I'll Have The Cod, Please.

Most everyone enjoys their “eating out Fish-Fry” Friday night. Especially now that the Lenten Season is upon us, the eating of fish takes on a new meaning. The demand for the different fish dishes has steadily increased along with prices, as our local supply becomes limited.Each winter when it’s at its darkest and coldest up north in the Barents Sea, spawning cod collect in shoals, searching for their place to spawn, the majority choosing Lofoten as their spawning area, hence the name “Lofoten Cod”. Fisheries gather to net the fish and collect the eggs. Entrepreneurs began raising the popular cod, trout and salmon in indoor enclosures that have spawned a new industry called “Aquaculture”. ----------------------------------------- Aquaculture is not a newcomer in Norway. The industry dates back to 1850 with the first brown trout ( Salmo trutta) were hatched. By around 1900, rainbow trout were imported from Denmark and the first attempts at pond-culture were initiated. Today, salmon and rainbow trout farming has developed into a major business along the majority of the coast of Norway and the demand has increased. Since World War II, the supply of wild-caught fisheries could no longer meet demand and the birth of farming fish in lakes, rivers and at sea seemed to be the solution.In 2011, Norway had its greatest salmon export season. More than 840,000 tons were sold on the world markets and, according to NRK reports, the demand continues to rise.

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While Norway’s fish farming is currently considered a “healthy” business, keeping the growing fish in pens poses some health problems. A parasite known as “sea lice” can infest an entire pen of growing fish, and critics feel that infected fish escape their open-water pens in violent storms, intermingling with free-water fish, and spreading the disease. This parasite may pose a problem to fish in both inside and outside cages.

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To counter these critics and control the health of the fisheries, the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Coastal affairs, Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, asked the government to introduce two important measures that will better avoid sea lice infestations. She announced the pilot scheme that will come into effect in May of 2012. The industry and authorities have demonstrated that plans already in effect are showing promise in controlling the parasite. One solution to the problem has been to allow the newly hatched young fish to grow larger in indoor-pens before being taking out to their in-lake pens that have a new maximum allowed 20,000 fish per cage. ------------------------------------ Now, if you might be one who wishes to cast a line and snag your own big one, coast and deep sea fishing is good all along the Norwegian coast, but Lofoten seems to be the place to go. Cod, mackerel and coalfish can be caught almost everywhere along the coast. Trout and pike fishing is good in lakes, and there are excellent salmon rivers. --------------------------------------------- Imagine what you might find on the end of your line while casting into a Norwegian fjord!

What In The World Is Happening?

It is almost mid- February in Midwest-USA. Lake ice is still unsafe for fishermen and we have green grass instead of snow. Where is our "Good old-fashion winter" with blizzards and below zero temperatures? The term "Climate Change" has been quietly whispered, while critics claim that it’s only Nature’s Law-of Averages at work.

A January, 2012 golf-outing in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, in Europe and Western Russia, there are media reports of the worst February cold wave to hit that area in 25 years. The death toll has climbed to 280 people who have frozen to death over the last few days in Eastern Europe."Global warming might be the culprit", according to climatologists. The question arises: "How does a little local Arctic summertime warming result in freezing half the globe later?"

Dangerous low temperatures and heavier-than normal snow falls have been experienced in Eastern Europe and Russia.

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The Alfred Wegener Institute says that "Summertime warming is melting the Arctic ice, which leads to a more exposed Arctic Ocean. This, in turn releases heat into the atmosphere, triggering atmospheric dynamics that morphs into massive cold waves six months later".

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Over here in the USA, bird-watchers are reporting sightings of a rare bird called the Snowy Owl. These snow-white birds stand 2 feet tall with a 5-foot wingspan and are normally seen in their normal wintering grounds on the Arctic tundra and not in the U.S. An Ornithologist has reported that as many as 100 snowy owls have been reported in Wisconsin this winter. Normally no more than a dozen are spotted from coast to coast.

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The reason? Climate change may be responsible. These birds normally feed on lemmings.When the little rodent can’t find food, it moves to better feeding areas and the snowy owls have to find them or find another food source for themselves..

Lemmings are 90% of the snowy owl’s diet and weigh about 1-4 ozs, the size of a little guinea -pig.They do not hibernate through the harsh winters, but burrow through the snow and eat the grass, grubs and larvae while living in tunnels under the snow. Warmer winters result in increased periods of freezing and thawing, making the snow freeze at ground level, reducing access to their food and living habitat.

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When the lemmings are abundant, they are hard to miss. Norwegians have had to use snowplows to clear the squashed rodents off their roads. Sometimes their strong biological drive causes them to migrate in large groups as they swim to cross a body of water in search of a new habitat. So, the hungry snowy owl has come to feast on our mice and field rodents for winter food.

This temperature graph shows the average 20-yr high-low temperatures. The trend shows a spike in temperature action since the mid-80's as the Arctic ice melts.

We may not be the only creatures affected by "climate change". It affects the habits of the birds, the fish, and even lemmings. Not to mention the bank accounts of people who sell snow-blowers and skis.