"From Fishing to Farmers Markets" ....news & events, issues & ideas

Thursday, February 18, 2016

 

pseudo-nitzia plankton with a side of chaetocerous

2-15-2016

Tuna clones....lures, "jigs" Zukar lure....a bubbilator

The "blob" in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean affected our  2015 albacore fishery and also the 2015-6 dungeness crab fishery off the Washington and Oregon coast. The blob was a huge plankton bloom, mostly of the pseudo-nitzschia diatom. When these particular diatoms died, they emitted domoic acid which moved up the food chain. This result did not adversely effect fish or crab. However, it can cause illness in birds, marine mammals, and humans. The levels of domoic acid are tested frequently in razor clams and in crab. Currently, there is no danger anywhere on the Washington and Oregon Coasts. Albacore tuna caught last summer in 2015 were not adversely affected by this plankton bloom. 

Meanwhile this winter, jigs for tuna are readied for the season.
You always wonder...why so many variations? Is it for the fisherman or the fish? I have my favorites and they involve real feathers. There is a certain way jigs act in the water when the boat rolls; they speed up and slow down, and it is how the jig acts in this motion that determines whether I like it or not.
Probably if I just kept the hooks sharp and free of eel grass it would not matter.

- posted by Holly @ 2:54 PM