Monday, March 8, 2010
High seas dampen Alaska halibut opener
Blustery winds and high seas were set to put a damper on Alaska’s March 6 halibut opener, and prices were expected to be artificially high for skimpy landings of the season’s first fresh fish. – Laine Welch, Fish Factor
More: www.sitnews.us
B.C. herring fishery strong
Fishermen on the B.C. coast are smiling these days following a good herring fishery. Most fishermen reached their quota of herring in one or two days.
Victoria Times-Colonist
More: www.timescolonist.com
U.S. bans Mexican shrimp because of turtle deaths
The United States announced its intention to prohibit—effective April 20—the import of wild shrimp from Mexico after determining that the country has failed to adequately protect sea turtles. – Americas Quarterly
More: www.americasquarterly.org
Ethics questions arise from Cal protected area process
The first wave of hard evidence documenting the corruption and conflict of interest that's guided the implementation of the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act surfaced at the meeting of the California Fish and Game Commission this past week.
– San Bernardino Sun
More: www.sbsun.com/sports
Bristol Bay plan boosts mine, not habitat
The Alaska Board of Fisheries recently requested that the state Legislature conduct a comprehensive evaluation of permitting standards related to Pebble mine, and that it enact any additional safeguards considered prudent to provide strict protections to fish and game habitat of the drainages to prevent any chance of environmental damage. The laws are not adequate.
– Joe Faith of Dillingham, a commercial and subsistence fishermen and lawyer, writing in the Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
Bill would add four Natives to N. Pacific Council
Check out Senate Joint Resolution 29, introduced a few days ago in the Alaska Legislature. It asks the state's congressional delegation to pursue a change in federal law to add four new voting members to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Letter: Don’t cut sports, subsistence fisheries
Sport and subsistence fishing for Alaska residents should not be restricted, since its consumption supports individuals and families.
– Greg Hayes of Juneau, writing in the Juneau Empire
More: www.juneauempire.com/stories
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Chile’s woes boost price of farmed salmon
Chile's loss is Norway's gain. After a virus that causes salmon anemia devastated Chile's salmon harvest, prices have spiked worldwide and Norway's salmon exporters are taking advantage. Chile had been the second biggest producer of salmon in the world, but is predicted to sell only about 90,000 tons this year, compared to 403,000 tons in 2008.
– Salon.com
More: www.salon.com/technology
(Editor’s note: As readers of Pacific Fishing magazine already know, higher prices for farmed salmon have buoyed prices for wild fish, specifically sockeye and coho. If you’re not reading Pacific Fishing, go to www.pacificfishing.com.)
B.C. salmon hatchery not negligent in escape
Investigators say a B.C. fish farm operator wasn't negligent when thousands of Atlantic salmon escaped last October, but one critic is questioning the government's standards.
– CBC
More: www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia
Prince William Sound hatcheries seek larger egg take
Deckboss hears that salmon hatchery operators in Prince William Sound and in Southeast Alaska are seeking state approval to significantly boost production.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Alaska Sea Grant agents fail funding hurdle
The House Finance Committee Monday rejected an effort to provide funding for Marine Advisory Program agents slated to be cut. By a 7-3 vote, the committee rejected an amendment to the state's budget offered by Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome.
– Juneau Empire
More: www.juneauempire.com/stories
Letter: Stop bellyaching about trawlers
On Saturday, I was trying to enjoy my 8-year-old daughter’s basketball game when the two gentlemen behind me decided to ignore their own children and complain about fishing instead. This annoyed me.
–Tracy Chandler, writing to the Kodiak Daily Mirror
More: www.kodiakdailymirror.com
Airport in nowhere?
Construction is expected to begin this year on a $76 million airport and hovercraft for Akutan, a roadless Aleutian island village of about 100 permanent residents and sometimes 900 seasonal workers served by a single nine-passenger seaplane flying a federally subsidized route twice a day. With federal money covering more than three-quarters of the airport's price tag, the parallels with another infamous Alaska project are unavoidable.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
Too few Chinook in Columbia River for opening
There will be no commercial gill-net fishing Tuesday (today) on the lower Columbia River – or sport fishing, either.
Oregon and Washington set aside Tuesdays in March for commercial fishing, but the states decided in a telephone conference call Monday afternoon there were too few salmon – and too many steelhead – in the lower river.
– The Oregonian
More: www.oregonlive.com/sports
Another report: B.C. herring catch huge
"That had to be the most excellent herring fishery I was fortunate enough to participate in over the past 30 years," said Paul Kershaw, president of the Nanaimo-based Gillnetters Association.
– Victoria Times-Colonist
More: www.timescolonist.com
Power company spanked over aquaculture bill
You might recall my post on the plight of Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, which was facing a threat from the local electric utility to switch off power to the remote Tutka Bay salmon hatchery.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Fraser River inquiry begins
Another disastrous season for B.C.'s iconic wild salmon appears to be unfolding even as yet another inquiry gets underway, this time into the collapse of last year's Fraser River sockeye runs.
– Vancouver Sun
More: www.vancouversun.com/news
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Judge rips Icicle
A while back, Deckboss noted a costly jury verdict against Icicle Seafoods Inc. in connection with a worker who suffered a back injury aboard the company's processing barge, the Bering Star.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: http://deckboss.blogspot.com/
Latest hoax: Obama to ban recreational fishing
In what may be the worst example of outdoor sports reporting in the history of America, ESPN has claimed that President Barack Obama is on the verge of banning recreational fishing.
– Examiner.com
More: http://www.examiner.com/x-37128-Charlotte-Fishing-Examiner~y2010m3d9-ESPN-claims-Obama-is-about-to-ban-fishing
Expo coming to Warrenton
Jensen Communication’s popular annual commercial fishermen’s expo is set for this Friday, March 12, at the store, 155 SE First St., Warrenton.
There will be free hotdogs and soft drinks, plus raffles for electronics. Exhibitors will include Simrad, Comnav, Revere, Interphase, Koden, Notus, Comrod, Ethic Promotions, Icom, Aflac, Rolls Batteries, Garmen, and Furuno.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
More: http://jensencomm.com/default.aspx
Tough year for Klamath water demands
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden begged the federal government Tuesday for ``immediate and coordinated'' assistance to help Klamath Basin farmers and the environment cope with a drought of ``historic magnitude.''
– The Oregonian
More: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/03/merkley_wyden_ask_feds_for_rap.html
More nets salvaged from Puget Sound
Lost and abandoned commercial fishing nets have been removed from 13 locations in Puget Sound, including three places in Jefferson County, the Northwest Straits Initiative announced. – Port Townsend Leader
More: http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=26468
Alaska bill to control mine runoff now dead
The sponsor of a wastewater discharge bill intended to protect fish spawning grounds from mine waste says his bill is dead.
– KTUU, Anchorage
More: http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=12111760
What’s wrong with this picture?
Wild salmon are virtually extinct in the Atlantic Ocean, yet tens of millions of Atlantic salmon are being raised in farms in the Pacific; the U.S.-based Safeway supermarket chain has announced that it is curtailing purchases of disease-ridden farmed salmon from Chile; and returns of wild salmon on the British Columbia coast seem to be declining from year to year.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/science/killer-lice/article35379/
Bad weather, few halibut
Halibut season opened Saturday, about the same time a wintry blast of weather descended on Alaska. If you've been waiting for the freshest whitefish, the wait may continue a bit longer.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: http://www.adn.com/2010/03/09/1176291/blizzard-puts-damper-on-early.html
Seattle Yacht Club invites work boats to opening day
Seattle Yacht Club cordially invites you and one or more of your work boats to take part in the Opening Day of Boating Season parade on Saturday, May 1. Parade participation is a great way for your crew and guests to enjoy the festivities, benefit from media and public exposure and do some-thing for the community.
More: www.seattleyachtclub.org/default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=295035&ssid=176574&vnf=1
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Conservative bloggers giddy over end-of-fishing rumor
Conservative websites are up in arms this week over the Obama administration's new plan to outlaw recreational fishing in America. It's an egregious abuse of executive power, slightly mitigated by the fact that it’s not remotely close to being true.
– Deadspin.com
More: http://deadspin.com/5490210/espncom-helps-launch-false-obama-wants-to-ban-fishing-rumor
Alaska killing rabbits off Kodiak Island
Non-native marmot and rabbit populations will soon be exterminated on some islands near Kodiak Island in a move to restore native animal and plant wildlife.
– Kodiak Daily News
More: http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=8594
Officers kill another sea lion near Bonneville
Fish and Wildlife officials have killed the sixth California sea lion of the season at the Bonneville Dam.
– KGW, Portland
More: http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Sixth-sea-lion-killed-at-Bonneville-Dam-87262872.html
See anti-salmon farm documentary on the web
A new, short documentary by Damien Gillis – Farmed Salmon Exposed: The Global Reach of the Norwegian Salmon Farming Industry – is now available on-line.
The movie also will be playing at a number of film festivals around the world this year, including in Vancouver. The trailer to the film was seen 35,000 times globally, and there have been nearly 20,000 hits on the recently released chapters of the full film.
The movie is 23 minutes long, and on You Tube it’s broken into four chapters.
See them: http://www.youtube.com/user/PureSalmon
Thousands comment on beluga habitat proposal
The testimony on whether or not to designate most of Cook Inlet as beluga habitat is now in, with some 91,668 responses to the public comment period that ended March 3.
– Homer Tribune
More: http://homertribune.com/2010/03/beluga-comments-stretch-into-the-thousands/
Fishery managers say they know what they’re doing
A science company's disclosure that decisions on commercial fishing limits are essentially guesswork and "highly susceptible to influence" has led to an assurance from the New Zealand Fisheries Ministry that annual decisions on fish catch limits are based on "the best available science".
– FIS, New Zealand
More: http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/
CG ice breaker back on duty in 2013
After a $62 million overhaul, the Coast Guard will have its third icebeaker back in service in 2013, filling a critical need as the fleet takes on new responsibilities, the commandant of the service said Wednesday.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: http://www.adn.com/2010/03/10/1177999/coast-guard-icebreaker-will-be.html
Huge comeback for humpback whales
In nearly a quarter century studying humpback whales, researcher Fred Sharpe has witnessed a remarkable recovery.
– Eureka Times-Standard
More: http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_14653738
