Monday, February 14, 2011
EPA'S BRISTOL BAY STUDY WARRANTED
The agency obviously cannot prejudge the study's outcome, but its announcement pointedly called attention to Bristol Bay's "extraordinary importance" as a salmon fishery and source of food and income for local residents.
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
EPA makes sense for Bristol Bay
Alaskans deserve a common sense approach when dealing with policy choices that could compromise subsistence, sport and commercial activities as well as families, communities and businesses that rely on the abundance and sustainability of Bristol Bay salmon resources.
– Chip Treinen, writing in the Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Whales may cut Puget Sound fishing
The surprise February visit to Washington from members of J pod came just days after state and tribal leaders learned they may again have to cut back salmon fishing to boost the endangered whales' survival.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Plenty of herring in Southeast
The fact is our herring stocks are at high levels, and in the case of Sitka, the highest in history.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
No more halibut to fishing resorts
Shifting additional halibut quota to wealthy anglers at expensive fishing resorts takes food out of our mouths of our people, and we will not allow them to affect the health of our communities.
– WestCoaster, Vancouver Island
More:www.westcoaster.ca
B.C. halibut investments endangered
Commercial fishermen put in several hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy halibut quota in their struggle to make a living.
– Victoria Times-Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Reality TV: All Alaska, all the time
TV critics say the avalanche of Alaska series is rooted in the success of shows such as Discovery's Bering Sea crab fishing series, which became a flagship for the cable network.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Fertilizer helps young salmon, steelhead
Young steelhead and salmon grew dramatically in streams seeded with sacks of slow-release fertilizer, a method that shows real promise to help rebuild collapsed spawning populations, according to B.C. biologists.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Final judgment on Columbia salmon
Sometime this spring, a federal district court judge in Portland will render a decision based on the federal Endangered Species Act that will determine the fate of two dozen endangered salmon stocks that spawn in rivers from Sacramento to British Columbia. Just another ho-hum environmental lawsuit? Don't bet on it.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
KILLER WHALES ACTING LIKE SQUIRRELS
Killers whales off Unimak Island may act like squirrels after they drown a passing migrating gray whale calf or yearling.
– Dutch Harbor Fisherman
More:www.thedutchharborfisherman.com
B.C. halibut decision coming soon
The decision on how to share this year's catch of B.C.'s halibut between commercial and sports fishermen is expected in a few days, says a Fisheries and Oceans Canada spokesperson.
– Victoria Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Kodiak boat aground, diesel spills
A fishing boat that ran aground on Afognak Island 36 miles northwest of the city of Kodiak has discharged hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel into Malina Bay.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Fate of grounded boat unknown
It has been five days since the Coast Guard and the state of Alaska have been able to assess the state of the grounded F/V TerriGail.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
Crew rescued from grounded boat
A U.S Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued five fishermen from the Kodiak-based fishing vessel Midnite Sun after the vessel went aground 36 miles northwest of Kodiak early Friday.
– Kodiak Daily Mirror
More:www.kodiakdailymirror.com
Alaska drilling requires ice breakers
In testimony to Congress, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen stressed that the lack of functioning icebreakers in Alaska would make it difficult to respond to an oil spill in the Arctic.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
Oregon ocean observatory getting nearer
Everything is falling into place for the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $387 million initiative to study the world's oceans and their relationship to climate variability and change.
– Newport News Times
More:www.newportnewstimes.com
GOP set to gut California fish plan
Separate efforts to restore San Joaquin salmon runs and protect the delta smelt could be in jeopardy if congressional Republicans are successful in gutting funding for the programs.
– San Francisco Chronicle
Read more:www.sfgate.com
Crewman plucked from processor
A Kodiak-based HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, forward-deployed to the Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau, conducted a medevac of a 40-year-old male from the 280-foot processor fishing vessel Golden Alaska 46 miles north of Cold Bay Monday.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
He was there for Charlie's birth
(Last week, we published a note about the 50th anniversary of SunKist's Charlie the Tuna. We got this letter in response.)
Charlie the Tuna originated in my home town of Half Moon Bay!
Years ago, the Romeo Packing Co. featured it's brand, "Charlie Boy" on cans of salmon and sardines and whatever else they were packing at the time. Starkist approached them and offerred to buy the name from the Romeo family. Of course they agreed and Starkist made market with "Charlie the Tuna."
How do I know this? My mother was the secretary at Romeo Packing Co. The Romeo family is still packing today but the product is different – fertilizer to the local nurseries.
– Ernie Koepf, San Francisco
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
COAL PORT ON THE COLUMBIA?
A plan to build the United States' first West Coast facility for exporting coal to Asia has come under increased scrutiny after the disclosure of documents suggesting that the company proposing the project did not convey the full scope of its plans to state regulators in Washington.
– New York Times, courtesy of Cassandra Profita's Ecotrope
More:www.nytimes.com
Pollock fleet bycatch rule on track
Chinook salmon bycatch control measures are on track for mid-year implementation during the 2012 pollock season in the Gulf of Alaska.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More:www.peninsulaclarion.com
B.C. halibut fleet keeps 88 percent
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea also announced the distribution of the Pacific halibut harvest will continue to be 88 percent to commercial fishermen and 12 per cent to recreation fishermen.
– WestCoaster, B.C.
More:www.westcoaster.ca
Maine pink shrimp fishery may end
Regulators are considering putting an early end to the New England shrimp season because fishermen are catching too many of them.
– Bloomberg
More:www.bloomberg.com
Medevac near St. Paul
A Kodiak-based MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew forward-deployed on St. Paul Island conducted a medevac of a 43-year-old male from the 124-foot fishing vessel Lilli Ann 120 miles southeast of St. Paul Island at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
– Coast Guard
More:www.uscgalaska.com
Medevac near Cold Bay
A Kodiak-based HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, forward-deployed to the Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau, conducted a medevac of a 40-year-old male from the 280-foot processor fishing vessel Golden Alaska 46 miles north of Cold Bay Monday.
– Coast Guard
More:www.uscgalaska.com
Pribilof seals dwindling
The National Marine Mammal Laboratory has released the results of its most recent Northern fur seal pup count in the Pribilofs, and the survey shows that pup production continues to decline in the region.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
SF delta may be too far gone
Damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is so extensive that billions of dollars in restoration efforts may not save smelt and salmon from extinction, according to the first draft of a long-range plan to manage the West Coast's most important estuary.
– San Francisco Chronicle
Read more:www.sfgate.com
GOP wants to cut funds for SF delta
Separate efforts to restore San Joaquin River salmon runs and protect the delta smelt could be in jeopardy if congressional Republicans are successful in gutting funding for the programs.
– San Francisco Chronicle
Read more:www.sfgate.com
Thursday, February 17, 2011
OCEAN BEAUTY LEAVES COOK INLET
Ocean Beauty Seafoods, a major salmon buyer on the Kenai Peninsula both on the Homer Spit and at Nikiski, has ceased all its Cook Inlet operations.
– Homer Tribune
More:homertribune.com
Look for cuts to NOAA budget
The looming budget battle, which included a counterproposal by Republicans that would slash the agency's budget by more than $300 million, prompted U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) to express concern about the possible effects on the NOAA homeport project in Yaquina Bay, and the fleet's pending move from Seattle to Newport.
– News Times
More:www.newportnewstimes.com
Crab pot limit in Cal Senate
A rush by crab fishermen to catch as many of the spindly crustaceans as they can at the start of Dungeness season has become an unfair and dangerous practice that's bad for the environment, a state senator warns.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Vessel aground leaks all fuel
Commercial response crews found the Midnite Sun still aground on Afognak Island. However, recent severe weather in the area attributed to a compromise of the vessel's hull on the rocky shore.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
B.C. halibut sporties feel 'abandoned'
Commercial fishermen are breathing a sigh of relief while the sport fishing sector charges it has been "abandoned" now that Ottawa has refused to change the allocation formula in B.C.'s halibut fishery.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Unalaska fuel cleaned up
About a dozen crewmen and contractors are working to clean up an 800-gallon fuel spill that occurred in Unalaska. The F/V Aleutian Lady was moored in Captains Bay when the spill occurred.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: www.publicbroadcasting.net
Vessels collide in Dutch
The Alaska Spirit and the Kodiak Enterprise collided shortly after midnight.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
Aboriginal fishing before Canada's high court
A landmark legal case with potentially broad implications for the future of aboriginal fisheries and treaty negotiations in British Columbia is scheduled to go before the county's top court in Ottawa.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Trident wins Symphony of Seafood
Trident Seafoods was the biggest winner at the Symphony of Seafood competition where winners in three categories were announced at the Anchorage Hilton.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch in Kodiak
More:www.symphonyofseafood.com
Friday, February 18, 2011
CBS REPORTS SHAMEFUL NOAA ACTS
According to CBS News, NOAA fisheries officials had a "shredding party" after the U.S. Commerce Department's Inspector General began looking into complaints about the way the department has enforced its regulations and collected fines. A memo obtained by CBS reveals a shredding truck was pulled up to NOAA's enforcement headquarters.
– Alaska Dispatch
More from CBS:www.cbsnews.com
B.C. halibut fishermen breathe easy
Commercial fishermen are breathing a sigh of relief while the sport fishing sector charges it has been "abandoned" now that Ottawa has refused to change the allocation formula in B.C.'s halibut fishery.
– Vancouver Sun
Read more:www.timescolonist.com
Too few kings in Cook Inlet
Dyer VanDevere went to his first Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting in Juneau in 1978. And that meeting was all he needed to figure out fish politics in the state.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More: www.peninsulaclarion.com
Don’t fish Dungeness in summer
It was just plain stupid to change and start fishing the crab in the summer when you waste them and jeopardize the resource.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
GOP hurting salmon industry
“The majority party's continuing resolution contains reckless language that could potentially destroy the recreational and commercial salmon fishing industry in my district."
– Congressman Mike Thompson, quoted in Contra Costa (Calif.) Times
More:www.contracostatimes.com
Russian, Chinese to farm cucumbers
Russian and Chinese fisheries companies agreed early this month to launch a joint venture to farm sea cucumbers off one of the Russian-held islands long claimed by Japan.
– House of Japan
More:www.houseofjapan.com
Regnart named to AK fisheries job
State Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell announced the appointment of Jeff Regnart as director of the Division of Commercial Fisheries.
– Juneau Empire
More:www.juneauempire.com
No sign of missing man
John F. Courage has now been missing for seven weeks, and the police have exhausted their leads.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
Halibut permit holders don’t fish them
More than half of the 436 people who own commercial halibut quota don't actually fish for a living.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
B.C. lighthouse keepers see waterspout
Ugly weather prompted Entrance Island’s lightkeeper Glenn Borgens to scan the horizon for danger and his instincts paid off when he witnessed five waterspouts forming in Georgia Strait Thursday.
– Nanaimo News Bulletin
More:www.bclocalnews.com
