Pacific Fishing - Fish Wrap Archives | March 30, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Earthquake reported near Kodiak

A moderate earthquake struck the waters of southern Alaska’s Kodiak Island region, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The magnitude-5.4 quake hit at 11:13 p.m. Sunday night and was centered about 80 miles south of the village of Old Harbor, according to a preliminary report. – Kodiak Daily Mirror

Chinook or pollock? Council to decide

Every year a powerful commercial fishing fleet scoops up billions of pounds of Bering Sea pollock to make products such as fish sticks and imitation crab.

It's an immense harvest, and many Western Alaska villagers have grown upset about it. They say the fleet increasingly is catching and killing a far more precious fish -- Chinook, or king salmon -- while in pursuit of pollock.

This week in Anchorage, the issue is expected to produce an epic debate as federal fishery managers consider an unprecedented limit on how many Chinook the pollock fleet can catch each year. – Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in the Anchorage Daily News

Columbia salmon plan before the legislature

The brouhaha over Columbia River spring-run Chinook salmon has been joined in the Oregon Legislature.

More than 200 people — almost everyone in the lobby overflow area watching on TV monitors sporting orange CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) ballcaps — turned out for an informational session to hear about a half-dozen bills dealing with commercial gillnetting in front of the members of the House Committee on Sustainability and Economic Development. – Salem Statesman Journal

Read more: www.statesmanjournal.com

East Coast bank sues Wrangell Seafoods

A Rhode Island bank yesterday sued Wrangell Seafoods Inc. and one of its chief financial backers in connection with a debt of nearly $650,000.

The lawsuit is part of U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceedings for the Wrangell processing plant, which the owners are trying to sell.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing as The Highliner for the Anchorage Daily News

Read more: community.adn.com

Sport fishermen may get some West Coast Chinook

There is a smidgen of a chance that there will be a salmon sport fishing season in California this year.

After a week-long meeting in Seattle, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council agreed to include 10 days of fishing in the Eureka and Crescent City area this fall as one of three options it may adopt in April. The other two options would shut the fishery, just like last year. -- Eureka Times-Standard

‘Monster’ squid off California

Aboard the charter fishing boat Huli Cat the hunt is on for a sea monster … one that's showing up in huge numbers off the California coast.

It's called the Humboldt squid. – CBS

Oregon wave power park moves forward

REEDSPORT — One day, in the not-too-distant future, the same waves that wash sea shells ashore and provide the perfect ride for Oregon Coast surfers will power television sets and produce light at the flip of a switch. -- Roseburg, Ore., News-Review

Tanker barred from taking oil in Valdez

VALDEZ -- The U.S. Coast Guard barred a tanker from taking on a load of oil at Valdez last week after cracks were found in the ship. – Anchorage Daily News

More money coming from Exxon

Lawyers are preparing to distribute two more chunks of the $383 million in punitive damages Exxon Mobil Corp. has paid so far for the 1989 oil spill.

With a judge’s permission, $31.3 million will go to 2,521 commercial fishermen and others in 12 claims.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing as The Highliner for the Anchorage Daily News

Palin names Grussendorf to senate seat

Gov. Sarah Palin today named Tim Grussendorf as her designee to replace Kim Elton as the state senator from District B, representing the City and Borough of Juneau.

Grussendorf has worked as a commercial fisherman and serves as chief of staff to Alaska State Senator Lyman Hoffman. He is currently president of the Southeast Alaska Fishermen’s Alliance and a board member of the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association. – Anchorage Daily News

Kodiak opposes cod limited entry expansion

Kodiak City Council member Jack Maker will attend the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) meeting in Anchorage this week to express the city council’s opposition to an amendment package that would create a limited entry program for the Pacific cod fixed gear fishery.

NPFMC will decide whether or not to add Pacific cod endorsements to western and central Gulf of Alaska fixed gear (pot and longline gear types) License Limitation Program (LLP) licenses. – Kodiak Daily Mirror

Will West Coast sport trollers get fish?

COOS BAY – The talk was of zeros and giving everything away: Zero fishing for commercial salmon fishermen on the ocean this year and letting sport fishermen have as much fish as possible.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council held a hearing Monday night at the Red Lion Hotel to take input on three options for ocean salmon seasons this year. The federal council will make a final decision when it meets next week in Millbrae, Calif. – Coos Bay World

Read more: www.theworldlink.com

Feds ask that Ted Stevens’ conviction be tossed

The Justice Department filed court papers this morning asking a federal judge to toss out the conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) on corruption charges.

The move comes as a federal judge was preparing to conduct hearings to probe allegations of prosecutorial misconduct by the team that tried one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress.
– Washington Post

Trident Wrangell deal back on

Looks like Trident Seafoods Corp. has resumed its pursuit of the troubled Wrangell Seafoods Inc. processing plant.

How do I know?

Because a bunch of lawyers were to convene at 9 a.m. today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Anchorage to consider this amended order approving a $4.35 million sale to Trident.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing as The Highliner for the Anchorage Daily News

Southeast Chinook numbers up

After years of decline, there's some better news for Southeast's Chinook salmon fishery: Stocks are up, and so is this year's quota. – Juneau Empire

Palin appoints two to Fish Board

JUNEAU – Governor Palin appointed Brent G. Johnson, and reappointed Karl S. Johnstone, to the Board of Fisheries. – Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing for the Anchorage Daily News as The Highliner

NorCal commercial fleet fading away

HALF MOON BAY – If you give a fisherman a million bucks, the old joke goes, he’ll keep fishing until it’s all gone.

That kind of gallows humor rings a little too true to generate many laughs these days in Pillar Point Harbor, where a once-thriving fishing community has dwindled to an aging group of only the most devoted fishermen — and many of those are relying on savings to sustain till the next good year.
– San Francisco Examiner

Read more: www.sfexaminer.com

Fishing may endanger sea urchin populations

Most Western palates do not deem sea cucumbers — with their big, lumpy, worm-on-steroids appearance — anything close to edible, let alone a delicacy.

But across much of Asia, the creatures are a staple in stir-fry, soups and stews and are so sought after that they are in imminent danger of being over-harvested, according to a report on the sea cucumber trade released Wednesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
– New York Times

Editorial: Big difference between hatchery and wild salmon

The comparison of wild salmon and hatchery salmon is one of the most complex subjects in all biology.
But if one anecdote could be used in an attempt to simplify the issue, it would be this one reported in a Saturday Columbian story by Erik Robinson:

It doesn't take an artificially produced salmon long to learn how to find food in a hatchery. It's at or near the top of the water, scattered there by humans or machines. But when that salmon leaves the hatchery, the lesson that was learned can lead to suicidal wanderings. Near the top of the water in the wild, the salmon find more talons than taste treats, for there is where predatory birds snatch up their own fish feasts. – Vancouver, Wash., Columbian

Indicator of prices for other seafood?

KEY WEST, Fla. -- Commercial lobster fishermen in the Florida Keys say a "disastrous" spiny lobster harvesting season has come to an end.

Florida spiny lobsters brought around $8 a pound early in the season that began Aug. 6. Fishermen say prices have fallen to $3.75 a pound.

At the end of the 2007-2008 season, prices remained around $8 a pound for the seafood delicacy.
– Miami Herald

Alaska industry to ditch Marine Stewardship Council?

Alaska salmon has long been a symbol of fresh sustainable seafood to consumers around the world, but that status could be in jeopardy, according to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). …

Alaska salmon is unique because a governmental agency, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) acts as client. ADF&G will discontinue its role as client, effective Oct. 30, 2009.

“Our role as client has put us in an awkward position. ADF&G isn’t in a position to understand the benefits of MSC certification to industry, yet we bear the burden of cost,” ADF&G Deputy Commissioner David Bedford said.

“ADF&G’s decision is correct. There’s no commercial benefit to MSC certification, and it comes at a high cost,” Tom Sunderland, marketing director for Ocean Beauty Seafoods, said. – Kodiak Daily Mirror

Cook Inlet Aquaculture faces $1.2 million debt

The Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association is facing a $1.2-million budget shortfall that up until now had the future of the organization in doubt.

Reasons behind the shortfall include last year’s lower than expected cost recovery and the loss of electrical power to the Tutka Bay Lagoon enhancement project in Kachemak Bay.

On March 19, a new source of revenue was approved by the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
– Seward Phoenix Log

Report: Human demand for healthy food not healthy for fish

The health benefits of eating fish have been over-dramatized and have put increased pressure on the world’s rapidly depleting stocks of wild fish, say researchers from UBC’s Fisheries Centre.

The researchers, who teamed up with medical scientists from St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, as well as acclaimed Canadian author Farley Mowat, challenged the popular notion that fish are beneficial to human health. – University of British Columbia Reports

Pebble Mine company gives $1 million to communities

The Pebble Fund is awarding 32 community grants totaling nearly $1 million in Southwest Alaska near the controversial Pebble copper-and-gold-mine prospect. – Anchorage Daily News

Sports guys don’t like Palin’s Fish Board appointment

Sportfishermen aren’t too keen on Gov. Sarah Palin’s choice of Cook Inlet commercial salmon gillnetter Brent Johnson for a seat on the Board of Fisheries.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing as The Highliner for the Anchorage Daily News

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