ARLINGTON, Va – FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR) Monday announced the FLIR M300 Series, a new generation of maritime thermal cameras delivering advanced awareness-enhancing technologies, safer navigation, and seamless integration with onboard boat systems. FLIR M300 Series cameras are designed for the most demanding professional mariners and first responders who operate in the harshest marine environments.

The successor to FLIR’s industry-leading M-Series of maritime cameras, the next generation M300 Series consists of five models featuring rugged and robust new pan and tilt housings – four models with the FLIR BosonTM 640 or 320 resolution thermal camera cores and various fixed field of view (FoV) lenses, plus a visible-only model, the M300C, featuring a high-definition, color, low-light camera with 30X zoom. Read more

In September 1969, the DNR began a netting survey of the channels and embayments (coastline recesses that form bays) of the Les Cheneaux Islands, located along the Lake Huron shoreline on the Upper Peninsula’s southeastern tip. For 50 years since, the DNR has returned to repeat the survey using the same gear types and same approximate sampling stations to detect changes in fish populations. This year’s survey gets underway next week.

“We’ll count each fish by species and weigh and measure them,” said Dave Fielder, a fisheries research biologist out of Alpena. “We’ll also collect spines from some species to allow us to age the fish, which helps determine growth and mortality rates.” Read more

Tennessee Aquarium Warns of Danger Posed By Invasive Carp, Highlights These Delicious Fish in Upcoming Dinner Fundraiser

Chattanooga, Tenn. – Eighty years ago, farmers were encouraged to plant an innocuous ornamental plant from Asia to serve as cheap ground cover and feed for livestock. Decades later, entire hillsides, power lines and forests have been devoured in kudzu’s jungle-thick, creeping conquest of the Southeast.

Despite these potent, twining reminders of the danger posed by invasive species, America is once more attempting to stem a seemingly unstoppable tide of alien invaders. This time, however, it’s not a vine that’s eating the South; it’s a fish that’s swallowing America’s waterways. Read more

Hobie® performance and angler-friendly pricing merge in the all-new Mirage® Passport 12 pedal-driven fishing kayak

OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Building on the wildly successful launch of the Hobie Mirage Passport 10.5 earlier this year, Hobie is proud to introduce the new Mirage Passport 12 for 2020, a longer, larger and more fishing-centric Passport. Powered by the original MirageDrive® Classic with ST Fins, this highly manageable 12-foot pedal kayak takes kayakers where they want to go with ease and world-class Hobie performance.

“The Passport 12 is an expansion of the simplicity, ease, and versatility we created in the original Passport 10.5,” says Jason Kardas, Director of Engineering Product Management for Hobie. “As it was with our introduction of the Passport 10.5, the ultimate goal of the Passport 12 is to be able to bring the premium experience that Hobie’s MirageDrive technology has delivered for more than 20 years to a broader audience than ever before. The Passport 12 does that while offering more room for fun and even more fishing-specific features at an attainable price point.” Read more

METTAWA, Ill. Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC) has announced the formation of the Aluminum Boat Group (ABG), a further step in its systematic plan to fully leverage the scale of its boat business to drive operational excellence, create market-leading products and deliver continued operating margin improvement. ABG will be comprised of seven of Brunswick’s leading boat brands – Lund, Harris, Lowe, Crestliner, Princecraft, Cypress Cay and Thunder Jet. ABG Commercial operations will be based in Brunswick’s Mettawa, Ill. headquarters location.

“2019 is a transformative year for Brunswick, as we continue to sharpen our focus and vision solely on the global marine industry. The formation of the ABG is the latest in a series of important structural measures we have taken to improve the efficiency and performance of our overall boat portfolio, while strengthening each of these leading brands,” Brunswick’s Chief Executive Officer David Foulkes explained.

“The ABG will enhance brand performance through focused commercial teams, led by dedicated brand leaders who will be responsible for market facing activities. They will be supported by a group-wide operating organization with industry-leading functional capabilities leveraging our size and scale, and centers of excellence for pontoon and aluminum boat design and technology” Foulkes continued. “This will result in stronger brands, better customer service, enhanced quality, and improved profitability. Of course, all of these brands will also continue to benefit from Mercury’s market-leading propulsion systems and technologies.” Read more

Would you like to touch a living fossil? If the answer is yes, plan on visiting the North Channel Sturgeon Festival in Clay Township (Michigan’s “sturgeon angling capital”) Sept. 20-22. This new event will celebrate lake sturgeon, an amazing, prehistoric fish that abounds in the North Channel of the St. Clair River.

The festival will take place at the Clay Township Park, located at 4710 Point Tremble Road in Algonac, from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday, Sept. 20; noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21; and 8 to 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22. It will include food, drinks, live bands, raffles, cornhole, a trout pond for kids and loads more fun. Saturday, there will be a lake sturgeon viewing tank where you can touch one of these living fossils. Staff from the DNR’s Lake St. Clair Fisheries Research Station will be on hand to answer questions about these creatures.

Proceeds from the festival benefit St. Clair-Detroit River Sturgeon for Tomorrow and the Pearl Beach Lions Club.