Monday, February 7, 2011
SARAH DISMISSES MERE 'BAIT'
Some "faceless dem government bureaucrat" has destroyed hard-working farmers' lives "in order to protect a two-inch fish. Now, where I come from, we call that 'bait.' And there is no need to destroy people's lives over that bait."
– Sarah Palin discussing plight of Sacramento smelt
More:thephoenix.com
Polar nations not reporting catches
University of British Columbia researchers say that Canada, the U.S., and Russia have not been accurately reporting fisheries catches in the Arctic.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
B.C. waits for halibut season start
Halibut fishermen in Nanaimo and along the coast are anxiously waiting for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to set quotas for the year, days after the fishery was supposed to begin Feb. 1.
– Canada.com
More:www.canada.com
Obama salmon joke not so funny
With Curry County's unemployment rate nearing 13 percent, I was anxious to hear President Barack Obama's State of the Union address and his vision to revitalize the economy. Imagine my surprise when it turned out the highlight of Tuesday night's address was his salmon one-liner.
– Commercial fisherman Aaron Longton, writing in The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Greens favor feds' sea lion measures
Oceana and Greenpeace, represented by Earthjustice, filed motions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in support of conservation measures implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to protect the Steller sea lion.
– Juneau Empire
More:www.juneauempire.com
MCA has gathered 2 million pounds of trash
The Marine Conservation Alliance says that since 2003 over 2 million pounds of marine debris has been removed from Alaska coastlines.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Feds now responsible for leaking hulk
The ugly demise of the beached and broken Davy Crockett, now the subject of a multimillion-dollar federal recovery effort, unfolded only after years of neglect.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
Good news from the Sacramento
California's beleaguered salmon fishermen are cautiously optimistic after the state released new data showing that more salmon returned to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta last fall than any year since 2006.
– San Jose Mercury News
More:www.mercurynews.com
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
EPA ENTERS FRAY OVER PEBBLE MINE
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will conduct a scientific assessment of the Bristol Bay watershed to better understand how future large-scale development projects may affect water quality and Bristol Bay's salmon fishery, an extraordinary salmon resource for the United States.
– EPA
More:yosemite.epa.gov
Editorial: EPA's Pebble study justified
Foes of the mine didn't get what they wanted, which was a swift, pre-emptive EPA rejection of Pebble. Advocates of the mine and other projects didn't get what they wanted, either, which is essentially for the EPA to butt out.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Pebble chief: Mine is future for Alaska
The CEO of the Pebble Partnership says the success or failure of the proposed copper mine in Southwest Alaska could be a bellwether for future resource development in the state.
– KCAW, Petersburg
More:kcaw.org
B.C. crab smuggler guilty
A man who pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle an invasive species of crab into Canada has been fined $2,000 in Richmond Provincial Court.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
OSU to get more sea gliders
Oregon State University's fleet of nine undersea gliders will grow to 21 in the next year with funding from the national Ocean Observatories Initiative.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
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Court rejects loggers' coho plea
Not only has the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied a petition to remove coho salmon south of the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the list of Threatened and Endangered Species, but it plans to expand the southern boundary of the protected population.
– Courthouse News
More:www.courthousenews.com
L.A. to boot fishing from port
Under pressure to provide more space for containers and other trade-related industries, the Port of Los Angeles is about to embark on a Terminal Island revitalization project that could displace what remains of the historic fishing operation.
– Los Angeles Business Journal
More:www.labusinessjournal.com
Indications good for Alaska salmon market
Final forecasts for the 2011 salmon season won't be out for a few weeks, but early indicators point to another good fishery. Total Alaska catches are likely to be close to last year's 168 million salmon, perhaps down slightly. And industry watchers predict the continuing strong demand will mean good prices for wild salmon.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch reporting in Fish Radio
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
FIVE RESCUED OFF UNALASKA
A Coast Guard HH-65 helicopter crew from Kodiak rescued five fishermen from the disabled and adrift 58-foot long-liner TerriGail in 50 mph winds and 10 foot seas about two miles from Unalaska and transferred them to the Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
Columbia Chinook seasons set
Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon set fishing seasons for Columbia River spring Chinook salmon and white sturgeon that are expected to draw nearly two hundred thousand anglers to the big river this year.
– Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
More:wdfw.wa.gov
B.C. charters don't follow bag limits
Commercial and some charter fisherman are criticizing the charter and lodge fishing industry on the north coast for routinely skirting around catch limitations set by DFO.
– Northern View, Prince Rupert, B.C.
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Sacramento Chinook still low, but better
Three years of restrictions on ocean fishing seem to have paid off with a bigger run of Chinook, but there are still far fewer salmon laying eggs in the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system than fishermen would like.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Salmon farmers' video may backfire
Although the video was released in an attempt to promote aquaculture as a sustainable way to produce seafood, it ironically highlights just how many food miles it takes to put farmed salmon on consumers' plates.
– eatdrinkbetter.com
More:eatdrinkbetter.com
Walrus listing will wait
The Pacific walrus, hampered by vanishing sea ice in Arctic waters, deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act but must wait in line behind more imperiled animals, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman said.
– Reuters
More:www.reuters.com
Federal fish management laws 'ridiculous'
The current situation with regard to sturgeon, salmon and sea lions is ridiculous. Congressional action may be the only recourse.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Adak soap opera continues
We told you last month about Aleut Enterprise asking a judge to hold its former tenant, Adak Seafood, in deckboss.blogspot.com/Adak contempt for failure to pay $215,739.73 in rent. As you might imagine, Adak Seafood has quite a different view of the situation, arguing the most it might owe in rent is $33,000.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Pacific Seafoods pays fine
Pacific Seafoods has agreed to pay $85,000 to a former warehouse employee as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Thursday, February 10, 2011
STUDY CONNECTS FARM SEA LICE TO SOCKEYE
The first link between salmon farms on the British Columbia coast and elevated levels of sea lice on juvenile Fraser River sockeye salmon has been demonstrated by new research.
– Environmental News Service
More:www.ens-newswire.com
Alaska Dungeness carefully managed
The commercial Dungeness crab fishery in southeast is the most conservatively managed Dungeness fishery in the world.
– Max Worhatch IV, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Columbia hatchery report ETA unknown
No timetable is set for the release of a key federal report about the long-term future of the Columbia River hatchery system.
– Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian
More:www.columbian.com
Comment on NOAA aquaculture policy
The Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released complementary draft national aquaculture policies that support sustainable marine aquaculture to increase the U.S. supply of healthy seafood, create jobs in coastal and other communities, spur innovation in technology, and help restore depleted species and marine habitats.
– NOAA
More:www.noaanews.noaa.gov
Sockeye wins Symphony of Seafood
Wild Alaska smoked and peppered sockeye salmon from Trident Seafoods has won the Seattle people's choice award in the 18th annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood.
– Cordova Times
More:www.thecordovatimes.com
Cod fishermen steamed over new federal map
Cod fishermen in Homer and Kodiak are up in arms after the federal government redrew the lines defining state waters, eliminating some prime state-waters fishing grounds in Kachemak Bay and Uyak Bay.
– Homer News
More:www.homernews.com
N. Cal troll season looking brighter
Commercial salmon fishermen in California caught about half what they expected during the tightly restricted season last year, but after three years on the skids, there are signs that fishing will pick up this year.
– Pacific Fishing columnist John Driscoll, writing in the Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Pacific Seafoods donates life vests
The Pacific Seafood Group recently donated 50 life vests to fishermen on the Columbia River from the Yakima, Umatilla, Nez Peirce, and Warm Springs tribes. The donation was in response to learning of the tragic and unfortunate drowning of three fishermen last year. In the past three years, nine fishermen have lost their lives on the Columbia River.
– Pacific Seafood
More:www.pacseafood.com
B.C. foe: Alaska ranched salmon 'wasted'
More than 95 per cent of Alaskan ranched salmon are never harvested. They get eaten by other fish. All of the feed pellets given to these hatchery salmon, at a cost to Alaska of $20 million per year, are virtually wasted.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Friday, February 11, 2011
FARMERS RUNNING OUT OF FISH OIL
A recent report from Norway predicts a serious shortage of fish oil possibly within the next 2 to 3 years.
– FishNewsEU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Aleutian cod allowable catch higher
The guideline harvest level (GHL) for the Aleutian Islands state-waters Pacific cod fishery has been set at 15.5 million pounds, a substantial increase over last year.
— Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
Safety in Dungeness fleet
You've heard the statistics: Between 2000 and 2009, 21 people died in the fishery, and 10 of those tragedies happened in vessel disasters during severe weather.
– Pacific Fishing, February
More:Pacific Fishing
Tough luck tuna, Charlie, 50 years old
StarKist's beloved Charlie the Tuna swam into the hearts of consumers five decades ago and now is celebrating 50 years of good taste!
– StarKist
More:www.prnewswire.com
Tongass holds less timber than thought
A new study says the Tongass National Forest has about a third less second-growth timber than officials thought. The study also includes a reminder that the region is still decades away from any substantial young-growth harvests.
– KRBD, Ketchikan
More:krbd.org
Alaska Fish Board eyes Cook Inlet
The Alaska Board of Fish will meet in Anchorage to consider proposed regulatory changes to the Upper Cook Inlet Area fisheries.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Sarah's show wants tax credits
A producer of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" reality series is listed in an application seeking film production tax credits from the state.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
This week: The EPA announces it will study the Bristol Bay watershed and look at potential impacts of development, including hard rock mining like the Pebble Mine... Lawsuits have been filed on both sides over controversial closures to protect the endangered Steller sea lion... There's federal loan money available for skippers and crew to get back into crabbing… Initiatives are in the works to address concern about halibut ending up as bycatch… Plus farmed salmon stocks from South America appear to be making a come back after being devastated by disease.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
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Fishing training classes?
To help Alaska coastal communities prepare their residents for the fishing jobs of the future, the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program is floating the idea of a professional fisherman's training program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
– Sea Grant
More:seagrant.uaf.edu
