Posted on 11/27/2007 7:05:35 PM PST by JACKRUSSELL
Pink 450-Pound Blobs Clog Nets but Spur New Recipes; Pointing Fingers at China
(OKI, Japan) -- Fisherman Ryoichi Yoshida pulled in his nets before dawn one morning, hoping for lots of yellowtail and mackerel. But the fish were overwhelmed by a heaving mass of living pink slime.
The creatures, called Nomura jellyfish, can measure six feet across and weigh up to about 450 pounds. They have been drifting en masse to places like Oki, a small island 40 miles off the coast, bobbing beneath the surface of the water like pink mines. They rip holes in fishermen's nets, and they poison fish.
"Normally, we just bring up the nets and it takes about an hour," said the weather-beaten Mr. Yoshida, 61 years old, after his crew had cleared the jellyfish out of the nets using long poles and hooks. "Now it takes two or three hours. And some of the fish escape."
WSJ's Sebastian Moffett reports from a Japanese boat where a scientist catches jellyfish, part of a new wave that's menacing fisherman.
Until 2002, these giant creatures were seen only occasionally in Japanese waters. But for the past five years, they have been swarming every year into the Sea of Japan, the water that separates Japan from mainland Asia. During the biggest invasion so far, in 2005, an estimated 500 million jellyfish -- not yet mature -- drifted in each day......
......Scientists have various ideas about what causes the outbreak. One has devised a computer model of ocean currents that suggests the jellyfish are breeding off the Chinese coast near the mouth of the Yangtze River. One theory is that pollution, perhaps linked to industrialization in China, is helping create more algae in the sea. The algae are food for plankton, which is......
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
New Monster Threatens Tokyo.
of COURSE it could be due to global warming! it’s bush’s fault.
Where is the Iron Chef when you need him...
Create a dish and commercially fish for them.
The Japanese made raw fish (sushi) the rave of the world. They will, undoubtedly, turn all this jellyfish slime into something the rest of the world will pay big money for.
Scientists have various ideas about what causes the outbreak. One has devised a computer model of ocean currents that suggests the jellyfish are breeding off the Chinese coast near the mouth of the Yangtze River. One theory is that pollution, perhaps linked to industrialization in China...
WTF? No “Global Warming” hype?
I need a beer!
Must be long lost relative of Godzilla?
Jellyfish do better than fish in warmer water. So their boom may be caused by global warming.
Then again, with overfishing wiping out the fish, the jelly fish may be exploding due to lack of competition and lack of predators (since large fish often eat small jellies).
My point was that the article specified problems that involved China’s industry and did not mention Global Warming.
Must you use logic to address these knee-jerk reactions?!
Dory, Dory, look out, Dory? Okay, let's play a game...
Sarcasm noted.
Can’t we just introduce some peanutbutterfish?
Can you fry a jelly fish in a wok?
That's what the Japanese fishermen exclaim when they draw their nets...
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