Shem Creek - A seafood-lover's paradise!

If it weren’t for such rough winds right now – gale-force winds in Charleston Harbor and 14-foot swells offshore – every shrimp boat captain alive would be pulling out of Shem Creek, McClellanville, etc. right now, especially with the reduced [sic] fuel prices.

Those that do make it out will be rewarded with a nice catch – assuming everything goes according to plan – because SCDNR officials say shrimp have been keeping their own out in the ocean – the question, “is how many boats are gonna be out there to catch them?”

SCDNR also says that the in-water catch rate of immature loggerheads has been increasing, which at first sounds alarming, but then you realize it means management efforts such as nest protection and the required use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TED’s) in commercial shrimp trawl nets may be paying off.

“…in the Charleston shipping channel, catch rates have increased significantly since 1990.” – SCDNR

Although sea turtles were not captured in 75% of the tows, several noteworthy trends were evident for the 25% of tows that did capture sea turtles:

• * Loggerhead sea turtles accounted for 94 percent of all sea turtle species captured.
• * There was a strong north/south gradient in catch rates, with highest catch rates off northern Florida and southern Georgia.
• * A strong north/south gradient in loggerhead size was noted, with the greatest frequency of smaller loggerheads collected off northern Florida and southern Georgia.
• * Significant increases in catch rates were observed between 2000 and 2008 for two sizes of loggerheads, notably the size representing reproductively mature adults and the next smallest size group.

I guess all things are best when looked at from Mother Nature’s point of view.

A week or two ago I was reading about GE’s wind turbine manufacturing facility UpState, and this morning I read about IBM stepping up to the plate for the future of water management across the globe, so here’s a few things to look at if you’re interested in them too:

• GE wind-power
• IBM’s Advanced Water Management

To be honest, I can’t think of any two companies that would be better at tackling these global problems:

the energy crisis and water management.

Now, what’s left:

Earth, Fire, and whatever other elements you can throw in…