Monday, January 21, 2013
FEDS SAY NO TO E-MONITORS
But a top official who met with Sitka fishermen said too many questions remain about the system, and there’s no way a functional electronic monitoring program could be ready in the next two years.
– KCAW, Sitka
More: www.kcaw.org
Corey Arnold photography in NY
Every summer, the remote camp fills with fishermen – and a few fisherwomen – who come to seek their fortunes in the waters of Bristol Bay, home to one of the largest runs of sockeye salmon in the world. Among them is Corey Arnold, a native Californian who runs a wild salmon netting operation from two small skiffs in the bay.
– New York Times
More:lens.blogs.nytimes.com
A pollock primer
The Bering Sea pollock fishery opens with a customarily enormous quota of more than 1.2 million metric tons.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Akutan hovercraft is costly
The Aleutians East Borough is looking for a less expensive way to travel between the village of Akutan and the new airport on Akun Island, seven miles away by hovercraft.
– Pacific Fishing magazine contributor Jim Paulin, writing in the Dutch Harbor Fisherman
More:www.thedutchharborfisherman.com
Sentenced for otter kills
A Haida hunter, artist and businessman from Ketchikan was fined $10,000 and ordered to six months of home confinement after admitting to illegally hunting and selling sea otter pelts.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Last chance to stop frankensalmon
Fishing groups, consumers and health organizations are launching a final push to prevent genetically modified fish from getting the nod for American dinner plates.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
N. Cal crab spotty
Some seafood buyers say the catch has been very good for their fleets. Others say the season so far has been average. And although it’s early, most say the season hasn’t been as good as last year.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Fish farm chemicals spread
Anti-lice agents used in fish farming can cause serious harm to the wider environment, a study published by the Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agency (Klif) suggests.
– Chemical Watch
More:chemicalwatch.com
Where’s money for gillnet ban?
Leaders are delving into the details – especially how money in the governor’s budget will be raised and spent.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Drill rig shakes Shell’s plans
Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling program is now officially in jeopardy and its prospects will depend on the findings of two continuing federal inquiries.
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
WHY ARE CHINOOK DYING?
“To know anything, we have to be out there on research vessels or talking to commercial fisheries to get an idea of what's going on with their marine environment.”
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Alaska’s Arctic future
Since 2007, the Arctic has seen six unusually warm summers with very little sea ice.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Stephanie Joyce, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
No pollock price
Prices could be down this year for both fish and roe because of larger quotas in both the U.S. and Russia.
–Pacific Fishing columnist Stephanie Joyce, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
New rules for south ocean
Chile has established a set of new fisheries laws protecting underwater sea mountains, limiting bycatch, and setting science based quotas, protecting 150.000 square kilometers of marine habitat.
– MercoPress, Montevideo, Uruguay
More:en.mercopress.com
Farmers pay for sea lion drownings
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans will accept $100,000 worth of restorative justice work instead of prosecuting Grieg Seafood B.C. for the accidental drowning of 65 sea lions in nets surrounding three salmon farms near Gold River.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:timescolonist.com
Keep Canadians off tuna
A treaty between the U.S. and Canada has allowed fisherman of both countries to fish each other's waters for the past 30 years, but a growing number of U.S. fisherman say the treaty's time is up.
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
NY Times: Lubchenco was creative
Jane Lubchenco worked tirelessly and creatively to resist the decline in threatened fish populations as boss of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
– New York Times
More:takingnote
Fish top Alaska export
Natural gas and minerals are among the goods emerging countries will need from Alaska, though seafood remains at the top of the state’s export list for now.
– Alaska Public Radio
More:alaskapublic.org
New salmon forecasting model
Pacific salmon abundance has been highly variable over the last few decades and most forecasting models have been inadequate.
– Oregon State University
More:dx.plos.org
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
GET YOUR FISH OIL FROM FISH
Research at the University of B.C.'s Okanagan campus is calling into question the value of fish-oil based supplements as a way to combat cardiac and inflammatory disease.
– Vancouver Sun
More:vancouversun.com
CG stops fishing voyage
The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of a fishing vessel in Prince William Sound for safety violations Monday.
– Coast Guard
More:uscgnews.com
SF Bay herring return huge
The small fish have returned to San Francisco Bay en masse this year.
– Marin Independent Journal
More:marinij.com
Your job kills
The number of fishermen who die on the job has gone down by nearly half since 2009. But fishing is still the deadliest job in the U.S.
– Planet Money, NPR
More:bls.gov
Fight over Wrangell lift
The city of Wrangell awarded a contract for the purchase of a marine vessel hoist to an Italian company. Now, a North American firm is protesting.
– KSTK
More:kstk.org
Tax news for you
Here's an important announcement from the IRS on penalty relief for farmers and fishermen.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Alaskans want on Shell review
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell has requested that Alaska be included in a high-level review panel that will look at Shell's Arctic drilling operation last summer.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Honored for Cal ratz work
Environmental Defense Fund was awarded with the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for its sustainable fishing loan project – the California Fisheries Fund – during a ceremony at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters.
– PR News Wire
More:prnewswire.com
Cook Inlet question
If the 2013 Kenai River king and sockeye runs shape up similarly to the 2012 returns, how can the disastrous fishing season that unfolded last year be avoided in the coming one?
– Redoubt Reporter
More:redoubtreporter.wordpress.com
Lee Alverson dies
Dr. Lee Alverson, an icon in the American fishing industry, died Saturday. He helped write the original Magnuson Act. As head of the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Center, he developed many of the stock assessment methods that are still employed today. He started Natural Resources Consultants in 1980 to help U.S. fishermen get involved in joint ventures with foreign companies fishing in Alaska and along the West Coast, which eventually led to complete Americanization of the fishery. Lee wrote a great book about his life and his role in fisheries called "Race to the Sea."
– Jeff June
Thursday, January 24, 2013
McDONALDS GOES MSC ONLY
McDonald's USA announced it would become the first national restaurant chain to adopt the Marine Stewardship Council's blue eco-label on its fish packaging in restaurants nationwide.
– MSC
More:msc.org
Fishing in the Arctic
Fishing is off-limits in the Arctic, but last summer a pair of commercial trawlers traveled north to the Chukchi Sea.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Stephanie Joyce, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Canada failing preserves
Federal promises to create a network of marine protected areas are progressing at a snail's pace, and there are fears that federal cutbacks will slow the process even further.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:timescolonist.com
Easing rules of cruise ship discharge
Legislation introduced by the Parnell administration would delete a statutory requirement for cruise ships to meet.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Sunken boat fouls oysters
Enough fuel spilled in the sensitive oyster farm waters that the Alaska Department of Natural Resources announced that all commercial sales of the oysters from this area are shut down.
– Homer Tribune
More:homertribune.com
Astoria boat-building museum
The Maritime Museum will dedicate The Barbey Maritime Center for Research and Industry, a living history museum that will offer all sorts of classes and demonstrations – including boat building.
– The Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
Tsunami debris intrigues scientists
It's also providing a unique research opportunity for scientists studying invasive species.
– Alaska Public Radio
More:alaskapublic.org
Unalaska tackles another harbor
Less than a year after completing one small boat harbor, the city of Unalaska is beginning the process of overhauling the other one.
–Pacific Fishing columnist Stephanie Joyce, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
He turned them down
Shortly after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, a company representative called marine biologist Lee Alverson and proposed to hire his consulting firm to help assess damage in the aftermath of a disaster that dumped some 11 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.com
Friday, January 25, 2013
FEED FORECASTS FISH
When there was abundant prey in the ocean, salmon runs were more robust.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.com
Feed prices hurting fish farmers
The surge in fishmeal prices has forced commercial salmon farmers to re-think dietary ingredients, and they are now, more and more, turning to the vegetarian option.
– All About Feed
More:allaboutfeed.net
More fisheries need catch shares
The ocean is nowhere near a lost cause and with the right management tools, the abundance of fish could increase by 56 percent.
— Harvard Business Review
More:blogs.hbr.org
But catch shares are bad
Coming up this week in Alaska Fisheries Report, a Rhode Island professor says individual catch shares are bad for fishing communities, the National Marine Fisheries Service is testing electronic observing methods, and we get the mixed forecast for Prince William Sound salmon. All that, and the Department of Fish and Game briefs the legislature.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Frankensalmon tough to take down
Regrettably, misinformation informs irrational opinions from otherwise rational people.
– Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
More:genengnews.com
McDonald's is boost for MSC
That will bring a huge boost in visibility to the Marine Stewardship Council, which suffered near invisibility for years, as its scientific teams slowly certified various fisheries as healthy and sustainably managed.
– L.A. Times
More:latimes.com
Greens blast Alaska guv
Conservation groups called on Alaskans to push back against several proposed Parnell Administration bills that will undermine democracy and threaten fish and water resources.
– Inlet Keeper
More:inletkeeper.org
New setnet rules on Bristol Bay?
The Alaska Board of Fisheries will take up a proposal in late February that could allow for dual permits in Bristol Bay's setnet fishery. The previous dual permit system went away at the end of 2012.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Trawl ban on Unalaska Bay?
The Unalaska Fish and Game advisory committee will address a proposed ban on trawl fishing in Unalaska Bay.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Stephanie Joyce, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Canada short on preserve promise
Federal promises to create a network of marine protected areas are progressing at a snail's pace, and there are fears that federal cutbacks will slow the process even further.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:timescolonist.com
