Fish

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration Tuesday announced a nationwide plan to help wildlife adapt to threats from climate change. Developed along with state and tribal authorities, the strategy seeks to preserve species as global warming alters their historical habitats and, in many cases, forces them to migrate across state and tribal borders. Over the next five years, the plan establishes priorities for what will probably be a decades-long effort. One key proposal is to create wildlife "corridors" that would let animals and plants move to new habitats.

After years of depletion, California's fish populations appear to be bouncing back. A study this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that hauls by fishing boats, which had been down as a result of years of overfishing, have been growing, along with earnings. The agency credits catch limits that were mandated by law in 1996 and slowly implemented over the next 15 years. A February report by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that of 44 severely depleted stocks of fish nationwide that were under federal oversight, 48% had rebounded to target levels and an additional 16% had shown significant progress - a total of nearly two-thirds.

When is a fish not a fish but a drug? When government regulators take old laws and twist themselves into knots trying to apply them to new technology. In the emotionally charged battle over the safety and appropriateness of genetically modified foods, people on both sides agree that the way the government oversees genetically modified plants and animals is patchy, inconsistent and at times just plain bizarre. Soon, analysts say, the system may be stretched to the breaking point.

Mardy Fish gets a dispensation. He is seeded 32nd in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and, by the numbers, was expected to beat fellow American Bobby Reynolds, 30, a qualifier, who if he has gained any stardom, it has come from anchoring the Washington Kastles during the World Team Tennis season. But Fish has been tentative and emotional since discovering last summer that he has an uneven heartbeat. He had a procedure done on that most vital organ and didn't play in the Olympics.

When you tell somebody about a Hunan restaurant, always begin with the steamed fish head. The fish head will be large, probably from an enormous carp or similar freshwater species, thus comical, and it will be frosted with the chopped blend of dried, fresh and fermented chiles that give Hunanese cooking its reputation for head-snapping heat. You will be able to chat about prying off chunks of soft meat, scraping down silvery skin and digging around in the cranium for gooey cartilage and bits of custardy brain.

With the spring fishing season fast approaching, a remote lodge in British Columbia is offering the opportunity to fly fish for trout in some of the most pristine coastal rivers in Canada. At Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort , near the northern tip of Vancouver Island, the fishing spots are so isolated that guests, accompanied by expert guides, reach them by helicopter. The season opens April 15 and continues through May 31, when many of the fish have reached 25 pounds in weight.

Sunday morning I went out to my garden and picked some fava beans. Then, because I'm a modern kind of guy, I did what everybody does and posted a picture of them on Facebook and tweeted a link. That's just how I roll these days ( @russ_parsons1 ... come join the party). I've been a big fan of favas for years, mostly because they fit so well with my cooking aesthetic -- they take a lot of work to prepare, are only available for a short window of time, and then usually only at farmers markets.

The pipe-wielding man who broke into an exotic pet store, emptied the cash register and smashed some aquariums probably thought he left no witnesses. But he wasn't counting on Big Blue, a -- you guessed it -- big, blue tropical fish which survived six hours without water after the attacker fled. On Saturday, three days after the incident at Animal Instincts Aquarium and Pet Center in Fall River, Mass., Big Blue was back in a suitably large tank, and the reward money raised by locals to find his would-be killer had grown to $800.

The California fishing industry appears to be on the upswing. After overfishing and conservation efforts limited the catch for fishermen in recent years, those who ply the seas are now enjoying bigger hauls and raking in more profits, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some fishermen who were initially skeptical of tighter regulations say they now see the benefit of the curbs, and towns along the Pacific Coast that depend on fishing are enjoying a rebound, the Associated Press reported.

A common psychiatric drug may be affecting the feeding behavior of wild fish as it filters out of our bodies, through our toilets and into treated wastewater that is released into natural water sources, according to a new study in the journal Science. The findings, which examined the effect of trace levels of the anti-anxiety medication oxazepam on wild European perch, have implications for the survival rates of fish and the way in which human pharmaceuticals may affect the delicate food web in aquatic ecosystems.