Villagers in Chignik Lake were on patrol Wednesday, hunting for wolves they blame in the death of a 32-year-old schoolteacher while she was jogging on an isolated road this week.

Candice Berner was found Monday evening along a road leading out of town just a short time after leaving work. State officials haven't yet determined her cause of death, but those who live in the village feel they know.

Tuesday night and again Wednesday morning, villagers said, an armed group of men was out roaming on snowmachines in search of tracks left by wolves, which people say have been coming too close to town lately.

"We approached them last night, but we ended up losing them," said Fred Shangin, 32, who is among the hunters. "They were right by the village again. They started running, we started chasing them but they came up to a creek we couldn't get across."

Villagers say people are on edge, concerned with the boldness of wolves in the wake of Berner's death.

Berner, who came to Alaska from Slippery Rock, Pa., was a special education teacher for the Lake and Peninsula School District. She was based in Perryville but traveled to different towns teaching. She arrived in Alaska in August, said her father, Bob Berner.

"She's a person of adventure. She likes travel," Berner said. "She wanted to see Alaska, and she thought this would be a good way to do that."

Berner, who stood about 4 feet, 11 inches tall, liked to box, lift weights and run; she was training for a marathon when she was killed.

School district officials say she left work at the end of the day Monday to go for a run on the road out of town.

Four people riding snowmachines along the road came across her body about 6:30 p.m. Monday. Gregory Kalmakoff, 23, said by phone Wednesday he and the others had been out riding at Portage Bay and were on their way back.

"There was a blood spot on the road," he said. "I turned around, looked and there was drag marks going down a little hill."

There were wolf tracks in the new snow and footprints left by a person, he said. It appeared something had been dragged off the road, said Kalmakoff's cousin, 24-year-old Jacob Kalmakoff, who troopers say was among those who discovered the body.

"We seen her gloves on the road where she was running," Kalmakoff said. "She didn't get away too far from them; they took her down pretty fast. You could see a blood trail of her body getting drug down the hill."

They went down the hill to investigate and found Berger's remains not too far down. Berner's arms and head had been mangled, Jacob Kalmakoff said.

The group alerted others in town. Later Monday night, with several people at the scene, wolves were spotted in the area, Jacob Kalmakoff said.

"After the wolves came back, they took her up to the village," he said. "The wolves weren't scared of nothing. They were just circling them down there, trying to look for an opportunity to get back in there."

Alaska State Troopers say there was predation on the body but they haven't concluded whether it was before or after death. Investigators told Berner's family in Pennsylvania that she had been killed in an animal attack, possibly by wolves.

Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said Wednesday the investigation was continuing and authorities were awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Dr. Katherine Raven, the state medical examiner, said the autopsy was scheduled for this morning and the results -- most likely not including what kind of animal might be involved -- will be forwarded to troopers, who will determine what happened.

"You can certainly tell by certain injuries that it's a big animal, small animal," Raven said. "But truly our expertise isn't what kind of animal it is. Our expertise is if it's animal versus something else."

There are plenty of bears on the Alaska Peninsula, but it would be very uncommon for them to be up and moving at this time of year, said Fish and Game spokeswoman Jennifer Yuhas. There have been no recent reports of bears in the area, she said.

Fish and Game has, however, gotten recent reports of wolves, which are common on the Alaska Peninsula, Yuhas said.

"Residents have not expressed concerns about human safety," Yuhas said in an e-mail. "They frequently express concern about the effects of wolf predation on moose and caribou populations. We have also received reports that a few dogs are killed each winter by wolves, but none of the reports came from Chignik."

Fish and Game estimated in 2008 that there were between 200 and 300 wolves in 30 to 50 packs in the Northern Alaska Peninsula Wolf Management Area, with a wolf density estimated at seven animals per 1,000 square kilometers.

Because of the high density and the impact they have had on local caribou, the Board of Game recently took up a proposal that could allow aerial wolf hunting if caribou numbers dwindle. The proposal passed but does not take effect until July 1, Yuhas said.

Johnny Lind, a resident of Chignik Lake and member of the Chignik Advisory Committee to the Board of Game, said there is no doubt wolves are getting bold in the area. There are no caribou and moose numbers are down because of sickness and predators, he said.

"They're just hungry," Lind said. "There's a lot of snow at this time of year and it's hard to find food for them.

"They've been having sightings nearby last year, but not this close though. They're right in town, looking for food."

http://www.adn.com/2010/03/10/1178020/residents-unnerved-by-pack-of.html

More than 1,250 archers competed in 31 categories during the Hoyt Pro/Am Tour Friday through Sunday at Uchee Creek for prizes totaling $100,000.

Archers shot 40 targets. The 3-D foam targets included antelopes, deer, boars and wolves. The archers shot at known and unknown distances during the event.

“Every target is a challenge and each is different,” said MAJ Bobby Toon, 198th Infantry Brigade, who has shot archery for 16 years and is an avid hunter. “Where the targets are located on the 3-D animals is where the vital organs would be if you were hunting a real animal.”



If an archer can hit those targets, he could hunt and kill a live animal, said Toon, who competed in the hunter class.

The event brought in archers from all over the country, including competitors from Arkansas, Illinois, Tennessee, and North Carolina. More than 2,400 spectators attended the event.

Curt Colvin traveled nine hours from Conway, Ark., to compete in the event.

“There is tough competition out here,” said Colvin, who has shot in the competition for four years. “A lot of these guys can shoot really well.”

This year, he competed in the Limbsaver known distance competition and the open B Class. Colvin said he looks at archery as a sport for all ages and abilities.

“What I like about archery is that anyone can do it,” he said. “You don’t really have to have many skills for this sport. You just have to practice and train hard.” Griffin, Ga., resident Kailey Johnston, 15, competed in the women’s open category and took first place with a total score of 405.

“Archery is a fun sport,” she said. “The competition is tough, but you just have to stay focused on what you are doing and shoot the best you can.”

The tour is one of six archery tournaments the ASA hosts each year, in addition to the ASA Classic.

The number of archers in the tournament was 300 more than the ASA Classic, which was in August at Uchee Creek, said Cliff Hughes, special events coordinator with the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. And this year’s Pro/Am had 200 more archers than the 2009 Pro/Am in Hattiesburg, Miss., said Mike Tyrell, president of the Archery Shooters Association.

The next tournament is the Delta Targets Southwest Shoot Out March 26-28 in Paris, Texas.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/03/11/1048098/archers-take-aim-in-hoyt-proam.html

Fourteen out of 18 caribou carcass seized weeks ago in the no-hunting zone north of Yellowknife have been distributed to elders in Ndilo and Dettah, according to a spokesperson with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Judy McLinton, manager of public affairs and communications for the department, said one of those carcasses was given to elders in Ndilo and Dettah Monday.

The caribou were seized by wildlife officers from Yellowknives hunters between Jan.16 and Jan. 28, near Gordon Lake, some 90 km northeast of Yellowknife. Hunting from the Bathurst caribou herd was banned Jan. 1 by Environment minister Michael Miltenberger in effort to protect their dwindling numbers, which the government says dropped to 30,000 animals last year from 186,000 in 2006.

McLinton said the department was holding the remaining four carcasses until they could be distributed at a later date.

"They have space to hold them so we're doing so," said McLinton.

The six Yellowknives hunters, including Dene national chief Bill Erasmus, had originally wanted the meat back, and went to court twice in an attempt to have it returned.

On Feb. 17, justice of the peace Greg Merrithew ruled the hunters could have their meat back, which was stored and frozen in an Environment and Natural Resources facility.

But the hunters changed their minds, expressing concerns about the length of time that had passed and fear that the meat had been contaminated.

McLinton said no caribou have been seized since January, adding it's likely people haven't been hunting because "there aren't that many animals out there."

A meeting between the territorial government and the Yellowknives Dene is expected to take place this week to discuss a potential controlled hunt for the First Nations group, but McLinton said no date has been set as of Monday.

http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/mar10_10car.html

WASHINGTON, March 11, /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new report released today exposes large-scale illegal ivory trade in Tanzania and Zambia on the eve of the opening of the meeting of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha, Qatar on Saturday March, 12. Both Tanzania and Zambia have proposed selling their ivory stocks despite intensive elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade within their countries.

The report "Open Season – The Burgeoning Illegal Ivory Trade in Tanzania and Zambia" is being released by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a non-profit group based in Washington, DC and London. EIA undercover investigators recently visited Tanzania and Zambia and returned with harrowing first-hand evidence documenting a flourishing trade in illegal ivory in both countries, often exacerbated by official corruption.

Tanzania's elephant population declined by more than 30,000 elephants between 2006 and 2009, primarily from poaching to supply black-market ivory to Asia. Rampant poaching is concentrated around the Selous Game Reserve where 40% of Tanzania's elephants are located. In 2009 several major seizures totaling some 12 tons of ivory occurred in Asia. DNA studies from earlier seizures of Tanzanian ivory in Asia has shown that much of the ivory originated from the Selous.

"Time after time, CITES actions to allow supposedly limited ivory sales stimulate a massive escalation in elephant poaching and ivory smuggling all across Africa," said Allan Thornton, President of EIA. He continued, "The only thing accomplished by these legally sanctioned ivory sales beyond enriching Chinese and Japanese ivory merchants, is to imperil elephant conservation and provide legal market cover for smuggling and laundering of poached ivory."

In February 2010, EIA investigators posing as buyers easily found ivory for sale in the markets of Dar es Salaam, identified hotspots for illegal ivory trading in southern Selous, and gathered data on recent poaching incidents. In one village near the Selous Reserve, a poacher dug up his cache of tusks and offered them for sale. The investigators were forced to flee when the poachers became aggressive, and were pursued on motorbikes fitted with exhaust silencers, the same vehicles often used to move ivory around the area.

In Zambia, EIA investigators found that despite the ban on domestic sales, ivory is easily

obtainable in large quantities, and often purchased by Chinese nationals. The report also reveals that the country has a thriving illegal domestic market and is at the centre of the international ivory trade, hosting some of the world's most sophisticated traders and networks – which in some instances use government military vehicles to transport illegal ivory.

"Every time CITES approves an ivory sale it translates into an open hunting season on elephants across Africa and a death sentence for tens of thousands of protected elephants," said Samuel LaBudde, a biologist with EIA. "It would be a tragedy for elephants and a travesty of conservation principles for CITES to approve Tanzania and Zambia's applications to downlist protections for elephants."

The full extent of the illegal ivory trade in these countries is documented in the new EIA report Open Season: The Burgeoning Illegal Ivory Trade in Tanzania and Zambia, and available online at: www.eia-global.org.

SOURCE Environmental Investigation Agency

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elephant-poaching-and-illegal-ivory-trade-out-of-control-87390057.html

Some of the rarest birds on Britain’s wild uplands are under threat from predators like foxes and crows, according to one of the longest scientific surveys ever undertaken into avian problems.

The results of the nine-year survey, released today show that if upland managers controlled such predators, the breeding success of the curlew, lapwing and golden plover – all threatened species – could be increased a staggering three-fold.

Results of the survey, the Upland Predation Experiment, are published in the Journal of Applied Ecology and backed by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

For nine years, the trust’s scientists have looked into the effects of predator control on the breeding success of threatened moorland wading birds. The Upland Predation Experiment, which was undertaken on moorland in Northern England, is one of the longest running studies of its kind ever undertaken.

The research shows for the first time that the control of common predators such as crows and foxes significantly improves, by more than three times, the breeding success of curlew, lapwing and golden plover – all species of conservation concern. The results have important implications for the future of bird conservation in the uplands.

Dr Stephen Tapper, Head of Policy and Public Affairs with the Trust, explains, “If we want to reverse the decline in some bird populations we need to do more than simply improve countryside habitats. Agri-environment schemes on their own, without predator control, seem unable to give rise to an abundance of breeding waders or even bring about a significant improvement in sparse populations.”

These findings have an important impact in areas like the Yorkshire Dales, where shooting makes an important contribution to the local economy in remote areas where jobs are scarce.

Foxes and crows also attack the nests – and young – of ground nesting game birds like grouse, pheasants and partridge but large scale controls are often controversial: fox hunting is of course banned and various charities like the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds take a very sniffy attitude to the shooting of crows and magpies.

http://www.daelnet.co.uk/countrynews/country_news_11032010.cfm

By Thandanani Mhlanga

The Minister of Water and Environmental affairs says proposed fishing permit fee increases will not increase illegal fishing nor affect competition and employment in sectors within the fishing industry.

The DA's shadow minister for water and environmental affairs, Gareth Morgan, questioned minister Buyelwa Sonjica on the method used to calculate the proposed increases advertised in the Government Gazette in January.

Morgan said should Sonjica fail to give satisfactory answers, the proposal which has outraged the fishing community should be scrapped. More than 70 percent increases were proposed.

The proposed hike for recreational fishermen wanting to catch lobster is up from R85 to R500, while angling licences are set to increase to R200 from R65 and spearfishing licences from R75 to R300. Fishermen responded saying the increases would lead to more poaching.

The department expected poaching should not increase as recreational fishers were "voluntarily compliant with the law" and were considerate of the environment and its dwindling resources.

Sonjica said there would be no effect on the competitiveness of the commercial sector, as fees were in line with inflation and were lower than fees in neighbouring countries.

In response to Morgan's question about the consultation with representatives and stakeholders affected by the proposed fee increases and the 30-day comment period, Sonjica said all parties were currently being consulted.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=14&art_id=vn20100310125632344C214007

Traditional tuna fishing in the Maldives uses pole and line rather than nets. Rose Prince joined a crew for a day’s fishing on the Indian Ocean.

In those first moments when the fishermen spot the unmistakable signs of a tuna shoal, everything changes. The inky entity that is the Indian Ocean suddenly reveals the life beneath its surface. Yellowfin tuna, the third largest in the tuna family after bluefin and big eye, are usually accompanied by dolphins. We see their dark backs curving in and out of the water about 100 yards away, and the boat turns towards them. Birds are also circling the area, another sure indication that there are tuna below.

On the 90ft dhoni (fishing boat) manned by 17 fishermen, led by skipper or 'keyolhu’ Adam Mohammed, there is a rush of activity. Live bait – trigger fish, sprats and mackerel, plus some unfamiliar fish local to the Maldives – are scooped out from a large tank beneath the boat, hooked on each fisherman’s line and dropped over the side. There are no rods or reels. The fishermen don gloves and rubber socks. If a fish is caught, it will be pulled in by hand and killed when rolled on to the boat. But this morning there’s no need. The yellowfin are not biting.

We had left Hanimadhoo harbour at 6am searching for both yellowfin and the smaller species, skipjack. Hanimadhoo Island is in the undeveloped far north, an hour’s flight from the capital, Male, and nearby coral islands with their paradise hotels and incumbent honeymoon couples. But it shares an extreme beauty – the astonishing turquoise of the shallow lagoons, white sand and green coconut palms. Many islands in this area are uninhabited, devoted to boat-building or fish-processing.

Tuna itself is revered by the Maldivian people. Skipjack is eaten with every meal, either salted and dried (known as 'Maldives fish’) or curried. It is the islands’ only plentiful source of animal protein, and along with coconut one of the few foods the country produces. The 1,192 islands of the Maldives amount to only about 180 square miles of land, little of which can be cultivated. Most of the islands’ food is imported.

There are two Maldivian fishery bosses on board the dhoni: Nashid Rafeeu of Big Fish, and Yasir Waheed from Cyprea Marine Foods. 'The yellowfin and skipjack tuna fisheries are integral to the Maldives,’ Waheed says. 'It is a tradition passed down through families; we have never changed the way we fish: on lines with live bait.’ There is much to protect; fishing represents 30 per cent of industry here. Hi-tech methods, which damage fish stocks, have never been permitted within the 200-mile exclusion zone around the island, protecting its resources.

I had travelled to the Maldives with the British seafood importer Fred Stroyan and Paul Willgoss, the technical director of Marks & Spencer. Stroyan supplies the chain’s food halls with fresh yellowfin tuna, and M&S also sources canned Maldivian skipjack tuna. Willgoss oversees 68 of the 100 M&S 'Plan A’ initiatives for sustainability, which include recycling waste, ethical trading and animal welfare, plus a sustainable sourcing policy for fish. In 2009 M&S was the first British company to sign up to the World Wildlife Fund’s seafood charter, committing to source all seafood sustainably by 2012 – so far the chain has a good record, sourcing white fish, organic tiger prawns, gurnard and MSC-certified wild Alaskan salmon. Plan A’s objective is a very tall order, watched with much interest by other chains, environment experts and the fishing industry.

The involvement with Fred Stroyan’s company, New England Seafood International (Nesi), is a wise one. Stroyan, a keen fisherman himself, has 10 years’ experience working with sustainable fisheries and importing to Britain, notably fresh tuna (since 2003) and MSC-certified wild Alaskan salmon. 'I had seen what happened with UK and European fish stocks,’ says Stroyan, who spends more than five months a year visiting fisheries that supply Nesi. 'Being a fisherman myself I was passionate about this and we have always worked in tuna fishing areas that are artisanal. It is always better-quality fish as a result.’

Tuna made headlines last year with the release of the film The End of the Line. Its focus was on the safety of the bluefin, the favourite sashimi and sushi fish of the Japanese. Bluefin is classed as endangered. At the time some press reports implied that all tuna were bluefin, canned, in sushi, in sandwiches. But this tuna is almost always skipjack or yellowfin, both available from sustainable sources.

Yellowfin is the viable alternative to fresh bluefin. Reaching weights of up to 440lb, yellowfin are found in all tropical and subtropical waters, but not in the Mediterranean. The appetite for fresh tuna in Western countries has encouraged fishermen to hunt using hi-tech methods that are not permitted in the Maldives. Most notorious are the purse seine nets, up to three miles long, used to encircle and 'bag up’ huge numbers of fish.

'It can take up to three hours to draw in a purse seine net,’ says Cesar Basalo, who audits the quality of fish for Nesi. 'The fishing boats pull the net tighter and tighter, crowding the fish, which will be fighting on top of each other. Some die as they fight; the surface water will be red with blood and full of floating body parts.’

'It is pretty horrific when hundreds of tons are caught, and these boats are capable of doing this three or four times in a day,’ Stroyan says. This method is also indiscriminate, killing more than one species. Such fishing results in tuna of a much lower grade. 'Tuna must be killed quickly or they produce lactic acid in the muscle,’ Basalo says. 'The meat turns brown with a rainbow sheen and cooked appearance.’ In the international waters outside the protected fishing grounds, a bizarre protection from the purse seiners has sprung up in the form of Somali pirates, renowned kidnappers and boat thieves.

Yasir Waheed and Nashid Rafeeu run separate fishing companies but work together and are also good friends. They share processing facilities in the Maldives and operate boats. The dhoni are low and wide, built from fibreglass, with a vast tank underneath to carry the live bait. The water inside the dhoni gives the vessel an uncomfortable gait and it rocks like a moving hula-hoop on the Indian Ocean. We are 15 miles offshore, not an atoll in sight. We had breakfast shortly after leaving; a dish made by the fishermen containing grated coconut, cooked skipjack, lime and chilli, served with roti (flatbreads) and hard-boiled eggs. It was one of the most delicious tuna dishes, and breakfasts, I have had.

There is a shoal of skipjack ahead and two boats have already arrived on the scene. In the Maldives, the smaller skipjack are caught by a different method to the large yellowfin: pole and line. As the boat slows the fishermen gather at the back of the boat and turn two water sprays on the water’s surface. Two of the crew begin to throw bucketfuls of live sprats over a wide area. 'They are creating a feeding frenzy,’ Stroyan says, picking up a 12ft bamboo pole with a small barb-less hook and a feather attractor. When the fish, confused by all the activity in the water, bite, the fishermen yank the poles over their shoulders and the fish, not more than 12-20in long, slip off the hooks and are flicked on to the boat. Each time the poles are lowered back into the water, more fish bite. 'They could fish here for hours, catch several tons of fish and still make an impact on only 10 per cent of the shoal,’ Stroyan says.

Our day ends without the sight of a fisherman playing a yellowfin on his hand line, testament to the minimal impact of fisheries on the tuna population. There are mutterings about women bringing bad luck to boats, but forgiveness when the crew settles down on the journey back to sing, drumming water bottles. 'They are singing about their wives, who are unfaithful when they are away,’ Rafeeu says.

On the landing stage of another island with a processing plant, a skipper waits in suspense as 20 yellowfin are taken from his boat’s ice boxes, then weighed, temperature-tested and graded. Basalo inserts a sashibo, a slim tool that takes a sample of flesh. 'Clarity and good colour earn the fish an A or B grade; a fish that has not been landed quickly, which has lactic acid in the flesh, is a C. The flesh will be like this one, opaque and pale,’ he says. Fishermen are paid less for low-grade fish – one third of the full price. C-grade fish are rejected for the British market.

'In the Maldives the methods are sustainable but more care is needed when landing the fish on the boats. It needs to be done quickly, yet not change the tradition of hand-lining.’ Stroyan is keen to see the introduction of electronic reels to the Maldives, to boost the number of fish they can export. 'This is very important, it means they can bring in a fish without a struggle and it will be on ice in no time.’

The quality fish are divided into loins inside a state-of-the-art, well-scrubbed plant. Vacuum-packed, they are dispatched to Britain via BA passenger planes – returning honeymooners sit above next week’s tuna niçoise. 'Fish that is caught on a Wednesday will be in M&S stores within four days,’ Stroyan says, 'and all is traceable back to the boat.’ He estimates he is now bringing 700 tons of yellowfin from the Maldives each year.

The British market has become essential to the Maldivian economy. This is the cottage industry that grew up. 'The Maldives have an opportunity to become iconic in the way they manage their fishing,’ Paul Willgoss says. 'It is up to us to help them increase their returns and take the earnings back to the people of these islands.’

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/7415981/Tuna-fishing-The-fairest-catch.html

Five men were inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, and their names read like a Who's Who Directory in the bass fishing community.

The eighth class to be inducted into the BFHF was introduced at the kickoff of the 28th Bassmaster Classic last month and included a pioneer tournament angler, a current champion angler, an industry leader, and two veteran outdoors writers.

# John Powell was a 22-year Air Force veteran who loved to fish and entered the professional bass fishing circuit in 1967 as a participant in the second Bassmaster tournament at Smith Lake in Alabama.

Powell was a longtime friend of B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott who loaned him a canoe-like boat to fish additional tournaments. Powell later won the first bass tournament held on Lake Eufaula, Ala., with a total catch of 132 pounds.

In 1971 he became the first professional angler to win consecutive bass tournaments, taking first-place awards at the Bassmaster events on Sam Rayburn and Table Rock Lakes. He also qualified for six Bassmaster Classic Championships.

Powell died in 2007.

# Woo Daves of Spring Grove, Va., is a longtime professional angler who won the 2000 Bassmaster Classic held in Chicago. Woos has competed in 17 Classics and finished in the top five at six of these events. He has also won four Bassmaster tournaments.

Daves is a NASCAR fan and established an annual charity tournament involving NASCAR legends and professional anglers in 1991.

# Irwin Jacobs, Minneapolis, Minn., is chairman of FLW Outdoors and founder of FLW Fantasy Fishing. FLW Outdoors conducts America's largest fishing tournament trails, including the FLW Tour, FLW Series, FLW Qualifier Series, Bass Fishing League, FLW Walleye Tour and National Guard FLW College Fishing.

# Tim Tucker was one of the country's most influential and widely published outdoor writers and served as a longtime senior writer for Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times magazines. His work also appeared in Field and Stream, Outdoor Life and many other outdoor publications. His syndicated outdoors columns appeared in 33 newspapers and he authored eight books and co-hosted several radio programs.

Tucker was killed in an automobile accident in 2007.

# Steve Price, Benton, La., has been a full-time writer and photojournalist since 1973. He has published more than 3,000 magazine articles, primarily about bass fishing, and has credits in Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, National Geographic, Southern Living and many others.

Price has been a syndicated newspaper columnist, a radio program producer/host, and is the author of five books about bass fishing. He has also attended every Bassmaster Classic since 1976 as a press writer/photographer and appeared on numerous television shows as a spokesman for bass fishing.

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20100311/COLUMNISTS11/3110307

This is supposed to be the quietest time of year for Georgia's outdoorsmen.

Deer season ended in January and gobbler season doesn't open until March 20. Spring fishing and warm weather are on the horizon, but not quite here.

Yet five accidental deaths occurred across the state last week- all within four days:

* March 5: Christopher Upton, 37, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service officer, was shot and killed by a hunter who mistook him for a coyote. The incident occurred in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest when Norman Clinton Hale, 40, fired high-powered rifle equipped with night-vision equipment. Upton was killed instantly.

* March 6: Two fishermen drowned in Middle Georgia's Lake Tobesofkee after their boat overturned. The Bibb County Sheriff's Office said 52-year-old Willie Buckles was found Tuesday afternoon near where the body of his uncle, 62-year-old Frank Roquemore, was found Sunday.

* March 8: The body of 15-year-old Daniel Head was found face-down in shallow water in the Altamaha Wildlife Management Area near Darien. The teen had been hog hunting with his stepfather, Brian Gale, who told investigators the pair became lost. Gale left him to go for help. The cause of death was suspected to be hypothermia.

* March 8: The body of Ira Braitsch, 64, was pulled from the Chattahoochee River after an accident the previous day in which his boat capsized. A fellow boater was rescued, but remains hospitalized.

Accidents typically are a product of numbers. The more people in the field, the greater the likelihood of a mishap.

Hunting accidents, for example, are most common during Thanksgiving or Christmas breaks, when more people are wandering the forests with rifles or climbing deer stands. Boating and fishing accidents are often clustered around warm, holiday weekends, such as July Fourth or Memorial Day.

But last week was a quiet time, with few boaters in the lakes and even fewer hunters afield.

It was an oddity, perhaps coincidence, to have so much tragedy in such a short time. It was also a reminder that accidents can happen under the most routine circumstances.

Fishing and hunting are some of our safest pastimes, but if you followed the headlines last week, you might be thinking otherwise.

It never hurts to give some extra thought to being careful, or to expect the unexpected.

http://chronicle.augusta.com/content/blog-post/rob-pavey/2010-03-10/fishing-and-hunting-five-deaths-four-days-what-happened?v=1268256363

With feral swine running loose and damaging crops in more than 60 counties across the state, lawmakers in the House Tuesday (March 9th) approved legislation introduced by state Rep. Sharon Tyler of Niles making it legal for anyone with a valid hunting license or concealed pistol permit to kill the animals on sight.

Tyler’s legislation allows feral swine to be killed on public land or on private land with the landowner’s permission. It also prohibits farmers from allowing swine livestock to graze on state-owned land.

Tyler said, “The feral swine problem has been getting progressively worse. We need to deal with this problem now so we can protect our agriculture industry from further crop damage and protect livestock from the diseases wild hogs carry.”

Agriculture is Michigan’s second largest industry.

Feral swine can grow to more than 600 pounds and five feet long. They travel in packs, are aggressive, carry disease and cause serious erosion to river banks. It is estimated that there are more than 5,000 feral swine in Michigan.

Tyler’s legislation now goes to the Senate for consideration.

http://www.wlkm.com/?p=11864

LEADER of the Opposition Eric Ripper said will introduce a disallowance motion to Parliament to oppose the general boat fishing licence as part of its campaign to axe the fish tax.

“The boat fishing licence is nothing but a new tax by stealth,” he said yesterday.

Campaigners against the new fishing licence say it makes WA the most expensive recreational fishery in the world.

They say changes introduced by Fisheries Minister Norman Moore, with a threat of $2000 fines, will reduce the number of families going recreational fishing, and that the requirement for a licence to fish from a hire dinghy for just a few hours will wipe out dinghy hire businesses.

Neil Bartholomaeus of Manjimup and Ben Patrick of Fremantle have set up the FishingTaxGrab.com website with other fishing enthusiasts to promote the issue.

They said more than 18,000 letters of protest have been sent to MPs.

Recreational fishers will need a new type of licence if they fish from a powered vessel anywhere in Western Australia after March 2.

The new recreational fishing from a boat licence, which was announced in October, is designed to help protect the State’s fish stocks and will cost $30 annually.

Fishers are not required to hold a licence when fishing as a paying customer from a licensed charter vessel, Minister Moore said.

However, Mr Bartholomaeus said the cost for the range of fishing licences in WA has increased from $87 to $207.

“The half price but high $103.50 cost for children to fish in WA is particularly harsh when there is no fee for children fishing in other states in Australia, with the exception of a few marine fisheries in Tasmania,” he said.

“The increased red tape and costs will cause a big drop in recreational fishing in WA, especially amongst the 43 per cent of the 565,000 persons who fish for less than five days a year, usually on family holidays.

“At least one boat fishing licence will be required to fish from a hire dinghy for a typical half day at Albany, Denmark, Walpole, Augusta, Dunsborough, Bunbury, Mandurah or Kalbarri, and licences will be required for fishing from holiday houseboats at Albany, Walpole, Augusta, Bunbury and Mandurah,” Mr Patrick said.

“This will wipe out most dinghy hire businesses in coastal holiday towns.”

However, Down South Camping proprietor Steve Cummings said he had no problem with the tax.

“I think it’s a great idea,” he said.

“We haven’t heard many punters say it’s a bad thing.

“As long as it goes towards establishing marine parks and better fish control, I don’t think there will be any issue.”

Minister Moore said the issue had been well and truly canvassed, both publicly and in Parliament.

“Input was sought from a great many groups and individuals – including Recfishwest, the recreational fishing sector’s peak body,” he said.

“The new licensing system is designed to provide the Government with greater capacity to manage recreational fishing in Western Australia.

“It came about as a result of increasing concerns about the sustainability of some fisheries.

“However, if an individual Member of Parliament wants to move to disallow the regulations, I will consider that issue.”

Mr Barthomaeus disagreed with the Department of Fisheries’s claim that the fine for not having the new licence is only $100, saying this did not concur with the Fish Resources Management Amendment Regulations 2010.

However, a Department spokesperson said a $2000 fine may only be imposed if an offender went to court.

People who broke the regulations could expect a warning, then a $100 infringement.

http://www.margaretrivermail.com.au/news/local/news/general/call-to-ban-recreational-fishing-licences/1772742.aspx?storypage=0

The Maldives will make its territorial waters into a shark sanctuary, a government official said Tuesday, lending momentum to efforts to protect the fish at a United Nations endangered species conference that begins this week.

“We’ve decided to go ahead with a shark fishing ban,” Ibrahim Didi, the fisheries and agriculture minister of the Maldives, said by telephone from Male, the capital. “Beginning July 1 there will be a total ban on exports.”

Maldives becomes the second nation to announce blanket protection for its sharks. Palau, a tiny Micronesian state, in September announced a ban on shark fishing. Like the Maldives, Palau is regarded as one of the world’s top scuba-diving destinations.

The Maldives exclusive economic zone covers about 90,000 square kilometers, or 35,000 square miles, roughly equivalent to the land area of Portugal.

In one sense, the bans represent pure economic logic. Researchers from James Cook University in Australia last year estimated that a single gray reef shark was worth $3,300 a year to the Maldivian tourism industry, compared with the one-time value of $32 that a fisherman would get from the same shark. They found a similar dynamic with regard to sharks on the Great Barrier Reef.

But the bigger issue is a rapid decline in global shark stocks that has alarmed scientists. Up to 30 percent of shark species is threatened with extinction, said Matt Rand, director of global shark conservation at the Pew Environment Group. “If we don’t leave enough in the water, they won’t recover.”

On Saturday, member nations of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora begin meeting in Doha, Qatar, where they will consider giving protected status to eight species of sharks, including the scalloped hammerhead and oceanic whitetip, which inhabit Maldivian waters. The measures call for restrictions, but not a ban, on international trade.

In the United States, the Shark Conservation Act, which would sharply curtail the practice of “finning” — cutting off sharks’ fins and throwing the rest of the animal back into the sea — has passed the House of Representatives and is awaiting approval in the Senate.

Mr. Rand said more than 70 million of the fish were killed each year just to support the sharkfin trade. The vast majority of those are sold in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where they are used in sharkfin soup. Fins can fetch as much as $120 per kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, in Hong Kong.

“Sharks don’t have the ability to rebound,” he said. “They grow slowly and they’re late to mature.”

Some sharks do not reach maturity until they are more than 10 years old and even then have only a few pups, so the stock cannot reproduce rapidly enough to make up for overfishing.

The value of sharks to the Maldives “is clearly in tourism and diving,” Mr. Rand said. “Any diver will tell you that you get a rush of exhilaration when you see a shark, but you’re not scared. O.K., maybe sometimes you’re scared.”

Mr. Didi, the Maldivian fisheries minister, said his government began planning for a ban last year, but objections from fishermen delayed the decision. Now, he said, “they understand that it isn’t a sustainable fishery.”

The government will provide the fishermen with financial support and retraining, Mr. Didi said.

Shark meat is not a part of the traditional Maldivian diet, he said, and all of the fish were being caught for their fins, which were exported. But the value of the trade had shrunk by more than 80 percent over the last 12 years, to just $230,000, as the sharks became scarcer.

The Maldives’ shark-fishing ban could also give impetus to a thorny discussion in London over an initiative to create the world’s largest marine reserve in British territorial waters around the Chagos islands, the Indian Ocean archipelago where the Diego Garcia military base is located.

The Maldives has become particularly sensitive to environmental issues amid concern over global warming. In October, ministers donned scuba gear for the first cabinet meeting ever held underwater, to publicize the country’s vulnerability to rising seas. The highest natural point in the Maldives is just 2.4 meters, or less than eight feet, above sea level.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/world/asia/10iht-shark.html

Johannesburg - Various animal parts of endangered species were confiscated in Gauteng during a police operation this week, a police spokesperson said on Friday.

Animal parts worth over R500 000 were confiscated in a joint operation over three days which focused on Asian and traditional healers, said Senior Superintendent Noxolo Kweza.

The SA Police Service, Interpol, nature conservation groups and others collaborated in the operation.

Leopard, rhino, lion, crocodile, elephant, python and wild dog skins were seized together with leopard and crocodile heads, Kweza said.

Police also confiscated non-SABS approved medicines and Asian medicines suspected to have been imported illegally.

A Chinese woman was arrested in Cyrildene for performing illegal abortions at traditional clinic. Though she was a Chinese-trained doctor, the woman did not have a licence to operate in South Africa, Kweza said.

A South African and a Ghanaian were fined in Pretoria for the possession of animal parts, and an Indian herbalist was fined for the illegal possession of frogs, crabs and 15 starfish.

More arrests could follow once forensic tests verified the authenticity of the body parts, Kweza said.

http://www.news24.com/Content/SciTech/News/1132/b954b442442348f68e61e9f8da21f743/06-03-2010-11-31/Animal_parts_seized_from_healers

Lawrence Munro was on an evening stroll with wife Kerryn and their dogs when the pair stopped to rest on some rocks, dipping their toes into a shallow part of the White Umfolzi river on a game reserve 125 miles north of Durban.

Moments later, the Nile crocodile launched its assault.

Mr Munro, 33, said: "It was a matter of seconds. I grabbed hold of the rocks and started kicking the croc with my right foot. He let go and grabbed again, getting hold of both feet. I tried to get to my rifle, but I had been dragged closer to the water and couldn't reach it. Kerryn grabbed under my arm and around my neck and started pulling. Eventually the croc let go.

"My two-way radio had come loose and fallen into the river during the struggle so we couldn't call for help," he told the Mercury newspaper.

After pulling her husband free, Mrs Munro ran to the Makhamisa Base Camp for help. Mr Munro was airlifted to hospital in nearby Richards Bay, where he underwent operations to repair tendons in his right foot.

Jeff Gaisford, spokesman for Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, which runs the 240,000-acre Imfolozi Game Reserve, said Mrs Munro was still recovering from Friday's ordeal.

"She's five months pregnant and a small little thing, so she's resting after it all. There's no doubt Lawrence is very lucky - this crocodile would have eaten him, no doubt. A man is meat to a croc.

"He ended up being a bit of a sandwich with the croc dragging him from one end and Kerryn pulling him by the shoulders from the other. We estimate the croc was 3 metres (9.8 feet) long so it was quite big but in the end it gave up."

Mr Muno added: "I am just glad Kerryn was with me and was able to help me get away from the croc. If she hadn't been there, the ending would have been bad. I am also glad the croc took my feet and not hers, as she was sitting right next to me with her feet in the water."

Mr Gaisford said there had been a recent spate of crocodile attacks across KwaZulu-Natal as the animals bulk up ahead of winter.

He added: "Lawrence was very lucky because crocodile are killers. They are past masters at camouflage and stalking so it's not surprising he didn't see it. But he's not bitter about it and we expect him to be back at work once his feet have healed."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7358766/Pregnant-wife-pulls-ranger-husband-from-crocodiles-jaws.html

On February 19, 2010, an ivory dealer was ordered to serve a prison term of 8 months and to pay as damages and court charges the sum of about FCFA 1.2 Million by the Yaounde Court of first instance. Until the judgment, the ivory dealer Ousmanou Abdoulaye, who was arrest in October 11, 2009, has been under detention at the Kondengui Central Prison.

In May 2006, 3.9 tons of ivory shipped from the Douala port were seized in Hong-Kong- a result of an investigation carried out by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, in collaboration with the Forces of Law and Order, the Customs and LAGA- an international Non Governmental Organization specialized in wildlife law enforcement. The seizure in Hong-Kong represented more than 300 elephants killed to obtain ivory. And in 2009, close to 1 ton of ivory was seized in Douala, suspected to have been obtained after killing more than 100 elephants. Outside Cameroon, the Head of a gang of 4 wildlife traffickers of Chinese nationality is now behind bars in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo for illegally trading in ivory.

The massive killing of African elephants is attributed to increasing demand of ivory in Asian countries, notably in China. That explains why from the 13th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Cameroon has constantly alerted Parties that Chinese market represents a great threat to Cameroon elephants, whereby large amount of ivory are illegally trafficked from the Douala port.

In Asian markets illegal trade preference is said to be given to Central and West African forest elephants. At this rate of poaching African elephants, their population on the continent is reported to have dropped from 1.3 million to 625 000 between 1976 and 1989. On current trends, Professor Samuel Wasser of the University of Washington says, by their estimates, more than 38 000 African elephants were reported killed for ivory trade in 2006 alone.A report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) captioned: China, Ivory Trade and the Future of Africa's Elephants, states, "China's rising demand for ivory has triggered increased poaching in a number of African countries, decimating many elephant populations". On the implication of Chinese nationals in ivory trafficking the report explains, "Chinese citizens or companies have been prosecuted for illegal ivory trade in 23 of Africa's 37 elephant range states".

http://allafrica.com/stories/201003090806.html