Monday, April 29, 2013
EPA: PEBBLE BAD
A proposed mine near Alaska's coast that's garnered Capitol Hill attention would harm a habitat that houses nearly half the world's sockeye salmon.
– The Hill
More:thehill.com
Readying for debris
Government scrambled for clean-up funds, and citizen volunteers, armed with bags and good intentions, took to the beaches.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Bristol Bay buy-backs
The organization that represents Bristol Bay's driftnet fleet is taking a survey about a possible permit buyback program.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Pebble miners to spend
Backers of a massive copper, gold and molybdenum mine at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed say they plan to spend $80 million in 2013 on environmental studies and more to finalize their project description.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
B.C. boats after Cal squid
A David and Goliath battle is brewing in the commercial squid fishery, with "scoop" fishermen alleging larger purse seiners are robbing them of their livelihoods, sometimes illegally.
– Monterey Herald
More:montereyherald.com
Fed sustainability stamp
The council voted 16-0 at the end of its three day meeting in Mystic, Conn., to ask Congress to include in its rewrite of the Magnuson-Stevens Act language establishing a certification program for seafood — similar to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's stamp of approval for meat, according to the debate at the council.
– Gloucester Times
More:gloucestertimes.com
Opening Statter Harbor
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held May 15 at Don D. Statter Harbor, the facility at Auke Bay that has been under construction since last fall.
More:juneauempire.com
Arctic whaling begins
Despite the lingering effects of winter, spring whaling has begun in Arctic Alaska and seal hunters are also heading to the coast from Chevak in the Southwest part of the state.
– Alaska Public Media
More:alaskapublic.org
Global market's Bristol Bay effects
One of the foremost experts on salmon markets flew into Dillingham last Saturday to share what he knows with an interested group of salmon fishermen.
– KDLG
More:kdlg.org
Risk: Climate, not oil
Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, says declining Arctic sea ice, which has increased incentives for shipping through the Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean, poses a greater risk to the marine environment than from oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
FIGHTING OREGON COMORANTS
The hazing involves driving at the birds in boats, and at the Alsea and Nestucca, also firing pyrotechnics called screamer shells.
– The Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
Reining in herring fishery
Absurdly, Alaska is the only state on the west coast that does not classify herring as a "forage fish," thus denying it protection under the Forage Fish Management Plan.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Bristol Bay too rich
The Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world, is home to 25 federally recognized tribal governments, and also contains one of the largest concentrations of copper, gold and molybdenum in the world.
– Environment News Service
More:ens-newswire.com
Unalaska ferry problems
When the Tustumena ferry went in for repairs this winter, it was supposed to be fixed up in time for the 2013 season.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Weak kings on Yukon
Another weak Yukon River Chinook salmon return is forecast for this summer.
– Alaska Public Media
More:alaskapublic.org
Chinook study money
Alaska's senators, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, continue to pursue federal fisheries disaster relief for the recent poor Chinook salmon returns.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
SE bycatch plan
Fishing industry stakeholders and federal managers in June will begin crafting a bycatch reduction plan for trawl groundfish fisheries in the Gulf.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:sitnews.us
Wave buoy removal
Oregon lawmakers don't want the state to get stuck with the bill if a wave-energy company installs equipment off shore and then goes belly up.
– The Daily Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
Smartphone vs. fish fraud
Of course local fish should be packaged and consumed locally, but that's not what happen.
– National Geographic
More:newswatch.nationalgeographic.com
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
LIVE CRAB FROM ALEUTIANS
Bering Fisheries started shipping live crab across the globe earlier this month.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Chileans promise to be good
The law aims to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems by providing annual reports about the state of fishery resources, special support for research programs about fishing and aquaculture, and by banning bottom-trawling, which is exceptionally harmful to the marine environment.
– LoveChileNews
More:ilovechile.cl
Sampling 'trash' fish
The species — pollock, hake, redfish and dogfish were featured at the taste test — are popular overseas in many cases but still lag behind cod and haddock in the U.S.
– South Coast Today
More:southcoasttoday.com
Poison gas found
The canisters contain a compound with the trade name phostoxin, which when exposed to the moisture in the air, creates phosphine gas.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Wants into CDQ club
An impoverished Northwest Alaska village is trying to elbow its way into a lucrative commercial fishing program that helps boost economic opportunity in much of rural Alaska.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Just a Pebble reminder
Folks on all sides of the fight over the proposed Pebble Mine are commenting about the new version of the EPA Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment. Here's how you can too. To read a 23-page executive summary of the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, go totinyurl.com.
Submit your comments:tinyurl.com
Cook Inlet managers nervous
While the setnetters were beached most of the summer, the driftnetters took in more than 23 million pounds of sockeye for a total profit of $32 million, slightly higher than 2011, when they captured $30 million of fish.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Cal readies for salmon
California has traditionally been the leading producing state for troll-caught wild king salmon along the Pacific Coast.
– California Salmon Council
More:prweb.com
Grants for innovative ideas
With the goal of sustaining fishermen while rebuilding fish stocks, the new grants will aid the design and implementation of projects that provide technical and practical support for fishing communities across the country.
– Sacramento Bee
More:sacbee.com
Curbing Kenai dipnetters
City officials have had enough, and this summer they'll crack down harder on waste, requiring users to dump fish remains back into the water and fining fishermen who ignore the law.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Thursday, May 2, 2013
OBJECTING TO FRANKENSALMON
Center for Food Safety, Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, and Food & Water Watch will join over 1.8 million people who have raised vehement objections, based on science, policy and law, to a proposal before the Food and Drug Administration to approve genetically engineered salmon, the first-ever GE animal intended for human consumption.
– Center for Food Safety
More:centerforfoodsafety.org
Cal trolling opens
The commercial salmon fishing season south of Point Arena opened Wednesday, promising the return of fresh-caught wild salmon in the area's markets and restaurants.
– Santa Rosa Press Democrat
More:pressdemocrat.com
Act against Pebble
The Environmental Protection Agency said the development of the proposed Pebble Mine would destroy nearly 100 miles of streams and up to 4,800 acres of wetlands.
– TakePart.com
More:takepart.com
Save Oregon fish from mining
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife killed sea lion number CO22 (or as activist group Sea Shepherd dubbed him, Brian) April 16, for eating too many salmon, but conservationists say that it's suction dredge mining, sucking up riverbeds in giant vacuums, that poses a bigger threat to Oregon's rivers and their fish.
– Eugene Weekly
More:eugeneweekly.com
More water in N. Cal
The water is intended to help young salmon get through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and out to the Pacific Ocean, where they live for a few years before returning to spawn in their native rivers.
– Modesto Bee
More:modbee.com
Helicopter to Cordova
The Coast Guard in Kodiak says it's assigning a helicopter crew to Cordova to assist mariners.
– KTUU
More:ktuu.com
Rewriting Magnuson-Stevens
Indiscriminate fishing practices continue to damage irreplaceable marine habitat, kill too many species incidental to the targeted catch, and remove too many of the small forage fish that provide food for many of the larger inhabitants of the ocean.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Lowdown on Louisiana Shrimping
What was once an industry supporting just a few fishermen using relatively simple gear has evolved into a highly competitive commercial and recreational enterprise engaged in by thousands of people utilizing the latest in sophisticated gear, equipment and vessels.
– Dailycomet.com
More:dailycomet.com
Otters not sustainable
Sea otters plus fishermen equals too much demand and not enough shellfish.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoo.org
Friday, May 3, 2013
ARNE NOW A LOBBYIST
Arne Fuglvog, a former fisheries advisor to Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and commercial fisherman, who stepped down in 2011 when he was charged with out-of-bounds fishing in Alaska waters, has reportedly found a new vocation – lobbyist for commercial fishing companies.
– Alaska Dispatch
More: alaskadispatch.com
Wild salmon and farm disease
Wild Pacific salmon, she has said, are testing positive for a European strain of the virus that causes the disease, infectious salmon anemia, or I.S.A.
– New York Times
More: nytimes.com
Sporties against Webster
In a swift and organized character assassination, KRSA spread false and misleading information vilifying Mr. Webster.
– Juneau Empire
More: juneauempire.com
... and why
For some reason, Kenai River Sportfishing Association wanted Vince Webster off of the Board of Fish.
More: alaskajournal.com
Fishermen discover Seward
During the past few weeks, every available square foot of tie up dock space in Resurrection Bay has been utilized by fishing boats as the crews prepared for the herring, black cod, and halibut openings.
– Seward Phoenix Log
More: thesewardphoenixlog.com
Community supported fishing
Commercial harvesters have expanded deliveries of Gulf of Alaska seafood from Alaskans Own Community Supported Fishery to Anchorage this year, with monthly offerings also arriving to subscribers in Kodiak, Juneau and Sitka.
– Cordova Times
More: thecordovatimes.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, harvest restrictions are expected for the Yukon River, but the Kuskokwim River may see more salmon going to fishermen. The latest EPA assessment claims a large mine in Bristol Bay would affect salmon habitat, and the future of the state's film tax program.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More: kmxt.org
Tanner crab OK
In 2011, the crab was listed as over fished. Now, the federal government reports the stock as safe.
– KTOO, Juneau
More: ktoo.org
Togiak herring: Still waiting
It's the first fishery of the season in Bristol Bay and it's on hold awaiting the arrival of fish.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More: kdlg.org
Stikine subsistence closed
Officials this week closed the annual opening, scheduled for May 15th to June 20th.
– Alaska Public Media
More: alaskapublic.org
