News Filed Under Fisheries
In the age of COVID-19, we do not need more to worry about. However, the summer of 2019 proved that even recreating in your local pond, stream or beach comes at some risk.
We saw a nationwide outbreak of rare, yet severe, maladies that originated from the water. These problems usually start in the hottest part of summer.
BILOXI, Miss.-- At Mississippi State University’s Coastal Research and Extension Center, we recently aged one of the largest tripletail fish ever caught.
The Dicamba Applicator Training required for individuals who plan to apply dicamba herbicide products in Xtend cropping systems is open online and scheduled at several sites across Mississippi.
The online modules are available at http://auxintraining.com.
The face-to-face workshops will be March 16-17 in Tunica, Coahoma, Hinds, Lee and Washington counties.
As some of the top predators in the ocean, sharks fill vital roles by regulating food web dynamics and maintaining balance in their ecosystems.
When most people think about tarpon, they probably picture a giant, shimmering, 6-foot fish leaping up towards the sky from the crystal-clear waters of southern Florida. What many people don’t know is that tarpon are also found just off our beaches in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Although tarpon are not considered table fare in the United States, they are prized by recreational anglers because of their large size and acrobatic behavior. Tarpon generally swim in schools and make long coastal migrations from the southern Gulf of Mexico to the north in the late spring before migrating back south in the fall.
LAPLACE, La. -- Heavy rainfall and snowmelt from the Midwest in 2019 led to three major firsts in the Bonnet Carré Spillway’s history, resulting in a massive influx of fresh water that caused adverse effects on marine life and seafood industries across the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is closing the Bonnet Carré Spillway this week, economic impacts of its months-long opening are expected to be felt in the seafood industry for years to come.
Catch and release angling can be an effective conservation tool but only when it’s done correctly.
Red snapper suffered a population decline in Gulf Coast waters in the 1900s because of overfishing, but anglers today report they simply cannot avoid them, even when fishing for other species.
Coastal area agricultural producers met with Mississippi State University researchers and Extension Service agents to discuss the research and education they need from the university in 2019.
Central Mississippi agricultural producers and industry professionals met with Mississippi State University personnel to discuss research and education priorities at the 2019 Producer Advisory Council meeting on Feb. 20.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- In past decades, researchers have revealed many connections between water bodies and adjacent landscapes. Much attention has been given to how soil, water, nutrients, pollutants -- and energy, in general -- move from land to nearby water bodies in runoff.
Weather in late-winter Mississippi is always a rollercoaster, with cold snaps followed by spring-like reprieves followed by more cold snaps.
Occasionally, the temperature dips low enough to freeze pond surfaces, but a week later, the bass are shallow and biting. Every few years, we get a deep freeze in the single digits for several days, and most tranquil water bodies freeze over. The ice can be an inch deep or thicker and persist for several weeks. Many of us ill-prepared Southerners worry about the impact on our fish
BILOXI, Miss.-- The Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery is economically and culturally important, but it is also very controversial. Fishing pressure during the past century led to the decline of Gulf red snapper.
Today, anglers see more red snapper than in previous years, so they believe the population is healthy again. However, managers with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries claim that the population is not yet healthy because it does not contain enough reproductively active females.
Floating islands are increasingly popular as a way to provide attractive centerpieces in ponds while improving water quality.
From the shore, floating islands look like normal earthen islands covered in plants, but they are much more than that. They are hydroponic systems that, when fully colonized by growing plants, are essentially wetlands that float on the water’s surface and provide many of the same services as natural wetlands.
If you own one of the 160,000 ponds in Mississippi, chances are you have invested tremendous amounts of cash and time in this resource. Building a pond can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and fish stocking, liming, fertilization and weed control are not cheap either.
Salt marshes are coastal wetlands common throughout the globe and visible just about any time you drive over a bridge along the coast.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Oxygen-related fish kills can completely wipe out otherwise healthy ponds, but there is a strategy pond owners can use to control this problem.
Anoxia -- the lack of oxygen -- can form in deeper water layers of a pond during warmer months. Deeper water is heavier and denser, which prevents it from mixing with warm surface water where air and oxygen-producing microorganisms are found. As deeper water becomes isolated, its oxygen levels are depleted, reducing fish habitat and increasing the risk of fish kills.
