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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Tuesday, August 20, 2019:
Man fights off mountain lion with pocketknife near Kremmling: An Evergreen man was able to get away from a mountain lion that was attacking him by fighting back with his pocketknife. It happened last weekend when the man was searching for places to hunt elk near the Bighorn Park subdivision. The man told Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials that he was attacked about 9 p.m. Aug. 10. He saw the big cat and walked backwards for about 200 yards. That’s when he tripped and fell. The mountain lion pounced and scratched the man’s legs. The man fought back, grabbed his pocketknife and tried to stab the cat. He was able to get away.
2019 waterfowl population survey shows lowest overall count since 2008
Fishing guide killed in plane crash could ‘read the water,’ but Theophile Bourgeois III wore many hats: Investigators on Monday were just beginning an official probe into the seaplane crash that killed a popular south Louisiana fishing guide Sunday, but this much was already certain: Those who knew Theophile Bourgeois III well and fished with him often were in deep mourning. Bourgeois’ Cessna 185 seaplane crashed in waters off St. Bernard Parish on Sunday afternoon, killing the 55-year-old and injuring two customers of his nationally known fishing charter company. “It’s a truly horrific and sad loss for the community,” said Dottie Higgins, who owns Higgins Seafood in Lafitte, which is near Bourgeois’ hometown of Barataria. “He was one in a million.”
Pet dog fights shark that bit owner’s leg during fishing: A heroic dog saved his owner’s life by fighting off a 6-foot shark that was chomping on the California fisherman’s leg. According to reports, the fearless act of the one-year-old pit bull won several hearts. James White, of Rohnert Park, was fishing from the shore at Bodega Bay in Sonoma County when he was attacked by a sevengill shark that he had reeled in. “The only way I think I was able to get the line back is because it was swimming towards me,” White said about the time taken for him to reel in the shark. According to White, when he went to remove the hook from the shark, it twisted and bit down on his ankle. “Immediately there was blood everywhere. The first bite punctured an artery,” White told NBC. “The pressure was intense.”
‘Codfather’ must cease commercial fishing when he leaves prison and pay $3M fine: Carlos A. Rafael, the disgraced New Bedford fishing mogul known as “The Codfather,” has been permanently banned from the commercial fishing industry and fined $3 million under the terms of a civil settlement with federal regulators. The agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration resolves “pending civil administrative claims” against Rafael, 67, and a number of his former captains, regulators said Monday. Rafael, who had owned one of the nation’s largest groundfish fishing fleets before his downfall, pleaded guilty in March 2017 to perpetrating a massive fishing fraud and was sentenced to 46 months in prison. Chris Oliver, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said the settlement achieves the agency’s “chief objective of permanently removing Mr. Rafael from participation in federal fisheries.”
Massive search on for two firefighters missing for days after Florida fishing trip: A tackle bag belonging to one of two firefighters who never returned from a fishing trip off the coast of Florida on Friday was found Monday amid a massive multi-agency search. Brian McCluney, a member of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, and Justin Walker, a Fairfax, Virginia, firefighter, were last seen leaving a dock near Port Canaveral in a 24-foot fishing boat, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. They were reported missing after they did not return home Friday night as expected. McCluney’s wife, Stephanie Young McCluney, wrote on Facebook on Monday that search crews had found her husband’s tackle bag about 50 miles off the coast of St. Augustine, which is more than 100 miles north of Port Canaveral. The Coast Guard confirmed that a volunteer found the bag.
More arrests expected in Wood County illegal hunting investigation: More arrests are expected in an illegal hunting investigation that has already led to the arrests of multiple Mineola residents. Game Warden Capt. Quint Balkcom said Monday morning his office is working with authorities in Oregon to apprehend and extradite Chance Avery Briggs, of Van. Briggs has multiple warrants out for his arrest and also is wanted for a probation violation out of Wood County, according to Balkcom. Those arrested last week are Jacob Thomas Blair, Dustin James Hartley, Kaleb Lee Brown, Aspen Lynn Umphries, Dalton Jeronimo Robles and Hilario Lynch Garcia are facing multiple charges separately, including hunt white-tailed deer with the aid of an artificial light, hunt white-tailed deer at night and hunt white-tailed deer from a vehicle.
Comments sought on Gulf red snapper management: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council developed six amendments to the Fishery Management Plan for Reef Fish Resources in the Gulf of Mexico to allow the five Gulf of Mexico states some management authority for private angler red snapper recreational fishing. The Council has transmitted these Amendments to NOAA Fisheries. NOAA Fisheries requests comments regarding the changes these Amendments would make to Gulf of Mexico private recreational red snapper management in federal waters. Comments are due by Oct. 7. Amendment 50A includes actions that affect all states and Amendments 50B-F analyze actions specific to each Gulf state (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas, respectively).
Conservationists push at CITES conference to ban trophy hunting: A group of activists is trying to persuade an international conservation conference to ban trophy hunting, which outrages some animal lovers but has long been tolerated by some environmentalists as a way of protecting wildlife. More than 50 members of the European Parliament and 50 environmental groups, led by the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, signed a petition to the triannual CITES conference taking place this week in Geneva. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is an international treaty granting degrees of protection to over 35,000 species. Agreements passed at the conference are legally binding to 183 signatory states, and although they do not supersede national law, they set standards for global trade and tourism.
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