Fish & Fisheries

"A proposal to ban lobster fishing  over a vast stretch of the East Coast was killed Thursday after lobstermen said it would do 'almost biblical' damage to the industry."

The release of large amounts of Mississippi River freshwater in an attempt to push oil back out to sea has backfired. The lower salinity is killing the oysters it was meant to save.

"Five Great Lakes states filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday to try to block Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan, the third attempt to seek the closing of Chicago-area shipping locks through the court system."

"The Delaware River Basin Commission hasn't heard the last word on natural gas  drilling in northeast Pennsylvania. It agreed last week to hold further hearings there on its drilling moratorium."

"New Jersey has seriously neglected patrolling its shellfish grounds for years, with inadequate enforcement on more than two-thirds of its waters, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."

The BP oil spill's damage to the oyster industry is not just to the oystermen themselves, but to a whole chain of regional businesses that depend on them.

"Before a fillet of grouper, fresh oyster or piece of shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico lands in the grocery seafood aisle, state and federal agencies have weighed in on its safety. ... However, no one is testing seafood to tell whether it has absorbed the toxic compounds found in the nearly 1.8 million gallons of dispersants BP has poured into the water to break up the oil."

"They may not be the 500-pound 'Frankenfish' that some researchers were talking about 10 years ago, but a Massachusetts company says it's on the verge of receiving federal approval to market a quick-growing Atlantic salmon that's been genetically modified with help from a Pacific Chinook salmon."

"Fewer oysters in the Chesapeake Bay are dying from the diseases that have devastated the bivalve population in recent decades, leading some to believe they may be developing a natural resistance, says a new report by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation."

"Louisiana's fishing industry is getting slammed by the BP spill. So why does it still support offshore drilling?"