Monday, April 18, 2011
YOUR FISH ARE SAFE FROM RADIATION
North Pacific fish are so unlikely to be contaminated by radioactive material from the crippled nuclear plant in Japan that there's no reason to test them, state and federal officials said this week.
– Anchorage Daily News
Read more:www.adn.com
Compromise on Alaska coastal management
The Alaska House early Saturday passed what's intended to be a compromise on coastal management, giving communities a voice on resource development issues but not allowing them to impede oil, gas or mining projects that the state deems to be in Alaska's best interests.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Catch shares gain support in New England
John Pappalardo, the chairman of the New England Fishery Management Council, walked into a critical council meeting in Portland, Maine, fully expecting a battle.
– Cape Cod Times
More:www.capecodonline.com
Supporting coastal communities
The National Panel on the Community Dimensions of Fisheries Catch Share Programs is the first national, bipartisan panel ever formed to tackle the issue of how communities can benefit from a catch share model of fisheries management.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Praising federal fish legislation
Passage of Magnuson-Stevens marked a historic recognition that our ocean fish are a valuable national resource, which, with prudent stewardship, will help feed and employ millions of Americans.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Oregon salmon hatchery under fire
A 59-year-old hatchery 20 miles from downtown Portland has jumped to the center of the Northwest's salmon debate, with fish advocates saying the hatchery threatens the Sandy River's thin runs of wild fish.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Assistance for fishing families
Newport Fishermen's Wives, a nonprofit organization that assists fishermen's families in times of need or tragedy, is asking for help to assist a local commercial fishing family.
– Newport News Times
More:www.newportnewstimes.com
Distant prof helps set Alaska seasons
She's at a landlocked university more than 600 miles from the Pacific Ocean and more than 2,500 miles from the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, but Idaho State University anthropology professor Katherine Reedy-Maschner contributes to setting fishing seasons in these distant waters.
– Idaho State Journal
More:www.idahostatejournal.com
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
SITKA FISHING GUIDE SENTENCED
Eric John Morisky, a licensed sport fishing guide for Dove Island Lodge in Sitka, was sentenced for three misdemeanor offenses related to acts committed while Morisky was working as a sport fishing guide.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Bristol Bay quality
"It is impossible to recapture the value when there is handling abuse on the fishing grounds," but "fishermen can be motivated to improve the value by improving quality, and report cards and value compensation have potential to improve the bottom line by rewarding quality."
– Bristol Bay Times
More:thebristolbaytimes.com
Emptying the Mediterranean
Some of the most prized fish on the menus of prestigious European restaurants are faced with extinction because too many are being caught, according to a report issued on Tuesday.
– Reuters
More:af.reuters.com
Warming and acidification
Rapidly warming ocean temperatures in some parts of the world could be pushing some fish species to the limit, stunting their growth, increasing stress and raising the risk of death, a study shows.
– Reuters
More:www.reuters.com
Obama approves Cal tsunami aid
President Obama has made federal disaster aid available to California communities that suffered damage in the March tsunami.
– L.A. Times
More:latimesblogs.latimes.com
Get a job on a crabber
Have you given up on career satisfaction? Still wishing you had gone to grad school, or at least obtained your real-estate licence? Are you wasting work hours wondering whether your job is really as good as it gets?
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
Drilling in the Arctic
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich compared the regulatory atmosphere for offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean to a Whac-A-Mole arcade game, where the player uses a mallet to smack down moles as they pop out of the ground. In the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, under the Alaska Democrat's scenario, oil companies are the players and federal agencies are the moles.
– Anchorage Daily News
Read more:www.adn.com
Drilling in Cook Inlet
Another independent oil and gas company is putting drilling rigs to work in Cook Inlet.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Alaska salmon ranch seeks growth
The chief operator of Prince William Sound salmon hatcheries is again asking for permission to expand production of pink salmon, having been denied last year.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Gas spill destroys B.C. salmon stream
The Goldstream River ecosystem could take years to recover and there are fears for the survival of the famous chum salmon run after 40,000 liters of gasoline was spilled in a tanker truck crash.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
FIGHTING SPERM WHALE DEPREDATION
Sperm whales in Alaska have learned how to seek out longline fishing gear as a source for easy meals. Now, a $350,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration given to the Sitka Sound Science Center will let scientists and commercial longliners work together to figure out how to discourage the behavior.
– KCAW, Sitka
More:kcaw.org
Canadian dollar stronger
The Canadian dollar had full-nickel premium on the U.S. currency Wednesday — the first time that's happened since 2007.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.canada.com
Golf balls from seafood discards
Last year, Maine fishermen hauled in 90 million pounds of lobster. Half of that catch goes to processing plants where they keep the meat and toss the shells into the trash. But a team from the University of Maine in Orono has figured out how to use those discarded shells and turn them into golf balls.
– NECN.com
More:www.necn.com
Alaskans talking to mining chief
A delegation of Alaska Native leaders and the director of a large commercial fishing fleet are due to meet with Anglo American PLC Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll and Chairman John Parker Wednesday to voice their concerns about the construction of a large Alaskan gold and copper mine.
– Dow Jones
More:www.nasdaq.com
Catch shares = sustainable fishing
Studies from Iceland and the Gullmar fjord on the Swedish west coast, reveal that when commercial fishermen are given fishing rights they voluntarily choose more sustainable fishing methods and earn far more.
– Eureka Alert
More:www.eurekalert.org
New England catch to climb
When the new fishing year kicks off on May 1, groundfish fishermen will have more opportunity to fish in Northeast waters, small-vessel owners will get a boost through permit banks, and stocks will continue on the path to rebuilding.
– FishNewsEU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Saving fuel
As fuel prices rise and show little sign of potential decline, there are steps vessel owners may want to consider to get more for each dollar spent on operations, from a smooth hull to engine efficiency.
– Bristol Bay Times
More:thebristolbaytimes.com
Fraser run lower than 2010
Last year's massive run of roughly 30 million sockeye salmon that filled freezers and kept barbecues sizzling won't likely be repeated this summer.
– BCLocalNews
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Tsukiji fish market back to normal
The volume of fish transactions at the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market has returned to the same levels as before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, indicating a recovery in the consumer demand, according to market officials.
– Daily India
More:www.dailyindia.com
Columbia barge ready for blow torch
A report from the U.S. Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology today about the Davy Crockett, the derelict barge that leaked a 15-mile sheen of oil into the Columbia River earlier this year.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
Ventura Harbor die-off
Officials say thousands of anchovies and sardines have died in Ventura Harbor after using up all their oxygen.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Thursday, April 21, 2011
FISHERMEN'S LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
Several fishing organizations and businesses teamed up to pay for an ad in Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle. The ad was in the form of a letter to President Obama, saying many jobs depend upon salmon – fish that are being endangered by rollbacks in environmental protect in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta. Thanks to Barbara Healy Stickel for posting it on the Pacific Fishing Facebook page.
See the ad:www.facebook.com
Petrale draggers do little harm
Northern California, trawling for sole and sand dabs takes place in sandy and muddy bottoms, which, while churned up by trawl nets, are not seriously damaged by the practice – at least not more than they would be in, say, a winter storm.
– SF Weekly
More:blogs.sfweekly.com
Exxon Valdez not so bad
A perennial red herring of Gulf-oil-spill alarmists is the evil long-term side-effects of oil. There may be such effects, but they are far from proven. A case in point is the herring fishery of Prince William Sound, supposedly still decimated 20 years later by the Exxon Valdez spill.
– National Review
More:www.nationalreview.com
Exxon Valdez and BP both bad
A team that has spent two decades studying psychological distress among residents of Cordova after the Exxon Valdez oil spill has found striking similarities among those affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Hilborn stirs another controversy
Quite a flurry of letters here in response to Ray Hilborn's recent column in The New York Times titled Let Us Eat Fish.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Wave energy site off Newport
After two years of discussion, leaders of the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) have chosen the location for a life-size wave energy test site.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
Radiation and seafood
Radiation from fish and lobsters near the U.K.'s biggest nuclear polluter suggest radioactive material dumped into the sea from Japan's Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant isn't a long-term health threat, scientists said.
– San Francisco Chronicle
Read more:www.sfgate.com
B'ham boatyard gets a break
Port of Bellingham commissioners have agreed to give struggling Fairhaven Shipyard a break on rent to help see it through its financial difficulties.
– Bellingham Herald
More:www.bellinghamherald.com
Bering Sea crab crew meeting
There will be a workshop meeting to educate Bering Sea crew regarding opportunities to purchase and finance crab quota share next month. The session will be 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on May 3 in the Leif Erikson Hall, 2245 Northwest 57th St., in Seattle. The Fishermen's Hall in Kodiak has been reserved for with a teleconference line. Crew and owners are encouraged to participate.
More:Workshop schedule
Russian sockeye enters certification
Two Russian Federation companies, Vityaz-Avto Co. Ltd and Delta Co. Ltd., have entered the Ozernaya River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) fishery into full, independent, third-party assessment against the Marine Stewardship Council's principles and criteria for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.
– FishNewEU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Friday, April 22, 2011
SWOON! ROBERT REDFORD AND PEBBLE
Hollywood star Robert Redford is speaking out against the Pebble Mine, a huge copper and gold deposit poised for development in southwest Alaska, which also hosts the world's last and best wild salmon streams.
– The World, Coos Bay
More:theworldlink.com
Russians expect large salmon catch
Record high number of salmon is expected to come in Kamchatka during the coming summer for spawning in the rivers of the peninsula.
– ITAR-TASS
More:www.itar-tass.com
Sardines 'thick enough to walk on'
Sardines have returned to the B.C. coast in schools "thick enough to walk on" – a phenomenon that doesn't surprise experts who say it can be attributed to changing migration patterns in warming oceans.
– Canada.com
More:www2.canada.com
Anti-gillnet bill advances
The Oregon Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources voted to pass out of committee a bill to restrict commercial gillnetting in the Columbia River.
– Salem-News.com
More:www.salem-news.com
Salmon is better than coal
Some folks from Texas are planning to strip-mine 12 million tons of coal a year for 25 years at the Chuitna River on the west side of Cook Inlet. Because it flows above the coal, they want to destroy 11 miles of Middle Creek, a beautiful stream that is home to all five species of Alaska's salmon.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
Natives debate roe-on hemlock
A debate over who should have the right to harvest subsistence herring roe continued at Wednesday night's meeting of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska's tribal council. The controversy centers around a fishing boat called the Julia Kae, that delivered free roe-on-hemlock to Sitka, Hoonah, Angoon, Kake, Wrangell and Ketchikan.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:kfsk.org
Halibut charter rules
Officers from NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement will hold public outreach meetings in several Southeast Alaska communities next month to discuss 2011 charter halibut fishing regulations and answer any questions from concerned parties.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Tough Puget Sound oil law signed
On the anniversary of the catastrophic April 20, 2010, crude oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed landmark legislation that significantly advances protection of Washington state's environment, economy and cultural resources from the impacts of a potential major oil spill.
– Washington Department of Ecology
More:www.ecy.wa.gov
Fishermen named to Bristol Bay board
Fritz Johnson and Warren "Barney" Johnson have been re-elected to the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association board of directors.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, Icicle will be heading back to Adak this summer; the state legislature wants to help cities keep their harbors up, and trying to figure out how to keep those pesky whales from stealing your catch.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
