Tuesday, February 22, 2011

SHOCKING STORY OF NOAA ENFORCEMENT


This story is ridiculous on so many levels. A level of paperwork that is beyond the pale; a fishermen being fined $19,000 for catching 20 extra codfish, government workers taking the bevy of fines to buy cars and fund junkets…. and to top it off, when it came time to investigate the mess, a 'shredding party' where the official admitted up to 80 percent of the paperwork went bye bye.

– Wall Street Journal

More:wallstreetpit.com

Fish Board begins marathon Inlet meeting

The Alaska Board of Fisheries is now two days into a meeting set to last a solid two weeks, until March 5.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss

deckboss.blogspot.com

Cal pot limits will moderate crab 'derby'

"There is a 'derby dynamic' when the season opens," said Mike Stiller, president of the Santa Cruz Commercial Fishermen's Association. "Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve are the big consumption days for crab. So the fishermen give maximum effort during those periods. The larger boats are out there 24 hours a day, pounding it until its done."

– San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News

More:www.mercurynews.com

B.C. sporties angry over halibut cut

I continue to be astonished at Fisheries Minister Gail Shea's refusal to alter the absurd allocation of the annual Canadian halibut catch between the commercial and recreational sectors (88 percent commercial, 12 percent recreational) given the feedback she's received from the recreational sector in recent months.

– Canada.com

More:www.canada.com

Search ends for B.C. fisherman

A Port Hardy fisherman is believed to have drowned after falling out of his commercial fishing boat early Monday in Fitz Hugh Sound, north of Vancouver Island.

– Victoria Times Colonist

Read more:www.timescolonist.com

No fish will be fished to extinction

Ray Hilborn, professor of aquatic and fishery science at the University of Washington, said although claims that world fish stocks were in such decline that they would disappear by 2048 had received wide publicity, the evidence showed the opposite.

– Nelson (New Zealand) Mail

More:www.stuff.co.nz

Personal use fishermen demand more space

"It's getting more crowded and I can see more people wasting a lot of the resource," he said. "I think it's a resource for everybody in the state and at the same time I don't think it can support fish for everybody in the whole state."

– Kenai Peninsula Clarion

More:www.peninsulaclarion.com

EPA takes first step on Bristol Bay

EPA's decision is a good first step toward protecting Bristol Bay from the potentially devastating impact of large-scale mining such as Pebble Mine.

– Seattle Times

More:seattletimes.nwsource.com

Cal salmon rebounding

A three-year near shutdown of salmon fishing off the California coast might be drawing to a close.

– Vacaville (Calif.) Reporter

More:www.thereporter.com

Your editor speaks

If you happen to be in Juneau, and if you want to hear Pacific Fishing's editor talk about fishing and the magazine before the Legislature's Fish Caucus, he'll be in Room 106 of the Capital building at noon.

 

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

U.S. CHARTERS' HALIBUT STATEMENTS UNTRUE

Recent statements by members of the halibut charter industry claim that action by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) to limit the Southeast Alaska charter industry to its quota circumvents U.S. law and that the 37 inch rule were not properly considered. These allegations are not correct.

– Halibut Coalition, Alaska

More:www.halibutcoalition.org

True love in Dutch

A man reported he was assaulted by the captain of a fishing vessel after the captain walked in to find him engaged in sexual activities with a woman whose name he never learned.

– Unalaska Advertiser item as reported by the Anchorage Daily News.

More:www.adn.com

Report: Seafood helps Alaska economy

A new report says Alaska's seafood industry is doing a lot for the state's economy.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

No decision yet on Frankenfish

No decision has been announced yet by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following hearings held last September on whether genetically modified (GM) salmon should be the first animal approved for human consumption. But FDA approvals of three other GM foods offer a clue to the agency's thinking.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan

More:www.sitnews.us

Frankenfish threaten Canadian wild salmon

There's a risk Canadian fish stocks could be harmed if the world's first genetically engineered salmon is approved for commercialization, federal scientists suggest.

– Vancouver Sun

More:www.vancouversun.com

Few chum, eagles die

Starving bald eagles are falling out of the sky in the Comox Valley, a wildlife expert says.

– Victoria Times Colonist

More:www.timescolonist.com

Cal Dungeness sent to China – live

In record numbers this season, the plump Dungeness crabs fishermen have plucked from the waters outside Bodega and San Francisco bays are finding their way onto dinner tables in Shanghai and Beijing.

– Santa Rosa Press Democrat

More:www.pressdemocrat.com

B.C. fisherman's day is a long day

My day as a commercial fisher starts way before we are on the fishing grounds. It starts the first day of the season when we meet the monitoring company hired by federal fisheries.

– Terrace Standard, British Columbia

More:www.bclocalnews.com

Fishermen urge Canadian management changes

A panel of veteran commercial fishermen, some from families that trace their fishing heritage back to 1918, has urged a federal judicial inquiry to change the way salmon catches are allocated on the West Coast.

– Globe and Mail, Toronto

More:www.theglobeandmail.com

Another senator against catch shares

U.S. Sen. John Kerry has put his political weight behind the struggles of the fishing industry in its growing fight for relief from the regulatory, economic and law enforcement policies created and being carried out by the Obama administration.

– Gloucester (Mass.) Times

More:www.gloucestertimes.com

 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

FIGHT: WILL PEBBLE BE PROFITABLE?


Sharp debate erupted Wednesday over a new report that shows that developing the controversial Pebble copper and gold deposit in Southwest Alaska could be very profitable for its owners.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

 

Don't stick your tongue in observer's ear

A Gloucester fisherman is facing charges for hugging and putting his tongue in the ear of a federal fishing monitor — in a case that sparked immediate suspicion among fishing industry advocates.

– Boston Herald

More:news.bostonherald.com

Cities want to tax fish

A redistribution of the Fisheries Business Tax could net the City of Homer $800,000-$900,000 a year, if amendments to a current law get passed by the Alaska Legislature.

– Homer Tribune

More:homertribune.com

'Deadliest Catch' crewman dies

Justin Tennison, a 33-year-old crew member for one of the fishing vessels that appears on Discovery's "Deadliest Catch," was found dead in Homer, police say.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:community.adn.com

Move Alaska trawling fleet to Alaska?

Now one of the CDQ companies, Coastal Villages Regional Fund, is seriously looking to move its fleet to Alaska, including its 341-foot flagship, the Northern Hawk.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss

More:deckboss.blogspot.com

Poets in Astoria

The 14th Annual Fisher Poets Gathering continues through the weekend in Astoria. Fishers give rousing readings of their poetry, concerts share songs of fishing life and lore, and Astoria reels in visitors with plenty of food and events about life at sea.

– Longview (Wash.) Daily News

More:tdn.com

Editorial: Stick with Cal reserve plan

One of the state's leading newspaper is calling on Gov. Jerry Brown to become the third governor to support California's landmark Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), which is under assault from foreign fishing interests.

– California Majority Report

More:www.camajorityreport.com

Boat aground spills fuel

The 86-foot fishing vessel Midnight Sun spilled an estimated 4,670 gallons of diesel fuel and oils after grounding on Afognak Island just after midnight Feb. 11, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

More on Alaska seafood study

A new study by Alaska-based Northern Economics shows that the state's seafood industry is not only a national but also a global juggernaut in sustainable commercial fisheries.

– FIS.com

More:www.fis.com

Treat B.C. charters like commercial boats

The commercial-recreational halibut fishery, like lodges, should be designated as fully commercial with the same regulations and policing that applies to the commercial fleet.

– Victoria Times Colonist

More:www.timescolonist.com

 

Friday, February 25, 2011

SURPRISE! BIG COLUMBIA COAL PORT

Surprise! The Longview Daily News reports coal-export terminal developer Ambre Energy was discussing plans to export 80 million tons of coal a year to Asia. That's 15 times as much as the company's current permit applications claim the terminal will export.

– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting

More:ecotrope.opb.org

 

Alaskan indicted in fish fraud

A Nenana resident has been indicted for illegally selling 100 pounds of chum salmon strips while claiming it was king salmon.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

Alaska Fishing Report

Alaska Fish and Game has a new commercial fisheries chief; police in Unalaska say they've exhausted all leads over a disappearing deckhand;  a culinary contest pitting seafood producers large and small is coming to Juneau; and a former fishermen made famous on Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch is found dead in a Homer hotel room. And, Alaska's seafood industry touts its economic muscle.

– APRN

More:aprn.org

Solid Columbia fall Chinook run

State biologists are forecasting an excellent return of fall Chinook — fifth best in the past 60 years — for the Columbia River in 2011.

– The (Vancouver) Columbian

More:www.columbian.com

Coalition of sporties against Pebble Mine

A coalition of fishing, hunting and sporting groups is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect Alaska's salmon-rich Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

Fixing Kodiak's sockeye streams

Three river systems that have historically had a significant impact on Kodiak's annual sockeye salmon harvests are in trouble, and local fish production experts hope to be able to change that.

– KMXT, Kodiak

More:www.kmxt.org
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Politics and proposed B.C. oil port

A last-minute maneuver by outgoing Premier Gordon Campbell, urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to defeat a bill to ban oil tanker traffic in northern B.C. waters, has shocked environmental and community groups.

– Victoria Times Colonist

Read more:www.timescolonist.com

GOP rep says no to Columbia dam breaching

Washington Rep. Doc Hastings says he'll use his position as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee to block any bills related to breaching lower Snake River dams.

– The Oregonian

More:www.oregonlive.com

Brits told to eat more fish

Bringing home the bacon might not be such a great idea, according to stricter new dietary advice from the British government issued Friday.

– Seattle Times

More:seattletimes.nwsource.com

Greenpeace praises new Costco fish policy

Greenpeace USA congratulated Costco Corporation on its newly revised sustainability seafood policy.

– Greenpeace

More:www.greenpeace.org


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