Monday, May 23, 2011
MORE SNIPING ON 'DEADLIEST CATCH'
It's been a dramatic season on Discovery Channel's "Deatliest Catch," which began with a memorial for the late Capt. Phil Harris – who died after suffering a stroke last season – and continued with fireworks between Harris' sons, Jake and Josh, and the new captain of Harris' ship, the Cornelia Marie.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Wall St. Journal notices sea lions
It's mammal vs. fish in the churning waters of the Columbia River, where California sea lions are pitted against Chinook salmon in a struggle for survival that federal agencies—and now a federal court—must sort out.
– Wall Street Journal
More:online.wsj.com
River sea lions back to court
About a week after the feds OK'd a new plan to kill sea lions at Bonneville Dam, opponents with the Humane Society and Wild Fish Conservancy are taking them back to court to stop the killing.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More ecotrope.opb.org
Euro fishing rules 'shameful'
It was a shameful par for a very long course when European, Middle Eastern and North African governments met in Rome this month to decide how to save the fast-vanishing fisheries in their common sea.
– Telegraph, U.K.
More:www.telegraph.co.uk
No proof Natives sell salmon illegally
Fisheries authorities don't have proof of the alleged illegal sale of salmon by aboriginal fishers.
– Stright.com, Vancouver
More:www.straight.com
Pro-Pebble Mine Native group
A nonprofit organization formed by several Alaska Native village corporation executives to counter the opponents of Pebble mine is raising its profile and drawing the fire that comes with it.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More:www.alaskajournal.com
Money for tagged crab in Bering Sea
Once pollock B season kicks into gear, trawlers might want to pay closer attention to their crab bycatch.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
Mystery of setting salmon grounds price
Base prices paid to Alaska salmon fishermen depend on a wide mix of variables by region, the type of fishing gear, fish returns and mostly supply and demand and factors in global markets.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
FISH FARMING TAKES A STRONG STOMACH
Importing food from less developed countries increasingly leads to people literally eating more crap, according to scientists in the United States.
– Vancouver Sun
Read more:www.vancouversun.com
SE seine permit buyback
The National Marine Fisheries Service published a notice in the Federal Register regarding another proposed round of permit buybacks in the Southeast Alaska purse seine salmon fishery.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Murkowski is no help with Sealaska bill
One aspect of the Sealaska Lands Bill (S.730) that has garnered little attention on this website is a discussion regarding Sen. Murkowski s hollow attempt to gain the support of commercial fishermen.
– Mickey Knight, F/V Starship of Petersburg, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Planning about Stellers in Alaska
Fish and wildlife scientists from Washington and Alaska will meet June 2 in Seattle to discuss the scientific basis of new federal fishing restrictions designed to protect Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Sea otters as environmental barometers
More than two dozen marine researchers – including seven from the Alaska Science Center – are at sea near Glacier Bay this week studying sea otters for clues about the ecological health of the Pacific coast stretching as far south as California.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Diesel workshop
Washington Sea Grant (WSG) and the Port of Seattle Fishermen's Terminal are cosponsoring a Diesel Engine Troubleshooting Workshop in July for commercial fishermen and recreational boaters.
– Sea Grant
More:wsg.washington.edu
Eagle rescue brings up ghost fishing
The dramatic rescue of Donald the eaglet on Vancouver Island has shed light on a problem that most people don't think much about – the issue of "ghost fishing."
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Staking fishing claims in Arctic
As declining sea ice and better mapping and technology make the Arctic more accessible, nations with interests there – including the United States – are beginning to stake their claim on the resource-rich region.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
FRANKENFISH COULD BE OK'D SOON
FDA approval could come soon and all signals suggest the agency is not likely to require the product to be labeled, despite the nearly 400,000 Americans who petitioned the agency to not approve the fish, and to label this new, largely untested food source if it does.
– Huffington Post
More:www.huffingtonpost.com
Farmed halibut
Early success in supplying up-scale restaurants with farmed halibut has prompted a P.E.I. company to look at the feasibility of growing its fish even bigger.
– Journal Pioneer, Prince Edward Island, Canada
More:www.journalpioneer.com
Deadliest Catch trash talk
"That was a good old fashion Dutch Harbor, after-the-bar-closed dust-up, and it was – you know what? – I think at the end of the day everybody had a good time, nobody got hurt, nobody went to jail. That's a good night out in Dutch for the boys. To watch Andy shatter a guitar over my brother's head was a sight to behold."
– Keith Colburn, captain of the Wizard, talking to a site called Guyism
More:guyism.com
Fishing industry aids Japan
Businesses involved in Alaska's commercial fishing industry have donated over $300,000 to assist those affected by the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan.
– Tundra Drums
More www.thetundradrums.com
The mercury bogey man
To build its case against mercury, the EPA systematically ignored evidence and clinical studies that contradict its regulatory agenda, which is to punish hydrocarbon use.
– Wall Street Journal
More:online.wsj.com
Oregon wave power maps
State planners are developing a series of maps that they hope will reveal places in the territorial sea that aren't vital to the fishing or shipping industries, or sensitive marine species, or surfers, or oceanographic research, or undersea transmission cables.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org (Scroll down.)
Fish imports not necessarily safe
A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has admitted that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s fish safety programme for imported farmed fish is "limited".
– The Fish Site
More:www.thefishsite.com
New direct marketing idea
In the same way that you can pay up front to receive a once-a-week delivery of just-picked fruit and vegetables directly from a local farm, expect someday soon to enjoy that same convenient service with fresh seafood caught by Bay Area family fishermen.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Forests, salmon need each other
Oregon's streams can produce healthy and abundant populations of steelhead, salmon and trout. Healthy fish populations sustain vital commercial and recreational fisheries and provide a valuable legacy to future Oregonians.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Thursday, May 26, 2011
SARAH HAS 'FIRE IN THE BELLY'
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has authorized a feature-length film about her rise, added staff and recently said she has "that fire in the belly" for a presidential bid – all steps that fuel speculation she's inching toward a White House run.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
DFO says Natives out of control
Aboriginal fisheries on the lower Fraser River are "out of control" and vast amounts of salmon supposed to go strictly for food, social and ceremonial purposes are instead sold on the black market.
– Hope (B.C.) Standard
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Cal pumps kill millions of fish
Pumps operated by the federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project are massacring millions of fish.
– Stockton Record
More:www.recordnet.com
Bering search suspended for fisherman
The Coast Guard suspended the search Wednesday at 5:50 p.m. for a man who fell overboard from the commercial fishing vessel Alaska Victory in 110 miles west of Togiak Wednesday.
– Coast Guard
More:www.uscgalaska.com
Vessel grounds in Togiak Bay
The Coast Guard was working with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to monitor the 102-foot fishing vessel Nor'Quest which grounded on Hagemeister Island in Togiak Bay Wednesday at 1:12 a.m.
– Coast Guard
More:www.uscgalaska.com
Copper River reds bountiful
The Copper River District will open at 7:00 am on Thursday, May 26 for a 36-hour period.
– ADFG
More:csfish.adfg.state.ak.us
New ADFG announcement system
Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials said there's new online system for distributing and subscribing to news releases for commercial fishery openings, closings, fishing areas, times, and non-regulatory updates about specific fisheries.
– Dutch Harbor Fisherman
More:www.thedutchharborfisherman.com
States back off killing sea lions
The states of Oregon and Washington agreed on Wednesday to suspend euthanizing sea lions caught feasting on endangered Columbia River salmon until September while the courts consider a lawsuit challenging such killings.
– Reuters
More:www.reuters.com
Arctic nations to meet
Next month, representatives of the five Arctic coastal states – Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark (for Greenland) and Norway – will convene in Anchorage for an invitation-only to discuss the future of fisheries in the international waters of the Arctic Ocean.
– Discovery News
More:news.discovery.com
Friday, May 27, 2011
NY TIMES: FISH FRAUD RAMPANT
Scientists aiming their gene sequencers at commercial seafood are discovering rampant labeling fraud in supermarket coolers and restaurant tables: cheap fish is often substituted for expensive fillets, and overfished species are passed off as fish whose numbers are plentiful.
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
New king crab assessment system
A new method for estimating red king crab numbers has yielded some encouraging news for Southeast Alaska fishermen.
– KRBD, Petersburg
More:krbd.org
Grand Coulee spill killing fish
Water spilling from Grand Coulee Dam is increasing nitrogen levels in the Columbia and killing thousands of trout in commercial pens downstream, according to owners of Pacific Seafood.
– Seattle P-I
More:blog.seattlepi.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, the commercial clam diggers who died last week in Cook Inlet apparently overloaded their skiff, we've got an update of the Togiak herring fishery, and Alaska's fishiest artist is recognized.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Alaskan Fulbright to study fishing changes
Catherine Chambers, a doctoral student with the University of Alaska Fairbanks fisheries program, recently received a Fulbright scholarship to study how fishermen in both Iceland and Kodiak adapt to changes in the fishing industry.
– Kodiak Daily Mirror
More:www.kodiakdailymirror.com
Special session for coastal zone program
Alaska state legislators are poised to go into another special session next week to deal with a bill to keep the coastal zone management program alive.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Another try with Columbia shad
Columbia River fishermen and processors have wondered for most of a century whether better economic advantage might be taken of the millions of American shad that return to the river each year.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
We're off Monday
Fish Wrap will take off Monday in observance of Memorial Day. See you on Tuesday. Buy a poppy in the meantime.
