Discovery
This Aug 11, 2020 photo shows the sampling arm of the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft during a rehearsal for an approach to the ‘Nightingale’ sample site on the surface of the asteroid Bennu. After almost two years circling the ancient asteroid, OSIRIS-REx will attempt to descend to the treacherous, boulder-packed surface and snatch a
handful of rubble on Oct. 20. (AP)
Stone crab claw harvest in Fla:
Florida’s annual stone crab claw harvest has started amid new rules aimed at protecting future stocks and concerns about demand for claws due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New regulations, enforced by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, include increasing the minimum size of a harvested claw from 2 3/4 inches (7 centimeters) to 2 7/8 inches (7.3 centimeters); reducing the harvest season by two weeks and modifying traps to have a 2 3/16-inch (5.5-centimeter) escape ring. The season started Thursday and ends May 1.
Trap modifications must be completed by the 2023-2024 season, but Gary Graves, vice president of Keys Fisheries, one of the state’s largest processors of the tasty claws, said many commercial fishermen’s traps in the Florida Keys are already compliant.
He said commercial fishermen around the state worked with FWC officials to institute the new rules to ensure future harvests.
“We’re in favor of this (new regulations) to rebuild the fishery,” Graves said, adding that about 2.1 million pounds of claws were harvested last year around Florida. “Probably in four or five years, we’ll be able to start catching three or three-and-a-half million pounds (annually) like we used to.”
Graves said the COVID-19 pandemic has fishermen on edge because most commercially harvested claws are sold to restaurants across Florida.
“Retail, I think, is strong,” Graves said. “We see a lot of people ordering (seafood) online or going to the grocery store and buying and eating at home.
“But we just don’t know what restaurants are going to do this year in Florida, which are the largest consumers of the crab,” he said. (AP)
❑❑❑ Smog returns to Delhi:
The Indian capital’s air quality levels plunged to “very poor” on Friday and a smoggy haze settled over the city, days after the state government initiated stricter measures to fight chronic air pollution.
The Air Quality Index in New Delhi rose past 270, according to SAFAR, India’s main environment monitoring agency, after agricultural fires in neighboring states sent smoke billowing across the city. The World Health Organization deems anything above 25 as unsafe.
The national capital, one of the world’s most polluted cities, enjoyed a respite from air pollution up until September in part thanks to a virus lockdown. But with industrial activities resuming and cars back on the roads - along with the onset of cooler weather and less wind - air quality in the city has once again fallen to unhealthy levels. India’s Prime Minister is Narendra Modi.
October is also the time of year when farmers in neighboring regions, including the states of Haryana and Punjab, set fire to their post-harvest fields to clear them, despite there being a ban on it.
That smoke travels to New Delhi, leading to a surge in pollution levels in the city of more than 20 million people and exacerbating what is already a public health crisis.
Health experts say high air pollution levels over a prolonged period have compromised the disease resistance of people living in New Delhi, making them more susceptible to the coronavirus. New Delhi Chief Minister is Arvind Kejriwal.
Over the years, the pollution crisis in New Delhi has piled public pressure on the