Petruescu's tuna required five gaffs just to steer it to the tuna gate,

and it barely fit through the gate.

Could be one of the largest--or the largest yellowfin tuna--ever landed on rod and reel.

LINK (via Outdoors Action and Adventure)

Update on Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 9:38PM by El Guapo

Yellowfin tuna caught on Excel 'taped out' at 459 pounds.

Fukushima Glow Trout

A mountain trout caught in the Niida River in Fukushima Prefecture contained 11,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, more than 110 times above the government limit for food products, a survey by the Environment Ministry showed.

LINK (via Japan Times)

Rigs to Reefs

In an ironic twist, scientists, fishermen and conservationists are urging that hundreds of dormant oil rigs be left standing in the Gulf of Mexico, arguing that a US federal plan to remove them will endanger coral reefs and fish.

LINK (via Business World)

In it's first life, an oil platform, in its next, a reef?

LINK (via: The NY Times)

New, tougher Florida fishing rules could be on the way

Plenty of discussion remains before the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission makes a decision, but some of the state’s favorite fish species might soon get greater protection.

Florida has no official designation for game fish and sport fish, so at the FWC meeting Dec. 5 in Apalachicola, staff will recommend to commissioners:

• A game fish designation for redfish, snook and spotted sea trout.

This designation could include no commercial harvest, recreational harvest by hook and line only, and zero bag limit for captain and crew of for-hire vessels. Under current regulations, commercial harvest is allowed for spotted seatrout but not redfish or snook.

• A sport fish designation for tarpon, bonefish, permit and billfish.

This designation could include catch-and-release only, no recreational or commercial harvest, fishing with hook and line only. Under current regulations, commercial harvest is allowed for permit but not tarpon, bonefish or billfish.

LINK (via: Florida Today)

Asian Carp Invasion swimming its way into Pennsylvania waters

For decades the Asian Carp, an  invasive fish species has threatened the ecosystem of America’s Great Lakes. Now, the aggressive species is also making its way up the Ohio River.

Unless something is done to curb the spread of the creature that can grow up to 100-pounds, experts say it could potentially devastate the native species found in rivers and streams by devouring all of the underwater plan vegetation.

“It’s just a matter of time before this ravenous species reaches the Ohio River, killing thousands of native fish populations in the Ohio, as well as the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and their tributaries despite federal and state agencies efforts,” said Gregory Paul, a Pittsburgh marine biologist and avid fisherman.

LINK (via Point Park News Service)

Feds threaten to wipe out future Sacramento salmon runs

Big reductions in water releases from the federal government's Shasta and Keswick dams on the Sacramento River are poised to wipe out a major part of the Chinook salmon run, according to a statement from the Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA).

"The federal Bureau of Reclamation, which controls Shasta dam, is the responsible party," the group stated. "A state water data website says water releases are forecast to decline by 14.5 percent between November 21 and November 29. The loss of this water could kill up to a third of the wild fall run salmon eggs, according to one knowledgeable source."

The Sacramento River is now full of spawning salmon and the eggs of salmon that spawned in the last few months. In order to hatch, these eggs must continue to remain submerged in water under 57 degrees. Reducing water releases to the Sacramento River from Lake Shasta "will expose many salmon eggs to air which will kill them," according to the GGSA.

"The salmon being killed are naturally-reproducing wild salmon, not hatchery salmon," the GGSA said. "Restoration of wild fish are of special concern to the Golden Gate Salmon Association and other salmon advocates including state and federal fish agencies."

LINK (via: Indybay)