Wednesday, February 19, 2014
FISHERMEN STEAMED OVER INLET
The Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting has finished in Anchorage with a new plan for commercial fishing in Cook Inlet and commercial fishermen are angry.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Anglers get top priority
A new Grays Harbor salmon-management policy will give the recreational fishery priority when allocating the Chinook salmon catch between commercial and recreational users.
– The Olympian
More:theolympian.com
Stand up for fishermen!
This comes from Robert Sudar, one of the stalwart defenders of gillnetting on the Columbia River:
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission members are supposed to be confirmed by the Senate. Miranda Wecker, the chairwoman, has been on the commission since 2005 but has never been confirmed. Finally, she will have a confirmation hearing. She has been the architect behind the recent policies that have reduced commercial harvest and instead transferred those fish to the sport fishery. She has said that sport fisheries are too important to funding to risk alienating sportsmen by supporting commercial fisheries. I suspect she also used her background in law to craft the recent Columbia River policy so that it is implemented as a policy instead of a rule, making it much harder for us to effectively challenge it in court. If commercial fisheries in Washington are important to you, then I suggest you write to the Senate committee and voice the reasons for your opposition to her confirmation. Things will continue to get worse for commercial fisheries in Washington as long as she is on the commission. Please share this information with others you know who value our commercial fisheries and want to see them preserved and supported, not eliminated in favor of increased sport fishing.
– Robert Sudar
More:leg.wa.gov
Bristol Bay race
This year's Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association board election features one contested position, Seat F, an Open Residency position. Larry Christensen is challenging incumbent John Fairbanks for Seat F. The other term that rolls over this year is Seat C, the Alaska Resident position held by Fritz Johnson. That seat has not been contested, so Johnson will retain his position on the board.
– BBRSDA
More:campaign.r20.constantcontact.com
Board of Fish review
The Kenai king is now one BOF meeting closer to extinction.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Hatcheries lead to NW suits
Evidence showing artificial breeding makes for weaker fish has mounted.
– KOMO, Seattle
More:komonews.com
No Taku fishery
The run forecast for large Taku River king salmon is too low to allow a fishery in early May.
– Wesley Loy, writing in his blog Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Seines on pollock
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has called a public meeting for Feb. 26 in Kodiak to discuss a potential walleye pollock seine gear test fishery.
– Wesley Loy, writing in his blog Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
California Water politics
As California struggles to cope with its historic drought, Gov. Jerry Brown is facing increasing pressure to tackle longstanding problems in the state's water storage and delivery systems at a time when the politics of the issue have never been more tangled.
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
B.C. herring once numerous
Hundreds of herring were hanging from the rafters of native long houses when Captain James Cook first sailed along the coast of British Columbia in the spring of 1778.
– Leader Post, Canada
More:leaderpost.com
Thursday, February 20, 2014
MOVEMENT ON CDQs
There has been some movement for the bill that seeks to reauthorize 12 economic development organizations in Alaska.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
SE crab season
Crab boats in northern Southeast Alaska were out fishing for Tanner and golden king crab after two days of weather delays.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:kfsk.org
Pebble still a threat
Bristol Bay's commercial fishery in 2010 created $1.5 billion in U.S. output and 10,000 full-time-equivalent jobs.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Fed law addresses names
The draft legislation aims to alleviate a number of concerns that recreational and commercial fishermen and the businesses that depend on them have had, since the original intent of the MSA has been severely distorted by a number of agenda-driven organizations.
– Homer News
More:homernews.com
Fed law addresses names
The draft legislation aims to alleviate a number of concerns that recreational and commercial fishermen and the businesses that depend on them have had, since the original intent of the MSA has been severely distorted by a number of agenda-driven organizations.
– Homer News
More:homernews.com
Haida concerned about B.C. herring
"The Federal Minister of Fisheries, Gail Shea, has made a serious mistake in proposing to open commercial herring fisheries in our territories."
– Northern View, B.C.
More:thenorthernview.com
River herring disappears
"When we adopted our fishery management plan in 2007, the stock assessment that went along with that plan, had a stock assessment of possibly 24 years for this stock."
– WITN, Canada
More:witn.com
Look to past for herring
Archaeological data indicate modern herring management needs to take a longer look into the past to manage fisheries for the future says a new study.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:sitnews.us
Saving Cal salmon
California can do a lot to keep its native salmon and other fish species going through this record drought, and through the inevitable worse ones to come.
– KCET, Los Angeles
More:kcet.org
Cal water bottler opposed
Spring water bottler Crystal Geyser's plans to tap an aquifer at the base of Mount Shasta in far Northern California is running into opposition from some residents, environmentalists, and Native American tribes.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Alaska Senate against Beringia
The Alaska Senate has unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Beringia International Park – an idea agreed upon in 1991 by then-Presidents Bush and Gorbachev.
– Alaska Public Media
More:alaskapublic.org
Friday, February 21, 2014
FISHERMAN DISCUSSES INLET RULES
Did the Board of Fish members believe the data generated by their own department?
– Homer News
More:homernews.com
Alaska medevac
Coast Guard Communication Station Kodiak received a call from the master of the 680-foot fish processing vessel Ocean Phoenix who reported that the 25-year-old female crewmember was suffering from chest pains and needed medical assistance.
– Alaska Star, Eagle River
More:alaskastar.com
Fishing gear cut from whale
Wildlife experts cut away more than 280 feet of commercial fishing line being dragged by an endangered right whale off the Georgia coast, though some of the heavy rope had to be left tangled in the whale's mouth.
– Monterey Herald
More:montereyherald.com
Pebble protesters to D.C.
Even without accidents or failures, EPA found that the Pebble Mine would destroy up to 94 miles of streams and up to 5,350 acres of wetlands, lakes, and ponds in Bristol Bay.
– Huffington Post
More:huffingtonpost.com
Super trawler banned
The legislation introduced to block the super trawler could only be triggered by a new type of commercial fishing with uncertain environmental impacts.
– Launceston (Australia) Examiner
More:examiner.com.au
MSC now blogging
The Marine Stewardship Council has launched a new global blog called Seafood Matters which will host a diverse array of expert voices on sustainable fish topics.
– Perishable News
More:perishablenews.com
Free PDF charts
After a three-month trial period, PDF versions of NOAA nautical charts will become a permanent product, free to the public.
– NOAA
More:charts.noaa.gov
Alaska scallops in Juneau
The United Fishermen of Alaska are trying to revive the legislative discussion in Juneau about the vessel-based scallop limited entry program as managers and participants prepare for the new open access state-waters fishery that will open July 1.
– Alaska Journal
More:alaskajournal.com
Cucumber queen jailed
She's supposedly the Queenpin of the black market trade in sea cucumber, and tonight 49 year old Guatemalan Georgina Maribel Mendez Aldana along with her two Guatemalan employees remains in police custody.
– News Belize
More:7newsbelize.com
New Alaska ice port
Dennis Humbird, founder and president of a company called Sea Pirate Mining, has submitted what he contends is a serious proposal to oversee construction of a major shipping hub at Port Clarence, a site near the Bering Strait near Nome.
– EyeOnTheArctic.com
More:eyeonthearctic.rcinet.ca
