One whale shark successfully avoided research scientists for several years FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. – For humans, the concept of social distancing is really just a few months old. But for …
Lionfish are invasive in the Atlantic and Caribbean and are severely impacting native fish populations. Jessica Harvey from the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation shares in her Expedition Notebook notes on …
FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. – Shortfin mako sharks, the fastest shark in the ocean, scored an international victory when countries voted for a proposal to strengthen the protection of shortfin and longfin …
Huge Genome Reveals Sequence Adaptations in Key Wound Healing and Genome Stability Genes Tied to Cancer Protection FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. – The great white shark is one of the most recognized marine …
Already the world’s largest shark species, male whale sharks can swim around the ocean for up to 130 years, according to a recently published study by scientists at Nova Southeastern University‘s (NSU) …
Five green sea turtles that came ashore to nest on Broward County, Fl. beaches in the past couple months have reported safe to scientists with the Nova Southeastern University/ Broward County Sea Turtle …
When you embark on Guy Harvey Outpost’s Galapagos Islands photo expedition May 4-12, you will be the envy of scientists from all over the world. Visiting five different islands in this remote eastern …
The 32nd annual Everglades Coalition Conference that just wrapped up in Fort Myers was as much a spiritual revival as an ecological symposium. Amid a grim background slide show of guacamole-like slime …
By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com Bill Shedd– president of AFTCO Manufacturing Co., and a principal in Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts–was asked last …
By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer Catching a python in the wild is no easy feat: sort of like trying to solve a large, difficult jigsaw puzzle and then having the puzzle board itself …
26 Feb 2018
22 Aug 2017
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, the treaty that governs international wildlife trade. Mako sharks had not previously been protected under CITES.
Shortfin makos are captured mainly as bycatch in other offshore fisheries but kept for their high value meat and fins. The biology and migration patterns of this species, also coincidentally the athletics mascot of Nova Southeastern University, is a major topic of study by researchers from the university’s Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI). A 2017 collaborative study by the GHRI, the University of Rhode Island and other colleagues highlighted that the fishing mortality rate of shortfin makos in the western North Atlantic was 10 times higher than previously estimated from catches reported by fishermen. The new data suggested that this ocean apex predator is experiencing overfishing, raising serious concerns about whether the current levels of fishery catches in the North Atlantic are sustainable.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Makoit.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5412" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Makoit.png" alt="" width="1880" height="1494" /></a>
“The CITES listing is a significant step in helping protect these animals,” said Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., director of the GHRI and professor at Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. “We’ve been studying mako sharks for many years, and have seen first-hand from our tracking studies the excessive exploitation this species is experiencing in the western North Atlantic Ocean.”
Under the just ratified CITES Appendix II listing, mako shark products can’t be traded across international borders unless it can be shown by the exporting country that mako fishing isn’t threaten their chances for survival.
“This increased protection for mako sharks is much needed,” said Greg Jacoski, executive director of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, which helped fund NSU’s GHRI study. “Mako sharks are very important, both ecologically and economically, and their population cannot keep up with the current rate of removal.”
The decline of mako populations is traced to overfishing of young makos, which impacts reproductive rates, and from the natural deaths of mature females over the last 30 years. According to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas shark species group, the mako population would continue to decline until at least 2035, even it fishing of the species ceased immediately.
The closest relative to the great white shark, makos are the cheetahs of the shark species. As the fastest species of sharks, makos can swim up to 60 mph.
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About NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute: Established in 1999, the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) is a collaboration between the renowned marine artist, scientist and explorer, Dr. Guy Harvey, and Nova Southeastern University. The mission of NSU’s GHRI is to provide the scientific information necessary to understand, conserve, and effectively manage the world’s marine fishes and their ecosystems. The institute is one of only a handful of private organizations dedicated exclusively to the science-based conservation of marine fish populations and biodiversity. The research, education and outreach activities of NSU’s GHRI are supported by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, AFTCO Inc., extramural research grants, philanthropic donations by private businesses and individuals, and NSU. Please visit http://cnso.nova.edu/ghri for more information.
About the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation: The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF) conducts scientific research and hosts educational programs aimed at conserving the marine environment. The GHOF also funds affiliated researchers working to better understand our ocean ecosystem and educators helping to foster the next era of marine conservationists. The GHOF will help ensure that future generations can enjoy and benefit from a properly balanced ocean ecosystem. www.GHOF.org https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/worlds-fastest-shark-nets-international-win/){kind=link}
 and diving to nearly 4,000 foot depths. Great whites are also a big conservation concern given their relatively low numbers in the world’s oceans.
In a major scientific step to understand the biology of this iconic apex predator and sharks in general, the entire genome of the white shark has now been decoded in detail.
A team led by scientists from Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center and Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI), Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Monterey Bay Aquarium, completed the white shark genome and compared it to genomes from a variety of other vertebrates, including the giant whale shark and humans.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GW-Shark-NSU-Research-.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5298" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GW-Shark-NSU-Research--300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" /></a>Photo by Byron Dilkes and Danah Divers
The findings are reported in the ‘Latest Articles’ section of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.
Decoding the white shark’s genome revealed not only its huge size – one-and-a-half times the size of the human genome – but also a plethora of genetic changes that could be behind the evolutionary success of large-bodied and long-lived sharks.
The researchers found striking occurrences of specific DNA sequence changes indicating molecular adaptation (also known as positive selection) in numerous genes with important roles in maintaining genome stability ¬¬- the genetic defense mechanisms that counteract the accumulation of damage to a species’ DNA, thereby preserving the integrity of the genome.
These adaptive sequence changes were found in genes intimately tied to DNA repair, DNA damage response, and DNA damage tolerance, among other genes. The opposite phenomenon, genome instability, which results from accumulated DNA damage, is well known to predispose humans to numerous cancers and age-related diseases.
“Not only were there a surprisingly high number of genome stability genes that contained these adaptive changes, but there was also an enrichment of several of these genes, highlighting the importance of this genetic fine-tuning in the white shark,” said Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., director of NSU’s Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center and GHRI. Shivji co-led the study with Michael Stanhope, Ph.D., of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Also notable was that the white shark genome contained a very high number of “jumping genes” or transposons, and in this case a specific type, known as LINEs. In fact this is one of the highest proportions of LINEs (nearly 30%) discovered in vertebrates so far.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GW-Shark-NSU-Resaerch-Image.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5299" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GW-Shark-NSU-Resaerch-Image-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" /></a>Byron Dilkes and Danah Divers
“These LINEs are known to cause genome instability by creating double stranded breaks in DNA,” said Stanhope. “It’s plausible that this proliferation of LINEs in the white shark genome could represent a strong selective agent for the evolution of efficient DNA repair mechanisms, and is reflected in the positive selection and enrichment of so many genome stability genes.”
The international research team, which also included scientists from California State University, Monterey Bay, Clemson University, University of Porto, Portugal, and the Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, Russia, also found that many of the same genome stability genes in the white shark were also under positive selection and enriched in the huge-bodied, long-lived whale shark.
The discovery that the whale shark also had these key genome stability adaptations was significant because theoretically, the risk of developing cancer should increase with both the number of cells (large bodies) and an organism’s lifespan - there is statistical support for a positive relationship of body size and cancer risk within a species. Interestingly, this does not tend to hold up across species.
Contrary to expectations, very large-bodied animals do not get cancer more often than humans, suggesting they have evolved superior cancer-protective abilities. The genetic innovations discovered in genome stability genes in the white and whale shark could be adaptations facilitating the evolution of their large bodies and long lifespans.
“Decoding the white shark genome is providing science with a new set of keys to unlock lingering mysteries about these feared and misunderstood predators - why sharks have thrived for some 500 million years, longer than almost any vertebrate on earth” said Dr. Salvador Jorgensen, a Senior Research Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, who co-authored the study.
But the innovations did not end there.
The shark genomes revealed other intriguing evolutionary adaptations in genes linked to wound healing pathways. Sharks are known for their impressively rapid wound healing.
“We found positive selection and gene content enrichments involving several genes tied to some of the most fundamental pathways in wound healing, including in a key blood clotting gene,” said Stanhope. “These adaptations involving wound healing genes may underlie the vaunted ability of sharks to heal efficiently from even large wounds.”
The researchers say they have just explored the “tip of the iceberg” with respect to the white shark genome.
“Genome instability is a very important issue in many serious human diseases; now we find that nature has developed clever strategies to maintain the stability of genomes in these large-bodied, long-lived sharks,” said Shivji. “There’s still tons to be learned from these evolutionary marvels, including information that will potentially be useful to fight cancer and age-related diseases, and improve wound healing treatments in humans, as we uncover how these animals do it.”
Decoding the white shark genome will also assist with the conservation of this and related sharks, many of which have rapidly declining populations due to overfishing,” said Steven O’Brien, a conservation geneticist at NSU, who co-conceived this study. “The genome data will be a great asset for understanding white shark population dynamics to better conserve this amazing species that has captured the imagination of so many.”
This research was funded by NSU’s Save Our Seas Foundation, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, the Hai Stiftung/Shark Foundation, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and in-kind support from Illumina, Inc., and Dovetail Genomics. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/great-white-shark-genome-decoded/){kind=link}
 <a href="https://cnso.nova.edu/ghri/index.html">Guy Harvey Research Institute</a> (GHRI) and collaborators from the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme.
The research on whale shark aging growth dynamics, published in the Marine and Freshwater Research Journal, was conducted in the Republic of Maldives using a unique approach.
According to Cameron Perry, the first author of the scientific paper, and at the time a graduate student at NSU’s GHRI, “What makes this a novel approach is that we took repeated noninvasive underwater measurements of live sharks over the course of a decade.
“Up to now, such aging and growth research has required obtaining vertebrae from dead whale sharks and counting growth rings, analogous to counting tree rings, to determine age. Our work shows that we can obtain age and growth information without relying on dead sharks captured in fisheries. That is a big deal.”
You can read the full study <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/MF/MF17393">ONLINE</a>.
According to the research study, “Comparing length-measurement methods and estimating growth parameters of free-swimming whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) near the South Ari Atoll, Maldives,” taking repeated measurement of the same sharks over many years was possible because many of these sharks came back to the same place every one to two years, and individuals could be recognized by their unique spot patterns. The researchers then modeled their measurement results and found that:
• male whale sharks can live as long as 130 years (that means some whale sharks swimming the world’s oceans today were born when Grover Cleveland was President of the United States);
• whale sharks may grow as large as 61.7 feet on average, which is longer and bigger than previously believed (nearly 17 feet longer than a school bus.)
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/WhaleSharks__2-Zozi-2017_02_16-20_46_24-UTC.jpg"><img class="wp-image-5122 size-medium" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/WhaleSharks__2-Zozi-2017_02_16-20_46_24-UTC-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" /></a>Photo by George Schellenger
“Growth and reproduction of whale sharks, which are endangered in many places, are poorly understood,” said Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., director of NSU’s GHRI. “When you couple this lack of knowledge with the fact that whale shark products such as fins, meat and oil are highly valuable – they are harvested in many countries – one can quickly see the urgency in learning as much as possible in order to help save these majestic creatures.”
Perry agreed.
“The more we learn about these animals, their growth dynamics, where they go, what areas may be their nurseries, it can lead to a better understanding of their life history, which is imperative to guide conservation efforts,” he said.
Primarily funded by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, NSU’s GHRI works on initiatives and studies to provide the necessary information to better understand, conserve, monitor and effectively manage shark populations.
About NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute: Established in 1999, the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) is a collaboration between the renowned marine artist, scientist and explorer, Dr. Guy Harvey, and Nova Southeastern University. The mission of NSU’s GHRI is to provide the scientific information necessary to understand, conserve, and effectively manage the world’s marine fishes and their ecosystems. The institute is one of only a handful of private organizations dedicated exclusively to the science-based conservation of marine fish populations and biodiversity. The research, education and outreach activities of NSU’s GHRI are supported by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, AFTCO Inc., extramural research grants, philanthropic donations by private businesses and individuals, and NSU. Please visit http://cnso.nova.edu/ghri for more information.
About the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation: The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF) conducts scientific research and hosts educational programs aimed at conserving the marine environment. The GHOF also funds affiliated researchers working to better understand our ocean ecosystem and educators helping to foster the next era of marine conservationists. The GHOF will help ensure that future generations can enjoy and benefit from a properly balanced ocean ecosystem. Please visit www.GHOF.org for more information.
PHOTO CREDITS: Daniel Bruehlmann (Laser measurement); George Schellenger (Whale Shark opens mouth) https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/novel-approach-studies-whale-shark-ages-the-best-way-while-they-are-swimming/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Tagged Sea Turtles Reporting Safe After Irma&body=Five green sea turtles that came ashore to nest on Broward County, Fl. beaches in the past couple months have reported safe to scientists with the Nova Southeastern University/ Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
Dr. Derek Burkholder-- a research scientist at NSU's Guy Harvey Research Institute who heads the program--and colleague Glenn Goodwin, a Nova PhD student, glued satellite tags to the animals' shells after they completed depositing their eggs and were returning to the ocean. The tags beam the turtles' locations every time they surface, which is downloaded to the scientists' computers. The study subjects have kept in touch ever since-- even in the thick of Irma's onslaught.
"Everybody sought out deeper water or at least moved away from where things were rough," Goodwin wrote in an email. "Afterward, everyone returned to their normal areas, except Therese who wandered around, then ended up near Key West."
The tags usually transmit for about a year-- time enough for the scientists to try to solve several mysteries that are key to conserving the threatened and endangered reptiles: where do green and loggerhead turtles come from to nest in South Florida; how frequently do they come here; and where do they go between nesting events. Genetic samples taken during tagging will show whether sea turtle populations along the U.S. east coast are linked.
"We don't know what this population does when it leaves here," Burkholder said. "This project is to learn where they end up: who's going where and who's playing with who."
That information is vital to sea turtle conservation, Burkholder said, because it informs management decisions at the state, regional and federal levels, such as whether the animals are nesting and travelling through areas with high fishing and boating pressure that might warrant additional regulations.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Therese20170910-Irma-002-e1507034887821.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4915" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Therese20170910-Irma-002-e1507034887821.png" alt="" width="711" height="400" /></a>
"Giving them the protection they need when they need it and where they need it," Goodwin said.
In addition to the five with satellite tags, seven others were implanted with internal chips and wear external tags so that divers and anglers who encounter them can report their locations.
While the animals handled Irma just fine, their nests on Broward beaches did not; over half were swept away by winds and waves. Fortunately, it happened late in the nesting season rather than the mid-summer peak.
Broward County's Sea Turtle Conservation program has been in operation for 28 years -- focused primarily on monitoring and protecting nests from various threats and gauging hatching success. So far this season, surveyors have counted 3,337 nests--2,692 loggerheads; 634 greens and 11 leatherbacks on 24 miles of beach (excluding Mizell-Johnson State Park). It was a record year for greens; the previous mark was 500 in 2012. Nova Southeastern University and the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program are part of a network dedicated to sea turtle conservation that includes several volunteer organizations --Sea Turtle Oversight Protection (STOP), the South Florida Audubon Society, and Sea Turtle Awareness Rescue Stranding (STARS). The volunteers work tirelessly throughout the season to help protect sea turtle hatchlings by redirecting them away from disorienting coastal lighting back to the moon- and star-lit ocean.
The three-year tagging study is funded by a $45,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Broward County. But the program could use some help, since each tag costs upwards of $4,500. The first turtle to be tagged was named George Finley (even though it's a female) after the winner of Guy Harvey Outpost's May sweepstakes.
If you would like to sponsor a tag for next season, contact Burkholder at dburkholder@nova.edu or call 954-262-3673.
https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/tagged-sea-turtles-reporting-safe-after-irma/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Walking in Darwin’s Footsteps on Guy Harvey Outpost Galapagos Expedition&body=When you embark on Guy Harvey Outpost's Galapagos Islands photo expedition May 4-12, you will be the envy of scientists from all over the world. Visiting five different islands in this remote eastern Pacific chain about 600 miles off Ecuador, you will observe and capture images of species found nowhere else on earth such as the Galapagos sea lion; Galapagos tortoise; and the marine iguana.
The unique animals that inspired naturalist Charles Darwin to lay out his world-changing theory of evolution in "On the Origin of Species" in 1859 are still revealing themselves to science in 2017 and you could be there as these revelations unfold.
In 2015, scientists discovered a new species of giant tortoise on Santa Cruz Island. For more than 150 years, the long-lived land animals on the eastern and western portions of the island were believed to be the same species, but genetic studies found the two populations were distinct. The eastern population became the 15th known tortoise species in the Galapagos, four of which are extinct.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_1201.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4618" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_1201.jpg" alt="DSC_1201" width="5008" height="3032" /></a>
One prominent geneticist who is itching to conduct DNA research in the islands is Dr. Mahmood Shivji, head of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University near Fort Lauderdale. Shivji visited there several months ago on a trip with Guy Harvey Outpost President Mark Ellert and the company's Ecuadorean development partners. The scientist discussed possible avenues of research with officials of the Galapagos National Park.
"We hope to study movement patterns and migrations of a variety of animals-- sea lions, land tortoises, boobies, frigate birds, white marlin--in collaboration with the Galapagos National Park Service and scientists from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in the Galapagos," Shivji said.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_8051.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4620" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_8051.jpg" alt="DSC_8051" width="5008" height="3336" /></a>
There are lots of procedures to undergo for anyone wishing to conduct scientific research in the Galapagos; proposals must undergo several levels of government review before any permits are issued. And park officials expect scientists publishing their findings to share them with the park.
Shivji, who has made some breakthrough genetic discoveries surrounding sharks and billfish, can hardly wait.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_7083.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4619" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_7083.jpg" alt="DSC_7083" width="2100" height="1095" /></a>
"DNA contains an amazing amount of information on the current and past status of species and populations. There's still lots of discoveries to be made," Shivji said. "In addition to generating basic knowledge of how animals evolve, that information also is essential in helping the Galapagos National Park inform their policies for conserving these amazing iconic species in this unique place."
So it's possible that as you hike and snorkel around these islands taking photographs with your guide, Sports Illustrated veteran Ron Modra, you could be capturing images of a bird, reptile or mammal destined to up-end modern science.
To book your Galapagos expedition, go to <a href="http://www.GHOGalapagos.com">www.GHOGalapagos.com</a> or call our reservations desk at 800-513-5257.
PHOTO CREDITS: Ron Modra https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/walking-in-darwins-footsteps-on-guy-harvey-outpost-galapagos-expedition/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Everglades Coalition: Send Clean Fresh Water South&body=The 32nd annual Everglades Coalition Conference that just wrapped up in Fort Myers was as much a spiritual revival as an ecological symposium.
Amid a grim background slide show of guacamole-like slime clogging the St. Lucie estuary on Florida's east coast, one speaker after another exhorted the more than 300 attendees to tell their elected officials to make sure clean freshwater is sent south across the peninsula to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
The theme of the three-day conference said it all: "Three Estuaries: One Solution". Scientist after politician after environmentalist took to the podium to declare that the way forward for saving America's Everglades is to build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to store and filter water before sending it on to the parched 'Glades.
"We're not wrong. We need to send clean water south," declared Maggy Hurchalla, a 20-year veteran of the Martin County Commission.
Storing water in the Everglades Agricultural Area, they said, would lessen the massive discharges of nutrient-laden fresh water from the Big O into the St. Lucie to the east and the Caloosahatchee to the west while allowing a now hyper-saline Florida Bay to receive the fresh water it needs to maintain its health.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/glades-scene.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4510" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/glades-scene.jpg" alt="glades-scene" width="640" height="425" /></a>
Last year, more than 235 billion gallons of fresh water were pumped from the lake into the St. Lucie estuary alone, spreading toxic algae that killed fish, marine mammals, oysters and sea grass, stranded boaters and swimmers on land, depressed property values and may cause future serious illnesses to those exposed to it such as liver cancer and Alzheimer's. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls lake levels, said it had no choice because it couldn't risk compromising the aging Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds the Big O and there was nowhere else to put all that water. Meanwhile, Florida Bay, which supports a $1 billion per year recreational fishery for redfish, snook, tarpon, bonefish and other species, saw tens of thousands of acres of sea grass die from a lack of fresh water. Ecologists say they are expecting widespread algae blooms in the bay any time now.
As repairs to the Lake O dike continue and several Everglades water restoration projects come on line, Everglades advocates staunchly support Florida Senate President Joe Negron's proposal to purchase 60,000 acres of agricultural lands south of the big lake to clean water as it trickles toward Everglades National Park. But the sugar industry and the South Florida Water Management District-- which regulates water from Orlando to Miami--are strongly opposed. Sugar companies say the land buy will cost thousands of agricultural jobs. Water managers say the emphasis should be on reducing polluted water entering the Big O from the north and sticking to the Corps' original target date of 2021 for building the southern reservoir--even though the Corps has said it would be willing to speed up that project.
No one could question state water managers or sugar company representatives during the Everglades Coalition meeting because none showed up.
At stake in the multibillion-dollar restoration of the Everglades is the water supply for some eight million people and conservation of the largest wilderness east of the Mississippi. Look for this issue to appear front and center in the Florida Legislature, both houses of Congress, and the White House in 2017. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/everglades-coalition-send-clean-fresh-water-south/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Save Billfish by Closing Loophole&body=<img class=" size-medium wp-image-3282 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/602.jpg?w=300" alt="602" width="300" height="222" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
Bill Shedd-- president of AFTCO Manufacturing Co., and a principal in Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts--was asked last year by Marlin magazine what would be the single most important change we could make to current management policy in 2016 to benefit billfish stocks.
His answer: for NOAA Fisheries to get on with finalizing its promised rulemaking on the Billfish Conservation Act signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2012. The law bans importation and sale of billfish (marlin, sailfish and spearfish) into the continental U.S., but still allows traditional fisheries within the Hawaiian Islands and Pacific territories. More than three years after the law was adopted, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service has yet to propose rules to implement it.
According to Shedd: "The law intended that the Hawaiian exemption allow only for traditional harvest and consumption within the islands, and that billfish should not be allowed to be shipped from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland. A ruling from NOAA Fisheries is needed to close a possible loophole and prevent possible cheating of billfish caught in other parts of the world being shipped through Hawaii and labeled as caught in Hawaii."
"This clarification would not only protect billfish stocks in Hawaii, but in other parts of the world as well," Shedd added. "The U.S. has been the world's largest market for billfish. The Billfish Conservation Act was passed to prevent billfish importation into the U.S. by removing economic incentive in other countries to catch billfish and export them to the U.S. Allowing the Billfish Conservation Act to proceed as intended will have a huge positive impact on billfish stocks."
Some knowledgeable observers say the delay in implementation may have to do with tasking bureaucrats at NMFS to draft what may turn out to be trade regulations rather than fisheries regulations--not normally their purview even though the agency is under the Department of Commerce.
But of one thing Shedd and other fisheries conservationists are adamant: no billfish, whether from the U.S. or foreign countries, may be sold in the continental U.S.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/save-billfish-by-closing-loophole/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=South Florida’s 2016 Python Challenge: Snakes Alive, but Hopefully Not For Long&body=
<img class=" size-medium wp-image-3118 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/snake1.jpg?w=300" alt="snake" width="300" height="240" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
Catching a python in the wild is no easy feat: sort of like trying to solve a large, difficult jigsaw puzzle and then having the puzzle board itself fight back --hard.
That's what the more than 300 participants who've signed up for the 2016 Python Challenge Jan. 16 through Feb. 14 are about to find out for themselves.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Wildlife Foundation of Florida will repeat the South Florida event first held in 2013 when nearly 1,600 participants took out only 68 snakes. But the low harvest came as no surprise to the wildlife agency and other snake experts. That's because Burmese pythons-- despite reaching sizes of more than 18 feet and numbering in the thousands in the South Florida woods--don't just jump out at you like an alligator might.
"The detection rate is very low," said environmental scientist Joe Wasilewski of Homestead, who's been tracking pythons and other reptiles in South Florida since the 1980s. "They're going to walk past them more than not. They could be right next to you and they just blend right in."
Wasilewski has some tips and advice for new and inexperienced python hunters hoping for a shot at winning $5,000 for top team or $3,500 for top individual in the 2016 Challenge:
o Pay careful attention during mandatory online and optional in-person training sessions being conducted by the FWC.
Wasilewski says it's especially important to learn to distinguish exotics like Burmese, rock and reticulated pythons from indigenous snakes.
"Don't be jumping on everything you see," he said. "Be careful and make sure you are grabbing the right snake."
Even experts, he said, sometimes have difficulty discerning a large rat snake (a harmless native species) from a small Burmese python. So study lots of pictures before your hunt so you can make a positive ID.
o Plan your hunt for areas bordering Everglades National Park.
The national park will be off-limits to all but a handful of state- and federally-permitted hunters. So try to hunt in the Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area located between Homestead and the Keys, or in the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area adjacent to Tamiami Trail, Wasilewski suggested. The Rotenberger and Holey Land Wildlife Management Areas straddling western Broward and Palm Beach counties also should be productive, he said.
o Best hunting will be walking canal levees on sunny mornings following cool nights.
That's where the cold-blooded reptiles are likely to be out in the open, warming themselves, Wasilewski said. But if you don't spot them, poke the bushes with your snake hook; look for "sheds" ( the snake's sloughed skin); and check around rock piles and human debris such as old carpet or aluminum siding.
o If you are wrestling with a python and it bites your hand, do NOT try to pull away.
The python's teeth curve inward, causing severe injury if you try to yank your hand out of its jaws, Wasilewki said. The solution: rubbing alcohol.
"Pour it into their mouth and they let go," he said, citing personal experience.
The scientist doesn't expect a huge bounty of snakes to be taken in the Challenge, but says it's still a worthwhile endeavor because it raises awareness of a major environmental problem.
"They're literally eating their way through the Everglades," Wasilewski said. "They eat rats, mice, rabbits, raccoons, bobcats, birds and even full-grown gators. Definitely not a good thing to have in the Everglades."
For more information on the 2016 Python Challenge, go to <a href="http://pythonchallenge.org/">pythonchallenge.org</a>.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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