Fish

NEW YORK - Before Mardy Fish transformed himself into the player he is today, he compiled a record of 5-8 in his first eight visits to the U.S. Open, never making it past the second round from 2000 to 2007. Before changing his eating and workout habits, Fish didn't make it easy to put together a deep run in Grand Slam tournaments. Not only that, but he didn't necessarily believe he was capable of doing it. Now? Here's how Fish talks about his chances in the hard-court U.S. Open, which is scheduled to start Monday: "I'll certainly feel like I can beat anyone, especially on that surface, at that tournament.

Many people shy away from buying fish because they don't know what to choose, where to buy, or how to prepare it. But fish is quick-cooking and takes best to simple preparations, seasoned with no more than a squeeze of fresh lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt, and grindings of black pepper. Be flexible: Buy the fish that looks most alive. Allow three-quarters of a pound per serving for whole fish (the smaller the fish, the lower the proportion of meat); 10 ounces for pan-dressed fish (head and tail removed)

The End of the Line, an eco-mentary that warns against overfishing, baits its hook with alarmist rhetoric and aversion therapy. First, filmmaker Rupert Murray treats us to undersea footage of iridescent fish frolicking in coral reefs. He intercuts this with nausea-inducing images of bluefin tuna being gutted, sliced, and greedily consumed. Then he offers the expert testimony: If fishing continues at current rates, the planet's oceans will be fished out by midcentury. The film's strident tone is established by Charles Clover, the British investigative reporter on whose work the documentary is based.

Low levels of a pesticide thought to have killed 1,000 fish in two Camden County lakes last week were found in water tests completed yesterday, officials said. Tests show 30 to 40 parts per billion of Nemacur, a pesticide that was used to kill microscopic worms at the Pine Valley Golf Course and that was washed into the lake system on July 23 by heavy rains, officials said. Officials said the Nemacur might have been responsible for the fish kill discovered July 26 at a golf course lake and at Lekau Lake on the Pine Hill Boy Scout reservation.

Maybe Mother Nature didn't want those fish to die. The catfish, carp and largemouth bass just keep on swimmin' in what's left of the pond at the federal wildlife refuge in Southwest Philadelphia. They're now crowded into pools of water spanning half the normal 145-acre "impoundment" at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum. The rest of the impoundment - drained down to mudflats - has become a temporary mecca for hundreds or thousands of marshland birds. "It's been great for the birders and not so bad for the fishermen," said refuge manager Dick Nugent, "because it (the water)

All day Wednesday, customers coming into Ben Budd's bait-and-tackle shop in Cape May County marveled at the thousands of dead menhaden they had seen along the Delaware Bay shoreline. By late afternoon, the state Department of Environmental Protection had announced that it was investigating what it termed a "major" washup of dead fish. Officials reported that the swath of dead menhaden - a small bait fish also known as peanut bunker - extended along seven to eight miles of shoreline from Kimbles Beach in Middle Township south to Villas in Lower Township, including an area known as Pierces Point.

A fish shop worker charged with beating and disemboweling a mentally troubled halfway house resident is believed by homicide investigators to be a serial killer who slaughtered seven other women who frequented Frankford Avenue bars, police sources said yesterday. So far, homicide detectives have charged fish cutter Leonard Christopher only with the April 28 murder of Carol Dowd, 46, whose body was found in an alley behind the Frankford Avenue fish store where Christoper worked.

Keeping up with Han Chiang's Sichuan machine is no small task. No sooner had I eaten at his new Han Dynasty in University City than it was no longer his newest branch, with the recent opening of HD Cherry Hill. The recent dynastic expansion of the fiery chain gives devoted regulars pause. But his West Philly perch in the old MidAtlantic is a step up, style-wise, from his 3-bell Old City lair, both in decor and service. And our food didn't suffer one bit. I even discovered a new favorite, this double-cooked flounder that gets pan-crisped once, then goes into the wok to finish with leeks, hot peppers, funky fermented beans, and a chile oil-peppercorn sauce that brought just the right touch of numbing heat.

Fourteen-year-old Mervyn Artis said that once he spotted the baby, he tried to signal his teen-age companion not to shoot the driver of the fish truck. The two boys were planning to rob a drug house when they spotted a fish truck at 55th and Ridgewood streets on Nov. 2 and switched their plan, according to Artis. "We decided to stick up the fish truck," he said in a statement to Homicide Detective Francis Ansel, read during yesterday's preliminary hearing for Artis. Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron said the driver of the truck, Suzette Richardson, 23, lost her life when she was shot in the chest during the robbery attempt about 12:45 p.m. The victim's 4-year-old son and a 17- year-old girl escaped injury as they sat in the truck.