Monday, March 31, 2014
DIVIDING DISASTER DOLLARS
Several groups from the Yukon-Kuskokwim and Cook Inlet regions have been tabbed to help fashion a spending plan for $20.8 million in federal disaster relief coming to Alaska in response to poor Chinook salmon runs.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Candidates for Fish Board
Nine names are vying for three seats on the state Board of Fisheries, including six newcomers.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing TheFishSite
More:www.thefishsite.com
Board says ‘no’ to crabbers
The Aleutian Islands golden king crab fleet came away empty-handed last week, after the Alaska Board of Fisheries declined to increase its quota – rejecting both the initial request of 15 percent and the compromise proposal of 5 percent.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Dogfish value sinks
Dogfish, a voracious little shark that hunts in packs and fills its belly with anything it finds, now has so little value in the global marketplace that many fishermen who net them just throw them overboard.
– Kennebec Journal
More:www.kjonline.com
FDA shuts salmon smoker
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently ordered Jensen’s Old Fashioned Smokehouse Inc., a processor of smoked fish products in Seattle to stop processing, preparing, packing, holding and distributing any food at, or from, its facility.
– Food Safety News
More:www.foodsafetynews.com
Putin orders polar army
Vladimir Putin’s statement came during a speech to senior officers of Russia’s power structures in the Kremlin.
– Barents Observer
More:barentsobserver.com
Alaska loses one with Natives
The Supreme Court has turned away an appeal by the state of Alaska in a long-running fight over the control of rivers and the fishing and hunting rights of Native Alaskans.
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
They’re done in Sitka
The Sitka Sound seine fleet saw a fourth and final herring opener Saturday, taking an estimated 3,935 tons.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
B.C. herring meeting
A central coast First Nation is calling for an emergency meeting with fishermen and officials to defuse an escalating conflict over the imminent opening of a commercial herring roe fishery that’s been closed since 2006.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
To the editor:
Further to your reprinting of the Mondaq article, “Canadian Court Irks Feds” (28 March 2014) on the injunction closing the West Coast of Vancouver Island roe herring fishery, it is true that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans overruled the advice of her bureaucrats. She did so because the peer-reviewed, risk-based Stock Assessment and Management Advice for British Columbia Pacific Herring. The year 2013 status and 2014 forecast clearly showed that the West Coast (and two other populations) were well above the commercial cut-off and the risk of the modest fisheries approved putting the stocks at risk was virtually zero. It’s an important principle for all commercial fishermen that when they forego fishing opportunities to rebuild populations to a scientifically accepted level, they get to fish when the target is met.
Yours sincerely,
Christina Burridge
BC Seafood Alliance
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
COLUMBIA CHINOOK SHOW UP
Spring chinook numbers appear to be building in the lower Columbia River with a day of commercial fishing adopted for Tuesday and a hearing on Thursday to consider extending the sport season.
– The Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian
More:columbian.com
Lots more jellyfish
We've already tipped past some of those " tipping points" in the oceans.
– Quartz
More:qz.com
Traced fish=higher price
Software schemes have been developed in the north east of the USA which are claimed to obtain better prices for locally caught fish.
– Worldfishing.net
More:worldfishing.net
Polar sea route open longer
IPCC climate change report predicts two and a half times longer sailing season along the Northern Sea Route than today.
– Barents Observer, Norway
More:barentsobserver.com
Judge halts Dillingham expansion
The 2012 annexation of Nushagak Bay into the City of Dillingham has been overturned by the local Superior Court Judge.
– Alaska Public Media
More:alaskapublic.org
Alaska Fishery Report
Coming up this week, one fisherman remembers that beautiful Friday evening 50 years ago when life in coastal Southcentral Alaska was turned upside down; others remember that chilly morning 25 years ago when life in coastal Southcentral Alaska was turned upside down again. And is it possible to restore one of the biggest salmon runs in history after so many years? All that and more, coming up on the Alaska Fisheries Report.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Lots of herring, low price
Herring seiners at Sitka Sound last week landed close to their 16,000 ton quota and roe counts were high – the only thing missing is a price.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:sitnews.us
B.C. herring tensions rise
Tensions are rising on a remote stretch of British Columbia's Central Coast, where a commercial herring fleet is gathering to fish in an area long closed because of conservation concerns.
– The Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:theglobeandmail.com
To the editor:
Contrary to assertions made in the letter to the editor from Christina Burridge of the B.C. Seafood Alliance that the Fisheries Minister went against the advice of her own resource managers because: "...the 2014 forecast clearly showed that the West Coast (and two other populations) were well above the commercial cut-off and the risk of the modest fisheries approved putting the stocks at risk was virtually zero."
Dave Rolston
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
FED FISHERIES CHIEF TO KODIAK
Her visit comes in response to a ComFish invitation from the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in the Homer Tribune
More:homertribune.com
Right-to-fish proposal
The bill gives commercial fishing and seafood operators the same kind of nuisance lawsuit exemption farmers and agricultural businesses have.
– Cecil (MD.) Daily
More:cecildaily.com
Tsunami set for Crusoe Island
Chile's Emergency Office said a large tsunami wave was expected to hit Robinson Crusoe island and others in the Juan Fernandez archipelago just before midnight local time. (Alaska fishermen helped islanders after another tsunami a few years ago.)
– ABCLocal, Houston
More:abclocal.go.com
Japan girds for tsunami
A tsunami of between 20 cm and 1 meter could reach Pacific coastal areas in Japan on Thursday morning, a day after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck off Chile's northern coast.
– Japan Times
More:japantimes.co.jp
American Seafoods downgraded
Moody's Investors Service today downgraded the Corporate Family Rating for American Seafoods Group LLC (ASG) to Caa1 from B3, as well as its Probability of Default Rating to Caa1-PD from B3-PD.
– Moody's, via Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Fish boat blamed in collision
The crew of an American fishing vessel is partly to blame for a collision in Esquimalt Harbour with HMCS Winnipeg on April 23, 2013, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has found.
– Vancouver Province
More:theprovince.com
No early Nushagak season
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is not scheduling any directed commercial openings targeting king salmon in the Nushagak District this season.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Alaska troll season forecast
The preseason troll treaty harvest allocation for 2014 is 325,411 Chinook, an increase of 195,549 fish when compared with last year's preseason troll allocation of 129,862 fish.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Another processor medevac
The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a 58-year old fisherman from King Cove yesterday (March 31, 2014) during stormy conditions after he was injured on board a Seattle-based processor near Unimak Island in the North Pacific Ocean.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:sitnews.us
Avoid reefs
The federal fisheries department is asking commercial fishermen to voluntarily avoid nine reefs in the Strait of Georgia while talks are underway to make the fishing closures official and help ensure protection of fragile glass sponges — possibly the "longest living animals" in the world.
– Vancouver Sun
More:vancouversun.com
Thursday, April 3, 2014
NAMED TO FISH BOARD
Governor Sean Parnell today announced the reappointment of Reed Morisky, Susan Jeffrey, and John Jensen to the Board of Fisheries.
– Via Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Fish Board sees setnetter appeal
With about a day's notice, the Alaska Board of Fisheries has scheduled a meeting to discuss an emergency petition filed by an organization representing commercial setnetters in Upper Cook Inlet.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Higher king salmon allocation
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the all-gear Chinook salmon quota has increased from last year's allocation.
– Sitka Sentinel
More:sitkasentinel.com
Fishing OK in sea lion range
After a research review, the National Marine Fisheries Service is prepared to loosen controversial limits on commercial fishing in the western Aleutian Islands.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
B.C. standoff over herring
With commercial herring roe fisheries on B.C.'s central coast set to reopen at any moment, tension is rising between First Nations and the government, while fishermen remain caught in the middle.
– Tyee, Vancouver, B.C.
More:thetyee.ca
U.S. herring not protected
NOAA Fisheries has concluded that listing of the Southeast Alaska Distinct Population Segment of Pacific herring under the Endangered Species Act is not warranted at this time.
– NOAA
More:alaskafisheries.noaa.gov
Helicopter to Akutan
The Aleutians East Borough has made the switch to a helicopter as their new airport taxi.
– KUCB, Alaska Public Media
More:alaskapublic.org
Changing Magnuson-Stevens
'Overfishing' is a misnomer that has, for years, distracted American fisheries management from all-natural and man-caused factors affecting populations of commercial fish other than fishing.
– WorldFishing.net
More:worldfishing.net
Fisherman apparel company honored
A Homer business known for its fleece clothing, outdoor gear, upholstery and fisheries products, and a full-service boat shop has been named Made in Alaska's "2013 Manufacturer of the Year."
– Homer News
More:homernews.com/homer-news
New Bristol Bay chief
Sue Aspelund has been chosen as the new executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Friday, April 4, 2014
NMFS SAYS SEA LIONS OK
NMFS closed fishing grounds three years ago to protect an endangered population of Steller sea lions. That triggered several rounds of litigation and a new evaluation of the science behind fishing bans.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoo.org
Pizza sounds good
Pizza Hut Hong Kong is now home to what it's calling a "Flying Fish Roe Salmon Cream Cheese Pizza," featuring a pizza crust stuffed with salmon roe and cream cheese.
– Eater.com, New York City
More:eater.com
Board to setnetters: No
The Alaska Board of Fisheries has denied an emergency petition to restructure commercial setnet fishing for salmon on east-side Cook Inlet beaches this summer.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Salmon overfishing
The new plan would significantly increase harvest rates on sockeye salmon, resulting in the overfishing of endangered sockeye populations, and serious impacts to other salmon species caught as "by-catch."
– SkeenaWild, B.C.
More:marketwired.com
Columbia sporties get extension
The states of Oregon and Washington approved a one-week extension of sport salmon fishing in the lower Columbia River.
– The Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
No Chilean tsunami
Authorities lifted tsunami warnings for Chile's long coastline after a magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck the South American nation's northern coast.
– China Post, Taiwan
More:chinapost.com.tw
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week: herring, herring, herring. And, No Fish Tax For You! All that and more this week, on the Alaska Fisheries Report.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Alaska ice max
Arctic sea ice reached its maximum extent this year on March 21.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoo.org
Tightening 'Dude' fishing license
The Alaska House of Representatives voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of legislation intended to fix a problem with the use of commercial fishing "dude" licenses.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Human skull still a mystery
The Grays Harbor County sheriff's office says the skull found in a crab pot off Westport doesn't match anyone in a national DNA database.
– The Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
