Fish and Wildlife Service Redefines Shellfish

 FWS.gov, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Modernizes Shellfish Definition, Reduces Regulatory Ambiguity. "Final rule clarifies that cephalopods such as squid are included in regulatory definition of shellfish."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced a final rule updating the regulatory definition of "shellfish" to eliminate outdated language, improve regulatory clarity, and reduce unnecessary burdens on the regulated community.

Under 50 CFR part 10, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates the import and export of wildlife and wildlife products. The regulations provide an exemption from certain import and export requirements for shellfish.

The final revisions clarify that cephalopods—including squid, octopus, and cuttlefish—are included within the regulatory definition of shellfish. The update aligns federal regulations with modern scientific understanding and longstanding commercial practice.

 

“America’s seafood industry operates in a global marketplace, and our regulations should reflect modern science and common sense,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik. “This update removes an unnecessary regulatory burden on U.S. squid fisheries, provides greater certainty for seafood producers and exporters, and aligns our regulations with longstanding commercial and international practice.”

These changes help ensure that commercially harvested squid fisheries are treated consistently with other seafood products under existing import and export regulations. By clarifying the scope of the shellfish exemption, the rule reduces unnecessary regulatory requirements and associated costs for seafood producers, processors, importers, and exporters.

The Service developed the rule in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help ensure consistency across federal agencies.

The rule does not alter existing conservation authorities, wildlife protections, or management responsibilities. Instead, it updates definitional language to better reflect current scientific understanding and longstanding industry practice.

OK, that make sense, but I wonder how many days they spent working on it. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Redness a bit late, but within reason.

The Monday Morning Stimulus

McKnight's Long-Term Care News, Nursing home fighting ‘$2M cup of coffee’ penalty finally headed for its day in court

A nursing home that says it’s the victim of a surveyor’s misinterpretation of a non-existent temperature standard for coffee service has formally appealed its $1.8 million penalty in federal court.

In its filing against the Department of Health and Human Services Thursday an attorney for Potomac Falls Health & Rehab Center highlighted earlier testimony by the lead surveyor who conceded there is “no regulation for hot coffee.”

“There are [no stated temperature regulations] and CMS utterly failed to provide any evidence otherwise,” attorney Alan Horowitz wrote in a 54-page brief that noted temperature limits for other foods are included in the State Operations Manual that guides surveyors.

The filing occurred in the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, a little more than 10 years after the standalone incident that required no special treatment nor a follow-up inspection.

HHS issued a $6,550 per day civil monetary penalty for an Immediate Jeopardy deficiency over 272 days, a span when no similar incidents occurred despite tens of thousands of hot drinks being consumed.

The Wombat has Rule Five Sunday: Outstanding In Her Field up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Back From Fishin'

The weather is changing, and the fishing with it. The waters are starting to warm, particularly the shallows, and the fish are starting to prowl around the shallow bays and creeks on the Eastern Shore. 

There was some fog in a few places, but otherwise an extraordinary day, clear skies and windless, eventually reaching well over 60 F. We saw the waters in the shallows warm from about 40 to 50 over the course of the morning.

We encountered a very long (1/4 mile?) gill net anchored and stretched along one of the places we wanted to fish. Now, gill nets for striper are supposed to be drifting, and monitored by a boat. This was anchored and as near as we could see, no watermans boat was attending it. When we returned at 9:30, the net was gone. Pete called DNR and had a conversation about it. 

Yes, fish were caught. It wasn't super hot, but we caught a pretty good numbers along a shoreline, all using crankbaits, mostly Rapala X-Rap 12s. Most were fat, feisty mid to high 20s inch fish. Pete had his drone up, and could see large packs of fish in the shallows, some of them very large.

Jason with the biggest fish of the day. We didn't measure it before it went back, but it was certainly near or over 40 inches.

Maryland, My Maryland

 Balmer Sun, Md. nonprofit receiving $60M in taxpayer funds says it hasn’t completed required audits

A Maryland nonprofit that has received more than $60 million in taxpayer funds since 2022 stated it has yet to complete a required audit of its services, sparking concerns from some accounting experts, according to a Spotlight on Maryland investigation.

Federal regulations require that the Connections Thru Life (CTL) nonprofit, based in Owings Mills, undergo an audit of how it manages $61.4 million in federal taxpayer funds received through the Ryan White HIV program. However, CTL stated on its past three nonprofit tax forms from 2022, 2023 and 2024 that “no audit has been completed” to fulfill the requirement. The organization also states on the three consecutive tax forms that it has not undergone an independent audit of its financial statements, meaning the tax forms have not been verified by a third party.

The lack of oversight furthers transparency concerns about Maryland’s network of taxpayer-funded nonprofits. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent more than $60 million in taxpayer funds for the Ryan White program to the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD), which chose CTL to take over the program’s fiscal agent duties in 2022, just months after the nonprofit was formed.

The Ryan White program provides medical services and support for those living with HIV. CTL manages the program’s funds in the Baltimore metropolitan area by providing oversight and disbursement of taxpayer money to specific grantees, which includes institutions such as Johns Hopkins University (JHU), as well as local health departments in Harford, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties.

CTL states on its latest tax form from 2024 that 100% of its revenue and expenses are related to the Ryan White program.

A spokeswoman for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which manages the Ryan White program, said BCHD is charged with ensuring its subrecipients are properly audited.

I'm not going to accuse them of fraud. Yet. Costs of auditing have skyrocketed in recent years thanks to recent legislation that put additional liabilities on auditors, post Enron. Costs for auditing the local water system's books more than doubled in the last 2 years to almost 10% of the total budget. CTL may be looking for alternatives, or just hoping their regulators won't ding them too hard.

Flotsam and Jetsam - US Military Captures Maduro

Stacy McCain either stayed up late, or got up early. BREAKING: U.S. Strikes Venezuela UPDATE: Maduro Captured, Trump Says "The U.S. has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro, who has been taken out of the country, President Donald Trump said on Saturday. . . . “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country,” Trump said in a Truth Social post." BNO News Live @BNODesk, "BREAKING: Maduro was arrested to stand trial on criminal charges in the U.S. and no further military action is expected, Sec. Rubio told Sen. Lee." Hat Hair's John Sexton, Explosions in Caracas, Helicopters Fire on a Military Base. Matt Vespa at TownHall, President Trump Announces the Capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. At Althouse, "The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. " From Twitchy, BREAKING: The US Strikes Venezuela Following Orders by President Trump . So, I guess this one's off the table? Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Maduro to Trump: Call Me, Maybe ... Please?

John Sexton, Shadow Fleet Tanker Flees to Russia with US Coast Guard in Pursuit. From Ace, "America First:" Stop Taking Any Action Against Any Hostile Foreign Regime, Focus on Fentanyl Smuggling
Also "America First:" Don't Take Hostile Action Against the World's Biggest Narcoterrorist States "The "America First" clowns both want an end to drug smuggling from foreign countries, and a policy of pink pacifism toward the foreign dictators arranging the bulk of drug smuggling into the US."

From Fox, Trump says US will intervene if Iran starts killing protesters: ‘Locked and loaded’ "Iranian official warns that the U.S. should be 'mindful of their soldiers’ safety' following Trump's comments." Hat Hair's Beege Welborn sees Trump Comes Out Swinging for Iranian Protestors in the Streets. Raylan Givens @JewishWarrior13, "BREAKING" President Trump with a direct threat to the Iranian regime: “If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J.TRUMP” Ace, Trump: If Iran Begins Shooting the Protesters Challenging Their Corrupt Terrorist Rule, I'll Take Their Asses Out, "The Iranian people are rising up again, like they did in 2009, when Obama was president. But Obama isn't president any longer." Between their financial woes and the water crisis, things are looking bad for the mullahs.

At Euro Con, European Defence as a Mirage: Plenty of Money, Little Strategy.

News Wax reports Elon Confirms He's 'All In' to Finance GOP for Midterms "In posts on X, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO framed the upcoming congressional races as an existential battle for the country's future. "America is toast if the radical left wins," Musk wrote. "They will open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud. Won't be America anymore." Elon Musk @elonmusk, "USAID was not just an apple with a few worms inside, it was a festering ball of worms in the shape of an apple." Quote The SCIF @TheSCIF, "USAID was funding BOTH the WUHAN Lab gain-of-function research & SMARTMATIC Election Systems. Do you think it was a coincidence that "covid" came out right around the 2020 election? Coincidentally, the same left-wing billionaires, NGOs, and USAID also funded the 'NO KINGS' protest, aka, the color revolutions across America. . . " Kaiser Von Lohengramm @KaiserLoengramm, "There are two major flaws with the idea of having the Republican Party lose so that we get something better as an end result. . . ." Quote Michael @Michael00987111, Replying to @KaiserLoengramm and @OldGloryClub, "Make the Republicans lose so badly, and in a way that's clear that their voters didn't vote for Democrats. End result: an actual right wing party can compete."

Grover Norquist at Rod Martin.org on The "Yuge" Trump Win You Haven't Heard Of. "The Trump team is taking a sword to the federal regulatory Gordian knot. In 2025 it slashed 22 regulations for every new one. Potential savings to the American people? $2 trillion a year."

At Spec World, Roger Kimball asserts The Somali fraud scandal is a turning point. Da Fed's Chris Bray thinks the Minneapolis Daycare Scandal Reveals The Trajectory Of Blue Zone Fraud Culture. Dave Strom at Hat Hair notices Nothing Happens Until Things Are Broken. Sgt. Mom at the Chicago Boyz, Another Merry Minnesota Walz. From NYPo, GOP lawmakers demand Gov. Hochul root out Minnesota-style fraud with independent audit. Amy Curtis at TownHall, hears a Democrat Prosecutor Receives Massive Blowback After Statement on Reports of Somali Fraud. A Larry video at Hat Hair, Somalian Fraudsters Accidentally Blow Their Entire Operation During Humiliating Press Conference. Drew Holden @DrewHolden360, "Step 1: there’s no fraud. Step 2: okay there’s fraud but it isn’t as bad as critics claim. Step 3: okay there is as much fraud as critics say but the gov’t is stopping it. Step 4; okay there is as much fraud as critics claim but the government can’t stop it. (You are here)." Quote CBS News @CBSNews, "Audits completed in the past 10 years show that Minnesota has lacked the teeth to properly vet attendance records and go after possible fraudsters proactively. https://cbsn.ws/4jpUTXp." Drew Holden @DrewHolden360, "Step 5: Republicans are the real problem." Quote Aaron Rupar @atrupar, "New in PN: The blame for alleged fraud in Minnesota belongs to conservatives "Republican policies have created a perfect vicious cycle: Privatize services, let private companies run amok, then declare govt is the problem. And Trump is turbo-charging it." https://publicnotice.co/p/shirley-video-somali-daycares-fraud" Mike LaChance at LI sees a CNN Panel Goes Off the Rails When Scott Jennings Asks Why MN Democrats Cater to Somalis, “They’ve got the lieutenant governor up there dressed like the Handmaid’s Tale.” Ward Clark at RedState, SBA Strikes Back: Now Suspending 6,900 Fraud Suspects in Minnesota. Roger Simon, Long Live Somaliland! "... and the Shah!"

TheUnquirer @unquirer "Seattle Washington - Investigating Somalian Daycares Somalians Call Police & LIE Saying: "He Has A Gun" @iamfreeauditing finds 20 Somalian daycares in a 3 block area of subsidized housing(same style as Lewiston Maine). He goes to 12 and has doors slammed in his face & no kids! The "community" gets pissed off that he is investigating & try to have him removed by lying to the police saying he is armed with a gun and flashed it at them (which was completely made up). Full video: https://youtu.be/WiL5LObJGNU *In Maine we found the same style being found in Seattle & Boston. These are clusters w/ countless empty daycares that collect money from tax payers." From Fox, Independent journalist says he's gotten death threats, told he'll be 'Kirked' over Minnesota fraud viral video, "Nick Shirley says harassment extends to his family in wake of video documenting alleged widespread fraud at state-funded centers." On NPR Megan Basham @megbasham, "Their first instinct is always to go after the reporter not to investigate the issue. Because they’re not journalists, they’re gatekeepers." Todd of Mischief @AndToddsaid "This is an excellent primer on how the Shirley video *could* be disinformation without ever affirming the core assumption that it actually *is.* The author knows her topic well. As counter-propaganda goes, this is top-notch." Quote Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D @RVAwonk "I wrote about Nick Shirley’s bullsh*t video and the disinformation tactics he used to make it go viral." Amy Curtis hears 'Then It Is War:' Elon Musk Responds to Somali TikToker's Death Threat. Elon Musk @elonmusk, "Then it is war." Quote DogeDesigner @cb_doge, "BREAKING: Somali TikToker threatens Elon Musk’s life: "I wouldn't worry too much about him. He about to die." Protect Elon Musk at all costs." Insty, EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN: Babylon Bee Editor Thanks Snopes for Debunking This Believable Story About Tim Walz’s $8 Billion Grant. Mark Krikorian @MarkSKrikorian, "Snopes feels the need to "debunk" precisely because the satire is so believable." Quote Kyle Mann @The_Kyle_Mann, "Thanks to Snopes for debunking yet another dangerous Babylon Bee article."

From NYPo, Zohran Mamdani fans disappointed by disastrous ‘block party’ with no food or bathrooms, welcome to "democratic" socialism. The Telegraph cites Zohran Mamdani: I’ll show the world whether the Left can govern, "Newly inaugurated New York mayor tells his supporters he will ‘audaciously’ work on ‘big government’ plans." ET, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani Revokes Orders Issued After Adams’s Indictment "‘The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations,’ New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in his inaugural address." Including orders to protect NYC Jews. Rob Jenkins @profontheright, "Zohran Mamdani is uniquely prepared to be the first person in history to make Communism work due to his experience as a trust fund kid and failed rapper." Ryan Saavedra @RyanSaavedra "Even top Putin ally Kirill Dmitriev, who is CEO of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is dunking on Zohran Mamdani."

Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol "Here’s a list of all the news networks who have not covered Zohran Mamdani’s salute: - NYTimes - CNN - Washington Post - MSNBC - NPR - USA Today - Reuters - Axios - ABC News Every single one of them wrote stories on Elon Musk’s “salute”… …do you get it yet?" Twitchy, Brit Hume Shares DAMNING Post That Explains What Zohran Mamdani's 'Warmth of Collectivism' REALLY Means: Brit Hume @brithume, "Re: Mamdani's reference today to the "warmth of collectivism." Quote Dominic Pino @DominicJPino, "A hilariously bad metaphor, if you know how collectivist heating worked in the USSR. In Soviet Moscow, they had a centralized heating system for the whole city. Heat was centrally generated and then distributed through a network of pipes to houses and other buildings. The x.com/semaforben/sta…Show more." VodkaPundit at Insty, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL DID SHE THINK SHE WAS VOTING FOR? Coddled Affluent Professional @feelsdesperate. "This isn’t a matter of ‘bad speechwriting.’ The problem is that everything actually is as stupid as it seems. A lot of middle aged pundits like Filipovic can’t or don’t want to come to terms with this and so they resort to denial and dissembling." Quote Jill Filipovic @JillFilipovic, "Listen I am as excited for the Zohran era as the next person but I am begging begging begging his speechwriters to allow him to talk like a normal person and not an Oberlin freshman writing a persuasive essay. x.com/Acyn/status/20…" The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Mamdani Dethrones Gavin Newsom As U-Haul's Top Salesman https://buff.ly/lLWkJHc."

Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes, "Gavin Newsom now has 8 separate agencies officially designated as “high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement” in California Roughly $76 billion in fraud, improper payments and mismanagement was discovered by the auditor Let me repeat that, $76 BILLION . . ." VodkaPundit at Insty adds Meanwhile, in San Francisco: San Fran mayor signs bill that could give black residents $5M each — but admits city is too broke to pay. "Every time I think SF has hit Peak San Francisco, the city goes and does something like this. Plus: “A state that never allowed slavery wants to make residents who never owned slaves pay reparations to people who never were slaves.” UPDATE: “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. — George Bernard Shaw” (Charlie)." Mike LaChance, San Francisco Mayor Signs Reparations Bill, Admits There’s No Money to Pay Them “We are not allocating money to this fund — with a historic $1 billion budget deficit, we are going to spend our money on making the city safer and cleaner.” Beege Welborn says Black Gold Has Frustrated California Cultists Weeping in Their Chai Tea. Twitchy, On Today’s Episode of 'That’s Not How Money Works', The Left Discovers Finance, and It’s HILARIOUSLY BAD. Hank Venture @HankVenture5 "I've come to the realization that most people think that billionaires actually have a billion dollars in their checking account." David Cho @DavidChovan84, "So true. They don’t know or care how worth really works. Bottom line is, you have money and they want it." At RCE, High Electricity Prices Are a Choice Blue States Make Every Day. "A new report from Always On Energy Research and the Institute for Energy Research finds that 86% of states with electricity prices above the national average voted for Democratic presidential candidates in 2020 and 2024. In contrast, 80% of the 10 states with the lowest electricity prices are reliably red. That’s not a coincidence. Those high prices reflect a consistent pattern of state-level energy policies that dictate emissions reduction targets at the expense of affordability, reliability, and physics." John Sexton at Hat Hair hears The Backlash to Rep. Ro Khanna Continues martin_casado @martin_casado, "Ro has done a speed run alienating every moderate I know who has supported him. Including myself. Beyond being totally out of touch with that faction of his base, he’s devolved into an obnoxious jerk. At least that makes voting him the fuck out all the more gratifying." Quote Ro Khanna @RoKhanna, "Peter Thiel is leaving California if we pass a 1% tax on billionaires for 5 years to pay for healthcare for the working class facing steep Medicaid cuts. I echo what FDR said with sarcasm of economic royalists when they threatened to leave, "I will miss them very much." x.com/teddyschleifer…" Readers added context: The proposed ballot proposition actually imposes a minimum of 5% (not 1% per post) one time tax on billionaires, even on unrealized gains."

Sundance at CTH reports the FBI Intercepts Lone Wolf ISIS Attack in Mint Hill, North Carolina. At GatewayPundit, “F*ck Trump” – DC Home of Active-Duty Space Force Officers Broken Into, Robbed, Vandalized and Intentionally Set on Fire. "The DC home of active-duty Space Force officers Jason and Kaylee Taylor was broken into, vandalized, and intentionally set on fire on Sunday evening. Their car was also reportedly spray-painted: “F*ck Trump and F*ck the Space Force” The couple was out of town with their infant daughter at the time their home was destroyed. According to the couple’s GoFundMe, they lost everything they owned, including their beloved pet cat." From Ace, The CIA Promoted Abstract Modern Art As a Psyop. "Interesting video. The CIA promoted abstract expressionists like Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollack as some kind of bulwark against the propaganda value of Soviet art, which itself was realistic and representational. (Though idealized in showing proud, strong, happy Soviet peasants harvesting the abundant fields.) So using taxpayer money, they pushed this crap. "Our" art would be simple geometric shapes and paint splatters. It was literal Gay Ops."

AMAC thinks The Judicial Coup in Utah Is a Warning to the Nation. 

PJM's Cathy Salgado notices Despite 1347% Increase in Assaults, ICE Had a Historic Year. LifeZette hears Tom Homan Deliver a Message That Will Keep Some Mayors and Governors Up at Night. “I can just say, look, wait, wait and see.” 

John Sexton hears CBS Evening News Announces a New Anchor and a New Approach. The Patriarch Tree @PatriarchTree "Are we to assume, @bariweiss, that there was a backlog of left-wing anti-Trump stories like this “in the pipeline,” so to speak, before you took over?" Quote Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule, "NYU law professor Ryan Goodman and his nonpartisan team compiled a review that found more than 35 federal judges had explicitly stated that the Trump’s Justice Department lawyers were providing false, highly misleading, or intentionally inaccurate information in cases." Ace, CBS "News" Announces That They Have "Missed" Big Stories Because They Only Talk to "Advocates," "Academics," and "Elites;" Admits That No One Trusts the "Legacy Media" Any Longer "And they promise they'll correct that. Now, they continue lying by omission -- the problem isn't just that they only speak to "advocates" or "academics" or "elites." There are conservative versions of those, whom they don't speak to. Their bias is not to "advocates" or "academics" or "elites," but to the communist left." And More CBS "News:" CBS Executives Killed an Interview With Elon Musk Because They Insisted They Should Be Able to Edit and Hide What He Had to Say "Elon Musk wanted to do the interview live precisely so they couldn't give him an Asshole Edit and hide his actual words to push their previously-decided narrative. CBS "news" executives said they would never, ever agree to do that. They need to control the narrative. This comes from former CBS investigative reporter Catherine Herridge, who left the network, presumably over this kind of absolute bias and corruption." Capt. Ed, 'We Can't Do It Live': Former CBS Reporter Explains the Protection Racket Media. At Da Caller, Social Security Administration Offers Receipts To Dispute WaPo Hit Job. "Sundance" is concerned: Good Grief – Israeli billionaire Shlomo Kramer Wants End to First Amendment and Anonymous Internet Users. From WUWT, The Misinformation Inquisition: How Censorship Shields Approved Narratives from Scrutiny.

A pair at The College Fix, Amherst erupts after student reporter exposes sex skits thrust upon freshmen at orientation and More than half of UC Berkeley disability accommodations are ’emotional.’ From Real Clear Education, Florida Shows How to Push Back Against Campus Speech Radicalism.

Still more at The Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.02.26. Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links.  The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Still Stuck In The Ruts up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Owns the Economy

From the I&I ed board, Yes, Democrats, Trump Does Own This Economy. Matt Margolis at PJM, New GDP Numbers Just Dropped, and Democrats Should Be Freaking Out. "Democrats just watched economic reality obliterate their favorite doomsday talking point. The U.S. economy grew at an amazing 4.3% annualized rate in the third quarter of 2025, blowing past expectations and handing the Trump administration a massive win heading into 2026." Sundance at CTH, Third Quarter GDP Grows 4.3 Percent, Much Stronger Than Expected. With the Flaming Skull, Ace says BOOM! US Economy Grows By Big 4.3% In Third Quarter. kaitlin @thefactualprep, "my official statement to the american people is “you’re welcome”" Quote The Wall Street Journal @WSJ, "Breaking: U.S. economic growth accelerated to a 4.3% annual rate last quarter, blowing past expectations https://on.wsj.com/4p9FqMe." At Twitchy, Elizabeth Warren Hopes Nobody Saw Today's Economic News and Gets Ratioed to the Moon. MAZE @mazemoore "April, 2025. Elizabeth Warren claims that Trump's tariffs will result in millions of people losing their jobs, savings, retirements, and homes and will cause a recession that may take years to recover from. Nice call Pharmahontas." Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren, "46% of people are spending less this holiday season because of higher costs. Families are paying the price for Donald Trump’s chaotic tariffs." Mike Hahn @mikehahn_ "Fire the intern who scheduled this tweet before they left for Christmas!" At OilPrice.com, Christmas Day Gasoline Prices Set To Fall To Covid-Era Levels. Mark Tapscott at PJM has Three Reasons Why 2026 Could Be Donald Trump's 1934 FDR Mid-Term.

At Am Mind, Ron Pestritto describes How the Trump Administration Is Taming the Administrative State.

Important news on the Epstein front, at Twitchy a Report: Trump Flew on Epstein’s Plane Once With a 20-Year-Old Woman "The New York Post reports that Trump was sometimes accompanied by his second wife, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric. Scandalous." Ace, Epstein Files Bombshell! Trump Was an Acquaintance of Jeffrey Epstein During the Period We Already Knew They Were Acquaintances and Trump Once Flew on an Epstein Plane With a 20-Year-Old Adult Woman On Board, "An adult woman? Wow. You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention." WaT, Justice Department discredits lurid claims about Trump in latest Epstein file reveal "The department released 30,000 additional documents related to its investigation and prosecution of sex offender and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The material includes claims that Mr. Trump was involved in the scheme and raped a young woman who was allegedly later found murdered. Democrats have seized on the unverified accusation as evidence of Mr. Trump's involvement and a motivation for the department's resistance to making all of the files public. But Justice Department officials said the claims against the president were politically motivated and were lodged against him just before the 2020 presidential election. "To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already," Justice Department officials said." Much like the 2000 women who stepped up to claim they were raped by Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings. Matt Vespa at TownHall, MS Now Host Wonders Why Trump Was So Against Releasing the Epstein Files. Did You See Today's Update? NYPo suggests It’s time to treat Bill Clinton like Prince Andrew — and banish him from polite society. I wouldn't call Washington DC polite society. PJM's Stephen Kruiser admits The Epstein Stuff Probably Won't Make Bill Clinton's Teflon Get Sticky.

VodkaPundit at PJM has an ESSAY: Trump's Big, Beautiful Battleships Are... What, Exactly? Victory Girls see a Golden Fleet Of Trump Class Ships To Be Built. "Haters are going to hate and I don’t give a fig or a feather." Driscoll at Insty, America’s Newspaper of Record has printed a helpful cutaway guide to the state of the art technology to be deployed on these soon to be nautical legends: Check Out These Amazing Features On The New Trump-Class Battleship.

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh, " HOLY CRAP! The U.S. military recruitment numbers under President Trump are the highest in 15 YEARS Got what I voted for again! SEN. MULLIN: "[Lloyd Austin] was more worried about DEI and having some dude in a dress...Hegseth said, no, we're talking about lethality, and we're talking about the warrior!" "Then President Trump, who took our rightful place, instead of being apologetic about America's greatness, he said, no, we are the greatest, and we're not going to apologize about it. Of course, we're going to be breaking records!""

Michelle Wiese Bockmann @Michellewb_, "so we now have a (partial) explanation as to how Panama allowed the US to seize a Panama-flagged tanker (Centuries). From the brief explanation given by the Panama government in this story, it appears that Panama deleted the tanker from its registry after it loaded in Venezuela while spoofing its location. It was "not following the rules". Thus the tanker was effectively flagless and stateless after it sailed, allowing the US to intercept and interdict. . . ." At News Wax, Trump: US Will Keep Seized Venezuelan Oil, Ships and Trump Says It Would Be 'Smart' for Venezuela's Maduro to Step Down. "Go on, take the money and run." At Hat Hair, Capt. Ed cites the WSJ: Trump Aims at Dismantling Global Terror Networks Through Maduro and Beege Welborn interprets Trump: 'Yo, Dudes - We Still Need Greenland'. YaHoo whines US denies visas to EU ex-commissioner, four others over tech rules "accusing them of seeking to "coerce" American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose." As Teri Christoph at RedState puts it Rubio Targets Five Foreign Operatives Who Conspired With Big Tech to Censor Americans.

PJM's Scott Pinsker sees Something VERY Fishy Is Going on With the So-Called MAGA ‘Split’ Over Israel. It's being manufactured by the pundit class.

Hunter Biden went on a long podcast for the Shawn Ryan Show. Matt Margolis hears Hunter Biden Now Claims His ‘Laptop From Hell’ Wasn’t Even Real. Ace has more details, Hunter Biden: Of Course My Father's Calamitous Bug-Out from Afghanistan Was a "F***ing Failure;" And Of Course We Shouldn't Allow In Immigrants That "Drain Our Resources" "Is Hunter Biden now a racist? Wait a sec, he already was -- "no yellow." (Who doesn't like Asian chicks? Only a Nazi.) MXM:" His art career over, I guess he's trying for punditry, where being a crack addicts is not necessarily damning.

Nicole Silvero at Da Caller, Boston Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu Says Somalis To Thank For City’s ‘Every Achievement’ Nick Freitas @NickJFreitas, "I most appreciate when the Somali immigrants threw the tea in the harbor." Quote Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok, "Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says all of Boston’s accomplishments are thanks to Somalians." Sister Toldja at RedState hears James Comer Prepares to Make Political Life Very Difficult for Tim Walz, and I Am So Here for It "The walls are caving in on Tim Walz," Comer, R-Ky., said on "America's Newsroom." "This massive amount of fraud is affecting and impacting every citizen of Minnesota because they're having to cut services because so much of the money for social programs was wasted and defrauded by this Somali population." From NotTheBee, Somali girl says foreigners shouldn't be illegal in Minnesota because "this is literally, like, stolen land".

At Da Fed MD Kittle is grateful Michigan Election Integrity Warriors Stop ‘Disastrous’ Ranked-Choice Voting Drive.

John Solomon at JTN reports John Brennan's lawyers confirm he is 'target' of Florida grand jury probe, asks judge to intervene. "The letter to chief federal judge in Miami is an extraordinary injection by Brennan's defense team and likely signals his lawyers fear an indictment is imminent." "Given the corrosive effect of judge shopping on the perceived fairness and impartiality of the criminal justice system – particularly when conducted by a federal prosecutor – we wish to alert the Court to the evidence underlying our concern." Sundance at CTH, John Brennan Lawyers Confirm Their Client Is a “Target” of a Grand Jury Investigation. "What the evidence shows is a focused targeting operation intended to fabricate a false premise by the United States Intelligence Community, centered around a fraudulent CIA analysis (ICA) led by John Brennan, and organized through the Office of former DNI James Clapper. The op was green-lighted by Barack Obama, as a way to impede the agenda of incoming President Donald Trump. All three branches of government eventually collaborated on the scheme. Lawyers for John Brennan are now seeking to proactively undermine the grand jury proceedings and influence the venue where any investigation and review might be taking place."

John Sexton at Hair hears Supreme Court: Trump Can't Deploy National Guard in Chicago. So now Trump can say, "We tried to curb crime in your city, but your politicians sued, and now the Supreme Court won't let us." PJM's Cathy Salgado is pretty happy that Parents Win, California Loses Over Secretive Transing of Kids: Court Ruling. Gays Against Groomers @againstgrmrs, "BREAKING: U.S. District Court rules in favor of parent's rights with a permanent injunction against California! Parents have a Constitutional right to get the truth when it comes to the "gender identities" of their children! Schools may not lie anymore! Summaries below:" Hat Hair's Dave Strom argues Impeaching Judges Is Not an Abuse of Political Power, it is a rebalancing of power. |The taboo on removing judges for anything other than criminality (Hannah Dugan, anyone?) is absurd. Obviously, judges should be given wide latitude in making their decisions, and removing them should not be a frequent occurrence, but it should really be much more common than it is. There are a lot of bad judges."

Dave Strom reports Charlottesville, VA Eliminating Use of Camera System Because Feds Might Track Illegal Aliens. Mike Letts at PJM says This Minneapolis Police Chief Has It Wrong When He Uses the Nativity Story To Push Back Against ICE Raids. From Fox, GOP governor lays out plan to ‘purge’ terrorists and terror supporters from state "'Any organization that supports terrorism, that harbors people who have provided material support for terrorism, is not allowed to exist in our state,' said Abbott." Beege Welborn notices The Frantic Clean-Up Begins: If It's at Brown, Flush It.

Stacy McCain discourses on Journalism, Credibility and ‘Experts’ "NPR’s standards chief, Tony Calvin, had to issue an unusual bit of guidance to staff this week: stop quoting Carl Tobias. The instruction came after Calvin found NPR reporters had quoted the University of Richmond law professor 77 times on a variety of topics. “If Tobias’s name sounds familiar, it’s because Professor Tobias’s hobby seems to be getting himself quoted about anything and everything in news stories,” Calvin told staff, according to Semafor. “Professor Tobias often emails reporters offering his expert opinion on stories of the day and while I don’t presume to judge his expertise in legal matters, the professor is certainly an expert at getting himself quoted.”" Clearly he is good at saying what they want to hear.

Capt. Ed cites Axios: 60 Minutes Lied About Trump Admin Response. They did have responses from Trump administration spokesmen. They simple chose not to include them. Ace, Axios: Insubordinate CBS Liar Sharyn Alfonsi Told Viewers That Trump Officials Had Refused Comment On the Story. In Fact, They Provided Comment -- She Just Refused to Air Their Denials. "For those wondering "How can this insubordinate liar not get fired?," I've got great news: I think she will be fired. I thought she would probably be fired before this for insubordination. I'm pretty sure she wrote her "Bari is a Trump censor" email with the knowledge that a confederate would leak it for her (or she leaked it herself). If I had to guess, I'd guess she already knew she was on the list of candidates for firing and decided on the Jimmy Kimmel strategy of raising a stink among her left-wing allies to create pressure on the network to keep her. But this new report from Axios means that no amount of pressure from her left-wing allies can save her. The media still pretends that straight-up lying is a fireable offense. Of course it's not; lying is the soul of their soulless profession."

Hillel Neuer @HillelNeuer "BREAKING: In wake of our campaign, UN Hamas apologist Francesca Albanese has been removed from Georgetown University. L: Her “Affiliate Scholar” page R: Now deleted http://isim.georgetown.edu/profile/francesca-p-albanese Thank you, @Georgetown. It's time to expel all terror supporters from our universities." At NYPo, Herr Professor Jacobson and Kemberlee Kaye opine that the Toxic ideas fueling far-left terrorists came straight from our college campuses.

The College Fix is disappointed that a Judge rules against UCLA prof suspended after refusing lenient grading for black students. "A judge ruled against UCLA lecturer Gordon Klein, who was suspended after refusing to grade black students leniently in the wake of George Floyd's death, siding with UCLA on every issue." OTH, Ace is stoked that a Trans Teaching Assistant who Flunked a Christian Student for Rejecting Trans Propaganda Has Now Been Fired "I would say that the student's essay could be docked some points for relying so heavily on non-academic sources -- the Bible -- but then, the trans TA's rejection of all her arguments was based exclusively on quasi-religious fantasy and myth-making, wasn't it?"

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Stuck In The Ruts up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

ASMFC Chickens Out on New Striper Restrictions

From the Bay Journal, Fisheries commission again holds fire on striped bass limits

With a glimmer of hopeful news about harvest pressure and a warning from commercial fishermen that their economic survival is at stake, East Coast fishery managers have pulled back from ordering another round of catch restrictions on struggling Atlantic striped bass.

Meeting in Dewey Beach, DE, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Oct. 29 not to require any additional cuts in either the recreational or commercial catch of the migratory finfish known as rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay.

The vote against tightening already-strict catch limits came after more than a year of debate by the panel, which regulates nearshore fishing on migratory species along the Atlantic coast. Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and North Carolina voted for more restrictions.

The last healthy crop of striped bass spawned in 2018 and reached catchable size along the Atlantic coast in the past year. That triggered expectations of an uptick in the catch, which in turn lowered the odds of rebuilding the population to below 50%. So, after having weighed new catch restrictions in 2024 only to put them on hold, the fishery managers decided this summer to move ahead with a plan to require a 12% commercial and recreational catch reduction starting in 2026.

But when the commission met Oct. 29, members learned that, contrary to earlier projections, preliminary surveys indicated that the recreational catch for the first six months of 2025 was significantly below the previous year’s level. It isn’t clear why. Some suggested there were simply fewer fish to catch, but the apparent easing of fishing pressure made it seem more likely that rebuilding goal would be reached by 2029.

Amid that bit of hopeful news, commercial fishing groups called for status quo, saying they had already suffered substantially from previous cuts. Brian Hardman, head of the Maryland Charter Boat Association, said bookings have plummeted since a rule change in 2024 deprived their customers of the ability to keep two fish per trip. More than 50 of the association’s 400-plus charter boats have been put up for sale, he said.

Of course, many of the charter captains are old farts, too, well past retirement age.  

Likewise, Rob Newberry, chair of the Delmarva Fisheries Association, said the commercial catch quota had been reduced by 46% since 2012. “Any more cuts [are] going to put us out of business,” he contended.

The commission ultimately rejected a motion to order a 12% reduction, which could have required states to bar anglers from catching striped bass for days or weeks at a time and further restricted catchable size limits. Commissioners in favor of further restrictions argued it was risky to put off further conservation measures amid the continued poor reproduction of striped bass in the Bay. “We’re going to be looking at worse reductions in the future if we don’t take an interim step now,” said Jason MacNamee, a Rhode Island representative on the commission.

But Mike Luisi, tidal and coastal fishery manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said that while environmental conditions are changing and the fishery isn’t what it once was, he feared the consequences on the public of imposing more restrictions. “What are we doing? Because the people are just as important as the fish,” he said.

I sees new moratorium brewing on the horizon.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: It’s Always Warm & Sunny Somewhere up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

ASMFC Nixes Steep Menhaden Catch Cuts

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Project, Marine Fisheries Board Declines to Make Science-Based Reduction to Atlantic Menhaden Catch Limit  

Despite a 2025 stock assessment indicating that Atlantic menhaden biomass is one-third lower than previously estimated – and an immediate need to cut the coastwide menhaden quota by more than 50 percent to support striped bass rebuilding – the Menhaden Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted today to reduce 2026 commercial catch by only 20 percent. The decision, which will likely prevent striped bass and other predators largely reliant on menhaden like bluefish, weakfish, spiny dogfish, and ospreys from having sufficient forage, was a disappointment for conservation and recreational angling organizations.

 

“Rebuilding the Atlantic striped bass population has always involved more than just regulating striped bass harvest. It’s also about ensuring that enough of their key food source, Atlantic menhaden, remains available in the water,” said Chris Macaluso, director of the Center for Fisheries for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “The Menhaden Management Board’s decision to adopt only a 20 percent reduction in menhaden harvest, despite the science and input from ASMFC’s own scientists who highlighted the risks, makes it more challenging to achieve striped bass recovery by 2029. This step falls short of fully advancing more than a decade of progress toward ecosystem-based management and undermines public trust in the process.”

 

The Board’s decision, made at the agency’s annual meeting in Delaware, ignores its own
management framework based on “ecological reference points” (ERPs) — clear, science-based limits that tie menhaden harvest directly to predator health – and new estimates that show there are 37 percent fewer menhaden off the Atlantic coast than previously estimated. The Board also declined to vote for additional coastwide menhaden quota reductions beyond the 2026 fishing season, dodging additional quota cuts for 2027 and 2028 that could have collectively reached an ERP-based reduction that the recreational angling community called for after three years. The Board instead favored revisiting the issue in 2026 to determine if additional reductions are needed.

 

Notably, three years ago the Menhaden Management Board voted to increase the Atlantic menhaden total allowable catch for the 2023-2025 fishing seasons when the best available science indicated it was warranted. However, now that the best science indicates a reduction in catch is needed, the board has declined to reduce the catch to align with the ecosystem-based management model.

In early October, the ASMFC released its 2025 Atlantic menhaden stock assessment update, which indicated that the coastwide menhaden biomass is lower than previously estimated and suggested that slashing the coastwide catch limit by more than half would be necessary to ensure sufficient forage for rebuilding populations of striped bass. The Board’s decision today is not expected to achieve the standard 50/50 probability of not exceeding the ERP fishing mortality target – the precautionary approach that would dictate risk-tolerant, science-based management – and instead results in a 100 percent chance of exceeding the target in 2026.

The source is clearly biased in favor of cutting the Menhaden harvest, but then, so am I. But the point, that the new data show Menhaden population is 37% lower than previously thought, but the ASMFC responded by attempting to cut the harvest by only 20% suggests that they are not acting in the best interest of the Menhaden, let alone the Striped Bass and other predators that eat them. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Barbara Eden up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Menhaden Science Unsettled

 23 News Now, New menhaden assessment signals potential catch reductions in Chesapeake Bay

A new scientific assessment released this week shows that Atlantic menhaden populations are significantly lower than previously estimated, potentially prompting major reductions in catch limits along the East Coast.

According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), updated coastwide stock assessments indicate the overall biomass of menhaden, a small, schooling fish critical to marine food webs, has declined by 37 percent compared to earlier estimates. The findings suggest that current harvest levels may be unsustainable, and forecasts indicate catch limits may need to be cut by half to give the species a better than 50 percent chance of recovery.

The ASMFC’s menhaden management board is scheduled to meet on October 28 to review the new data and consider potential changes to the fishery’s catch limits. The board will also continue discussions on how to manage menhaden harvests in the Chesapeake Bay, where ecological warning signs have been growing.

Menhaden serve as an important food source for many species, including osprey, whales, and striped bass. In recent years, research from the Center for Conservation Biology at William & Mary and the U.S. Geological Survey has linked declining osprey chick survival rates in parts of the Chesapeake Bay to reduced availability of menhaden.

While the new coastwide assessment includes updates to mortality and population estimates, it does not specifically evaluate the effects of concentrated fishing activity within the Bay. A separate study focused on the Chesapeake Bay menhaden population has been delayed, reportedly due to lobbying efforts by Omega Protein, the Virginia-based company that operates the nation’s largest menhaden fishery.

Omega Protein harvests more than 100 million pounds of menhaden annually in Virginia waters, primarily for fish oil and animal feed. The company has not yet commented publicly on the new assessment.

Local bait fishermen have also reported sharp declines in their catch, which fell from 5.4 million pounds in 2019 to less than 1 million pounds in 2024, according to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Public concern over the issue has been growing. Recent bipartisan polling found that more than 90 percent of Virginians support measures to ensure more menhaden remain in the Bay.

In a statement, Chesapeake Bay Foundation Forage Campaign Manager Will Poston said the new data “confirms the alarm bells we’ve been hearing for years” and urged regulators to follow the science and reduce coastwide harvest levels.

My personal, unscientific observation is that the large schools of adult Menhaden that we used to see in our waters are all but absent in the last 10 years.  We still see a lot of "peanut" sized bunker, 2-3 inches. Hardly big enough for an Osprey to be worth diving on.  

Atlantic Redfish on the Decline?

Chris Dollar at the Annapolis Gazette, East Coast states to address red drum decline 

Coastal states from Florida to Maryland have scheduled hearings to gather public input from anglers and other stakeholders on a new addendum to the fishery management plan for red drum, one of the most popular game fish in the Chesapeake Bay and along the mid-Atlantic coast.

The Draft Addendum considers several changes to the management programs in the southern region (South Carolina to Florida) and northern region (New Jersey to North Carolina) in response to the findings of the 2024 Red Drum Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report presented to the Atlantic States Marine Commission, the intra-state body that oversees management of red drum and other.

Some states have opted to host the hearings in-person, others will be conducted via webinar or in a hybrid format. Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Potomac River Fisheries Commission will jointly hold their public meeting from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Calvert Library in Prince Frederick. Webinar instructions can be found on DNR’s website.

Virginia anglers and anyone who simply cares about the management of bluefish in all of the bay’s waters, can either tune in online or attend in person the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s hybrid meeting scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Sept.17. Interested in weighing in but unable to participate in your state’s scheduled hearing? No worries, you can participate in any of the virtual or hybrid hearings.

For some background, the recreational fishery is responsible for an increasing proportion of northern stock removals through time, accounting for greater than 90% of annual removals over the last 10 years, according to the ASMFC experts. The analysis reports that these removals are increasingly represented by dead discards, averaging 37% of annual recreational removals over the last ten years.

Relative abundance in 2019, 2021 and 2022 was lower than observed in other recent years and similar to the abundances observed in the late-2000s and early-2010s. The upshot is, according to the assessment, there appears to be an overall trend of “stable to decreasing recruitment outside of the exceptionally strong 1991-, 1993-, and 2018-year classes.”

It seems a little curious to me. Redfish have been a lot more common in the Chesapeake Bay in recent years, compared to the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. I've always suspected that more reds were coming into the Bay because populations in the Atlantic were expanding in response to conservation efforts. Some have even claimed reds are part of the reason for recent declines in Blue Crab populations. But, this suggests to me that the Atlantic population of reds is on the edge of being overfished? 

The Wombat has Rule Five Sunday: The End of Summer up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.