Such operations also may hold economic potential for traditional commercial fishing. Reports of dwindling Southern flounder stocks by both national and state marine fisheries groups have resulted in more regulations - and less profit for commercial fishing fleets. In Japan, natural fisheries get a boost from the annual release of hatchery-reared juveniles. The use of farm-reared fish for stock enhancement is not on the policy agenda here. Should it become an option, then the NC State team's methods could be key to determining the optimal water temperature to produce fingerling populations with 50:50 female:male sex ratios for restocking efforts, says Godwin.
CONTACT: Russell Borski, North Carolina Sea Grant Researcher, Associate Professor of Zoology, North Carolina State University, Phone: 919-515-8105; Email: russell_borski@ncsu.edu Note to editors: Photos are available upon request. Contact Pam Smith, North Carolina Sea Grant at pam_smith@ncsu.edu, or 919-515-9098. For addition information, go online to: http://www.ncaquaculture.org.
Lake Superior's Deep-Water Donut Mystery
"It's as if someone pressed giant donuts into the soft sediment on the floor of Lake Superior, then took the donuts away," says Minnesota Sea Grant researcher Nigel Wattrus, associate professor of geological sciences at the University of Minnesota's Large Lakes Observatory. "All that remains are huge ring-shaped impressions and unanswered questions."
Measuring up to nearly 1000-feet in diameter and up to 16 feet deep, the rings are found in soft fine-grained clay found in the deepest parts
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Contact: Ben Sherman
sherman@nasw.org
202-662-7095
National Sea Grant College Program
4-Feb-2003