Hunting and Fishing: Deer and Turkeys Love Apples (photos); Oyster Research-cnbnews.net
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Using a primos outdoor camera, Gary Devine has been able to capture some still shots of the deer and turkey visiting his bait pile in a patch of woods located in South Jersey. An avid outdoorsman, Devine enjoys spending his leisure time hunting and fishing. He writes, "The deer love yams, corn, red apples, golden delicious apples and left over parrot food from out two African Grays. My bait pile last only a day. I am out there everyday feeding them. Even the turkeys are pushing there way in."
ELK DRAWING RESCHEDULED FOR SEPT. 14
Two Game Farm tours cancelled and up to 40,000 pheasants lost or escaped due to flooding;
Tours cancelled for State Game Lands in Bradford and Dauphin/Lebanon counties
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today announced the agency has rescheduled its public drawing to award 56 elk licenses for the 2011 elk hunt for 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, in the agency’s Harrisburg headquarters, 2001 Elmerton Ave., just off the Progress Avenue exit of Interstate 81. The rescheduling was the result of state office closings last week forced by flooding in the Harrisburg region.
Roe said the public drawing will be webcast beginning at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14. To view the drawing, a “Live Elk Drawing” icon will be posted on the agency’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) for individuals to click on and watch the drawing. In order to watch the live feed, you will need to have Flash Player installed on your computer. If you do not have Flash Player installed on your computer, please go to this link: http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/. Once Flash Player has been installed, you can watch the drawing.
Roe said the same flooding that devastated property and adversely affected the lives of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians also impacted Game Commission properties and resources, including two Game Farms in Lycoming County, which caused the loss of thousands of ring-necked pheasants. The agency also has cancelled the public tours of the two Lycoming County game farms – the Loyalsock and Northcentral game farms – originally scheduled for Sept. 25.
Roe noted that more information will be released on the flood damages to Game Commission assets, properties and resources as assessments are finalized and compiled.
DEP APPROVES NEW RESEARCH PROJECT BY N.Y. * N.J. BAYKEEPER;
OYSTER RESEARCH TO BE UNDER WATCH OF U.S. NAVY
(11/P111) TRENTON * The Department of Environmental Protection has agreed to allow the NY/NJ Baykeeper to set up an oyster research project in contaminated waters in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary in a security zone under the protection of U.S. Navy security personnel, Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.
The oyster project would be set up in the waters of Naval Weapons Station Earle, at its pier in Leonardo (Monmouth County), a plan that has the approval of the Navy and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Last year, the Baykeeper complied with a Department order to removed its oyster reef experiments from waters in Keyport Harbor in Raritan Bay that were classified as restricted because of water quality concerns. Shellfish gardening projects such as these are only allowed in waters the DEP classifies as approved because they meet water quality standards.
Commissioner Martin stressed that action was required at that time to help meet two key goals: safeguarding the public health, and protecting the health and viability of the State's $790 million-a-year shellfish industry, which includes many small businesses that employ many hundreds of state residents, providing incomes for thousands of people and creating needed tax revenues for New Jersey.
The FDA put New Jersey on notice in spring of 2010, warning the State was not complying with patrol mandates to adequately safeguard shellfish growing areas, which left some contaminated waters open to poaching and its potential health risks. The FDA threatened federal sanctions and restrictions on shipping New Jersey shellfish out of state, which could have harmed the State's entire shellfish industry. As a result, Commissioner Martin in June, 2010 took protective steps related to research-related commercial species of shellfish in contaminated waters.
The DEP also ensured it complied with FDA requirements and provided required safeguards in all shellfish growing areas.
Commissioner Martin said the Department is now able to approve the Baykeeper's oyster research project at Naval Weapons Station Earle because the waters are under a high level of oversight and security by Navy personnel. Also, the Navy and DEP were able to work together and agree on terms by which the Baykeeper could set up its research project in those waters.
Commissioner Martin stressed that the Baykeeper's oyster project must not harm the existing hard clam resources in the area near the Naval Station, which is located in New Jersey's portion of the Raritan-Sandy Hook bays. That area is home to a significant hard clam fishery that contributes substantially to the State's economy.
As the State agency responsible for management and protection of the shellfish resource, the shellfishing industry, and public health, the Department has the responsibility to consider long-term implications of all shellfish projects, noted Assistant Commissioner Cradic.
The DEP currently conducts large-scale oyster enhancement projects in Delaware Bay and has partnered with numerous groups to enhance shellfish populations in both Barnegat Bay and Delaware Bay. Those projects, however, are situated in waters that are classified as either approved or seasonally approved for shellfishing.
