From Snails to Whales: Striped Bass & Fish Dinner!!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Striped Bass & Fish Dinner!!

The Striped Bass Fish

- Some backround (Source: Notes from Proffesor berman class):
The stripped bass fish lives in fresh water-costal fish that moves form N. carolina to maine every year- They are in the coastal water of the Atlantic States. Theres is a plan to protect this species from extinction, that has been put into place since the 1970's in all of the Atlantic States.

What they did to help this fish basically was:

1. Stop fishing for this fish completely. No commercial or recreational.

This came after a lot of consensus between all the interested parties, all cooperated together and decide to take the loos together, because in the long run once the striped bass became a sustainable species it would be a gain for every state and the comercial and recreational side of it.

Once the species became sustainable, fishing was allowed again with some restrictions in pounds measure by a quota that was assigned to each state and each state can allocate the quota as they felt is better for each state needs. What matters? The pounds of fish and the number of fish taken.

Even though the fish is sustainable at this time, there is a problem with this specias: they eat a lot and scientisdt think that theres not enough food for this fish to eat in the sea, but so far teh quata system for each states is working pretty good and rarely the states meet their fish quota.

-Some interesting financial data in regards to Striped Bass fishing:

1. 30% of fishing trips are for striped bass fish.

2.It has direct recreational sales (2.5 billion dollars and it generates 63,000 full time jobs)

3. Its comercial sales are 500 million dollars. (which is not a lot in comparison to the recrational sales they bring). The retail sales are 55.9 greater than those produce by commercial fishes (more than 50%).

- Commerical Fisherman in RI:

As a commercial fisherman i would be in favor of allowing fishing in federal waters for the following reasons: 1st. because is my main source of income and a very lucrative bussines, that families can live on. 2nd. Because it created jobs for the people in my state in restaurants, markets, fishing supply companies,etc. 3rd. Now in RI we are allowed 93,000 pound as our quota and with opening the federal water its possible that our quota will be met. 4th. The fish itself is a good source of food that should be available to the population becuase its loaded with protein, mega 3 fatty acids which can prevent several diseases like coronary health disease, etc.. 5th. It would provide revenue for the state, for fishing licences and more.

As a side fact: I went to buy some striped bass fish to Roche Brothers today and the pound was selling for $18 dollars each, so its a very lucrative bussiness. So if the proffesor went to sale his fish he could get $360.00 dollars for it, do the math accordingly to the commercial fishing limitations in RI its a lot of $$$!!

- Personal Perspective in this matter:

I believe that it really wouldnt make a difference if the federal waters are open to fishing because the quota is going to remain the same and in RI they barely meet the already established quaota, so far they are rarely above 40,000 pounds. Based on all the reading ive done in regards to the current regulation of striped bass fishing in RI and in the rest of the Atlantic States i believe that the regulations are working pretty good: 1st because the fish is sustainable and 2nd because both commercial and recreational fihermans are getting there cut on it so they are happy with what they have and they barely even meet the quota so theres really no point to extend the federal water for fishing in the RI state. Putting a little bit of the PITA hat on me i would have to add that i would like to see some regulations in regards to the fishing methods so the fish dont suffer that much when caught. Fishes are living creatures and when they kill them they go thru a lot of pain specially when theres a deel hooking involved in the catch. According to Rudy Lukacovic DNR Fisheries Biologist studies with striped bass and other species it has shown that the mortality associated with deep-hooking is very rapid (less than 24 hours). Considering these observation, a deep hook fish will likely die and decompose before a hook rust out from an infection, this is if they leave the hook with the fish when they release it. However, "removing the deeply-lodgend hook is very traumatic, both physically and physiologically" for the fish. So, the solution for this type of cruel practice can be solved by prevention. The best way to reduce deep-hooking, especially when getting a striped bass, is to use a non-offset circle hook. According to Lukacovic studies with striped bass, these hooks will reduce overall mortality by 90 percent!! I believe this a good cause to fight for when recreational fisherman are trying to catch a fish and they are going to release it either because is too small for the minimum size or any other reason. I believe is cruel to put the fish back into the ocean hurt by the hook because he will die anyways, these goes to commercial fisherman as well.

Dinner!!

So, we went to get some extra fish for dinner and we decided to buy the sword fish (maji maji). We cooked it along with the striped bass fish with the following ingredients: paprika, salt, pepper (very simple). Then separetely we cook some mushroom, red onion, tuscan romano basil tossed with olive oil to top the fish up and as a side we made a pilanta dish. Everything tasted good, i honestly liked the bass fish better than the sword fish, it was softer and more tasteful. Very nice dinner for a change..Thanks proffesor for catching that fish for us!!

See you all tomorrow!

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From Snails to Whales

Welcome to Snails to Whales, Bruce Berman's blog focused on both the little and the big things that make Boston Harbor such an interesting and extraordinary place to live, work and play.

With 50 miles of protected water, four sheltered bays, seven river systems, 34 islands and a nine-foot average tide, Boston Harbor is one of the most diverse urban ecosystems in America.

This blog focuses on the flora and fauna of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay - on the beach, the shore, and the harbor islands, and in the cleaner waters of Boston Harbor and Mass Bay - including this ecosystems most important species - people.

During the summer, it is also a place for my Boston University Students and my colleagues at Save the Harbor / Save the Bay to share their work and experiences.

Where I am coming from...

Love that clean(er) water
Learning about the Boston Harbor Cleanup from the waterway’s eyes, ears, and mouthpiece

By Brian Fitzgerald, BU Bridge

On Georges Island, Bruce Berman talks with his students about the history of the Boston Harbor Cleanup,
which is largely complete. Photo by Vernon Doucette

Bruce Berman, aboard a ferry from Boston’s Long Wharf to Georges Island, poses a question to his students: “How clean is clean enough?”

He’s talking about the water below.

It’s a brilliant July day, with the smell of salt spray in the air. The sky is clear, and so is the ocean. But there was a time when Boston Harbor wasn’t so clean, when the stench of sewage assaulted the nostrils of anyone who went near it.

Berman is the communications director for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, a public-interest environmental advocacy organization whose mission is to help restore and protect the harbor and Massachusetts Bay. He also teaches a Metropolitan College summer course called Politics, Public Relations, and Public Policy: The Boston Harbor Cleanup.

“The Boston Harbor Cleanup is an amazing success story, and I just love to share it with students,” says Berman, noting that the harbor’s “bad old days” weren’t that long ago. Those were the days when untreated human waste, syringes, condoms, and tampon applicators routinely washed ashore. The antiquated sewage treatment plants on Deer Island and Nut Island were so poorly designed and maintained that they flooded during even mild rainstorms, sending millions of gallons of untreated waste directly into the harbor.

Since then, bacteria counts in the water have decreased by more than two-thirds. Now the harbor teems with plants and animals, and people can legally dig for clams on Carson Beach in South Boston, which was unheard of in the 1980s.

“It was one of the filthiest harbors in America, and now it’s one of the cleanest,” says Berman. “What I’m trying to impress upon students is how this incredible comeback occurred, and how business, advocacy groups, environmentalists, and government can affect the outcome of large projects such as the Boston Harbor Cleanup through negotiation.”

Paradise regained

Berman points to the left as the boat cruises by the cleanup’s centerpiece: the gargantuan white egglike tanks of the Deer Island waste treatment plant, which in 1995 replaced the antiquated facility. The plant treats an average of 350 million gallons of sewage a day.

“And what comes out of the Deer Island treatment plant?” he asks. Berman, his booming baritone competing with the roar of planes taking off from Logan Airport, has a habit of putting students on the spot to see if they’re paying attention.

“The outfall pipe,” say several simultaneously. “Treated water,” chime in a few more.

“That’s right,” he says with a smile. “The plant separates the solid and liquid waste, and it pumps the treated water through the 9.5-mile outfall pipe, which empties into Massachusetts Bay. The resulting sludge is converted to high-grade fertilizer.”

Now Berman returns to his original question: “How clean is clean enough?” There’s no quick and clear answer to this one. “It’s a question that at the end of the day the federal courts had to decide.”

In 1985, a landmark federal court case required that the harbor’s beaches be made swimmable and fishable by 2000. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay was formed the next year to raise public awareness of the $4.5 billion Boston Harbor Cleanup. Sewer ratepayers in the 43 cities and towns financing the project cried foul over the prospect of astronomically rising bills, but because of the determination of environmental advocacy groups such as Berman’s, the cleanup was largely completed on schedule.

Berman says it isn’t finished, however. There are still frequent beach closures because the counts of Enterococcus bacteria exceed the federal and state standard for swimming. The culprit: filthy storm water and sewage, much of it from leaky pipes and illegal hookups emptying into storm sewers, and then into the harbor.

“So is the harbor clean enough,” the Springfield native asks his students, “when you can’t swim in it one out of five days in the summer?”

Work to be done

Berman and his class look out from Georges Island to Gallops Island (left) and the white tanks of the waste treatment plant on Deer Island (right). Photo by Vernon Doucette

This summer the state approved one of the last parts of the cleanup: the construction, by 2011, of a 2.1-mile tunnel near the Dorchester and South Boston shorelines that will hold sewage and storm water during bad weather. It then will be pumped to Deer Island for treatment.

Berman is ecstatic over this development, the result of “tireless negotiation and consensus-building,” he says. “After 2011, we’re looking at beach closings once every five years, when there is a major storm, instead of once every five days.”

But he is not about to let his guard down. To say that he is a man obsessed with the harbor cleanup would be an understatement. Berman is also Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s “Baywatcher,” and he lives on his 40-foot trawler Verandah. Polluters beware: if you’re discharging oil or sewage into Boston Harbor, the Baywatcher just might be watching.

He is quick to point out that his zealotry is not just on behalf of the harbor’s flora and fauna. “The harbor is for everyone,” he says. “If you’re from a working class or poor family in Boston, and you can’t afford a Cape Cod getaway in the summer, a clean harbor is important. The same is true if you’re a tourist vacationing in Boston or you happen to live in a pricey waterfront condo.”

Accordingly, Berman, who was a political consultant and contributing editor to the Phoenix newspaper before joining Save the Harbor/Save the Bay nearly 10 years ago, also teaches his students about the harbor’s role in the city’s economy. He points out that in the early 1990s, just a few ferries cruised the harbor’s waters. Today, more than 100,000 people visit its islands each summer, discovering their ecological and historic treasures.

“The best way to protect the harbor cleanup,” Berman tells his students, “is to make sure that the public has access to the resources and can see a return on its investment.”

Trevor Kosmolsick (MET’05) has lived in Boston for seven years, but until taking Berman’s course, he had never been to the waterfront. “I’ve also wanted to go camping in the area, but I never knew that you could camp on a few of the islands,” he says. “Bruce Berman is not only a great professor, but the ultimate tour guide.”

He also backs up his words with actions. Sometimes he takes off his shirt and dives in the water to demonstrate to passing boaters that it’s safe to swim. To show people on ferries that fishing is safe, he’s been known to grab one of the bluefish or striped bass he’s caught and (very carefully) plant a wet kiss on it.

“What I want everyone to understand is that investment in the environment really does pay off,” says Berman. “We’re willing to pay for a clean Boston Harbor, so we should enjoy it.”

From Snails to Whales

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Striped Bass & Fish Dinner!!

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