Aquaculture and Aquaria
     .
     {{Catfish Processing Record.  On Jan. 22, 1998, the U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture announced that the U.S. farm-raised catfish industry processed
about 525 million pounds (live-weight) of catfish in 1997, a new record and
11.2% more than was processed in 1996.}} [The Catfish Institute press
release]
     .
     {Estuarium Opens.  On Jan. 20, 1998, NC's first aquarium devoted to
educating visitors about coastal rivers and sounds -- the North Carolina
Estuarium -- opened in Washington, NC, on the Pamlico River estuary.}
[Assoc Press]
     .
     {MN Refuses Diseased Federal Fish.  On Jan. 20, 1998, MN Dept. of
Natural Resources officials announced that they would not accept lake trout
from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Iron River National Fish Hatchery
after hatchery officials confirmed that lake trout at that hatchery had enteric
redmouth disease.  MN was to have received 180,000 lake trout for stocking in
Lake Superior.  As MN state law prohibits importing live fish from private
hatcheries infected with disease, MN officials chose to apply a similar
standard to the acceptability of federal fish.}  {{A routine fish health
inspection
of hatchery stock indicated bacterial kidney disease and enteric redmouth in
some lots of fish.  The hatchery sought to remove excess fish to reduce
stress contributing to the disease situation and decided not to stock these
fish.  When no response was received to a December 1997 notice of sale,
excess fish were removed on Jan. 13, 1998.}} [Assoc Press, Iron River
National Fish Hatchery press release]
     .
     Chilean Salmon Farm Transaction.  On Jan. 15, 1998, the Dutch
company Nutreco Holding NV announced that it had acquired a Chilean
hatchery and fish farm from Caican, with potentials of 3.5 million juvenile
salmon from the hatchery and 2,000 tons of market-ready salmon from the fish
farm.  Nutreco's annual revenues from fish farming and fish feed operations in
Chile was reported to total about 300 million guilders (about $145 million).
[Dow Jones News]
     .
     Aquarium Renovation and Expansion.  On Jan. 15, 1998, the
Chicago Plan Commission approved a proposed $135 million renovation and
expansion of the John G. Shedd Aquarium, to include an Amazon River
exhibit, an underground Indo-Pacific coral exhibit, and an exhibit featuring the
streams, rivers, and wetlands of IL.  This proposal next goes to the City
Council and the Chicago Park District Board. [Assoc Press, Dow Jones
News]
     .
     Chilean Salmon.  On Jan. 9, 1998, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce made
a preliminary antidumping determination on Chilean salmon, with two of the
five companies surveyed assessed duties of 8.27% and 3.31%.  The other
three companies surveyed were found to have dumping margins so low that no
retaliatory tariffs were levied.  More than 35 additional Chilean companies will
have the average finding, 5.79%, levied as an import duty on their product.
This is substantially lower than the 42% duty sought by U.S. salmon farmers.
Further investigations will be conducted in Chile before a decision on any final
duty is made in late May 1998. [Dow Jones News, Wall Street Journal,
Salmon Trade Alliance press release, Reuters, Assoc Press]
     .
     Shrimp Culture.  On Jan. 8, 1998, CEATECH USA Inc. (Controlled
Environment Aquaculture Technology Inc.) announced the receipt of a 45-year
lease from the HI Dept. of Agriculture for 83 acres of land on the island of
Kauai.  On this land, CEATECH plans to develop 52 one-acre ponds for
producing genetically improved shrimp.  Broodstock and postlarvae will be
marketed beginning in April 1998, and harvests are projected beginning in
June 1998, for sale to Hawaiian and mainland U.S. markets.  A lease for an
additional 280 acres of adjacent land is being negotiated. [CEATECH USA
Inc. press release]
     .
     Shrimp Virus Workshop.  On Jan. 7-8, 1998, the Environmental
Protection Agency in cooperation with the Office of Science and Technology
Policy's Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture will hold a workshop on shrimp
virus in Arlington, VA.  The workshop's objective is to develop a preliminary
ecological risk assessment of the potential effects of exotic shrimp viruses on
cultured and wild shrimp in the southeastern United States. [Fed. Register]
     .
     Ripley Aquarium Plans in Tennessee.  On Jan. 7, 1998, Ripley
Entertainment announced plans to build a $40 million, 1 million gallon
saltwater aquarium in Sevier County, TN, with opening planned for Christmas
1998. [Assoc Press]
     .
     Quahog Contract.  On Jan. 7, 1998, officials of Ecology and
Environment, Inc. (EEI; Lancaster, NY) announced that EEI had been awarded
a $400,000 contract by Narragansett Bay Marine Resources, Inc. to manage a
quahog (little neck/ cherrystone clam) culture test facility in Warwick, RI,
designed to produce about 40 million juvenile quahogs annually for
transplanting into Narragansett Bay. [EEI press release, Dow Jones News]
     .
     FL Red Tide.  On Dec. 26, 1997, the FL Dept. of Environmental
Protection issued an order to temporarily halt shellfish harvesting at clam
farms in the Charlotte Harbor area of southwest FL because of high red tide
organism cell counts. [Assoc Press]
     .
Freshwater Fisheries
     .
     Fisheries Database Summit.  On Feb. 9-11, 1998, a National
Fresh-water Fisheries Database Summit
[http://www.fw.vt.edu/fishex/fishdbmt.html] will convene in San Diego, CA, to
address issues regarding the standards and guidelines for developing shared
fisheries information systems. [personal communication]
     .
     {Hudson River Fish Monitoring Contract.  On Jan. 21, 1998, officials
of Thermo TerraTech Inc. announced that its Normandeau Associates subsidiary
had been awarded a $1 million one-year contract (with renewal options) by
the New York Power Authority and 4 other Hudson River utilities for
monitoring striped bass and Atlantic tomcod population trends in the Hudson
River between the Statue of Liberty and Poughkeepsie, NY.  This study
focuses on assessing the impact of power-generation plants, particularly
cooling water use.} [Thermo TerraTech press release]
     .
     AK Subsistence Fishing.  On Jan. 12, 1998, several AK legislators
filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn, as unconstitutional, parts of the federal
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act that give rural AK residents
priority for subsistence fishing and hunting.  This lawsuit also seeks to block
the scheduled federal assumption of AK subsistence fisheries management
on Dec. 1, 1998. [Assoc Press]
     .
     {Brine Shrimp Harvesting Patent Infringement.  In early January
1998, a federal judge awarded a brine shrimp company $788,824 from a
competitor for infringing on a patented method for harvesting brine shrimp eggs
from the Great Salt Lake, UT.} [Assoc Press]
     .
     Pfiesteria?  On Jan. 5, 1998, MD legislators held a hearing in Salisbury,
MD, to hear reports from various cabinet secretaries on progress in dealing
with Pfiesteria and to discuss options to be considered by the General
Assembly; more than 700 attended this hearing.  {On Jan. 21, 1998, MD
Governor Parris Glendening, in his State of the State Address, announced that
he would propose legislation for a $13.9 million "Pfiesteria and Water Quality
Action Plan" with the intent to enforce nutrient management plans for every
MD farm by 2002 with civil penalties and fines.} [Assoc Press]
     .
     Hog Waste Spill.  On Jan. 3, 1997, between 10,000 and 20,000 gallons
of hog waste flowed into wetlands along the Neuse River, NC, after an
equipment malfunction allowed too much waste to spray on nearby fields.  A
Neuse River Foundation pilot spotted the spill from the air and reported it.
[Assoc Press]
     .
Marine Mammals
     .
     Gray Whale Release.  In late March 1998, Sea World San Diego
anticipates releasing a juvenile gray whale that has been under its care since
stranding in early January 1997.  The U.S. Coast Guard will assist in the
release, timed to coincide with the annual northward migration of gray whales
along the CA coast. [Assoc Press]
     .
     IWC Intersessional Meeting.  On Feb. 3-5, 1998, International
Whaling Commission (IWC) chairman, Michael Canny, is tentatively
scheduled to convene an intersessional meeting of the IWC in Antigua to
discuss a compromise proposal to allow a limited resumption of commercial
whaling in coastal waters. [personal communication]
     .
     Dolphin Release Charges.  In mid-January 1998, NMFS announced
the filing of charges against four dolphin freedom activists for harassing and
illegally transporting two captive dolphins in connection with their deliberate
release in waters off Key West, FL, in May 1996.  Penalties against those
involved total $60,000. [NOAA press release]
     .
     Keiko.  On Jan. 7, 1998, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Free
Willy-Keiko Foundation issued a joint statement announcing that an arbitrator
had ruled that the Aquarium should provide day-to-day care for Keiko under the
direction of the Foundation's medical and rehabilitation plan. [Assoc Press,
Oregon Coast Aquarium/Free Willy-Keiko Foundation press release]
     .
     Manatee Mortality.  In early January 1998, FL Dept. of Environmental
Protection officials announced that 240 manatees were known to have died in
1997 -- the second highest annual death count since recordkeeping began in
1974. [Assoc Press]
     .
     Canadian Seal Quotas.  On Dec. 30, 1997, Canadian officials
announced that the 1998 harp seal harvest quota would be 275,000 animals,
unchanged from the 1997 quota.  A survey of the harp seal population is
scheduled to be conducted in 1998, to serve as the basis for deciding future
quotas.  The hooded seal quota will be increased from 8,000 (1997) to 10,000
animals in 1998.  Federal financial assistance for the sealing industry will be
C$500,000 in 1998, declining to C$250,000 in 1999.  No federal financial
support is projected after 1999 for this industry. [High North Alliance News]
     .
     Items in this summary are excerpted from a variety of information
sources.  The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is not responsible
for the accuracy of the various news items.