Monday, April 30, 2012
WORD NEAR ON SEINER BUYOUT
We should know very soon now whether Southeast Alaska salmon seiners will go through with a permit buyback.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Against ocean zoning
Some 23 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a letter to the chairman of the House Appropriations committee asking that all efforts to implement ocean zoning be defunded.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Reducing halibut bycatch
Brainstorming over halibut bycatch is the theme of a two-day workshop in Seattle.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in Bristol Bay Times
More:thebristolbaytimes.com
New crew license needed
"We need a crew license with a number that would stay with you for the rest of your career and track you."
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Wild escape from floating processor
Two men have pleaded guilty to criminal mischief charges related to a recent midnight escape from a floating processor.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
You've got one eager customer
Local commercial salmon season starts later this week, and I, like many other folks, can hardly wait.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Disease shuts down salmon farm
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has ordered Cooke Aquaculture to destroy all the fish at one of the company's Nova Scotia fish farms. In February, the company destroyed two cages of fish at a Shelburne, N.S., farm after tests indicated the possibility of the Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) virus.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
JAPAN MOTORCYCLE WASHES UP
A beachcomber from Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) has stumbled across the largest piece of debris from the Japanese tsunami to hit B.C. shores.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More: www.theprovince.com
No-fisherman zone?
Maybe we need a "no-fisherman zone" to protect the sea otters. In fact, they were here first.
– L.A. Times
More: www.latimes.com
Sporties cancel salmon derby
A fishing derby that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for protection of fish habitat and for salmon enhancement projects during its 25 years in existence is cancelled this year.
– Canada.com
More: www.canada.com
Natives still object to Sitka fishery
This year's lower-than-expected herring harvest has renewed calls from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska to change the fishery.
– KCAW, Sitka
More: www.kcaw.org
Alaska medevac
A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a fisherman from the 68-foot fishing vessel Island Dancer in Seymour Canal on the east side of Admiralty Island.
– Coast Guard
More: www.d17.uscgnews.com
State dollars go to aquaculture
Deckboss reviewed the new capital budget the Legislature passed April 15 and couldn't help but notice the sizeable sums awarded to the state's hatchery operators, as well as shellfish growers.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Another Elwha dam coming down
The two dams, about 129 km northwest of Seattle, blocked migratory routes of salmon and steelhead trout to about 112 km of tributary habitat, in the process robbing Native Americans of income by halting a treaty-guaranteed reservation fishery.
– Vancouver Sun
More: www.vancouversun.com
Elwha silt in the salt chuck
Backed up for decades, murky sediment from the newly liberated Elwha River has begun to form a plume as it empties into the blue waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
– Daily Astorian
More: www.dailyastorian.com
Prez politics and fishing
Romney said commercial fishermen burn an average of about 100 gallons of diesel fuel a day, and the president's reluctance to tap the country's oil resources will exacerbate future price increases.
– Boston Herald
More: www.bostonherald.com
Coast Guard escorts fisherman
The 53-foot steel hulled fishing vessel Ashlyne crew made a mayday call to the Coast Guard after the vessel began listing for unknown reasons. The crew then reported their 70,000 pound catch of fish had shifted in the fish hold, causing further listing and reduction in vessel stability as the Ashlyne attempted to return to port.
– Coast Guard
More: www.d13.uscgnews.com
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Seine buyback approved
The bottom line is 215 permit holders voted in favor of the buyback, well in excess of the 190-vote majority needed.
– Pacific Fishing columnist
Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Cal troll salmon opens
What will be the longest salmon season for commercial fishermen in years opened with the promise of an abundance of fish.
– Santa Rosa Press Democrat
More: www.pressdemocrat.com
New uses for Bristol Bay sockeye
A new survey of the processors in Bristol Bay shows some changes in how the sockeye resource is used.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More: kdlg.org
Ice threatens Bering drilling
Heavy winter ice in the Alaskan Arctic is threatening to complicate Shell's drilling plans.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More: kucb.org
B.C. salmon panel scrambling
The federal government's bid to make sweeping changes to the Fisheries Act has prompted an 11th-hour scramble at the $26.4 million Cohen Commission, which was created by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2009 to study dramatic declines in the West Coast sockeye fishery.
– Canada.com
More: www.canada.com
Alberni sockeye run to be huge
This is the third year in a row the sockeye salmon run is expected to exceed 600,000. Last year, the run was more than 1 million.
– Canada.com
More: www.canada.com
Increasing marine mammal envelope
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans have proposed an amendment to the Marine Mammal Regulations, which will call for a minimum 100 meter approach distance between vessels and marine mammals.
– Sooke News Mirror
More: www.sookenewsmirror.com
Cal water plan may hurt fisheries
The San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act would damage salmon populations and undermine the recreational and commercial fishing industries that rely on them.
– Redwood Times
More: www.redwoodtimes.com
Oregon's Judge Salmon
Judge James Redden has been a mighty force in the long-running court battle over managing dams in the Columbia River Basin to protect salmon.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More: ecotrope.opb.org
Thursday, May 3, 2012
THE REAL FIRST SALMON OPENINGS
Commercial gillnetters and trollers in the Petersburg and Wrangell area will be targeting king salmon in the marine waters near the Stikine River starting early next week.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:www.kfsk.org
Copper River opening made official
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game officially announced that the Copper River District will open for the season at 7 a.m. on Thursday, May 17 for a 12-hour period.
– ADF&G
More:www.adfg.alaska.gov
Tsunami debris 'staggering mess'
A "staggering mess" is building on the beaches of Gulf of Alaska islands bordering Prince William Sound.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Medevac to Cold Bay
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a fisherman from the 110-foot fishing vessel Bearing Leader 57 miles northwest of Cold Bay.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
Final Cal crab recommendations
The California Dungeness crab task force Administrative Team is pleased to announce that the DCTF's final recommendations on the commercial tiered trap limit program are now available.
– DCTF
More:www.opc.ca.gov
Disappointing news for fish farmers
When it comes to the food used to raise fish in aquaculture "farms," it seems that you may get what you pay for.
– Phys-Org.com
More:phys.org
Texans oppose Pebble Mine
Thousands of miles north of Texas, a sinister threat to all sportsmen and conservationists continues to raise its ugly head.
– Lone Star Outdoor News
More:www.lsonews.com
Sacramento water lawsuit
California fishermen and crabbers call the federal decision to divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta "a charade devoid of any effective environmental review," in Federal Court.
– Courthouse News Service
More:www.courthousenews.com
Bill would threaten Cal otters
The bill is an end-around the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's recent decision to begin extending federal protections for the otter into waters south of Point Conception.
– The Independent
More:www.independent.com
More info on seiner buyback
Here are the results from the Southeast Alaska salmon seine permit buyback referendum.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Friday, May 4, 2012
MORE BRISTOL BAY FISH CHILLED
A survey of Bristol Bay salmon processors in 2011 season shows that the percentage of chilled salmon delivered by the drift gillnet fleet more than doubled in five years, while the combined chilled harvest of both drift and set netters rose to 48 percent.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
End of golden king crab season
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the commercial golden (brown) king crab fishery in the Southern Area will close at 12 noon Friday.
– Petersburg Pilot
More:www.petersburgpilot.com
Northern Inlet Chinook rules
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) formally issued emergency orders further restricting the existing king salmon sport and commercial fisheries for the Northern District of Cook Inlet.
– Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman
More:www.frontiersman.com
Tours harassing whales
A total of 2,500 whale-watching infractions were observed in Haro Strait in Washington state last year as the U.S. introduced new conservation regulations requiring boaters, including Canadians, to keep specific distances from killer whales.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
More on Pebble Mine
Sadly, very few people are aware that that region is now threatened by the proposed Pebble Mine, a massive open-pit copper mine that could destroy this pristine and very productive area.
– Lacrosse Tribune
More:hlacrossetribune.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Southeast Salmon Seiners have voted to buy back a number of permits, king salmon fishing should begin for gillnetters and trollers in the Stikine area starting early next week, and the downside of the foreign workers visa program.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Eat fish, stay healthy
Most people, whether healthy or having cardiovascular disease, would benefit from regular consumption of oily fish.
– Science Codex
More:www.sciencecodex.com
Lisa likes NOAA idea
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, believes President Obama's proposal to move the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from the Commerce Department to the Interior Department is a good idea.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
