drain any remaining liquid from the pan and reserve.

Rinse leek thoroughly, discard green part and chop white.

Heat pan, add butter, heat and sweat leeks and garlic.

Remove garlic and leeks from pan and set aside.

Add remaining wine and heat to deglaze pan. Pour into a bowl and add

the vegetables, all the seafood, reserved mussel liquid and chives.

Stir in the bechamel sauce, cheese and lemon juice.

Taste and season well (it will need quite a bit of salt).

Leave mixture to cool to room temperature.

Spoon mixture into 4 individual heatproof dishes.

Cut pastry sheet into 4 quarters. Place each square over the dish, gently pushing the pastry hanging over the side into the dish. It doesn’t seal but is like a cover. It’s easier and more rustic.

Cook pies in a hot oven (220°C) for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden.

Notes: Other seafood could be added or substituted in this recipe, such as crab or lobster meat. If using a pie maker, fry the fish, prawns and scallops quickly until half cooked.

Make 1 large pie in a casserole dish. Cover dish with puff pastry, overlapping 2 sheets if required, or top with mashed potato, sprinkled with sesame seeds. Make individual pies in muffin tins by gently pressing pastry into greased tin, filling with seafood mixture and sealing with pastry top.

Wine Suggestion: A nice Hunter Valley Semillon

[Greek Fisherman's Soup With Egg And Lemon]

Greek fisherman's soup with egg and lemon

The simplest versions of this recipe are made by cooking everything in the one pot - bones and all. Cooking with fish still on the bone imparts more flavour, but it's terribly messy to eat, unless you have very large-boned fish. For this recipe you first make a fish stock from the bones and then make the soup.

INGREDIENTS

For the stock:

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

bones and head from 900g of firm white fish (e.g. flathead), the flesh of which has been filleted, cut into large pieces and set aside for the soup

1 carrot, sliced

1 stick celery, chopped

a few stalks of parsley

1/2 tsp peppercorns

1 litre water

For the soup:

reserved fish pieces (see stock recipe above)

1 clove garlic, sliced

4 tbsp butter

a pinch of dried oregano

salt

fish stock

75g short grain rice, rinsed

3 whole eggs

1-2 lemons

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

METHOD

For the stock: In a large pot gently cook the onion and 2 cloves garlic in olive oil until soft.

Add all the other ingredients (keeping the fish flesh aside for the soup). Boil, skim any scum and reduce heat. Cook gently for 45 minutes then strain and reserve liquid.

For the soup: In a large, wide, heavy-based pot cook the fish pieces and garlic in the butter over high heat for a few minutes. Don't allow the butter to colour. Add the oregano, salt and stock. Simmer gently for a few minutes or until the fish is just cooked.

Remove the fish to a plate with a slotted spoon and add the rice to the stock. Simmer for 15 minutes, then return the fish and remove from the heat.

Whisk the eggs with the juice of 1 lemon then add a ladleful of hot soup to the eggs, whisking. Stir this into the soup until well combined. Add parsley and season to taste - you may want more lemon juice. Cover with a lid and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

[Ain’t Misbehavin’ With A Fishier Diet]

Ain’t misbehavin’ with a fishier diet

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Are the kids misbehaving again?

Don’t spank them, or ground them, or make them do extra chores.

Just pour some fish oil down their throat! That’ll fix ‘em!

Admittedly, that may be a slight exaggeration. In fact, it may even be a not-so-slight exaggeration.

But recent studies in both the United Kingdom and the United States indicate that poor diet may be a contributing factor to violent behavior, and that too much of the wrong kind of fatty acids – and not enough of the right kind – probably don’t help things, either.

In a UK study involving jailed convicts, young men were fed multivitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, and the number of violent offenses committed in the prison fell by 37 percent.

In a pilot study conducted in the United States by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - part of the National Institutes for Health - researchers found that supplements of omega-3, the essential fatty acid in fish oil, decreased the amount of anger, as measured by standard scales of hostility and irritability, in alcoholics by one-third – even if they had relapsed in their efforts to stop drinking.

A subsequent study involving more participants is almost complete.

Joseph Hibbein, the clinician in charge of the U.S. study, told the British newspaper The Guardian that the results aren’t really all that surprising, given modern diets. Although not all experts agree, Hibbein believes - and his study appears to indicate - that deficiencies in essential fatty acids can cause mental problems like depression and aggression.

The science behind it goes something like this: Essential fatty acids are called such because they’re just that – essential. We can’t produce them in our own bodies, so it’s essential that we acquire them from the foods we eat. The brain requires fats to operate (so being called a fat-head or some other such fat-related insult might not be all that demeaning, after all).

The synapses, the points inside the brain where nerve cells meet, contain high concentrations of fatty acids. But not all fatty acids are the same.

Omega-3 DHA, is a long, flexible fatty acid. Think of it as the lithe runner/swimmer/cyclist of the fatty acid community. (It probably would even take an occasional yoga or tai chi class, too.)

Nerve signals in the brain pass through omega-3 pretty easily. But omega-6 is a fatty acid of a somewhat different nature. It’s a short, dumpy, totally inflexible couch potato of an acid.

Guess which fatty acid Americans are more prone to eat?

“It’s very easy to get omega-6 in your diet,” said Cherokee County Health Department nutritionist Jennifer Murray, adding that many of the cooking oils and other ingredients we eat tend to contain omega-6. “But you don’t get omega-3 as much. I have seen studies that show that the right mixture of the two is important to mood and test-taking.”

Hibbein theorizes that omega-6 fatty acids take up the same pathways in the brain as omega-3 fatty acids, and clog things up.

Hibbein has also measured the increase in consumption of omega-6 fatty acids in 38 countries over the past 40 years, and found that increase correlated to an increase in homicides in those countries. However, industrialized countries with diets high in fish, like Japan, have low murder rates.

Of course, a lot of factors have changed during that 40-year period – not just diets - so to blame murders on a lack of fish oil might be a hasty assumption.

But as early as the 1970s, some nutrition experts were warning that deficiencies in omega-3 fatty acids could cause behavioral problems as diets in industrialized countries became lighter on omega-3 and heavier on omega-6.

Becky Boman was alive back in the ‘70s and actually became a vegetarian during that particular decade. Later, she added fish and chicken to her diet.

“I grew up eating cow, so it was hard to remain a vegetarian,” she said.

She finally settled on a diet that was less “anti-meat” than in her younger years, but which also included no processed sugar.

“I’m convinced sugar is the main culprit, but I can see where the wrong kinds of fats would be just as bad,” she said. “Really, anything processed is probably not going to be as healthy as fresh, and red meat is definitely not as healthy as fish.”

Health department nutritionist Murray said studies like these, that measure the effects of various foods on mood, emotion, and behavior, will probably have an eventual effect on the offerings in public school cafeterias.

It’s commonly accepted that kids need to eat in order to learn effectively. Now, the trick is figuring out what exactly it is they need to be eating.

“Schools are just now changing their vending machines that had candy in them,” Murray said. “So it’ll probably be a slow progression, as they do more research.”

[Radioactive Fish Give Off Bad Vibes]

Fish exposed to dangerous radiation send out chemical signals to alert their pals so they can then turn up their defenses, scientists in Canada report.

These results might help regulators identify radiation leaks from nuclear power plants.

Since 1921, scientists have known that cells and animals exposed to radiation emit chemical signals to other cells and animals, respectively. Sometimes, these signals appear to trigger defense, repair or restorative functions, and at other times they seem to lead to genetic mutations and chromosome damage, much like radiation sickness.

Understanding how the messenger chemicals alert “bystanders” has been tricky. "We are dealing with very small molecules that act like pheromones," lead researcher Carmel Mothersill, a radiation biologist at McMaster University in Canada, told LiveScience.

To examine the transfer of bystander chemicals, the researchers placed rainbow trout in tanks in front of an X-ray machine and gave the fish non-lethal doses of radiation. They paired the irradiated fish in tanks with unexposed trout for two hours.

The unexposed fish showed increased death rates in cells from their gills, fins, skin, spleens and kidneys — features that are expected if the fish were exposed to radiation directly.

The researchers suspect these chemical signals help warn fish "to induce appropriate defenses," Mothersill said. The “helpful” alarm comes at a cost for the rainbow trout: damaged and wiped out cells. But the death of a few damaged cells "may protect an organ from cancer, or loss of a few weak individuals in a group may benefit the group as a whole," Mothersill explained.

The research team is now trying to identify the compounds responsible for the bystander effects. Detecting these bystander signals in fish could help regulators prove a nuclear plant is leaking radiation, Mothersill added.

The scientists reported their findings in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

[Heart Attack Survivors To Be Given Fish Oil Supplements]

Heart attack survivors to be given fish oil supplements

Millions of heart attack survivors will be prescribed fish oil supplements for life on the NHS in a bid to prevent further seizures.

New guidelines being drawn up for doctors recommend heart patients get a daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids to reduce the risk of a second attack.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) currently advises that patients who have suffered a heart attack should eat a Mediteranean-style diet and increase their consumption of oily fish to between two and four portions a week.

However, the new guidance will say doctors should prescribe a one gram capsule of fish oil a day to heart attack survivors to prevent a second attack, at a cost to the NHS of less than £1 a day.

The move comes as an increasing number of studies have highlighted the benefits of eating oily fish or taking fish oil supplements. It has been shown to cut the risk of heart disease, help children's growth and improve performance at schools.

The panel making the latest recommendation says it is based on 'robust' research evidence, citing a study of 11,000 heart attack survivors which showed those taking fish oil supplements regularly had a lower risk of death and non-fatal heart attack and stroke.

The health service spends £1.73 billion annually caring for heart disease victims and it is thought the move would save money for the NHS in the long-term - particularly if patients took the capsules for life.

The guidance has been put out for consultation to professional bodies and heart charities and will take effect early next year.

Coronary heart disease is the most common cause of death in the UK accounting for 125,000 deaths each year.

Around 270,000 Britons each year have a heart attack, with up to three-quarters surviving but at higher risk of having another one.

London GP Dr Sarah Jarvis, who is also chairwoman of the International Cod Liver Omega-3 Foundation, said the guidance marks a turning point in preventing recurrent heart attack.

She said: "Fish oil omega-3 should be actively recommended and prescribed for all patients being discharged from hospital following a heart attack.

"It is much healthier and more cost effective for the NHS to recommend fish oil supplements to patients than some drugs that are widely prescribed to patients for many other conditions.

"I would hope eventually they will be prescribed not just for the thousands of new patients who survive a heart attack each year, but those who've had a heart attack in the past," she added.

Fish oil supplements are approved for prescribing on the NHS to patients after a heart attack, or who have metabolic syndrome or high triglycerides - unhealthy blood fats.

The proposals to prescribe them will bring the UK in line with some other European countries where patients are prescribed purified fish oil following numerous research studies showing the health benefits.

Dr Jarvis, who already prescribes fish oil capsules for heart patients, says few GPs currently do so despite professional guidelines showing they reduce harmful blood fats by 30 per cent.

Dr Jarvis said she agreed to chair the International Foundation because its sponsorship from the industry comes with "no strings attached".

"There is an abundance of evidence which supports the use of fish oil supplementation in heart disease and I want to make more people aware of this.

"Unfortunately 75 per cent of people don't eat fish so we need to get the message across about supplements," she added.

Dr Ray Rice, a Foundation panel member, said: "Currently every patient in cardiac care units in Italy who survives a heart attack goes home with a prescription for purified fish oil and this is the way we want things to go here.

"It is clearly recommended in international guidelines and I'm shocked we are so far behind in the UK."

Patrick Holford, founder and chief executive of the Food For The Brain Foundation charity, said it was well recognised that eating at least two oily portions of fish a week halved the risk of a second heart attack.

He said omega-3s were truly a "super food" because they were healthy fats critical to maintaining a wide range of body functions.

He said 'For far too long we have been digging our own graves with a knife and fork.

"Heart attacks will not be stopped by taking medication but by giving up the wrong foods, and the wrong kind of fats."

A spokesman for Heart UK charity said: "We have contributed to the consultation on NICE guidelines for secondary prevention of heart attack and look forward to the final version."

A spokesman for the British Heart Foundation charity said it could not comment until the final guidelines are produced.

Omega-3 fatty acids are natural polyunsaturates found in oily fish such as mackerel, herring, salmon, sardines or trout - and fish oil supplements - soya bean, rape seed oil, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds and walnuts.

Omega-3 fats are important throughout adult life for mental well-being but in particular help heart patients, and those with arthritis, by blocking the body's response to inflammation.

They work in several ways to reduce heart attack risk by cutting blood fats, reducing the chances of a blood clot and blocking dangerous heart rhythms that might otherwise prove fatal.

White fish is also a healthy food including cod, haddock and plaice although it contains lower levels of essential fatty acids.

Research shows regular fish eaters are 30-40 per cent more likely to survive a heart attack. Omega-3 has been shown to have huge benefits in a number of areas. It helps babies grow in the womb and aid are critical for brain, nerve and eye development.

They have also been found to help young people improve results at school and improve the concentration of children with conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD.

[Australia Detains 15 Chinese Fishermen]

Australia detains 15 Chinese fishermen

China said Friday 15 fishermen have been detained in Darwin, Australia, on suspicion of fishing illegally in Australian waters.

The official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, reported an Australian defense ship intercepted a Chinese boat and took the fishermen to the capital of Australia's Northern Territory.

The report said it was the sixth Chinese boat detained so far this year.

The owner of the Chinese vessel was quoted as saying there was no fishing in the Australian waters. He said the boat was nearly out of power and was waiting for refueling when it was intercepted without any fish on the boat.

The Chinese Embassy in Australia urged that the issue be dealt with properly and the vessel and its crew released as early as possible.

[Blue Lobster On Display In Portland]

Blue Lobster On Display In Portland

A blue lobsters is a one-in-a million catch. And now, one Portland fish shops can boast having its second blue lobster in two years.

The blue lobster was caught by a local fisherman and sold to Free Range Fish and Seafood on Commercial Street. Owner Joe Ray says he received the off-color crustacean last week.

Ray says the lobster will spend some time in the shop, so customers can seem him before he's shipped off to an aquarium for research.

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute says blue lobsters are a rare find. But not the most unique of the species. In August, a Rockland man hauled in a yellow lobster, and in July, a Bar Harbor lobsterman trapped a half green-half red lobster. The odds of catching a half-and-half lobster are one in 50 million.

[Zebrafish May Hold Key To Broken Heart]

Zebrafish may hold key to broken heart

DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- It might not help with affairs of the heart, but researchers in North Carolina say zebrafish may hold the key to understanding repairs of the heart.

Researchers at Duke University said when they removed a portion of the fish's heart, they witnessed stem cells formed inside the wound interact with the wound's protective cell layer to regenerate functional heart tissue, ScienceDaily.com said.

Duke scientists said the research with zebrafish could provide a model to aid researchers revive what they believe is this dormant regenerative capacity in mammals -- leading to therapies for human hearts damaged by disease -- ScienceDaily.com said.

Team member Kenneth Poss said researchers learned the zebrafish's regeneration process resembled a salamander's, ScienceDaily.com said. The site of the injury acted as a gathering point for stem, or progenitor, cells that have the potential to become other cell types. As the progenitor cells got the biochemical cues, they turned into distinct cell types, such as bone, muscle and cartilage, forming a new limb.

Poss said progenitor cells have been identified in a mammal's heart, but for some reason don't regenerate, ScienceDaily.com said.

[More Marine Parks Needed: Greenpeace]

More marine parks needed: Greenpeace

Greenpeace wants the world's governments to set aside 40 per cent of oceans as marine reserves.

The call follows the release of an international study claiming marine ecosystems around the world face wholesale collapse in the next 40 years.

The scientific study, published in the journal Science, found almost 30 per cent of fished species populations had reached collapse in 2003.

It found that, if nothing is done to reverse the trend, in a mere four decades, little sustainable fish or sea food will remain.

Greenpeace spokesman Nilesh Goundar said the severity of the situation called for dramatic protection, namely setting aside 40 per cent of the world's oceans as marine reserves.

"Overfishing and pirate fishing are destroying our oceans at an alarming rate," Mr Goundar said in a statement.

"Ocean pirates are stealing up to $US9 billion ($A11.65 billion) worth of fish a year from some of the world's poorest people.

"Urgent action worldwide is needed to change fishing practices and reclaim our oceans for marine life and coastal communities."

[Call Me An Idiot But .....]

Hi Fletcher. It's in Abbotsford near Canada Bay on the Parra River.

Here's a Wikepedia link to google maps plus a few others..Just click on them

for a satellite/map view which shows the streets to go land based.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbotsford,_New_South_Wales

Others may be more specific as to where to fish.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Pete

[Rare Fish Eating Reptile Fossil Find On Roadside]

Rare fossil find on roadside

DISCOVERING a rare, 100 million-year-old fossil is amazing enough.

But not as surprising as the way Queensland Museum palaeontologist Alex Cook found it.

Keen for a break after more than three hours of driving, Dr Cook thought he would stretch his legs at the northwest Queensland town of Hughenden - and literally stumbled over the fossil.

"I found it literally on the side of the road. It's serendipity, a happy accident," Dr Cook said today.

It is the third jaw fragment of a pterosaur - a winged, fish-eating reptile that lived in the time of the dinosaurs - found in Australia.

It also is one of the "most exquisitely preserved" pterosaur specimens found in the world.

Dr Cook said pterosaur bones were "rare worldwide".

Only 50 pterosaur bones have been found in Australia in 140 years of collecting.

No wonder Dr Cook couldn't believe his luck.

"We were getting a little tired ... so we stopped at Hughenden, had some lunch, had a bit of a look around and I literally kicked it over," he said.

"It is a little bit like finding an extraordinarily endangered species that you have been looking for - they are that rare."

Dr Cook was on a fossil-finding trip in northwest Queensland with fellow palaeontologists - Colin McHenry, from the University of Newcastle and Adam Morell of the Richmond Marine Fossil Museum, near Hughenden about 500km from Mt Isa - when he made the surprise find in 2004.

After almost two years of painstakingly removing the 12cm by 1cm lower-jaw fragment from the 5kg of limestone rock with micro jackhammers, Dr Cook proudly unveiled the discovery in Brisbane today.

The jaw fragment was from a pterosaur that had a wing span of two metres, which lived near an inland sea that flooded the Great Artesian Basin between 100 million to 250 million years ago.

It was just another rare fossil find accidentally discovered in north-west Queensland.

Winton grazier David Elliott has stumbled across not only the remains of the biggest dinosaur yet found in Australia but also two rare meteorites, by driving around his property.

"David's on a roll. But accidental finds are not uncommon in Queensland," Dr Cook said.

"Many of our big dinosaur finds have been found by graziers accidentally running into them with their motorbikes."

All three pterosaur jaw fragments found in Australia were discovered in Queensland.

Dr Cook said he visited the Hughenden site at least twice a year to go over it with "an extremely fine-toothed comb" - but so far had not found any more pterosaur remains.

"It won't stop me looking though," he laughed.

__________________________________________________

Here is what a pterosaur was supposed to look like:

[The Cost Of Killing Krill]

The cost of killing krill

A recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization found that almost half of all fish eaten worldwide are raised on fish farms rather than caught in the wild. It is likely that consumption of no other fish has soared more than that of farmed salmon, with production surging by almost 300 percent in 20 years.

Salmon are carnivorous, however, and to feed the voracious appetite of these legions of farm-raised fish, the aquaculture industry increasingly has turned its attention to a small crustacean commonly known as Antarctic krill. But that's bad news for leopard seals and Adelie penguins, humpback and blue whales, and many other species, because most organisms in the Antarctic marine ecosystem eat either krill or something that eats krill.

Found in the cold waters of the Southern Ocean, krill constitute a key ingredient in fish oil and feed. Unfortunately, recent research indicates that expanded krill fishing might put the Antarctic ecosystem at risk. Representatives from the world's major fishing nations, meeting this fall in Australia, have an opportunity to limit krill catches, thereby helping creatures that need krill to survive.

Although each krill may only grow to weigh about 2g, together they constitute one of the most abundant animal species on Earth. Indeed, krill form the largest known aggregation of marine life, with a biomass perhaps greater than any other multicellular animal organism on the planet.

This "pink gold" forms the heart of the Antarctic marine food web, and land-based krill predators, such as penguins and seals, are most vulnerable to krill scarcity. Scientists have found that demand for krill has begun to exceed supply in some areas of the Southwest Atlantic. As a result, penguins and albatrosses already experience difficulty rearing their offspring in areas such as South Georgia. And yet krill fishing is projected to grow.

The Southern Ocean contains the largest population of krill in the world. As krill tend to aggregate in concentrated swarms, they are easy to catch and have become particularly attractive to large-scale commercial interests.

Moreover, krill fishing has recently been fueled by new technological advances such as vacuum pumps, which allow a single fishing vessel to catch and process huge amounts -- up to 120,000 tonnes per season.

Furthermore, demand for krill products -- from fish oil and feed to skin creams and other cosmetics -- has increased over the past 20 years. As wild fish populations continue to decrease, in tandem with an ever-growing global appetite for seafood, the pressure on the aquaculture industry for fish feed will skyrocket. The increased demand for krill, along with the new catching and processing capabilities, has combined in a way that the Antarctic ecosystem might not be able to withstand.

But there is hope. The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was established in 1982, as part of the Antarctic Treaty System, in response to concerns that continued unregulated fishing might undermine the basis of the Antarctic food chain. The CCAMLR is governed by a commission of 24 member states -- including Argentina, Australia, Chile, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, the US and the EU -- that meets annually in Hobart, Australia, to discuss new fishing regulations concerning marine species in the Southern Ocean.

The CCAMLR has pioneered ecosystem and precautionary approaches to fisheries management, which are now central to maintaining Antarctic krill. Although the needs of krill-dependent species were previously considered for large areas of the Southern Ocean, the CCAMLR must still scientifically subdivide the overall catch limit into smaller units. This would help avoid local competition between krill vessels and the creatures that need krill to live, since krill fishing closely overlaps with the critical foraging areas for penguins and seals.

The CCAMLR's members must honor the organization's mandate for conservation and ensure that there is enough "pink gold" to feed the penguins and other wildlife that depend on it. The CCAMLR should also apply to krill fishing the same monitoring, control and surveillance measures that it requires for all other fisheries.

Antarctic krill must not be fished to feed the fish farms of the world while starving the penguins, seals, whales and other species whose survival depends on these tiny, but vitally important, creatures.

[Great Shadecloth For Great Barrier Reef]

First we had the story of water sprays on the Great Barrier Reef to lower the water temparature, to protect the coral.

Now we have another hair-brained idea to cover vast areas of the Reef with Shadecloth.

What will they suggest next? Umbrellas??? Perhaps millions of Fishraider hats???.

Pete.

_____________________________

Great shadecloth for Great Barrier Reef

Vast areas of shadecloth could soon cover parts the Great Barrier Reef to prevent the future bleaching of coral.

The shadecloth is one option being developing by marine researchers in Queensland, who say the cloth would be held in place by floating pontoons.

Another option to protect important areas of coral is to spray the water's surface, breaking the surface tension of the water thus increasing the protection of the coral beneath from the sun.

Tourism Minister Fran Bailey has welcomed the shadecloth idea today, saying it would help protect some of the most vulnerable areas of the reef.

"We're very concerned because this is a $5.8 billion tourist industry on the reef employing 33,000 people," Ms Bailey told ABC Radio today.

"So, obviously, we're tackling this issue from both ends - the cause of the problem and also trying to find very practical ways where we can mitigate the problem."

Opposition environment spokesman Anthony Albanese said the idea was absurd.

"There are 2,900 reefs altogether. They go for 2,300 km down the Queensland coast and cover an area larger than the UK and Ireland combined, so that's a lot of shadecloth," he told ABC radio.

Mr Albanese said the federal government needs to employ a climate change strategy, and stop looking at quick fixes.

[By 2048 All Current Fish, Seafood Species Projected To Collapse]

By 2048 all current fish, seafood species projected to collapse

Marine species loss is accelerating and threatening human well-being, according to a report published in the 3 November issue of the journal Science published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

"Species have been disappearing from ocean ecosystems and this trend has recently been accelerating," said lead author Boris Worm. "Now we begin to see some of the consequences. For example, if the long-term trend continues, all fish and seafood species are projected to collapse within my lifetime -- by 2048." Worm is an assistant professor of marine conservation biology at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.

In the paper "Impact of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services," an international team of ecologists and economists studied the role marine biodiversity plays in maintaining ecosystem services, which are those goods and functions that are essential for the growing human population.

"Worm and colleagues have provided the first comprehensive assessment of thestate of ecosystem services provided by the biodiversity of the world's oceans to humanity," said Science International Managing Editor Andrew Sugden. "The news is both bad and good.

"The strength of this paper lies in the breadth of the array of information the authors used for their analysis; they not only used new experimental data and recent data, they also delved into historical archives to assess the impact of humans on marine ecosystem overdecades and centuries," Sugden said.

"At this point," Worm said, "29 percent of fish and seafood species have collapsed -- that is their catch has declined by 90 percent. It is a very clear trend, and it is accelerating. We don't have to use models to understand this trend; it is based on all the available data."

Researchers also determined that the problem is much greater than losing a key source of food. Damage to the oceans impact not only fisheries, but the ocean ecosystem's overall productivity and stability. Specific services that have declined involve the maintenance of water quality by biological filtering, the provision of nursery habitats and the protection of shorelines by marine species. The loss of marine diversity also appeared to increase the risks of beach closures, harmful algal blooms (red tide, for example), oxygen depletion, fish kills and coastal flooding.

"The good news is that it is not too late to turn things around," Worm said. The scientists studied 48 areas worldwide that have been protected to improve marine biodiversity. "We see that diversity of species recovered dramatically, and with it the ecosystem's productivity and stability."

Researchers studied a variety of information in four meta-analyses, progressing from local to regional and global scales.

First, they analyzed 32 marine experiments that manipulated species diversity on small, local scales, and monitored the effects. Second, researchers tracked the 1,000-year-long history of change in species diversity and associated services across 12 coastal regions around the world. These included Chesapeake, Delaware, Massachusetts, Galveston, San Francisco Bay and Pamlico Sound (all U.S.), The Bay of Fundy and Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada), The Adriatic, Baltic and North Seas (Europe), as well as Moreton Bay (Australia). Sources included archives, fishery records, sediment cores and archeological data.

Then, the team compiled global fisheries catch data from 64 large marine ecosystems to test for the effects of large-scale species loss on fisheries-related services. They used the fisheries database compiled by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Sea Around Us Project at the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia. Finally, the scientists investigated how recovery of biodiversity in 48 marine protected areas -- reserves and fishery closures -- affected the recovery of services.

The researchers were surprised to find very similar relationships between biodiversity change and ecosystem services at scales ranging from small square-meter plots to entire ocean basins, Worm said. "This suggests that small-scale experiments can be used to predict large-scale ocean change.

"Through this research, it became clear to me that we hardly appreciate living on a blue planet," Worm said. "The oceans define our planet, and their fate may to a large extent determine our fate, now and in the future."

###

['only 50 Years Left' For Sea-fish]

'Only 50 years left' for sea-fish

There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a major scientific study.

Stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of sea fisheries, and the rate of decline is accelerating.

Writing in the journal Science, the international team of researchers says fishery decline is closely tied to a broader loss of marine biodiversity.

But a greater use of protected areas could safeguard existing stocks.

"The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be another species to exploit after we've completely gone through the last one," said research leader Boris Worm, from Dalhousie University in Canada.

This century is the last century of wild seafood

Steve Palumbi

"What we're highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the rest," he told the BBC News website.

Steve Palumbi, from Stanford University in California, one of the other scientists on the project, added: "Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood."

Spanning the seas

This is a vast piece of research, incorporating scientists from many institutions in Europe and the Americas, and drawing on four distinctly different kinds of data.

Catch records from the open sea give a picture of declining fish stocks.

In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were in a state of collapse, defined as a decline to less than 10% of their original yield.

Bigger vessels, better nets, and new technology for spotting fish are not bringing the world's fleets bigger returns - in fact, the global catch fell by 13% between 1994 and 2003.

Historical records from coastal zones in North America, Europe and Australia also show declining yields, in step with declining species diversity; these are yields not just of fish, but of other kinds of seafood too.

Zones of biodiversity loss also tended to see more beach closures, more blooms of potentially harmful algae, and more coastal flooding.

We should protect biodiversity, and it does pay off through fisheries yield

Carl Gustaf Lundin

Experiments performed in small, relatively contained ecosystems show that reductions in diversity tend to bring reductions in the size and robustness of local fish stocks. This implies that loss of biodiversity is driving the declines in fish stocks seen in the large-scale studies.

The final part of the jigsaw is data from areas where fishing has been banned or heavily restricted.

These show that protection brings back biodiversity within the zone, and restores populations of fish just outside.

"The image I use to explain why biodiversity is so important is that marine life is a bit like a house of cards," said Dr Worm.

"All parts of it are integral to the structure; if you remove parts, particularly at the bottom, it's detrimental to everything on top and threatens the whole structure.

"And we're learning that in the oceans, species are very strongly linked to each other - probably more so than on land."

Protected interest

What the study does not do is attribute damage to individual activities such as over-fishing, pollution or habitat loss; instead it paints a picture of the cumulative harm done across the board.

Even so, a key implication of the research is that more of the oceans should be protected.

Nets on tuna boat. Image: Wolcott Henry 2005/Marine Photobank

Modern fishing methods such as purse seine nets are very efficient

But the extent of protection is not the only issue, according to Carl Gustaf Lundin, head of the global marine programme at IUCN, the World Conservation Union.

"The benefits of marine-protected areas are quite clear in a few cases; there's no doubt that protecting areas leads to a lot more fish and larger fish, and less vulnerability," he said.

"But you also have to have good management of marine parks and good management of fisheries. Clearly, fishing should not wreck the ecosystem, bottom trawling being a good example of something which does wreck the ecosystem."

But, he said, the concept of protecting fish stocks by protecting biodiversity does make sense.

"This is a good compelling case; we should protect biodiversity, and it does pay off even in simple monetary terms through fisheries yield."

Protecting stocks demands the political will to act on scientific advice - something which Boris Worm finds lacking in Europe, where politicians have ignored recommendations to halt the iconic North Sea cod fishery year after year.

Without a ban, scientists fear the North Sea stocks could follow the Grand Banks cod of eastern Canada into apparently terminal decline.

"I'm just amazed, it's very irrational," he said.

"You have scientific consensus and nothing moves. It's a sad example; and what happened in Canada should be such a warning, because now it's collapsed it's not coming back."

[Which Raider Is The Smartest........]

A big congrats to Mallacoota Pete who has managed to knock JEWEL off the top perch for October trivia

OCTOBER HALL OF FAME

1. MallacootaPete (354 points, 5 wins)

2. JEWEL (332 points, 3 wins)

3. Evil (330 points, 7 wins)

4. Cid (323 points, 3 wins)

5. fishlessmick (285 points, 2 wins)

6. treble (274 points, 2 wins)

7. ratking (255 points, 1 wins)

8. dflanno (254 points, 3 wins)

9. pirate pete (248 points, 0 wins)

10. fishlessdonna (223 points, 0 wins)

Any raider or reader is free to join us for daily trivia fun.

CLICK HERE FOR MRSSWORDFISHERMAN'S TRIVIA CHALLENGE

Cheers mrsswordfisherman

Thanks MrsSwordie..It was touch and go there at the end. Sorry Jewel..your turn again this month.

I encourage everyone to join in the fun..Some Q's are a bit "out there" but at least we are

all at the same disadvantage.

Cheers,

Pete.

[Heres One For You]

The photo that I posted? - I think so.

Flattieman.

Congratulations Flattieman..1500 posts to date..

Keep up the great work.

Pete.

[Great Barrier Reef May Be 'hosed Down']

Great Barrier Reef may be 'hosed down'

SCIENTISTS are considering a plan to make the water of the Great Barrier Reef cooler for corals vulnerable to the damage from climate change.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) executive director Andrew Skeat today said the proposal would involve watering the surface of the ocean at peak times of heat stress to avoid coral bleaching.

"It's a proposal ... which would simply pump a fine spray of seawater onto the surface which would just break up the water surface and reduces the amount of (UV) radiation," Mr Skeat said.

"It's not an ecological scale solution to climate change, but it could be one response to keeping particular areas with high coral cover."

Little detail was available today of how spraying would be implemented, but it would most likely involve relatively small, localised areas of particular high tourism value, with vulnerable coral.

Coral bleaching is caused by higher than average water temperatures linked with global climate change.

Mr Skeat, who participated in the Ecotourism Australia Conference in Townsville this week, said climate change would eventually affect the way tourism operated on the Great Barrier Reef.

He said a marine tourism working group, established to prepare for climate change on the reef, was considering other options such as permanently placing shade cloth over some areas.

Mr Skeat said studies had found the measure, first trialled in 2004, was effective in reducing radiation and coral bleaching.

"Whether it becomes practicable and cost effective is another question," he said.

Mr Skeat said the group also was looking at whether site-based operations could become "more flexible" and move to different parts of the reef during a significant coral bleaching event.

"There might have to be adjustments in people's operations if, for example, areas of the reef are damaged ... Those areas might have to be given a rest," he said.

"I have to say that the industry is positive about that, they're not fighting that."

Mr Skeat said while marine ecosystems around the world were at risk from climate change, Australia had "the best shot" of preserving its own because of stringent federal government management.