Monday, January 18, 2010
Oops! An Exxon tanker adrift
An Exxon tanker carrying more than 25 million gallons of Alaska crude oil lost power early Sunday morning while leaving Prince William Sound and had to be towed to safety, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com/money/industries
Where did the oil go?
An engineering professor has figured out why oil remains trapped along miles of gravel beaches more than 20 years after the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster in Prince William Sound.
– Juneau Empire
More: www.juneauempire.com/stories
CG crews deployed to watch over opilio fleet
Coast Guard helicopter crews from Kodiak are deploying to the Bering Sea to safeguard the crab fleet and other fishing vessels engaged in ground fisheries throughout the winter months.
– Coast Guard press release
More: www.piersystem.com
Yukon fishery proclaimed ‘disaster’
Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke determined that there has been a commercial fishery failure for the Yukon River Chinook salmon due to low salmon returns.
– NOAA press release
More: www.commerce.gov/NewsRoom
Little direct aid to fishermen from ‘disaster’ declaration
I've heard that this declaration isn't likely to result in much direct aid to fishermen or other residents in Western Alaska.
"The declaration doesn’t bring any immediate aid, so relief must be sought through a congressional appropriation," the governor's special assistant for fisheries, Cora Campbell, tells me. "We will be working with stakeholders and the delegation to determine what type of relief to request."
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
CG called out to save Homer fishing vessel
The Coast Guard coordinated the rescue of three mariners on the 32-foot fishing vessel Butterfly, homeported in Homer, after the crew reported their vessel was taking on water about a mile off Gull Point in Ugak Bay near Kodiak Island Saturday.
– Coast Guard press release
More: www.piersystem.com
Research: More salmon farms, more sea lice
Researchers from Washington state say they have found more intense concentrations of juvenile sea lice in areas of Clayoquot Sound that have high-density salmon farms.
– WestCoaster, British Columbia
More: www.westcoaster.ca
Fishing boat stopped without a single survival suit
The Coast Guard Cutter Acushnet terminated the voyage of the 77-foot commercial fishing vessel Topaz for a safety violation during a boarding 14 miles southeast of Cape Chiniak.
A Coast Guard boarding team from the cutter found the vessel master operating without any immersion suits available for the crew. The Coast Guard requires commercial fishing vessels to operate with immersion suits available for each crew member in appropriate sizes.
– Coast Guard press release
More: www.piersystem.com
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Exxon tanker illustrates need for escorts
The Exxon tanker that briefly lost power in state waters Sunday while carrying more than 25 million gallons of crude oil has quickly become a poster child for pending federal legislation to beef up protection for Prince William Sound oil shipments.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com/money
Beluga habitat rule won’t affect fishermen
Brad Smith of the National Marine Fisheries Service was in Kenai for a public presentation on the proposed critical habitat for the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale, part of the process for the Endangered Species Act. Smith said commercial fishing should not be affected by the critical habitat listing.
– KSRM, Kenai
No future in Yukon fishery?
Last week's Yukon River economic disaster declaration by the nation's commerce secretary may not help all of the people in Western Alaska affected by two years of low salmon runs – and a village leader from the area says it's time to move beyond fishing for a stable future.
– Alaska Dispatch
More: www.alaskadispatch.com/dispatches
Scientist blames climate change for Yukon crash
A Chinook salmon fishery in Alaska has failed, the government acknowledged Friday, and scientists point to global warming. "When temperatures increase on salmon a spawning ground, that's often detrimental," said a government scientist.
– Courthouse News
More: www.courthousenews.com
Kenai River sports guides form group
More than 50 professional Kenai River fishing guides have formed their own association.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com/outdoors
Canadian, Haida sign fisheries management pact
The federal government signed an agreement with the Haida Nation Saturday to jointly manage the planning, operations and management of the waters surrounding southern Haida Gwaii, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.
– CTV, Canada
More: www.ctv.ca/servlet
Men busted poaching Sacramento River sturgeon
Five Colusa County men convicted of poaching sturgeon from the Sacramento River have been fined, sentenced to probation and have had their fishing privileges revoked for three years.
– Los Angeles Times
More: latimesblogs.latimes.com
Global optic line would connect Unalaska
The proposed ArcticLink fiber optic cable from Japan to the United Kingdom would bring faster internet to Unalaska and Prudhoe Bay but not to other parts of western Alaska.
— Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Alaska legislators begin session
The big news is the start of a new legislative session in Juneau.
Don't be surprised, I suppose, if nothing of great importance comes down with respect to commercial fishing.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Puget Sound groundfish disappearing
Remember when you could fish Puget Sound and count on boating at least a rockfish or cod or two? Those days are long gone. Where once there were ling cod, rockfish, sablefish, true cod, walleye pollock and others, about all that’s out there now beside a few salmon are sole and flounder.
– Kitsap Sun
Read more: www.kitsapsun.com/news
Monterey Aquarium endorses farmed salmon
The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program is approving a particular method for farming Pacific coho salmon developed by AquaSeed Corp., which are grown in a freshwater, closed containment system, unlike salmon in the wild, which live primarily in saltwater but swim to freshwater every year to spawn.
– FIS.com
More: www.fis.com/fis/worldnews
Dredging spoils in Gastineau Channel?
A proposal to dredge Douglas Harbor and dump the spoils into Gastineau Channel is creating some concern for federal and state agencies, prompting them to ask for an extended comment period.
– Juneau Empire
More: www.juneauempire.com/stories
Humboldt County OKs funds for protected area study
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved partial funding of a project to measure the anticipated social and economic effects of the Marine Life Protection Act on the North Coast.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent John Driscoll, writing in the Eureka Times-Standard
More: www.times-standard.com
Fish plant hit with $13,166 fine
Ocean Protein of Hoquiam has settled a fine with the Environmental Protection Agency for $13,166 for failing to properly report the storage of sulfuric acid at its fish meal plant in Hoquiam. The company will also pay for improved training of the Hoquiam Fire Department.
– Aberdeen Daily World
More: www.thedailyworld.com/articles
Fish farmers object to CNN statement about their livestock
Salmon interests last week called CNN unethical for reporting that farmed salmon contains harmful elements like “toxic PCB chemicals,” excrements and antibiotics and that only wild salmon is safe to consume. CNN has since then revisited the topic and published a second story, taking "a deeper look at the issue."
– FIS.com
More: www.fis.com/fis/worldnews
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wall Street Journal notices
improving Oregon runs
This month, it's steelhead, the ocean-dwelling member of the rainbowtrout family beginning its return migration to Oregon. Steelhead, along with coho and Chinook salmon, have made a spectacular return to local streams in the past year.
– Wall Street Journal
More: online.wsj.com
Pollock season opens
One of the world's largest seafood harvests by volume, the Bering Sea pollock fishery, opened yesterday.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Enviro list downgrades Alaska pollock
The pollock fishery is on the verge of re-certification by the Marine Stewardship Council, but Seafood Watch thinks the fishery isn’t as good for the environment as was once thought.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: www.kucb.org
Opinion: Certification of Fraser sockeye called ‘eco-fraud’
British Columbia's sockeye fishery – including the troubled Fraser River run which is currently the focus of a judicial inquiry – is about to get international certification as a sustainable fishery. But the decision, posted yesterday by the British-based Marine Stewardship Council, has led to harsh criticism in B.C. with environmental groups saying the eco-labelling program has lost its credibility.
– Globe and Mail, Canada
More: www.theglobeandmail.com
Coast Guard says not much has changed in bar rules
Despite complaints from some boaters and business owners, the local U.S. Coast Guard commander says not much changed after a new policy on the Umpqua River bar went into effect on Dec. 17.
– Umpqua Post, Oregon
More: www.theumpquapost.com
Federal court rejects Alaska cod appeal
In a split decision, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco yesterday rejected a complaint from Fishermen’s Finest Inc. that it was shortchanged under Amendment 85, a federal action that divided the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands cod fishery among various fleets.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Fishermen are force in Alaska Legislature
I've heard it said that commercial fishing just doesn't have the same influence in our Legislature that it once did. To hear the old-timers tell it, the halls of the Capitol used to squeak with rubber boots. Deckboss can tell you, however, that considerable commercial fishing experience still walks those halls.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Tanner crab season opens
The local Eastern Aleutian District tanner crab fishery opened on Friday. Eight boats are trying to catch the 74,000 pounds available in Unalaska and Kaletka Bay and the 45,000 pounds in Akutan Bay.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: www.kucb.org
Kodiak harbor may get Wi-Fi
More details were discussed on the implementation of Wi-Fi at the harbor at the Port and Harbors Advisory Board meeting.
At a previous meeting George Grohs Jr. of Coastline Computers had expressed interest in installing and running the Wi-Fi service for the harbor.
– Kodiak Mirror
More: www.kodiakdailymirror.com
Oil spill raises doubts about proposed B.C. port
An Enbridge oil spill just south of the Canadian border has raised some concerns over what will happen should the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project from Kitimat to Alberta go through.
– InteriorNews.com, British Columbia
More: www.bclocalnews.com
