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Salmon in vodka cream sauce with green peppercorns

� 8 tablespoons butter

� 1 onion, thinly sliced

� 1 pound spinach

� 6 ea 6 ounce salmon fliets

� salt and freshly ground pepper

� 3 tablespoons olive oil

� 1 1/2 cups whipping cream

� 1/2 cup vodka

� 2 tablespoons green peppercorns in water, drained and crushed

� 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

� 1/4 cup snipped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine 4 tablespoons butter and onion in large Dutch oven.

Cover and bake until onion is golden brown, stirring

occasionally, about 45 minutes.  Stir spinach into onion and bake until just wilted, about 3 minutes.  Remove from oven; keep warm.

Season salmon with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add salmon in batches and cook about 3 minutes per side for medium. Transfer to platter. Tent with foil to keep warm.

Pour off excess oil from skillet. Add cream and vodka and boil until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes.  Add green peppercorns and remaining 4 tablespoons butter and stir until butter is just melted. Mix in lime juice, season with salt and pepper.  Divide spinach and onion mixture among plates. Top each with salmon fillet.  Spoon sauce over.  Sprinkle with snipped fresh chives.

(By Chef Jim Bucko, Radisson Hotel, Merrillville, IN )

Yamaha & Mercury scrap model year

Advances in technology reduce need for annual change

Model year designations may soon be a ting of the past in the

outboard industry.    Yamaha Marine said in August it was dropping the practice and Mercury Marine says it, too, has plans to do so.

Australia Seizes Cambodian Poaching Vessel

CANBERRA - Australia has charged two men with illegal fishing in the remote Southern Ocean after a haul of rare Patagonian Toothfish valued at more than A$2 million (US $1.5 million) was recovered from a Cambodian-flagged vessel.  The master and fishing master of the Taruman face a fine of up to A$825,000 and forfeiture of their boat and its 143-ton catch of Toothfish, Australian Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald said. The fish is also known as Chilean sea bass.

Customs and Fisheries officers from the Oceanic Viking -- Australia's flagship patrol boat armed with a deck-mounted machinegun -- boarded the Taruman earlier this month on suspicion that it was operating illegally in remote Australian waters. The Oceanic Viking was also involved in a special operation last week off Australia's Northern Territory where the vessel was forced to fire warning shots after one of four foreign fishing boats it apprehended failed to stop when ordered.  Authorities seized 15 tons of fish from the vessels.

The Oceanic Viking normally patrols Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone around Heard and McDonald islands and the edge of the Antarctic ice shelf, more than 4,000 km (2,500

miles) southwest of the Western Australian coast.

Macdonald said the 76-metre (249-ft) ship's crew included Chilean, Ukrainian, Russian, Peruvian and Spanish nationals, and those not charged would be sent home as soon as possible.

Illegal fishing for Patagonian toothfish has been on the rise in recent years with demand for its white, flaky flesh rising in Asia and the United States. One shipload of the fish, dubbed "white gold", is worth up to A$5 million.

The Oceanic Viking went on a 21-day, A$5-million chase through treacherous icy seas in 2003 to catch a Uruguayan vessel seen fishing in Australian waters. The Uruguayan-flagged Viarsa was finally caught off South Africa and a 92-tonne catch of Patagonian toothfish was found on board. The ship was escorted back to Australia.

Marine conservationists say that the toothfish could become commercially extinct by 2007 because illegal fishing above the quotas was already depleting dwindling stocks.

House Passes "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms" Act

Bush expected to sign common-sense legal reform to stop "junk" lawsuits against firearms industry

Congress took a historic step on October 20 toward ending "junk" lawsuits.   With a 283-144 bi-partisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a landmark bill to block lawsuits that seek to hold firearms manufacturers liable for the criminal misuse of their lawfully sold products. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (S. 397) will prevent wrongful civil liability lawsuits against law-abiding companies and end years of abuse of America�s legal system by industry opponents.

The bill will now head to President Bush, who has said he would sign it if it reached his desk. The U.S. Senate passed the bill in July with a 65-31 bi-partisan vote.  "Our laws should punish criminals who use guns to commit crimes, not law-abiding manufacturers of lawful products," Bush said in a statement.

The bill provides protection for manufacturers, distributors, retailers and importers of all legally sold firearms and ammunition. 

Since 1998 more than 30 municipal lawsuits have been filed against the makers and sellers of firearms by anti-gun organizations and anti-gun politicians. The misguided efforts attempted to blame firearm companies for the illegal actions of criminals�the equivalent of attempting to hold a car manufacturer liable when a criminal uses an automobile in a crime. These illegitimate suits have cost the firearms industry

hundreds of millions of dollars in legal defense fees and threatened to bankrupt companies.

Even though 30 states have passed similar legislation preventing such lawsuits, the federal legislation will provide the full protection sought by the firearms industry and nullify pending lawsuits and prevent future illegitimate lawsuits from being filed. Among those cases nullified are suits from New York City and Washington, D.C., the latter filed under the onerous District of Columbia�s Assault Weapon Manufacturing Strict Liability Act that, incredibly, assigns automatic and absolute liability to a manufacturer whose firearm is used in a crime in the District. 

Opponents of the bill attempted to scare the public into thinking it would no longer have the right to file civil liability actions, but the bill�s language is very clear on the subject, allowing legitimate lawsuits to be filed against companies that sell defective products or against firearms dealers who break the law. 

Realizing that any industry, not just the firearms industry, could be the target of such harassing lawsuits, America�s business community weighed in strongly for the bill, with letters of support coming from the National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses, National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors, National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers, United Mine Workers of America and other business groups and unions. The Department of Defense also encouraged passage of the bill because of national security concerns.

Invasives are Killing Recreational Fishing

In Florida, the Fishing Capital of the World, the fish are fewer and smaller every year.

In the waters off the Florida Keys, 13 of 16 kinds of groupers can't reproduce fast enough to keep their populations at sustainable levels. Eight of 14 kinds of snappers in the Keys can't maintain their populations, and many fish are half the size they were 50 years ago.

Natural Resources scientists say the infamous northern

snakehead fish, which was recently found to be reproducing by the boatload on the Virginia banks of the Potomac River, are concerned that it might reduce the population of white perch, striped bass and largemouth bass, which share the same habitat as snakeheads.

The Potomac and its surrounding tributaries are considered "one of the best recreational fishing areas for largemouth bass in the United States," and a reduction in their numbers could hurt the fishing industry.

Invasive Plant Found in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, (AP) � An invasive plant that could overrun wetlands such as Potter Marsh and block salmon runs on the Kenai Peninsula has been found growing wild in Anchorage for the first time. Purple loosestrife is growing along Chester Creek, plant scientists said. The plant, which resembles fireweed, has already choked creeks and wetlands across the Lower 48 and Canada.

The hardy flowering perennial is native to Europe and can multiply into dense thickets almost impossible to eliminate.  Its pepper-sized seeds are carried on feathers and fur. The plants can take root from cuttings or spread in place through

the ground.

Purple loosestrife has long been planted by local gardeners who thought it could not spread. The purple flower is listed as a noxious plant in several states and Canadian provinces. It drives out native plants, overgrows wetlands, ruins fish passage and blocks access from the bank for recreation.

Alaska already has more than 20 invasive weeds spreading along roads and trails, several originally planted as garden plants or flowers.   Purple loosestrife first appeared on the East Coast in the early 1800s and slowly spread. By the 1930s, it began taking over wetlands and creek bottoms.

Will There Be A Federal Saltwater Angler License?

Here are the highlights of NOAA�s proposed Salt Water Fishing License. This may go into effect with the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Overview:

The recreational saltwater fishing industry is valued at approximately $30 billion annually. Maintaining healthy fish stocks is critical to maintaining the economic health of this marine angling industry. In order to continue to improve management of marine fisheries, it is essential to obtain more complete recreational fishing data. The President�s Ocean Action Plan acknowledged the importance of accurately counting America�s saltwater anglers to improve federal fisheries management. Unfortunately, the existing state-based system of fishing licenses is incomplete, hampering enumeration of this important user group and subsequent collection of angler information for fisheries management.

The President�s Ocean Action Plan directs NOAA to work with

the States, Fishery Management Councils, Interstate Fisheries Commissions, sportfishing communities, and other Federal agencies to: 1) harmonize data collection from existing saltwater fishing licenses, and 2) develop a draft proposal for mechanisms to complete the existing State based saltwater fishing license network or propose appropriate alternatives that would improve fisheries management, especially in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

Proposal:

The Administration�s Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization proposal would create a national angler database to improve data collection. NOAA would defer to state licensing/registration programs where those programs exist, as long as they collect the necessary information. However, if the state does not have an appropriate program in place, NOAA will create a registration program. Fees collected by NOAA to administer the database would be sent to a dedicated fund to support fisheries management.

Eight Dolphins Seen in Lake Pontchartrain

NEW ORLEANS (AP)� The manatees that grazed in Lake Pontchartrain before Hurricane Katrina haven't been seen since, but eight dolphins were leaping in the lake this week.

"If the big critters are back, the lake is definitely coming back," Carlton Dufrechou, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, said last week.   Flocks of pelicans and the pod of dolphins spotted  indicate that there are fish for them to

eat, he said.  Earlier in the week, the journal Environmental Science & Technology reported that tests had found the dirty floodwaters pumped out of the city may be a long-term hazard to wildlife in the lake.

"We knew Pontchartrain would heal itself," but the rate at which it seems to be doing so is a welcome surprise, Dufrechou said.

Zebra mussels reroute contaminant flow through food chain

New research into how invasive species impact food webs suggests that some little fish may have a higher PCB concentrations than a trophy bass.

Conventional wisdom holds that contaminants such as PCBs accumulate up the aquatic food web, reaching the highest concentrations in the predatory fish at the top of the food chain. But not in Lake Michigan�s Calumet Harbor�new research reveals that some smaller fish have higher PCB concentrations than the predators that eat them. The findings, presented at the Ecological Society of America meeting in Montr�al in August, could mean that resource managers will have to revise fish advisories and sampling protocols for monitoring cleanups, experts say.

Calumet Harbor, which runs from Chicago, Ill., into northern Indiana, is heavily polluted as a result of industrial and shipping activity. The harbor has a simple food web dominated by two invasive species, the zebra mussel and the round goby, says Carla Ng, a chemical engineer at Northwestern U. and lead author of the study. Because of the food web�s simplicity, Ng thought the harbor was a perfect location to test a new bioaccumulation model for PCBs that is based on nitrogen-15 (15N) measurements. She and her colleagues, for the first time, applied a bioaccumulation model for PCBs to the stable 15N isotope study of food web structure in the harbor.

The ratio of heavy to light isotopes of nitrogen generally increases by 3.4% with each consumer up the food chain because of the selective loss of the light isotope as organisms grow, and thus the ratio is used to measure the position of each species in a food web, Ng says. But when the data were collected, the isotope analysis unexpectedly revealed that juvenile round gobies have a greater isotope signature and thus occupy a higher food web position than their predators, the smallmouth bass, she says. The researchers then calculated PCB concentrations and found that the juvenile round gobies, not the smallmouth bass, do indeed have the greater contamination levels. �The smallest round goby is as much as five times more contaminated with PCBs than the smallmouth bass,� Ng says.

The switch in food web positions is due in part to the often-

ignored role of detritus, such as fish carcasses, zebra mussels� feces, and the particles of undigested food wrapped in mucus that they excrete, which are known as pseudo feces, Ng says. When sediment-dwelling organisms such as insects and tiny crustaceans eat this detritus, they accumulate contaminant burdens linked to organisms at higher positions in the food web. Juvenile round gobies eat the sediment dwellers as well as the PCB-rich eggs of smallmouth bass and the eggs of other adult gobies. As a result, they receive a larger dose of PCBs than the adult gobies that mainly consume zebra mussels, which are lower on the food web, Ng says.

The lack of biomagnification of PCBs from gobies to bass can be explained by the bass�s slower growth rate and consumption of other species lower in PCBs than the gobies, Ng says. The scientists who develop bioaccumulation models assume a food web structure based on average diets of adult species; hence, they expect the bass to have higher PCB levels than the gobies. They have overlooked that young gobies are eating bass eggs and that the zebra mussel has added a positive feedback loop in the food web, Ng says.

Federal and state resource managers will have to rethink their fish advisories, which currently recommend that people eat smaller fish to minimize exposure to contaminants, says Marty Berg, an aquatic ecologist at Loyola University and a coauthor of the study. �When we did the PCB analysis for the U.S. EPA�s Great Lakes National Program Office, we interviewed anglers, and they said the round gobies were easy to catch and cooked up nicely,� he says. Now, in addition to sampling large fish, resource managers will have to sample smaller fish for both fish advisories and monitoring cleanups, Berg warns.

�The research shows that if you�re going to explain bioaccumulation of contaminants, you have to have a good understanding of the food chain and seasonal and year-to-year differences in diet,� adds Anders Andren, an environmental chemist at the University of Wisconsin. The findings are not unique to Calumet Harbor, and similar bioaccumulation patterns may occur in many other water bodies, he says. Although other studies of nitrogen isotope ratios have found the complexities uncovered by Ng, her study was unique as the first to combine nitrogen isotope analysis with biocontamination models.

Florida Announces Okeechobee Cleanup Plan

LAKE OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (AP) � A $200 million plan to restore the Southeast's largest freshwater lake includes expanded reservoirs, new marshes and permanently lower lake levels, Gov. Jeb Bush announced.

Lake Okeechobee, covering 730 square miles north of the Everglades, has long suffered from phosphorus-laden runoff from nearby farms and towns that promotes harmful plant growth. It's similar to the problem in the Everglades, which is the subject of a federal-state restoration.

The state plan for the lake requires legislative funding. Bush said he will seek $25 million in next year's budget. This year, the state is tapping into $30 million from other appropriations.

The restoration plan also envisions construction of a 4,000-acre reservoir ahead of schedule in 2009 and an additional 3,500 acres of stormwater treatment areas that would divert and cleanse lake discharges.

Under the plan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will revise its regulations on lake levels by December so that less unhealthy water is discharged into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. That will also help dry out marshes in Lake Okeechobee itself.

Last year, four major hurricanes combined to raise lake levels and stir up pollution. The added depth and muck blocks sunlight -- killing fish and plants.

Wetlands Cases head to Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted two cases on federal regulation of wetlands. Both from Michigan, the cases challenge regulators� definition of federally protected wetlands under both the Clean Water Act and the Constitution. In

question is whether the federal government is properly asserting jurisdiction over wetlands that may be part of a drainage area or tributary system but do not actually abut the "navigable waters" to which the Clean Water Act refers.

House ESA Bill Needs Senate Support

House-Passed Bill Protects Endangered Species, Private Property

DALLAS � The Endangered Species Recovery Act (TESRA), passed last month in the House of Representatives and scheduled for debate in the Senate in the coming weeks, will improve habitat for at-risk species and protect private property owners, according to NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett. The House bill was sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA).

�For too long bureaucratic wrangling has harmed both endangered species and people,� Burnett said. �It is important to create conditions under which both species at risk and people can benefit. Rep. Pombo�s legislation accomplishes that.�

TESRA reforms the Endangered Species Act by establishing

and funding cooperative agreements with private property owners that will encourage them to create, enhance and improve habitat for endangered species. Seventy-five percent of endangered species depend upon private property owners for their habitat requirements in whole or in part.

In addition, TESRA requires the Secretary of the Interior to compensate qualified property owners for lost value for the portion of their land affected by the Endangered Species Act and sets up a transparent system through which they can receive compensation.

�The Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973, creates perverse incentives to destroy species and their habitats in order to costly and onerous federal restrictions,� Burnett added. �TESRA corrects those serious pitfalls.�

Weekly Great Lakes Water Levels for October 21, 2005

Lake Level Conditions:

All of the Great Lakes are 3 to 5 inches below the levels of a year ago.  Dry conditions this spring and summer are the main reason that water levels on the Great Lakes are below last year�s levels.   Looking ahead, Lake Superior is expected to fall 2 inches over the next month and fall below chart datum in December.  Recent heavy rainfall over the Lake Superior watershed led to a 4-inch water level rise two weeks ago.   Lake Michigan-Huron is now below chart datum and should decline 2 inches over the next 30 days.  The remaining lakes are expected to fall 3 inches over the next month.  Levels over the next few months on all the Great Lakes are expected to remain lower than 2004/2005.   Evaporation rates during the fall may be higher than average due to warmer surface water temperatures.

Current Outflows/Channel Conditions:

The Lake Superior outflow through the St. Marys River into Lake Huron is projected to be below average during the month of October.  Flows in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers are anticipated to be below average during October.  Flows in the Niagara River and St. Lawrence River are expected to be near average in October.

Alerts:

Users of the Great Lakes, connecting channels and St. Lawrence River should keep informed of current conditions before undertaking any activities that could be affected by changing water levels.  Mariners should utilize navigation charts and refer to current water level readings.

FWS says alewives compare with Asian Carp

Radio Consortium says Alewives 1 of 10 threats to Great Lakes

The Great Lakes Radio Consortium says Alewives are one of the "Ten Threats to the Great Lakes," and ranks them with sea lamprey and Asian carp.

Admittedly, one of the first invasive species to arrive in the Great Lakes, the alewife is native to the Atlantic Ocean, but it has become the most beloved of all the invasives. That�s because it�s food for the most popular sport fish in the Great Lakes.

Anglers caught eight million pounds of salmon in Lake Michigan last year.

Anglers who fish for salmon in the Great Lakes are at the top of the food chain. The money they spend on food, lodging, tackle, and boats figures heavily into decisions about how to manage the Lakes.

But it wasn�t always so.  Pacific salmon were stocked here about forty years ago to control the invading alewives. The native lake trout had been wiped out by overfishing and the sea lamprey, and there were no big predators left, so the alewife population exploded.  The rest should be history, but is it?

A healthy alewife population is seen as a good thing by the states that benefit economically from the recreational fishing, and the millions of anglers that now can fish the big lakes because there's something that swims there and there is a forage base to support this cash engine. But Mark Holey, a duflunkie for the USFWS says this has caused people to

forget alewives are an invasive species. He likes to compare alewives with Asian Carp.   "If alewives were knocking on the door today, there may be a much different discussion about it. It may be more like the Asian carp" says Holey.

How the alewife would compare to Asian carp is unknown, because the Asian carp has been found in the Mississippi River, but not yet in the Great Lakes. How the alewives can do the damage Asian carp are capable of doing is also a stretch - even for the USFWS. What is known is that when alewives are abundant, the salmon population thrives, and everybody benefits from the multi-billion dollar recreation industry. Even the tribes with their commercial gear get sustenance for their members that many scientists and studies show are far more beneficial than most other store bought meats.

Holey persists by saying biologists used to think PCBs caused many young lake trout to die. Now they know early mortality is mostly due to thiamin deficiency. Thiamine is a vitamin lacking in lake trout that eat too many alewives. But we didn't kill off the lake trout, the feds and state agencies did.  We didn't introduce the alewives into the Great Lakes, the feds and cooperating states did. 

We just adopted them because nobody else wanted them. To us they are one of Mother Nature's creatures and they need protection and nurturing - with careful conservation measures.   That's one of the reasons why so many of us agreed in part to a 25 % cut in Lake Michigan Chinook Salmon plants.

But watch out, folks; the warm weather this past summer will probably help alewives rebound next year.

Canadian Ban on lead sinkers may be based on nonsense

Peter Taylor, a writer for Canada's National Post newspaper, referred to Ottawa's plan to ban lead fishing sinkers to save Canada's loons as "sinking science." After all, the annual death toll of loons that swallowed lead sinkers and perhaps died from ingesting such ungainly objects is six, at least according to several independent surveys.

As the cold season arrives in the Canadian provinces, this could be the last year in which lead sinkers will be permitted.

Taylor recently wrote that the federal government is proposing to ban lead tackle and force fishermen to find more expensive alternatives. Even non-anglers, he said, should be concerned with how and why the government is making this decision. Taylor and a host of Canadian sport fishing specialists accused their government of using junk science.

"Whimsy and fabrication have replaced science in setting environmental policies," wrote Taylor, who said the government and the environmental group that spearheaded the crusade, the World Wildlife Fund, claim the move is necessary to save Canadian loons from lead poisoning. Taylor said the evidence suggests the size and danger of the lead-sinker issue has been grotesquely exaggerated.

"And if the Liberals are prepared to pervert scientific evidence in order to justify new laws for picayune issues [like] fishing tackle, what does this suggest for bigger and more significant policies?" he asked.

It all goes back to 1991 when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service banned lead shotgun pellets because of some evidence they found their way into lakes and rivers and were then ingested by water birds, causing lead poisoning in loons. In 1997 Canada followed suit and banned lead shot used by hunters.

It appears the success on the lead shot ban only prompted animal rights activists to go one step further. The lead threat was used to fuel anti-fishing feelings. If it made sense to ban lead shotgun pellets, then it must make sense to ban lead fishing sinkers, they felt.

Never mind that the sinkers are retrieved and used over and over again. No, if there's a remote chance a broken-off lead sinker can be ingested by a bird, then it must be outlawed. What's next? Birds occasionally try to eat fishing lures (just ask any sea gull in the Chesapeake Bay); will they be next on the outlaw list?

Farmed Salmon Swamp Wild Salmon in the Bay of Fundy

ST. ANDREWS, New Brunswick � Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) researchers have discovered 38 escaped aquaculture salmon at the fish ladder in the Magaguadavic River so far this fall. Another 31 were found in the St. Croix River at the Milltown fishway. These rivers in southwest New Brunswick flow into the Bay of Fundy, which is home to 90 percent of all the aquaculture sites on Canada�s east coast.

�This is the largest influx of escaped farmed salmon that the St. Croix and Magaguadavic have experienced since 2001. We�re very concerned about their arrival and we wonder how many others have entered rivers that are not monitored�, states Bill Taylor, ASF President.

All aquaculture fish were removed from the rivers. Those recovered from the Magaguadavic are being screened for disease and parasites at a Canadian government lab, while tissue samples from the St. Croix fish are being analyzed by authorities in both Canada and the United States. The screening results will give researchers an indication of the

health of the bay, which is important information for the aquaculture industry as well as for wild salmon conservationists.

Other rivers along the Bay of Fundy, in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, are listed under Canada�s Species at Risk Act because of the great declines in their salmon populations over the past two decades. The appearance of farmed salmon could further hasten those declines.

Reliable containment and escape response plans are extremely important, especially in the Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine are parts of the same larger ecosystem and problems in one part of that ecosystem can quickly develop into problems in other parts. Escaped farmed salmon do not recognize international boundaries, hence aquaculture escapees from the Bay of Fundy are making their way into, not only the Magaguadavic and St. Croix, but also the Dennys River in Maine and are probably entering other Maine rivers where salmon are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.  http://www.enn.com/aff.html?id=928

PETA workers face 25 felony counts in North Carolina

WINTON, N.C. � The cats and dogs two PETA employees have been charged with euthanizing and dumping in an Ahoskie garbage bin were killed by injections of pentobarbital, a barbiturate commonly used to put down animals, according to new warrants issued and served last week.

Additionally, the two employees were charged with three felony  

counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. The chargesallege that they euthanized three cats from an Ahoskieveterinarian after promising to find the animals new homes, according to the new warrants.  PETA employees Andrew B. Cook, 24, of Virginia Beach, and Adria J. Hinkle, 27, of Norfolk, were served with warrants on 22 felony charges of animal cruelty and the three felony charges of obtaining property by false pretense in court on October 14.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=93730&ran=57036

Finding a lost Windows product key

A Computer tip for the home professional

Trying to keep all of your packaging materials together, including the product keys can be a daunting task, and are very easy to lose especially when you might not need them for years.

Want to know how to find a product key of one or more of the softwares on your home or business computer? It's easy and free with Belarc Advisor, http://www.belarc.com . The product key is just a fraction of the information that Belarc Advisor provides. In its computer scan results, look for the product key under "Software Licenses." Belarc Advisor works with older versions of Windows as well, including 98.

What is a product key?. When you install software, you are

asked to enter an alphanumeric code. It is typically printed on the plastic case in which the software is packaged.

Another program is ProduKey. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html   It works well. It's a smaller program focused solely on retrieving product keys. It is also free. Both will retrieve product keys for other programs, in addition to Windows.

What is a product key?

In Windows, it is in the form XXXXX � XXXXX � XXXXX � XXXXX - XXXXX. Without a valid code, you cannot install Windows or most all software. The activation requirement is an anti-piracy measure. You can read more about it on the Microsoft Web site.

Spiny Waterfleas Eat Natives

Meghan Brown, graduate student in Water Resources Science, and Donn Branstrator, assistant professor in UMD�s Biology Department, plumbed Western Lake Superior to estimate the population sizes of zooplankton species. Their results indicate all is not peaceful in this animal kingdom.

Comparing their survey results to data collected in 1973, the researchers suggest that the arrival of invasive spiny waterfleas may be linked to declining populations of two species (Bosmina longirostris and Daphnia retrocurva) and the increasing presence of another (Holopedium gibberum). The observations are consistent with other studies conducted on lakes where spiny waterfleas have invaded.

Predators that are not above cannibalism, spiny waterfleas slipped into Lake Superior by 1987. They present a dual problem for young fish: their lengthy tail spines make them undesirable fish food and they compete with fish for the same zooplankton meals such as Bosmina longirostris, which are noticeably scarcer than they were 30 years ago. Daphnia retrocurva were not detected at all in the 2001 survey. Despite their helmeted heads, these zooplankton have also declined in other lakes when spiny waterfleas moved in.

As spiny waterfleas eat up the competition, more armored and evasive grazers thrive. Unprecedented numbers of Holopedium gibberum �shells� washing to shore on Minnesota�s Park Point made headlines and baffled biologists in 2001. Many Duluthians called Sea Grant with ideas about what these goo balls might be, suggesting the tapioca-like blobs were material from disposable diapers. In reality, a fleck-sized Holopedium lives inside a pea-sized mucous mantle. When these grazers are ready to reproduce, they abandon their transparent mantles, which can then wash to shore.

�Shifts in the lower parts of the food chain have the potential to change the abundance or diversity of the species farther up,� said Branstrator. �In an aquatic environment, Daphnia and Holopedium are like the gazelles and wildebeests of the African plains; they�re major herbivores. The timeframe is too short to know what the outcome of the current changes will be, but we shouldn�t allow ourselves to be too cavalier about these little things that matter,� he said.

The impacts of spiny waterfleas are spreading beyond Lake Superior.

Wisconsin to overhaul fish hatchery

Angler tax dollars would pay for upgrades

Wisconsin's overhaul of the Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery is scheduled could begin next year, and the estimated $24.3 million tab will come from fishing licenses, Sport Fish Restoration dollars and Great Lakes salmon and trout stamp sales. 

The hatchery plays a crucial role in maintaining the state�s

$2.3 billion sport fishery. The overhaul, , will allow for

increased production of rainbow trout, walleye, pike and sturgeon; and sturgeon.  The hatchery built at the turn of the century is in need of major upgrades and overhauling. It will include construction of a new cold water rearing building for incubation of trout and salmon, a nursery building, a new environmental friendly water supply for the hatchery and a new visitor�s center. Construction is expected to take about four years.

Wisconsin Bill Protects Retrieval of Hounds

A Wisconsin bill will protect sporting dog owners from being in violation of trespass laws when their hounds go astray. Assembly Bill 663, sponsored by Assemblyman Mark Pettis, R-Hertel, will allow hunters to cross on to private property to retrieve a wayward hunting dog.

The bill establishes a set of rules that a hunter must follow to retrieve a dog. The sportsman must attempt to contact local law enforcement before going onto private land. He must be unarmed and upon collecting the hound, must leave the property immediately. The bill is currently awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources.

Province takes action to protect walleye in inland lakes

New Regulations Will Improve The Health Of The Fishery

TORONTO � The province is developing new walleye fishing regulations for more than 400 inland lakes in southern Ontario to better protect and enhance the quality of the fishery, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay announced October 18.

�There have been concerns about the health of the fishery,� said Ramsay. �We want to work with stakeholders and the public to ensure we have healthy, sustainable walleye populations that continue to contribute to Ontario�s rich variety of plants, animals and ecosystems.�

Walleye are a very popular sport fish in Ontario. Recent ministry studies have found that walleye populations are smaller and more stressed in southern Ontario compared to northern Ontario.

This fall, the ministry will meet with selected stakeholders to review regulation options for the southern walleye fishery, share information and gather input. The ministry will then develop a preferred regulation option for each of five proposed new fisheries management zones in southern Ontario, south

of the French and Mattawa Rivers. The public will have a chance to review and comment on the proposed recreational angling regulations early next year.

The public can learn more about the regulation review by viewing an information notice on the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry at www.ene.gov.on.ca/samples/search/  and entering Registry Number XB05E6801. The southern Ontario walleye regulation review is one component of a new fisheries management framework in Ontario to manage the fisheries with a broader ecosystem approach, to streamline recreational fishing regulations, and increase stewardship efforts.

�We want to promote healthy, sustainable walleye populations that provide improved angling opportunities now and in the future,� said Ramsay.

For more info on the Southern Ontario walleye review, www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/pubs/pubmenu.html#fish

For more info on ecological framework for recreational fisheries management in Ontario, visit www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/ebr/fmz/Framework-RedFMZ-feb16.pdf

Ontario acts to protect lakes/rivers against invasive species

Bans possession of live bighead, black, silver and grass carp, snakehead, and goby

TORONTO � The Ontario government has banned the possession of live invasive fish species and the import of live leeches to make lakes and rivers cleaner and healthier, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay announced October 14.

"Invasive species are a very real environmental and economic threat to the Great Lakes , inland lakes and rivers," said Ramsay. "It is crucial that we protect our natural environment, and recreational and commercial fisheries from these species."

A new provincial regulation under the Fisheries Act prohibits the possession of live invasive fish, including bighead, black, silver and grass carp, all species of snakehead, and round and tubenose goby. Carp species that are currently sold in food markets must be imported freshly killed or frozen. The regulation also prohibits the import of live leeches, which are commonly used as bait for fishing. The ban does not apply to common carp, a popular species caught by recreational anglers.

"This ban on invasive fish follows similar action in the U.S.

and will protect the Great Lakes and Ontario �s inland waters from the introduction of these destructive invasive fish," said Mike Reader, executive director of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters.

At least 180 non-native species are already in Ontario lakes and streams. Once established, they are difficult and expensive to eradicate. Invasive carp and snakehead species have a voracious appetite and high reproduction and growth rates.

Aquarium hobbyists and water garden enthusiasts who currently have live snakehead or carp are reminded that it is illegal to release fish into Ontario waters, and are encouraged to call the Invading Species hotline at 1-800-563-7711 or visit www.invadingspecies.com to learn more about proper disposal and identification.

The ministry encourages the public to help protect its natural resources by reporting violations to the local ministry office during regular business hours, or by calling 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free at any time. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).