Monday, March 1, 2010
Who’s lobbying for Alaska fishermen?
After this week, the Alaska Legislature will move into the last half of its 90-day session. Time for all those Juneau lobbyists to earn their keep.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Tsunami makes few waves in Alaska
The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center has canceled a tsunami advisory for some sections of coastal Alaska that had been issued earlier today as a consequence of a massive earthquake in Chile.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com/2010
Suit says striped bass killing Sacramento salmon
The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta and other water users last week filed for summary judgment in their lawsuit against the California Department of Fish and Game related to the management of striped bass, an invasive species that is known to feed upon endangered salmon and delta smelt.
– Coalition for a Sustainable Delta press release
More: www.prnewswire.com
Ocean-floor trash: Commercial fishing second on list
In a first-of-its-kind study, a team of researchers spent more than a decade looking at the trash on the floor off the California coast trying to determine how much was there and what kind of impact it was having.
– Ventura County Star
More: www.vcstar.com/news
California farmers to get more water
Drought-stricken farmers in California were granted a measure of relief on Friday when federal and state officials said they expected to supply them with significantly more water this year than last.
– Reuters
More: www.reuters.com
Adak Seafoods to stay in Adak
A federal judge has rejected Aleut Enterprise's effort to evict Adak Seafood from the processing plant on Adak Island.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Seafood consumers cheated on weight
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection found that half of the packaged, frozen seafood products it recently purchased from supermarkets in the state were short-weighted.
– Supermarket News
More: supermarketnews.com/news
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
SE Alaska crab coming up soft
The 2010 brown king crab and tanner crab seasons are moving slowly but steadily forward with one area's guideline harvest level reached and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game keeping a close watch on the other six.
– Juneau Empire
More: www.juneauempire.com/stories
Hope for West Coast trollers?
There is hope for a decent salmon season after several years of crushing closures driven by troubling returns of spawning Chinook salmon to the Sacramento and Klamath rivers.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent John Driscoll, reporting in the Eureka Times-Standard
More: www.times-standard.com
Salmon farm sea lice, Part I
Testing to determine if sea lice are becoming resistant to a chemical product used by fish farmers is expected to begin this spring in Campbell River.
– Campbell River Mirror
More: www.bclocalnews.com/news
Salmon farm sea lice, Part II
Environmental groups claimed a victory Monday after the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner ruled that the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands can no longer conceal records of sea lice infestations at coastal salmon farms.
– Vancouver Sun
More: www.vancouversun.com
Washington coho readed for release
Fish were flying in Agate Passage on Monday, as employees of the Suquamish Tribe began placing 265,000 coho salmon into a net pen in Agate Passage.
– Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Wash.
More: www.kitsapsun.com/news
Pebble miners to spend millions in studies
The Pebble Limited Partnership, the company wishing to develop the proposed Pebble Mine, says it plans to spend $73 million this year in studies for permitting and continued exploratory drilling.
– Juneau Empire
More: peninsulaclarion.com
Cal Water Board asked to stop Eel River project
The Friends of the Eel River (FOER) have brought legal action before the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board), in an attempt to stop Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), from destroying two northern California rivers essential to the restoration of California's once-vibrant billion dollar salmon industry.
– Friends of the Eel River press release
More: www.prnewswire.com/news-releases
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Fishermen may deduct half of food costs
A recent tax court decision allows local commercial fishermen to deduct 50 percent of meal expenses while traveling away from home in pursuit of a trade or business.
– Kodiak Daily Mirror
More: www.kodiakdailymirror.com
Discovery Channel to feature
Alaska Ranger sinking
Sounds like the Discovery Channel, home of the hit reality series "Deadliest Catch," is rolling out more high-seas drama from Alaska. According to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard, the cable channel will present "Mayday! Bering Sea," a 60-minute documentary about the sinking of the Alaska Ranger.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Blame striped bass for Sacramento’s woes
Predation by non-native species such as striped bass is a leading threat to our native salmon populations.
– Allen Short, general manager of the Modesto Irrigation District, writing in the Modesto (Calif.) Bee
More: www.modbee.com
Crab shells kill forest pest
Colorado scientists are liquefying crab and shrimp shells shipped from Iceland to produce a serum which, when poured on pine trees, appears to prevent bark beetles from killing the trees.
– Post-Bulletin, Colorado
More: www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager
For now, no more B.C. tribal talks over salmon
The federal government is putting off salmon fishery talks with B.C. First Nations pending the results of an inquiry into declining salmon stocks in the province.
– Canadian Press
More: www.google.com
Coast Guard leadership to be moved to Astoria
Local U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Doug Kaup will be playing a lead role in a dramatic redesign that will transform the Coast Guard in the Pacific Northwest.
– Seattle PI
More: www.seattlepi.com
Harpooned whale washes ashore in N. Cal
The gray whale washed up on Dry Lagoon beach on Feb. 2 was hardly an unusual sight. But when the mammal rolled over in the surf 11 days later, the shaft of a harpoon could be seen jutting from its flesh.
– Eureka Times-Standard
More: www.times-standard.com
Suit filed over fish oil capsules
Some fish oil capsules sold as health supplements for their Omega-3 fatty acids content have illegally undisclosed and unnecessarily high levels of contamination with polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in California court.
– Press release
More: org2.democracyinaction.org
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Aleutian sea lion bi-op delayed
The release of the new National Marine Fisheries Service biological opinion on Steller sea lions has been delayed.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: www.publicbroadcasting.net
PenAir cuts some flights
PenAir Air Taxi Service between Dillingham and King Salmon to the outlying villages will not operate on Sundays during the month of March. Those dates are March 7, 14, 21 and 28.
More: www.thebristolbaytimes.com
Inspector: Top NMFS cop destroyed documents
The inspector general of the U.S. Commerce Department says the nation’s top fishery law enforcement officer destroyed documents while his office was under investigation.
– Boston Globe
More: www.boston.com
Crashed CG helicopter pilot is from Juneau
The pilot of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter that crashed in Utah yesterday reportedly is from Juneau.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Canadian grocery chain bans unsustainable fish
The parent company of Real Canadian Superstore and T&T Markets has pledged to stop selling non-sustainable fish and immediately removed four at-risk species from Loblaw's 1,000-plus stores across the country.
– Vancouver Sun
More: www.vancouversun.coml
Cal group fights against Eel River diversion
A conservation group is looking to the state to significantly cut back on the diversion of Eel River water to the Russian River in what it says is a last-ditch effort to save crashing salmon and steelhead runs.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent John Driscoll, reporting for the Eureka Times-Standard
More: www.timescolonist.com
CG says it will ease tensions in Oregon
Coast Guard officials say they will work with the public to relieve tension over a policy change some say is driving customers out of Winchester Bay, they told an audience at a meeting in Reedsport.
More: www.theumpquapost.com
SF sea lions swimming home
After squeezing into Sea Lion Caves in record numbers, wedging flipper-to-flipper along Lost Beach, and bobbing in vast rafts off the central Oregon coast this winter, thousands of California sea lions have mostly moved on.
– The Oregonian
More: www.oregonlive.com
Juan de Fuca rescue tug aids freighter
The Hunter, a state-funded emergency response tug stationed at Neah Bay,Wash,. was dispatched to assist a 712-foot container ship after the Coast Guard was notified that the vessel had lost propulsion in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, three nautical miles north of Neah Bay.
– Coast Guard press release
More: www.piersystem.com
