Monday, April 19, 2010

Good reports from salmon excluder tests

The North Pacific Fisheries Research Foundation and groups of fishermen have developed and tested a new style of Chinook salmon excluder device for pollock trawl nets that works just in time for the Chinook salmon bycatch hard cap rules to go into place.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

More: www.publicbroadcasting.net

 

Winch stop switch could save your life

A new E-stop system can save fishermen from winch entanglement injuries.

– Kodiak Daily News

More: www.kodiakdailymirror.com

Water war: Fishermen swim against the tide

California congressmen George Miller and Mike Thompson stumped for salmon fishermen during a political rally meant to counter the political muscle of San Joaquin Valley farmers who tend to get more media attention in the long-running war over the state's strained water supply.

– New York Times

More:  www.nytimes.com/gwir

NOAA reaches out to sports anglers

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco created a new post for a high-level national policy adviser for recreational fishing, reorganized regional offices to put greater emphasis on sportfishing and created a new advisory panel on the issue.

– New York Times

More: www.nytimes.com

Sig Hansen writes autobiography

Captain Sig Hansen has shared poignant memories and anecdotes of his life with his brothers Norman and Edgar, dad Sverre and his mom Snefryd in his new book, "North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters," released by St. Martin's Press (304 pp., $25.99).

– Monsters & Critics

More: www.monstersandcritics.com

Brief troll openings won’t
help fishing industry

For West Coast harbors, salmon mean business. The obverse is also a true — a lack of salmon means a lack of business.

– Peter Grenell, general manager of the San Mateo County Harbor District, writing in the San Jose Mercury News

More: www.mercurynews.com

Yukon River fishermen switch to fur trapping

A fishing company hoping to revive struggling economies and old traditions launched an effort this winter to bring back the dormant fur trade on the lower Yukon River.

– Tundra Drums

More: www.thetundradrums.com

Time to cull B.C. harbor seals?

Burgeoning harbour seal populations in the Strait of Georgia and the effect they are having on fish stocks have resulted in calls for a cull.

– Nanaimo Daily News

More: www.canada.coml

Sea lions infest Oregon harbor

More than 30 sea lions were sunning themselves on the end of F Dock on a recent afternoon when Harbormaster Aaron Simons approached. Climbing onto the dock, the lumbering mammals had turned on a water spigot, and Simons wanted to turn it off. Before he could, he had to scare off the interlopers.

Coos Bay World

More: www.theworldlink.com

Editorial: Taku is for fishing, not for mining

News that an unidentified buyer wants to reopen the Tulsequah Chief Mine should be of grave concern to Alaska's citizens and the current administration.

– Juneau Empire

More: www.juneauempire.com

Tuesday, 420, 2010

Processor pays stiff fine for Alaska operations

A Seattle-based seafood company – Westward Seafoods Inc. – has agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than a half-million dollars to settle allegations of air pollution and community right-to-know violations at an Alaska processing plant.

– Anchorage Daily News

More: www.adn.com

 

 

Shrimp boats in Prince William Sound

For the first time in 19 years, commercial boats have joined the Prince William Sound shrimp fishery.

– Juneau Empire

More: www.juneauempire.com

Argentine hake show alarming decline

The breeding grounds of common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) located in the San Jorge gulf is showing some alarming signs, concludes a report authored by the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP).

– FIS

More: www.fis.com

European travel ban hampers salmon farmers

Flower growers in Kenya worried their buds destined for Europe could rot before the airways reopened. "There's going to be a lot of people going into restaurants in the next few days wanting to order a piece of Atlantic salmon and it won't be there," says Brandon Fried, head of the Air Forwarders Association in Washington, which represents 330 companies involved in air freight.

– USA Today

More: www.usatoday.com

Low prices for Kodiak sac roe herring

The Kodiak-area herring sac roe fisheries opened Thursday to a record 6,075 ton guideline harvest level, but complaints of low prices have so far kept Kodiak fishermen at home.

– Kodiak Daily News

More: www.kodiakdailymirror.com

Fancy grub at Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Fest

Sipping champagne and contemplating lunch, a Santa Rosa couple Sunday afternoon took in the lively scene at the 37th annual Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival.

“Oysters, that’s next,” said Candy Shannon, as she and longtime partner Michael Thompson stood in the warm sunshine looking out over the bay with their dog, Parker.

– Santa Rosa Press Democrat

More: yourtown.pressdemocrat.com

Rivers suffer from climate change

Along with warmer air and warmer oceans, rivers also seem to be heating up with global warming. Across the United States, a new study found, water temperatures in some rivers have risen by more than 3 degrees Celsius in the last few decades.

– Discovery News

More: news.discovery.com

Happy holidays!

May the Mr. and Mrs. Fish Wrap, plus all the little Wrappettes, be the first to wish you and yours a merry National Fish Fry Week. And for the unfortunate vegetarians amongst us, have a very merry National Bean Pole Week.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Three live, one dies in Alaska sinking

Coast Guard rescue crews from Air Station Kodiak have recovered four fishermen at 8:39 p.m. 50 miles south of Montegue Island after the 75-foot Seattle-based fishing vessel Northern Belle sank Tuesday around 5:30 p.m.

– Coast Guard press release

More: www.piersystem.com

 


Alaska charter outfit fined for violations

Southeast Alaska charter business has been fined $60,000 in connection with sport fishing violations caught in an undercover investigation. Elfin Cove Eagle Charters Alaska LLC is owned and operated by Joe Kulavik of Vancouver, Wash. He pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to one consolidated count of sport fish guide violations.

– Anchorage Daily News

More: www.adn.com/2010

Wages raised for Valdez anti-spill fishermen

The operator of the trans-Alaska pipeline and Valdez tanker port announced Tuesday it is offering a substantial boost in pay to Southcentral fishermen who participate in its oil-spill response program.

– Anchorage Daily News

More: www.adn.com/2010

Petersburg sets commercial
fishermen committee

Petersburg Mayor Al Dwyer has just established a Commercial Fishing Committee to address problems and solutions facing the future of Petersburg's commercial fishing fleet.Julianne Curry of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association, via Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss

More: deckboss.blogspot.com

Legislature’s acts to affect Unalaska

The 2010 state legislative session wrapped up with a rush of bills being passed in the last few days of the session. District 37 Representative Bryce Edgmon said a number of them will have direct impacts on Unalaska.

— Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB

More: www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial

Fraser sockeye probe prepares to begin

Environmentalists, salmon farmers and aboriginal groups will be among the formal participants in a judicial inquiry charged with finding out why millions of Fraser River sockeye salmon vanished in each of the last three years.

– Agassiz Harrison (B.C.) Observer

More: www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley

Kodiak’s ComFish another success

Kodiak’s ComFish tradeshow was very successful this year. Debora King, executive director of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce, said the event was bigger than last year’s in terms of attendance and booths.

– Kodiak Daily Mirror

More: www.kodiakdailymirror.com

B.C. salmon farmer charged

Charges of unlawful possession of wild salmon and herring have been laid against Marine Harvest Canada, the largest fish-farming company in B.C. A private prosecution, previously laid by biologist and activist Alexandra Morton, was taken over by the federal Justice Department.

– Victoria Times-Colonist

More: www.timescolonist.com

NOAA mum on ouster of its top cop

It's been two weeks since Dale J. Jones, police chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was reportedly ousted from his post. But since then, there has not been a word from NOAA head Jane Lubchenco about his status. In fact, it is not even official that he has been dismissed.

– Gloucester (Mass.) Times

More: www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion

Cal power plant water plan draws ire from fleet

A landmark new state policy that for the first time would restrict and phase out use of estuary, delta and ocean water for cooling coastal power plants has drawn the adamant opposition of the Coastal Alliance on Plant Expansion of Morro Bay, the City of Morro Bay, 29 other state and local environmental and commercial fishing organizations and nine state legislators because of large loopholes that could allow the practice to continue indefinitely, killing an estimated 79 billion fish and other marine life annually.

– CalCoastNews.com

More: calcoastnews.com/2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010


Crew uneasy about cargo in doomed boat

As the Northern Belle left Seattle earlier this month, the crew was uneasy about the amount of cargo packed into its holds, according to one of three people who survived when the boat sank in the Gulf of Alaska on Tuesday.

– Seattle Times

More: seattletimes.nwsource.com

Crewmen remember last moments of boat

One moment the Northern Belle was cutting through the Gulf of Alaska on the way to Dillingham, and then suddenly the 75-foot fishing vessel was listing severely to starboard, its deck turning almost vertical.

– Anchorage Daily News

More: www.adn.com/2010

Prices good for troll kings and halibut

Fishermen are enjoying some nice prices in most ports across Alaska.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in the Dutch Harbor Fisherman

More: www.thedutchharborfisherman.com/article

Coast Guard medevacs Bering Sea fisherman

A predeployed MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak safely medevaced a 23-year-old U.S. resident from the fishing vessel Sea Fisher 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor Tuesday.

– Coast Guard press release

More: www.piersystem.com/go

Kodiak Coast Guard plucks man
from cruise ship

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak conducted a medevac of a 26-year-old Russian man from the 780-foot Netherlands-flagged Holland America cruise ship Amsterdam Wednesday evening approximately 200 nautical miles south of Kodiak.

– Coast Guard press release

More: mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/1282495e03002e7e

Letter: Stop closing fishing grounds

Over the last 10 years, a full 75 percent of our trawl fishermen's grounds in federal and state waters have been closed, and now the state of Oregon's Department of Fish and Wildlife, under orders from our governor, seems to be trying to close even more fishing grounds in state waters in the way of closed-to-fishing marine reserves.

Bernard Bjork, coordinator, Lower Columbia Alliance for Sustainable Fisheries, in the Daily Astorian

More: www.dailyastorian.info

Unalaska hasn’t finalized boat harbor plan

The city council discussed the small boat harbor again Tuesday night and tried to hammer out the final details.

- Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

More: www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial

Akutan airport may cut Unalaska flights

The new Akutan airport may mean fewer flights to Unalaska in the future. The airport is scheduled for completion in 2012 and will be built on Akun Island.

-Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

More: www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial

Kodiak herring fishermen agree to price

A dispute between local fish processors and fishermen over herring prices appears to be resolved.

– Kodiak Daily Mirror

www.kodiakdailymirror.com

PWS shrimp harvest slow

Fifty boats fished under stormy weather conditions with low catch numbers. 155 boats were registered to commercially fish shrimp with a limit of 20 pots.

– Cordova Times

More: www.thecordovatimes.com/article



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