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Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Orange Coast College students release 200 sea bass into the ocean
Marine biologist Nancy Caruso notes how for less than $70, a person can get a fishing license to take sea life from the ocean. Putting fish into it, however, is much less common. 'There's only a few people who put things in,' Caruso said. 'That's what makes this program so special.' Caruso is the founder Get Inspired, a nonprofit working with Orange County schools of all ages to nurture white sea bass, green abalone, Pismo clams and other species before releasing them into the ocean. On Friday afternoon, Orange Coast College students in the aquarium science program released 200 tagged white sea bass into the ocean at Bayside Beach, near the Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol Division office. The students spent the last few months caring for the fish on-campus, said Mary Blasius, instructor and aquarium coordinator for the Orange Coast College Dennis Kelly Aquarium. Get Inspired has teamed up with OCC for about a decade, Blasius said, with the junior college raising and releasing about 3,000 fish in that time. The eggs and hatchlings are provided by Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. 'The fish have a very mild taste and make great fish tacos,' Blasius said. 'They're a popular recreational fish. There's nothing wrong with fishing. We want people to be able to enjoy it, we just need to make sure we're doing it in a sustainable way. 'This is great, because the students get hands-on skills that they can use in the industry. Many of our students get full-time positions at aquariums, at hatcheries, with the state of California.' The white sea bass population was decreasing during the mid- to late-20th century due to over-fishing and habitat degradation, but has rebounded. Hayley Heiner, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute education and outreach manager, said nearly three million fish have been raised and released back into the ocean since the 1980s. Analysis has shown that 30% of adults sampled from the wild originated from the hatchery program, while 46% of smaller fish less than 2 years old caught in the wild were also hatchery fish. Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley and Newport Beach City Councilmember Robyn Grant, who had an understandable interest in the project as an environmental attorney, also attended the release. 'I'm so proud of all of the students and the young people, but also everyone else that wanted to come and participate in really protecting, restoring, revering our environment,' Grant said. She added that the bay and ocean was not only Newport Beach's most prized asset, but the world's as well. Get Inspired first focused on restoring all of the kelp forests in Orange County, and has now turned its attention to other species that needed help, Caruso said.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Oak Ridge begins developing first update to city's growth plan since 1988
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) — What does the future of the Secret City look like? On Wednesday, City of Oak Ridge officials, residents and others took time to discuss a comprehensive plan for the city. It has been nearly 40 years since the last comprehensive plan was done for the City of Oak Ridge. To be exact, 1988 was the last time there was a plan close to this new plan was conceived. Oak Ridge Planning & Development Director Wayne Blasius said the time to out the future for Oak Ridge. One year since Missing Middle passed: Where does Knoxville's housing shortage stand? 'We are so far past due, it's really unfortunate. Finally, the stars aligned we have a new city manager who's very very supportive of planning and wanted to help push this forward,' said Blasius. 'The community needs this. Especially since we haven't had growth for literally 70 years and now we are getting growth. We are anticipating more and we want that growth. We just want to guide it, not let it happen to us.' A crowd of roughly 100 people filed into Oak Ridge High School to listen to a brief presentation and give their thoughts on what they would like to see done in the city when the rubber meets the road for actual development. Lifelong resident Paul Rom told 6 News he wants Oak Ridge to maintain it's character. 'That is something that is really important to keep it from being 'generica.' We want it to maintain that Oak Ridge-y feel. We call it an Oak Ridge-y feel and that's what I'd like to see,' Rom said. 'There's a lot of stuff here, a lot of stuff in Oak Ridge. I'm becoming a big booster.' Like many places, housing and traffic are becoming an increasing issue. Resident James Brent told us what he'd like to see done with the housing within the city. High egg prices strain food banks while increasing public's need for assistance 'I'd like to find a balance between affordability and living space,' Brent said. 'I was telling the gentleman earlier, I live in a older neighborhood, have over half an acre, room for the deer and the wildlife. Down the hill from me there are four that the driveways come all the way to the front door. They have no yard. They're pretty little houses. They're tiny.' While the current future for what is to come for the City of Oak Ridge, many want to see it as a place where people will stay and raise future generations. 'I want to see a place that our young people would consider staying in the next five years,' City of Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dodson said. 'Not saying, I'm going to move to another location because there's not anything to do here, but staying in Oak Ridge because it's really an important place to eventually settle, raise my family and be an Oak Ridger for life.' ▶ See more top stories on Several meetings have been held in the past regarding the comprehensive plan and it is still in the early stages as they are continuing to gather public input on how this should be done. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
