Nature's GPS: Sharks read magnetic fields for directions

Yahoo – AFP, May 6, 2021 

Forget Google Maps -- sharks can read the Earth's magnetic field like a GPS navigator to find their way, a study in Current Biology showed Thursday. 

Lead author Bryan Keller told AFP the paper vindicates a decades-old theory about how the aquatic predators are able to migrate vast distances, swim in arrow-straight lines, and return to their precise point of origin. 

Sharks are also known to have a fine-tuned electrosensing ability that helps them detect prey. 

All these factors led scientists to believe that sharks -- like sea turtles and certain other species -- can glean their position and orientation using the magnetic field generated deep within our planet. 

But there had been no way of proving it, until now. 

For their research, Keller, project leader of Save Our Seas Foundation Florida, decided to study a small member of the shark family, called bonnetheads, that are native to the Gulf of Mexico. 

"The bonnethead returns to the same estuaries each year," said Keller, a biological oceanographer at Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory. 

"This demonstrates that the sharks knows where 'home' is and can navigate back to it from a distant location." 

The team caught 20 juvenile bonnetheads then exposed them to a device called a Merritt coil -- a wooden cube with vertically and horizontally arranged copper wiring running along it, and a shark tank at the center. 

The device was used to simulate magnetic field conditions that corresponded to different locations on Earth, hundreds of kilometers from where the bonnetheads were caught. 

As predicted, the sharks oriented themselves northward when the magnetic conditions simulated a position south of where they were caught. 

They didn't orient themselves in any direction when the coil told them they were already at their home. 

"This work provides clarity for how they maintain navigational success," said Keller. 

He added that it was unlikely that bonnetheads evolved this ability independently of other sharks, and the finding illuminated impressive feats among its cousin species. 

"The great white, for example, has been shown to migrate from South Africa to Australia, returning to the same tagging site the following year in South Africa," he said. 

This movement was over 20,000 kilometers over nine months with the animal displaying an "incredibly straight swimming trajectory." 

Keller said in future studies he'd like to explore the effects of magnetic fields from human sources, such as submarine cables, on sharks.

Related Articles:

Shift of Earth's magnetic north pole impacts Tampa airport


“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

“… (2) The second thing the melting ice caps give you is about ecology. I'll give you this prediction in a moment. There is a Human 3D paradigm that says everything gets "used" and then goes away. But nature doesn't work that way, and our prediction is going to go against everything you have been told. I'm going to give you a parable and the prediction in a moment, but before that, I'm going to give you the explanation of the birds and the fish.

In the last few weeks, fish have been washing up dead in certain lakes by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Birds have been falling from the sky. I'm going to make a statement way in advance of what science is going to tell you. All of it can be traced to the water cycle - all of it. It's always about the weather, a cycle of weather you've not seen before. Do you remember a few years ago when whales were beaching themselves? Did you notice that this attribute stopped? But while they were beaching themselves every year, many Human Beings were in fear, saying, "It's the end of the world. They're committing suicide."

The whales beached themselves because the magnetics of the earth shifted so greatly that their navigational system [the magnetite in their biology, which is their migration compass] steered them right into the land. The land didn't move; the magnetics did. Therefore, you might say their internal inherited migration map was flawed. The reason it's not happening now is because the calves, the generation beyond the one that beached themselves, figured it out and rewrote the maps. Nature [Gaia] does this. So the next generation didn't repeat it. Instead, it realigned itself to the migratory lay lines and now whales don't beach themselves nearly as often.

The magnetics of the planet continue to shift and the birds are unaware. Like the whales, many of the birds have migrated themselves right into a high place in the atmosphere, which pummeled them to death by freezing rain and hail. Then they fall from the sky. It's the weather cycle. Will they continue to do this? Some will, for awhile, and then they will figure it out and recalibrate. That's what nature does.

You might say, "Well, nature's way is severe." It is not severe. It is a positive learning system that allows generations of birds to be around next time. The few deaths allow for the many to continue their life cycle and their lineage on the earth.

I want you to analyze the fish that have washed up. Let science reveal this as well. I want you to analyze the fish. They have something in common. They're all juveniles. And why is that? What do you know about the water cycle? What do you know about cold water and the life cycle of certain fish and their habits of reproduction? I will tell you the layers of water are changing in temperature and that is going to change the life cycle of the oceans and lakes. The juvenile fish are the most susceptible to death by becoming too cold, especially the ones of the kind that washed up dead. By the tens of thousands, the cold killed them. It is the water cycle. Will it continue? For awhile, until they acclimate, until they recalibrate for the cold - and they will. Nature does that.  ….“

"The Energy of the Future" (2) - Dec 7, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… The Physics of It: A Review

Now for some physics, and I'll call it spiritual physics so it's not too complicated. In 1993, we gave you a book called The End Times. In this book, we made some statements. We talked about the magnetic grid of the earth, and we told you that it had to be there for Human life to exist - and it does. At the time, science didn't agree, but now many are seeing it. We went on to give you the esoterics of it, what my partner calls the woo-woo part. Your DNA, a multidimensional molecule, has within it everything that the Universe knows. It carries your Akashic Record, all of your lifetimes, all of your spiritual purpose, your spiritual being and your karma. Everything is in your DNA. This will never be proven, since it's a spiritual attribute. The DNA creates a field and it's called the Merkabah (a Hebrew word).

We also told you that the magnetic grid of the earth, a multidimensional energy, transfers certain things to your DNA on a day-by-day basis. The grid then becomes a major energy transfer system. That should have connected the dots for some of those who were paying attention - for if the grid changes, dear ones, you do, too. I told you the grid would change more in 10 years than it had in 100, and it did. You can measure your magnetic grid's movement with a compass. Between 1993 and 2002, it moved greatly, more than in any other time in modern Human history. We said this would be, and so it was. Our grid group left in 2002, as we told you we would.

Again, those paying attention should have known something was happening. I also told you within those initial transmissions back then that you would have no Armageddon, and you did not. Also, that there would be no World War III, and there wasn't. In the face of all the prophecy that told you differently, we told you there was a potential for Human Beings to pass the marker, survive, and start a new energy on the planet. We told you this would be the start of peace on Earth, and this is where you sit today. All of those years ago, we told you about the potential of where you sit today, listening to this message, and asking what might be next. So I'll label the channel right now: The Energy of the Future.

The Energy of the Future

Last week, I gave you a channelling of what to expect within the next three years. The message tonight will talk to you about the energies that are going to be manifested beyond that and some of the changes to expect and why they are taking place. You may want to listen to this channel a number of times to put it together, for there are reviews and new information.

So before we begin, what have we established?

Number One: Locked into the Human body via your DNA is brilliance and mastery, working at approximately 34 percent.

Number Two: The magnetic grid of the planet postures everything to do with your DNA. It also has much to do with what you call Human nature, what you want and what you've created. It seems static, never changing, and has been seen as "the way it is". However, we will call it the temporary lock on DNA. You see, when your Human consciousness and spiritual maturity starts to move in the next years, your DNA will start to change. This has nothing to do with chemistry, but everything to do with energy stored within it, and rewriting the data. New energies will unlock certain parts that have been locked, some of them being the very parts that I've just told you about at the beginning of this channelling - the things that are puzzling regarding healing and the Akash.  …”

A shocking find: new high-voltage electric eels revealed

Yahoo – AFP, Sara HUSSEIN, September 10, 2019

DNA research has revealed two entirely new species of electric eel in the Amazon basin,
including one capable of delivering a record-breaking jolt (AFP Photo/Leandro SOUSA)

Tokyo (AFP) - Call it a shock discovery: DNA research has revealed two entirely new species of electric eel in the Amazon basin, including one capable of delivering a record-breaking jolt.

The findings are evidence, researchers say, of the incredible diversity in the Amazon rainforest -- much of it still unknown to science -- and illustrate why it is so important to protect a habitat at risk from deforestation, logging and fires.

"In spite of all human impact on the Amazon rainforest in the last 50 years, we can still discover giant fishes like the two new species of electric eels," said lead researcher C. David de Santana, a zoologist working with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

The research "indicates that an enormous amount of species are waiting to be discovered in the Amazon rainforest, many of which may harbour cures for diseases or inspire technological innovations," he told AFP.

The electric eel, in fact a kind of fish rather than an eel, inspired the design of the first electric battery.

For centuries, it was believed that a single species existed throughout the region known as Greater Amazonia, encompassing parts of countries including Brazil, Suriname and Guyana.

But as part of a project to better understand electric eels and map wildlife in remote parts of South America, de Santana and his team decided to test that conventional wisdom.

At first glance, they found little visible difference between creatures collected from different parts of the Amazon basin, suggesting the fish were indeed part of a single species.

But further analysis, including of DNA from 107 samples they collected, upended centuries of assumptions and revealed three different species: the previously known Electrophorus electricus, along with Electrophorus voltai and Electrophorus varii.

And their research also uncovered another stunning result: E. voltai is capable of delivering a jolt of 860 volts -- much more than the 650 volts previously recorded from electric eels -- "making it the strongest bioelectricity generator known."

'Hidden' functions

The findings, published Tuesday in the Nature Communications journal, theorise that the three species evolved from a shared ancestor millions of years ago.

The researchers found each of the three species has a clearly defined habitat, with E. electricus living in the Guiana Shield region, E. voltai in the Brazilian Shield, a highland further south, and E. varii inhabiting slow-flowing lowland Amazon basin waters.

And they suggest that the particularly strong electric shock that E. voltai can produce could be an adaptation to life in highland waters, where conductivity is less effective.

Electric eels use their shock tactics for a variety of reasons, including hunting prey, self-defence, and navigation.

They generate electricity from three specialised electric organs that can emit charges of varying strengths for different purposes.

But the discovery of the new species raises the possibility that different types of eels may have evolved different ways of generating electricity, perhaps better suited to their diverse environments.

De Santana hopes to compare the genomes of the three species, searching for clues that could offer insights useful to a variety of fields.

"Electric eel physiology inspired the design of Volta's first electric battery, provided a basis... for treating neurodegenerative diseases and recently promoted the advance of hydrogel batteries that could be used to power medical implants," he said.

The newly discovered species may reveal a "hidden variety" of functions "of interest to the broader scientific community."

Giant tortoise thought extinct is found on Galapagos

Yahoo – AFP, February 21, 2019

The Fernandina Giant Tortoise was thought to have become extinct more than
100 years ago until this adult female was discovered by conservationists on the
Galapagos island of Fernandina on February 17, 2019 (AFP Photo/Rodrigo BUENDIA)

Quito (AFP) - Conservationists in the Galapagos Islands have found a giant tortoise from a species thought to have become extinct more than a century ago.

The adult female tortoise was found on the island of Fernandina in the west of the Pacific archipelago, and is believed to be a Fernandina Giant Tortoise, also known as Chelonoidis phantasticus, a species last sighted in 1906.

The tortoise is believed to be about 100 years old. It was taken by boat to the main Galapagos conservation center on Santa Cruz island.

The animal "exceeds 100 years" in age and is "a very old tortoise," said Washington Tapia of Galapagos Conservancy, a US non-profit dedicated to conserving the Galapagos.

Washington Tapia (L), of Galapagos Conservancy, holds a giant Galapagos tortoise 

Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought to have become extinct about a century ago (AFP

Photo/Rodrigo BUENDIA)

The islands are best known for their unique flora and fauna, which inspired naturalist Charles Darwin to write his landmark 1859 study on evolution, The Origin of Species.

Ecuador's Environment Minister Marcelo Mata announced on Twitter the discovery of a specimen "of the tortoise species Chelonoidis phantasticus, which was believed to have gone extinct more than 100 years ago."

A ministry statement said conservationists were hopeful other members of the species were on the island, judging by tracks and spores they found.

Genetic tests will be carried out to confirm the tortoise was indeed a member of the long-lost species, it said.

The Chelonoidis phantasticus species is native to Fernandina, which is uninhabited, topped by an active volcano, and one of the youngest islands in the chain.

Washington Tapia of Galapagos Conservancy, a US group focusing on preserving

 the unique flora and fauna of the Galapagos islands, transfers the newly-found giant 

tortoise from Fernandina to Santa Cruz, where conservation efforts are centered 

(AFP Photo/Rodrigo BUENDIA)

It is one of 15 known species of giant tortoises in the Galapagos, at least two of which have already vanished.

Any remaining Fernandina tortoises may be separated from each other by recent lave flows, researchers said.

In 2015, the Galapagos authorities announced the discovery of a new species of tortoise that they called Chelonoidis donfaustoi, named after Fausto Llerena, the park ranger who for 40 years looked after Lonesome George, the iconic last tortoise of his Pinta species, who died in 2012.

George become an icon of the islands, 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of South America.

Scientists tried to save George's species by breeding him with females from a related species, but their eggs failed to hatch. After his death, his body was stuffed and is currently displayed at the Charles Darwin Research Center in the Galapagos.

The female giant tortoise is thought to be about 100 years old and scientists will 

carry out genetic tests to confirm it really is a member of the Fernandina species,

last seen in 1906. (AFP Photo/Rodrigo BUENDIA)

Giant tortoises are believed to have arrived on the remote volcanic island chain about three to four million years ago, borne by ocean currents. With no natural predators, they spread across the islands and split into different species.

Their numbers were decimated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by sailors who took advantage of their ability to endure long periods without food or water to use them as easily stored fresh meat on Pacific voyages.

Their numbers were also hit by invasive species such as rats, pigs and dogs, which eat their eggs, while other introduced domestic animals like goats destroyed their habitat.

In captivity, the giant tortoises can easily live to more than 100 years.

Scientists have discovered that the tortoises have genetic variants linked to DNA repair, with healing power that enables their longevity.

Pilot whales die after 198 stranded on New Zealand beach

BBC News, 13 February 2015

A conservation worker tends some of the beached whales

Almost 200 pilot whales have stranded themselves on New Zealand's South Island, as rescuers and volunteers raced to refloat them.

Two dozen of the 198 whales found on Farewell Spit, Golden Bay, had already died, the conservation department said.

If the attempt to refloat them on Friday is unsuccessful, rescuers will have to wait 24 hours for high tide to try again.

A local official said it is the biggest beaching incident in 10-15 years.

"Because there's just so many whales, there are a couple of spots where a lot would gather together and that's kind of problematic from the aspect that you can't get in there, it's just too dangerous," said Mike Ogle, a local conservation ranger.

Farewell Spit has been the location of many whale strandings.

Experts say its shallow waters seems to confuse whales and hinder their ability to navigate.

Once they are stranded, whales can suffer from dehydration and sunburn.

Pilot whales can grow to about 20ft (6 metres) and are the most common species of whale in New Zealand's waters.

Andrew Lamason from the Department Of Conservation said it could take days to refloat the whales and even then there would be no guarantees they would survive.

"We've had plenty times in the past where the pods have gone out to sea and turned around and come back again," Mr Lamason said. "We're preparing for a big few days."

Scientists do not know what causes groups of whales to beach themselves.

File photo of pilot whales in Scotland

Related Article:

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

“… (2) The second thing the melting ice caps give you is about ecology. I'll give you this prediction in a moment. There is a Human 3D paradigm that says everything gets "used" and then goes away. But nature doesn't work that way, and our prediction is going to go against everything you have been told. I'm going to give you a parable and the prediction in a moment, but before that, I'm going to give you the explanation of the birds and the fish.

In the last few weeks, fish have been washing up dead in certain lakes by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Birds have been falling from the sky. I'm going to make a statement way in advance of what science is going to tell you. All of it can be traced to the water cycle - all of it. It's always about the weather, a cycle of weather you've not seen before. Do you remember a few years ago when whales were beaching themselves? Did you notice that this attribute stopped? But while they were beaching themselves every year, many Human Beings were in fear, saying, "It's the end of the world. They're committing suicide."

The whales beached themselves because the magnetics of the earth shifted so greatly that their navigational system [the magnetite in their biology, which is their migration compass] steered them right into the land. The land didn't move; the magnetics did. Therefore, you might say their internal inherited migration map was flawed. The reason it's not happening now is because the calves, the generation beyond the one that beached themselves, figured it out and rewrote the maps. Nature [Gaia] does this. So the next generation didn't repeat it. Instead, it realigned itself to the migratory lay lines and now whales don't beach themselves nearly as often.

The magnetics of the planet continue to shift and the birds are unaware. Like the whales, many of the birds have migrated themselves right into a high place in the atmosphere, which pummeled them to death by freezing rain and hail. Then they fall from the sky. It's the weather cycle. Will they continue to do this? Some will, for awhile, and then they will figure it out and recalibrate. That's what nature does.

You might say, "Well, nature's way is severe." It is not severe. It is a positive learning system that allows generations of birds to be around next time. The few deaths allow for the many to continue their life cycle and their lineage on the earth.

I want you to analyze the fish that have washed up. Let science reveal this as well. I want you to analyze the fish. They have something in common. They're all juveniles. And why is that? What do you know about the water cycle? What do you know about cold water and the life cycle of certain fish and their habits of reproduction? I will tell you the layers of water are changing in temperature and that is going to change the life cycle of the oceans and lakes. The juvenile fish are the most susceptible to death by becoming too cold, especially the ones of the kind that washed up dead. By the tens of thousands, the cold killed them. It is the water cycle. Will it continue? For awhile, until they acclimate, until they recalibrate for the cold - and they will. Nature does that.  ….“

"The Energy of the Future" (2) - Dec 7, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version) - New

“… The Physics of It: A Review

Now for some physics, and I'll call it spiritual physics so it's not too complicated. In 1993, we gave you a book called The End Times. In this book, we made some statements. We talked about the magnetic grid of the earth, and we told you that it had to be there for Human life to exist - and it does. At the time, science didn't agree, but now many are seeing it. We went on to give you the esoterics of it, what my partner calls the woo-woo part. Your DNA, a multidimensional molecule, has within it everything that the Universe knows. It carries your Akashic Record, all of your lifetimes, all of your spiritual purpose, your spiritual being and your karma. Everything is in your DNA. This will never be proven, since it's a spiritual attribute. The DNA creates a field and it's called the Merkabah (a Hebrew word).

We also told you that the magnetic grid of the earth, a multidimensional energy, transfers certain things to your DNA on a day-by-day basis. The grid then becomes a major energy transfer system. That should have connected the dots for some of those who were paying attention - for if the grid changes, dear ones, you do, too. I told you the grid would change more in 10 years than it had in 100, and it did. You can measure your magnetic grid's movement with a compass. Between 1993 and 2002, it moved greatly, more than in any other time in modern Human history. We said this would be, and so it was. Our grid group left in 2002, as we told you we would.

Again, those paying attention should have known something was happening. I also told you within those initial transmissions back then that you would have no Armageddon, and you did not. Also, that there would be no World War III, and there wasn't. In the face of all the prophecy that told you differently, we told you there was a potential for Human Beings to pass the marker, survive, and start a new energy on the planet. We told you this would be the start of peace on Earth, and this is where you sit today. All of those years ago, we told you about the potential of where you sit today, listening to this message, and asking what might be next. So I'll label the channel right now: The Energy of the Future.

The Energy of the Future

Last week, I gave you a channelling of what to expect within the next three years. The message tonight will talk to you about the energies that are going to be manifested beyond that and some of the changes to expect and why they are taking place. You may want to listen to this channel a number of times to put it together, for there are reviews and new information.

So before we begin, what have we established?

Number One: Locked into the Human body via your DNA is brilliance and mastery, working at approximately 34 percent.

Number Two: The magnetic grid of the planet postures everything to do with your DNA. It also has much to do with what you call Human nature, what you want and what you've created. It seems static, never changing, and has been seen as "the way it is". However, we will call it the temporary lock on DNA. You see, when your Human consciousness and spiritual maturity starts to move in the next years, your DNA will start to change. This has nothing to do with chemistry, but everything to do with energy stored within it, and rewriting the data. New energies will unlock certain parts that have been locked, some of them being the very parts that I've just told you about at the beginning of this channelling - the things that are puzzling regarding healing and the Akash.  …”

Study explains why polar bears are fat yet healthy

Yahoo – AFP,  8 May 2014

A young polar bear wallows in snow at the public zoo in Russia's second
city of Saint-Petersburg, on December 7, 2012. (AFP)

When it comes to healthy eating, polar bears break all the rules. They eat mostly fat, but they don't get heart disease the way humans would.

Scientists said the Thursday in journal Cell that the reason lies in their genes.

Some speedy evolutionary tricks, particularly in the genes which handle how fats are metabolized and how fats are transported in the blood, have allowed polar bears to survive in the Arctic, scientists said.

And it all happened within the last 500,000 years, after the polar bear split from its cousin, the brown bear, according to research that compared the two animals' genomes.

Scientists found that polar bears are much younger than previously thought, with past estimates of the divergence time between polar and brown bears ranging from 600,000 to five million years ago.

"It's really surprising that the divergence time is so short," said Rasmus Nielsen, a University of California Berkeley professor of integrative biology and of statistics.

"All the unique adaptations polar bears have to the Arctic environment must have evolved in a very short amount of time," he said.

It's unclear what drove polar bear to evolve into a separate group from brown bears, though it happened at a time that coincides with a warm interglacial period that could have encouraged brown bears to venture further north than they had in the past, researchers said.

Then, when conditions cooled again, a group of brown bears may have become isolated and forced to adapt to a snowy and cold new environment.

Polar bears eat mostly seals, which are rich in blubber, and they nurse their young with a milk that is nearly one-third fat.

About half the bears' overall weight is made up of fat, rather than muscle and bone.

In contrast, a healthy person's body fat percentage could range between eight and 35 percent.

"The life of a polar bear revolves around fat," said Eline Lorenzen, a researcher at UC Berkeley and one of the lead authors on the study.

"For polar bears, profound obesity is a benign state," added Lorenzen. "We wanted to understand how they are able to cope with that."

Researchers compared the blood and tissue samples from 79 polar bears from Greenland to 10 brown bears from Sweden, Finland, Glacier National Park in Alaska and the Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof (ABC) Islands off the Alaskan coast.

They found one of the most strongly selected genes was APOB, which in mammals encodes the main protein in "bad" cholesterol, known as LDL (low density lipoprotein) and allows it to move from the blood into the cells.

Changes in that gene hint at how the polar bear is able to manage high blood sugar and triglycerides at a level that would be perilous in people.

Scientists on the study, who hailed from Denmark, China and the United States, said one day, the polar bear's digestive secrets could help boost human health in an age of increasing obesity.

"The promise of comparative genomics is that we learn how other organisms deal with conditions that we also are exposed to," said Nielsen.

U.S. seafood catch reaches 17-year high

Alaska led all states in catch volume, followed by Louisiana, California, Virginia and Washington

Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, September 19, 2012

A fishing boat off the coast of Alaska. (September 19, 2012)

The U.S. seafood catch reached a 17-year high last year, with all fishing regions of the country showing increases in both the volume and value of their harvests.

Commercial fishermen last year caught 10.1 billion pounds of fish and shellfish valued at a record $5.3 billion, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's a 23 percent increase in catch by weight and a 17 percent increase in value over 2010.

New Bedford, Mass., was the highest-valued port for the 12th straight year, due largely to its scallop fishery. Dutch Harbor, Alaska, was the No. 1 port for seafood volume for the 15th year in a row.

The increases are evidence that fish populations are rebuilding, said Sam Rauch, deputy assistant administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service.

Still, a number of fisheries are in trouble. The Department of Commerce has declared disasters for cod and other so-called groundfish in New England, oyster and blue crab fisheries in Mississippi, and chinook salmon in Alaska's Yukon and Kuskokwin rivers.

"Overall nationally, the numbers are very good news," Rauch said. "But we don't want to miss the fact that there are parts of the industry that are or soon will be suffering economic pain."

Alaska led all states by far in catch volume, with 5.4 billion pounds, followed by Louisiana, California, Virginia and Washington, according to the report. Alaska was also tops in the value of its catch, at $1.9 billion, followed by Massachusetts, Maine, Louisiana and Washington.

Fishermen brought 706 million pounds of product to Dutch Harbor, the leading port by volume, while New Bedford, the top port by value, had $369 million worth of seafood cross its docks.

All nine of NOAA's fishing regions saw the volume and value of their catches go up in 2011. The numbers nationally were boosted by sharp increases for Gulf of Mexico menhaden, Alaska pollock and Pacific hake, also known as whiting.

The catch in the Gulf of Mexico rose to its highest volume since 1999 following a 2010 fishing season that was shortened by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In all, last year's Gulf catch rose 55 percent to nearly 2 billion pounds, with the value rising 25 percent to $797 million.

While certain regions were bolstered by strong showings in some fisheries, other sectors didn't fare so well.

New England, for instance, had strong lobster and scallop harvests. At the same time, fishermen who catch groundfish were having a tough time of it, with sharp cuts in quotas expected for next year because of dwindling populations.

It's good that the overall harvest numbers are growing nationwide, but that doesn't help groundfishermen, said Russell Shearman, 64, who fishes out of Gloucester, Mass.

Sherman, who owns a 72-foot boat, has had to spend $40,000 of his personal savings the past two years to keep his business afloat. With groundfishing in such bad shape, he's trying his hand at catching squid for the first time, he said.

"I'm pretty much out of business in groundfishing," he said in a phone interview from Stonington, Conn., where he was preparing to go squid fishing. "I'm nearing retirement, only I'm not retiring because I can't afford to."

Rauch said he expects the overall catch to continue going up in the years ahead, thanks to rebuilding fish populations and improved fisheries management.

The report also showed that Americans ate an average of 15 pounds of seafood per person in 2011, down from 15.8 pounds in 2010.

About 91 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. was imported, up from 86 percent in 2010. A portion of the imported seafood, however, was caught by U.S. fishermen, exported to other countries for processing then imported back into the U.S.

Related Articles:

'Super' salmon resist climate change better: study

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."