Monday, March 3, 2014
FISHERMEN LIKE EPA ACTION
The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association applauds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Friday decision to put the Clean Water Act into action to begin the process to protect Bristol Bay's world class salmon fishery from the threat of a giant gold and copper mine in the fishery's headwaters.
– PR Web
More:prweb.com
Vessel discharge law gets nod
Pending federal maritime legislation to exempt commercial fishing vessels from certain requirements of the Clean Water Act, which could otherwise result in substantial fines, is gaining widespread support with commercial fisheries groups.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Arctic fishing ban
Canada and four other Arctic nations have agreed to work toward a deal to block commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean until more is known about the potential of the resource.
– Chronicle Herald (Nova Scotia)
More:thechronicleherald.ca
Fish Board praised
Nowhere else are fisheries managed through a more open public process than the one used here in Alaska.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Prime fish law rewritten
The Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 1976 law that governs fishing in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and other federal waters, is up for reauthorization in Congress.
– Alaska Public Media
More:alaskapublic.org
First thoughts on fish law
Representatives of the commercial fishing industry in Alaska provided their thoughts on what to include and not include in the next version of the Magnuson Stevens Act.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Quake rattles Unalaska
If there's an earthquake in the ocean and no one's there to feel it, did it really happen?
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Vote on CDQ allocation
As we've reported previously here on Deckboss, one of Alaska's six Community Development Quota organizations — Coastal Villages Region Fund — believes it is getting screwed on fish and crab catch shares.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing for his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Japan economy looks good
Japan's recovery is holding steady ahead of a looming sales tax hike, economic indicators showed Friday, though weakness in wages and spending suggest it remains vulnerable to a reversal.
– China Post
More:chinapost.com.tw
Icelandic salmon certified
Two Icelandic salmon farms have become the first in Europe to achieve the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA)'s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification.
– Seafood Source
More:seafoodsource.com
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
SLIME LINE TOURISM
A machine to cut the heads off halibut, assembly slime lines, heavy industrial scales, and high blast freezers all sit unused in the 40,000-square-foot building that has been shuttered for the past four years.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Washington run forecasts
These forecasts are the product of February collaborations between biologists representing the state and treaty tribes.
– Bellingham Herald
More:bellinghamherald.com
Whale watcher sentenced
Justice Roderick J. Sutton fined the commercial whale watching skipper $6,000 and prohibited him from engaging in the whale watching industry for ten years.
– FAO, Canada
More:einnews.com
Sea tales evening
On March 8, the Northwest Maritime Center hosts Port Townsend's first annual She Tells Sea Tales Storytelling event! She Tells Sea Tales is a fundraiser for the Girls' Boat Project, a high school program that teaches young women maritime trades. Please join us Saturday, March 8, at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., the show starts at 7 p.m., and the merriment lasts until 10 or so.
Tickets are $15, available at the door or online by clicking here:co.clickandpledge.com
Farming shrimp
The National Fisheries Institute has signed a cooperation agreement with the parish office and fishing cooperatives from Engabao and its port in order to start farming shrimp in cages.
– FIS, United States
More:fis.com
Nukes buried in Alaska
"The concerns we have are that (nuclear) devices that were placed in there, and they're saying, 'Don't worry, be happy.' "
– EyeontheArctic.com
More:eyeonthearctic.rcinet.ca
Ocean Beauty wins contract
Ocean Beauty edged out three other processors — Icicle, Peter Pan and Trident — with a low bid of $246,758.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Gas drilling to Russian Pacific
The decision to move the Gazprom Dobycha Shelf to Sakhalin was taken in early February by the Gazprom management.
– Barents Observer, Norway
More:barentsobserver.com
Alaska guv raps EPA
Alaska Governor Sean Parnell says the EPA is bypassing the established permitting system in Alaska by its decision last week to instigate a 404-C process to stop development of the proposed Pebble Mine.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
BB PERMIT PRICES HIGHER
There continues to be some upward pressure on the value of Bristol Bay driftnet fishing permits.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Crab pot skull tested
Local officials are working with a crime lab to extract DNA from the skull found off the coast of Westport.
– KXRO, Aberdeen
More:kxro.wordpress.com
Fish for Lent
The most common form of abstinence is the avoidance of meat, a spiritual practice that goes back to the earliest days of the Church.
– About Catholicism
More:catholicism.about.com
Swish! It was an asteroid
Don't say you weren't warned. But also don't worry, the experts say.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoo.org
Togiak herring
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released their outlook for this year's Togiak sac-roe herring fishery.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Navy test hearing
The U.S. Navy will hold a public hearing next week on the possible environmental impacts of continued training and testing, including weapons and sonar testing, from 2015 to 2020 on the Pacific Coast from Humboldt County to Washington state.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:triplicate.com
Feds looking at burned eagles
It's common practice to burn trash in the Aleutians, to keep landfills from overflowing.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Bering Strait traffic jam
The Arctic is home to a growing number of whales and ships, and to populations of sub-Arctic whales that are expanding their territory into newly ice-free Arctic waters.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:sitnews.us
Kenai spring kings closed
For the first time since 1965 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has announced a preseason closure of fishing for Kenai River early run king salmon.
– Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Sea cucumbers threatened
Slug-like sea cucumbers found on the Great Barrier Reef are under threat from overfishing.
– SBS.com (Australia)
More:sbs.com.au
Thursday, March 6, 2014
ALASKA FIGHTS PEBBLE RULING
Alaska Attorney General Michael Geraghty is pushing back against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after it took a step that could ultimately lead it to prohibit or restrict development of a massive gold-and-copper prospect in the Bristol Bay region.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Port anglers liars
Do spring chinook anglers in the lower Columbia River lie to fish checkers by not reporting it when they release wild fish, thus extending the season?
– Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian
More:columbian.com
Wear life vests and live
The condition and safety standards of the boat were criticized in a report, but Mr Robertson was not wearing a life jacket and his body was never recovered.
– STV (Scotland)
More:news.stv.tv
Jet hits fish
A jet departing from a Florida military base had to abort its takeoff because of a "fish strike."
– USA Today
More:wtsp.com
Metastasizing CCA
From Texas to Maine, every state bordering the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean has a Coastal Conservation Association chapter except for Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware.
– Cape Gazette (Delaware)
More:capegazette.villagesoup.com
Selling marijuana with fish
"You wouldn't buy your sushi from this guy," the voiceover concludes. "So why would you buy your marijuana from him?"
– The Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
Ilwaco dredging
Two Lower Columbia coastal ports received good news from the federal government this week: $1.8 million in maintenance dredging to help keep their harbors open to commercial fishing boats and other large vessels.
– Longview Daily News
More:tdn.com
Cal sea otter lawsuit
The lawsuit, brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of a coalition of fishing organizations, ultimately sought more protections for fishermen who will be impacted by the southward spread of the sea otter, which is likely to decimate shellfish populations and their commercial fisheries in the decades to come.
– Santa Barbara Independent
More:independent.com
Halibut to open
Alaska's wild halibut and black cod (sablefish) harvest season opens Saturday.
– ASMI
More:adn.com
Icicle sells Chilean fish farm
Icicle Seafoods is selling its interest in a Chilean farmed salmon operation to an ownership group that includes two familiar names: Dennis Guhlke and Don Giles.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:scribd.com
Friday, March 7, 2014
HUGE FRASER SOCKEYE RUN
Another huge sockeye salmon run is forecast to return to the Fraser River this summer, potentially even bigger than the modern record of 30 million that unexpectedly came back in 2010.
– Surrey Leader, B.C.
More:surreyleader.com
Fish boat exemption
Deckboss hears U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and 21 cosponsors introduced legislation to permanently exempt fishing vessels from having to have permits for incidental discharges.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
New player in Inlet fight
A new commercial fisheries group filed an amicus brief Thursday in the lawsuit regarding the initiative to ban Cook Inlet setnetters.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
New player in Inlet fight
A new commercial fisheries group filed an amicus brief Thursday in the lawsuit regarding the initiative to ban Cook Inlet setnetters.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
EPA Pebble mine decision
The Environmental Protection Agency set a potentially unprecedented process in motion when it began work on Feb. 28 to preemptively block Pebble mine as an effort to protect Bristol Bay fisheries.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More:alaskajournal.com
Miners still like B.C.
Industry representatives from around the world are disappointed in the latest rejected mine in B.C., but they're not taking it out on the provincial government, Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett says.
– Northern View (Prince Rupert)
More:thenorthernview.com
Mining bill questioned
A statewide survey has found that most Alaskans don't know what HB77 is – and that those who do, hate it.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Bering Sea traffic jam
2014 looks set to be the busiest year ever on the Northern Sea Route.
– Barents Observer
More:barentsobserver.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, millions of salmon eggs are destroyed in a Southeast hatchery fire, as fishermen start thinking about herring, we've got the pre-season forecast for Togiak, and you've heard of the Law of the Sea, well, we've got Fish Law, all coming up on the Alaska Fisheries Report.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Dipnets on Kuskowkim
Kuskowkim fisherman are expected to face serious restrictions on subsistence salmon fishing this summer in efforts to bring more king salmon to the spawning grounds.
– Alaska Public Media
More:alaskapublic.org
New on N. Pacific council
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell just named Simon Kinneen of Nome as his top pick for a seat on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
