Monday, May 7, 2012
Observers in gillnet fishery
Starting in June, National Marine Fisheries Service contractors in small boats will shadow individual gillnetters and monitor any interactions marine mammals or birds.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:www.kfsk.org
Salmon slow in California
The commercial season for Chinook salmon has gotten off to a slow start, with windy conditions making it difficult for fishing boats to get out of port and, when they do get to sea, few fish are being caught.
—Santa Rosa Press Democrat
More:www.pressdemocrat.com
Fish plants OK’d for foreign workers
Foreign students can continue to work in U.S. seafood processing plants this summer under the State Department's J-1 visa program.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
State fights Pebble investigation
The state of Alaska is fighting a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study that looks at the potential impacts of mining on the World-class Bristol Bay salmon fishery.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
B.C. decries new fed fish plan
The Harper government's novel and controversial plan to fund its cash-strapped Fisheries Department betrays the spirit of British Columbia's terms of union to join Confederation.
– Canada.com
More:www.canada.com
Why Alaska fleet is based in Seattle
Substantially all of the major fleets that fish the North Pacific around Alaska for pollock and crab travel from the Seattle area to the fishing grounds.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Fishermen cling to capsized boat
A crew of commercial fishermen clung to the hull of their capsized boat after the 42-foot vessel overturned in the frigid waters of Cape Beale off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Cutting halibut bycatch
It has taken a quarter of a century, but fishery managers are finally poised to take action to reduce the 5 million pounds of halibut taken as bycatch in Gulf of Alaska fisheries.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in Bristol Bay Times
More:thebristolbaytimes.com
First whale entanglement
NOAA marine mammal experts deployed on their first operation of the year to disentangle a whale from fishing gear in Southeast Alaska.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
CRABBERS SCRAMBLE AGAINST ICE
The Bering Sea has been covered in record-setting ice since the season got underway in January and with just a few weeks left, fishermen still have millions of pounds of snow crab to catch.
— KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Needless deaths
There were 95 maritime deaths in the UK in the last five years which might have been prevented if those involved had been wearing a lifejacket or buoyancy aid.
– Afloat magazine
More:afloat.ie
Ferry T-bones Petersburg processor
One of Alaska's largest state ferries hit a seafood processing plant's dock head-on Monday, causing significant damage, officials said.
– Juneau Empire
More:ap.juneauempire.com
Medevac off Washington
The Coast Guard hoisted a man from a fishing vessel near Long Beach, Wash.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d13.uscgnews.com
Protecting killer whales
Reducing fishermen's catch of Chinook salmon may not increase the availability of prey for endangered Puget Sound orcas, a panel of U.S. and Canadian scientists have found.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
'Salmon judge' speaks out
U.S. District Judge James Redden, recently interviewed on the federal Columbia River Power System case he stepped down from last fall, said he thinks the four lower Snake River dams need to be breached to help salmon.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Climate change to change fishing
There are clear changes in the depth, distribution, migration and spawning behaviours of fish – many of which can be related to warming sea temperatures.
– FishNewsEU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Climate change to change everything
Changes in climate will drastically alter the balance of everything from bears to belugas.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
ICE-STALLED CRAB SEASON EXTENDED
For the first time ever, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has extended the snow crab season.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Mystery of exploding reefers
Now, Russian authorities say they've seized a shipment of contaminated coolant they believe is responsible for the exploding "reefers."
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Keeping crew safe
Danny Parker, a fisherman on the North Coast for more than 30 years, avoided a near disaster April 20 when his fishing vessel Ashlyne listed to the point of flooding.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Boat aground, now sunk
A 43-foot commercial fishing boat that ran aground last week in Sitka is now in worse shape.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Rammed processor to run
Ocean Beauty Seafoods still plans to run its Petersburg plant this summer despite this week's ferry accident.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:www.kfsk.org
Subsistence king crab
Alaskans have just over five weeks to weigh in on a Fish and Game proposal that would align federal and state rules surrounding the subsistence harvest of tanner and king crab.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org (scroll down)
Teaching about halibut
The organization that studies the halibut in the North Pacific has developed a new online science curriculum that is free for teachers to use.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Luring more kings to Columbia
Managers of the Columbia River hydropower system began tinkering with in-stream flow rates last week in an effort to encourage spring Chinook migration.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Marking Crescent City salmon
The hatchery is looking for volunteers to help mark 100,000 Chinook salmon to be released later this year.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Thursday, May 10, 2012
CANADA FARMED FISH ORGANIC?
Canadian farmed fish can now be certified as organic with the release of made in Canada standards.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Togiak waits for herring
The largest herring fishery in Alaska is on hold in Bristol Bay as fishermen and processors wait for the herring to show up.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Fish wheels on Yukon
Because chum and kings often run together, the conservation measures designed to protect kings also block access to the chums, as there is generally no way to prevent kings from diving into the nets intended for their sister salmon.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Plucked from sinking boat
Three commercial fishermen were plucked from a sinking fishing boat by Coast Guard rescuers after their boat ran aground near Neah Bay.
– Peninsula Daily
More:www.peninsuladailynews.com
India shuns Exxon Valdez hull
India's Supreme Court has banned the former Exxon Valdez from entering India, saying the ship involved in one of the worst U.S. oil spills will not be allowed in for dismantling until it has been decontaminated.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
CG deploys for salmon season
Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak positioned assets in Cordova in preparation for the upcoming spring and summer fishing seasons in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.
– Capital City Weekly
More:www.capitalcityweekly.com
'Bonanza' from Arctic warming
With melting sea ice opening up previously inaccessible parts of the Arctic Ocean, the fishing industry sees a potential bonanza.
– Environment 360, Yale
More:e360.yale.edu
Ice disadvantage for setnetters
By going cold, drift gillnetters may be seizing an upper hand over set netters among Bristol Bay commercial fishermen.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
CG needs new icebreaker
The head of the Coast Guard is warning members of Congress it is unprepared for a changing landscape and increased traffic in the Arctic off the coast of Alaska.
– Alaska Public Radio
More:www.alaskapublic.org
Friday, May 11, 2012
THIRD-GRADERS DEFEND SEA LIONS
In the past two weeks, students in Angela Casey's class have created and launched a political campaign to stop the governors of Oregon and Washington from allowing any more sea lion deaths at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.
– North County Times, California
More:www.nctimes.com
Ammonia leak at sea
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew medevaced three crewmembers off the Seattle-based fishing vessel Alaska Juris 80 miles north of Cold Bay Thursday.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
Ferry crash cause not mechanical
The U-S Coast Guard says Monday's ferry accident in Petersburg was not caused by a mechanical problem.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:www.kfsk.org
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week: the damage to Ocean Beauty's dock in Petersburg won't keep them from packing fish this summer. A fisherman's luck turns from bad to worse in Sitka. And teaching kids about halibut.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
German film crew in Togiak
Filmakers from a German public television station have been in Dillingham this week, preparing to do a documentary on the herring fishery around Togiak when it opens.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
St. Paul fish plant to stay open
St. Paul's fish processing plant will be open for business this summer after all.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
California whale rescue
A young gray whale entangled in fishing gear was left with deep lacerations on its tail, but scientists are hopeful it will survive now that it's been released from the lines.
– Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
California fishermen look ahead
Still just a week old, this year's commercial salmon fishing season may turn out to be the best in years.
– San Jose Mercury News
More:www.mercurynews.com
Foodies await Copper River fish
Seafood connoisseurs dining at high end restaurants in Anchorage are happy to shell out $39 or more for those early run Copper River salmon entrees, and high end seafood markets take advance orders from customers who want them at any price.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
