Monday, January 30, 2012
CRAB: WEATHER BAD, PRICE GOOD
Fishermen battled wind and rain during the first 12 days of the commercial crab season, but high demand, a good price and quality crustaceans are making for a better-than-average season – so far.
– Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Fish fraud: Chum, not Chinook
A Nenana man has been convicted of selling smoked chum salmon strips as king salmon strips, a violation of the Lacey Act.
– Fairbanks News Miner
More:newsminer.com
Nightmare of clean water regulation
A fisherman with a leaky hydraulic line discovers what a serious business an oil sheen on Puget Sound can be — especially if you're one of the unlucky few to get tagged for it, and you get on the wrong side of the pollution detectives.
– Crosscut, Seattle
More:crosscut.com
Halibut catch cut
The International Pacific Halibut Commission approved a coastwide catch limit of 33.54 million pounds, down 18 percent from last year.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
No smelt on Columbia
Both recreational and commercial fisheries will remain closed this year, the Washington and Oregon fish and wildlife agencies have decided.
– Tacoma News Tribune
More:www.thenewstribune.com
Charleston fleet seeks federal money
The salmon fleet on the South Coast, as part of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, is looking to recoup money that is owed to them when the Secretary of Commerce declared a disaster due to failed fisheries in 2009 and 2010.
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
Puget Sound sea lions shot
Washington wildlife officials say eight sea lions have been found dead in the Puget Sound region in recent weeks – all apparently shot.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Vessel sinks, three saved
Three men were rescued 11 miles off the coast of Crescent City after their fishing vessel sunk Friday afternoon, said U.S. Coast Guard officials.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
ICE PACK BIGGEST SINCE 1970s
Bering Sea ice came in quickly this year and is at its largest extent since the 1970s.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Nome tanker in open water
A Russian tanker that delivered 1.3 million gallons of fuel to Nome and the Coast Guard cutter that broke ice for the tanker have reached open water.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Pebble on Legislature agenda
January is a time for taking stock of one's resources.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Good price for D-crab
The boat price for crab was up to $3.25 per pound and production was "steady" after recent storm.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Reward for sea lion shooter
An international conservation organization based in Washington state has offered a $10,000 reward for information regarding the shooting deaths of eight sea lions in Puget Sound.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Englund Marine honored
In 2011, in a down economy, Englund Marine and Industrial Supply built a new store 70 percent bigger than its existing store.
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
Restaurant has fishing boat feel
Diners can enter a boat cabin complete with charts, instruments, lifesaving equipment, and a salty, robotic skipper, "Captain Jack," clad in plaid flannel.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
See ADF&G sonar website
The state of Alaska has pioneered the use of sonar technology to help count and monitor the escapement of salmon to rivers across the state. In an effort to show off how sonar is used the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has set up a special website.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Laine on halibut decision
As expected there will be less halibut available for fishermen to catch this year – an 18% drop to 33 million pounds, to be split among fisheries along the west coast, British Columbia, and Alaska.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing for SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Alaska community grants available
The Community Advisory Board (CAB) of American Seafoods Co. announced it is now accepting applications for its Alaska community grant program. The deadline to submit applications is Feb. 15, 2012. Since its inception in 1997, the American Seafoods CAB has granted over $1,000,000 to organizations and programs in rural Alaska. Grant applications are available online atwww.americanseafoods.com or by contacting Kim Lynch at kim.lynch@americanseafoods.com or 206-256-2659.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
PACIFIC SEAFOOD LOSES ONE
Commercial fishermen claiming that seafood processing superpower Pacific Seafood Group illegally exploits its market power to drive down prices earned an important courtroom victory.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Editorial: Tear down those dams
After an all-sides agreement and lengthy scientific study, the country's biggest dam removal project should be on track to restore the Klamath River.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
First Columbia Chinook
The first Chinook of the season have passed through Bonneville Dam.
– Tacoma News Tribune
More:blog.thenewstribune.com
Pebble miners' mountain of data
The Pebble Limited Partnership has started the process of rolling out the mountains of data that has been collected over the last several years related to the proposed Pebble Mine.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Cleveland acting up again
Scientists have raised the aviation alert level for Cleveland Volcano again. The Aleutian volcano lies on a major international flight path and an eruption could interfere with air travel.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Salmon ranking worries enviros
Watershed groups and other conservationists expressed concern with terms used to rank salmon population areas in the long-awaited draft recovery plan in fear it would reduce efforts for populations not listed as a "priority."
– Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Sustainability means more fish
The automatic preconception that most people have is that sustainability is about taking less. "What we have found, in fact, is that if fisheries were managed optimally then we could be taking more."
– The Telegraph, U.K.
More:www.telegraph.co.uk
Symphony of Seafood
An array of 19 new seafood products will compete for top honors at the annual Symphony of Seafood contest, and the crowd will choose the popular People's Choice award.
– Arctic Sounder
More:thearcticsounder.com
Thursday, February 2, 2012
PACIFIC SEAFOOD LOSES ONE
It all started with a thump. The three crew members of the West Wind, a local fishing vessel that sunk Friday, heard the noise, but it wasn't loud enough to cause alarm.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Arne' sentence cut
Federal prosecutors are now recommending only five months in prison for Arne Fuglvog, rather than the 10 months called for in a plea agreement.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
NPR 'bias' against frankenfish
National Public Radio's treatment of scientific and environmental issues is puzzling — and irritating.
– Forbes
More:www.forbes.com
Climate affecting catches
The sad story of Newfoundland's cod industry is well known: When the region's once-thriving cod population collapsed in 1992, 40,000 jobs vanished along with a way of life.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Enduring a hard winter
Cod fishermen unable to get to their fishing grounds are out of luck.
– Homer Tribune
More:homertribune.com
AK D-crabbers given a break
Commercial Dungeness crabbers in Southeast will have a little more leeway in marking their pot buoys this year. The Alaska Board of Fish approved new regulation language at a meeting in Petersburg in January that gets rid of a requirement that a permit holder's buoys are all marked identically.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:www.kfsk.org
50 years of Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) is an important Canadian symbol of service and safety.
– Caledonian Citizen, Ontario
More:www.caledoncitizen.com
Klamath salmon documentaries
A pair of documentary films on research projects aimed at saving salmon will broadcast on Southern Oregon Public Television in early February.
– Herald and News, Klamath Falls, Ore.
More:www.heraldandnews.com
Canada invests in Bella Bella
The federal government gave a Bella Bella fish plant a $1 million cash injection to upgrade its operations.
–North Island Gazette, Port Hardy
More:www.northislandgazette.com
Erosion reshaping Aleutian island
New research shows that unusually fast erosion is revitalizing Kasatochi's ecosystem and giving scientists a glimpse into how damaged environments heal themselves.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Friday, February 3, 2012
Tsunami debris spawns worries
If anyone knows tsunami debris, it would be the folks at the Port of Brookings Harbor.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Arne: Why he did it
Several interesting documents have been filed in court ahead of Arne Fuglvog's sentencing next week.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Marin County salmon
The storied silver salmon of West Marin – long considered a bellwether of salmon health in California – are laying eggs and carrying on in Lagunitas Creek this week almost as if they weren't teetering on the edge of doom.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Panel OKs offshore oil leases
A committee in the U.S. House of Representatives has signed off on a bill that would set up an offshore oil and gas lease sale in Bristol Bay.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Cordova fishermen like loan plan
Cordova District Fishermen United threw its support to legislation pending in the Alaska House of Representatives aimed at increasing the number of Alaskans holding limited entry fishing permits.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, halibut is the fish du jour; there is already some fallout from Alaska salmon packers pulling out of the MSC certification program, and don't ever try to pass of your dog salmon as a king.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Canada failing marine diversity
Canada is failing miserably at protecting its rich marine biodiversity from the looming threat of climate change.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Atlantic cod still struggling
Twenty years after the collapse of the world's largest cod fishery off Canada's East Coast, experts say the beleaguered groundfish are still being exploited.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Troubling marine reserves in Oregon
Oregon's Legislature appears poised to add three no-fishing marine reserves off the coast, designating what amounts to 38-square-miles of ocean wilderness despite continued concerns from fishing groups.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Molecular markers of king crab
One factor that keeps populations depressed is the suit of predators, including fish and sea stars that prevent populations from expanding.
– National Geographic
