stakeholders discuss male-only dogfish fishery

A series of regulations were established in the 1990s to help restore the over-fished spiny dogfish population. The small schooling sharks made a successful comeback, but, in the process, the ratio of male to female dogfish shifted dramatically. Males continue to outnumber females and are competing for food with other important fish species.

“Typically with dogfish, if you talk about a population in equilibrium, you want to see a two-to-one ratio—two males to every one female,” said Ken La Valley, commercial fishing specialist with New Hampshire Sea Grant. “What you’re seeing now is a five or six to one ratio. Because of that, it’s out of balance.”

Stonyfield CEO to talk business in Portsmouth

There’s a belief in many business circles that you can either focus on attaining wealth or center your efforts on environmental issues—but you can’t do both. Gary Hirshberg, chairman, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, begs to differ. Hirshberg was one of the first to purposely build an empire on a green philosophy. His new book, “Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World,” describes the rise of Stonyfield’s organic dairy products in the national marketplace. Hirshberg will discuss his new book at Portsmouth’s RiverRun Bookstore on Thursday, March 20.

Drawing from both his hardships and successes, Hirshberg’s book is an attempt to inspire those who hope to improve the world’s deteriorating ecosystem while still making money.

“For me, it’s been a long journey from youthful naïveté to aging clarity, but every step, however difficult, has given me the pleasure of discovering how nature’s wisdom can become humankind’s salvation,” Hirshberg writes in the new book.

Stonyfield Farm’s journey began in the early 1980s, when the company was established as an organic farming school based in Wilton, N.H. The initial mission was to teach sustainable farming practices, but this changed after a few serendipitous turns of fate.

food series illustrates the virtues of eating well

It was in the mid-1980s that Carlo Petrini walked into a small restaurant in Italy and ordered his favorite meal: a bowl of homemade roasted red pepper soup. After a couple of spoonfuls, however, he noticed that the soup didn’t have the same zing that usually aroused his appetite. Petrini, an established food and wine aficionado, asked the restaurant owners why the soup tasted different. They informed him that they had started importing cheap onions from Holland instead of growing their own.
It was the last straw for Petrini. He had gradually observed an alarming trend of standardization in the food industry, with consumers and purveyors increasingly emphasizing convenience over quality. His concern was punctuated by the opening of the first McDonalds restaurant in Rome around 1986.

Whether you come for the food, music, dancing or a combination of all three, you are likely to find a good time at Saunders this Friday. The restaurant will feature a blend of all three components during the “Take the Leap” cocktail reception and dance party on Friday, Feb. 29.