Monday, May 14, 2012
Where is AMERICA'S 'ultimate fishing town?'
Several Alaska towns are vying for the title of 'Ultimate Fishing Town' which comes with a $25,000 check for local fishing projects.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, reporting for SitNews, Ketchikan.
More:sitnews.us
128-foot fishing vessel ablaze
The Coast Guard, Camano Island, Wash., and Whidbey Island, Wash., Fire Depts. have responded to a boat fire on an anchored 128-foot fishing vessel located in Penn Cove off Whidbey Island, Sunday. The Coast Guard received a report at 11:45 p.m., Saturday, from Island County Dispatch stating the vessel Deep Sea was completely engulfed in flames.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d13.uscgnews.com
First wave of tsunami debris hits Alaska beaches
Soccer balls...motorcycles...mostly lighter wind-driven items are now appearing along Alaska's coastlines. The worst is yet to come.
– Bristol Bay Times
More:www.thebristolbaytimes.com
MSC app successful
The Marine Stewardship Council's sustainable seafood finder mobile app has passed 500 downloads, less than a month after its official launch.
– MSC
More:www.msc.org
Rebuilding Columbia butterfly boat
In 1900, there were more than 2,500 of the double-ended gillnet boats fishing the lower waters of the Columbia River.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
New MSC master plan
The MSC's new strategic plan is focused on maintaining and increasing the value proposition of the MSC program for existing certified fisheries and commercial partners who are predominantly in Europe, North America, and Australia/New Zealand.
– TheFishSite
More:www.thefishsite.com
Canadian company in MSC deal
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and High Liner Foods, Canada's leading supplier of seafood, announced a groundbreaking partnership that includes a commitment by High Liner to source all wild-caught seafood from MSC certified fisheries by 2013 and display the MSC ecolabel on all certified wild-caught products supplied by High Liner Foods in Canada.
– MSC
More:www.msc.org
The fish ticket that got away
Glacier Seafoods fails to submit fish ticket, suffers the consequences.
– The Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Is California's protection for forage fish the strongest in the world?
Extremist groups claim overfishing is occurring, but editorial says fishermen have long recognized that a sustainable fishery was good for people and fish.
– North County Times
More:www.nctimes.com
Could wild fish make up 13 to 15 percent of the animal protein produced on the entire planet by 2050?
Oceana CEO Andrew Sharpless says that if we managed the world's oceans better, wild seafood could be a major protein source for our world's ever-growing population.
– Earth Island Journal
More:www.earthisland.org
Economic value of B.C. commercial fishery dwindling in rural coastal communities
Once an economic driver, the commercial fishery is of little net economic value to the province, editorial says.
– The Globe and Mail
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grant Will Promote Kodiak's Small Boat Jig Fishery
The Alaska Marine Conservation Council received a sizable grant last week to help Kodiak jig fishermen get better prices for their Pacific cod and rockfish catches.
– KMXT
More:www.kmxt.org
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
COLUMBIA SPRINGER RUN DOWNGRADED
The Bonneville Dam count was 110,514 through Sunday and biologists gave a range of the final run at between 192,000 and 217,000 at the river mouth, with 202,000 being their current estimate.
– The Oregonian
Togiak herring fishery begins
The largest herring fishery in Alaska opened last night.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:www.kdlg.org
Don’t count on Fraser fishing
Commercial fishermen shouldn't count on putting a net in the Fraser River this summer.
– Maple Ridge News
Blazing derelict sinks
The Deep Sea is discharging approximately one to two gallons of diesel fuel per minute. A boom deployment vessel and an oil recovery vessel are working to contain the leak. In addition, a Ballard Diving and Salvage dive team is siphoning diesel from the vessel's fuel tanks.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d13.uscgnews.com
More fisheries declared healthy
A record number of fisheries were declared rebuilt to healthy levels in 2011, bringing the number of rebuilt U.S. marine fish populations in the last 11 years to 27.
– NOAA
More:www.nmfs.noaa.gov
Salmon ranching and wild fish
The billions of hatchery raised salmon that have been released in the wild can harm wild salmon through competition for food and habitat.
– Summit County Citizens Voice, Colorado
Another fish jetliner
Alaska Airlines and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute unveiled the world's largest king salmon.
– Market Watch
More:www.marketwatch.com
Price help for cod jiggers
The Alaska Marine Conservation Council received a sizable grant to help Kodiak jig fishermen get better prices for their Pacific cod and rockfish catches.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Longer snow crab season
It’s already been a long snow crab season, but it’s about to be longer.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
ANOTHER DISEASE OF SALMON FARMS
Its Dixon Bay farm north of Tofino tested positive for Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis.
More:www.vancouversun.com
Virus killing sea lions
A relatively rare virus in Alaska is being looked at as the cause to an unusually high number of premature births among Steller sea lions around Kodiak Island.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
California sea lion killing continues
Animal-rights and environmental groups asked a federal judge to stop the killing of California sea lions that commercial fishermen, Native American tribes, and sportsmen say have been gobbling endangered salmon.
– Wall Street Journal
More:online.wsj.com
Pebble permitting to cost $107 mil
A Canada-based mining company eyeing development of a huge copper and gold deposit near one of the world's premier salmon fisheries said that $107 million has been allocated to prepare the mine for permitting later this year.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Copper River opens on Thursday
Upscale seafood markets and restaurants in Alaska and around the country are getting ready to go wild to buy up and cook wild Copper River red and king salmon in a tasty rite of spring.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Salmon 'ranching' eyed
The studies provide new evidence that fast-growing hatchery fish compete with wild fish for food and habitat in the ocean as well as in the rivers where they return to spawn and even raises questions about whether the ocean can supply enough food to support future increases in hatchery fish while still sustaining wild salmon.
– Science 2.0
More:www.science20.com
Suit filed for Cook Inlet belugas
A lawsuit challenging petroleum exploration in Alaska's Cook Inlet was filed Tuesday by four groups, including an Alaska Native village, that claim seismic testing will harm endangered beluga whales.
– FederalNewsRadio.com
More:www.federalnewsradio.com
Fisherman gets $75,000 fine
He was convicted of several violations including fishing in an illegal area, being in possession of undersize Dungeness crab, and catching and retaining flounder without a license.
– MarketWire
More:www.marketwire.com
More trash in the ocean
An increase in plastic debris floating in a zone between Hawaii and California is changing the environment of at least one marine critter,
scientists reported.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Lisa wary of tsunami debris
Sen. Murkowski wrote a letter to Dr. Lubchenco, pointing out that already Alaska is experiencing much higher than typical levels of debris throughout the Prince William Sound area.
– Alaska Native News
More:alaska-native-news.com
Thursday, May 17, 2012
GOOD FISHING WEATHER
The Alaska Copper River commercial salmon season opened this morning. Wind was from the southeast at 2 mph. Visibility was 8 miles. There were scattered clouds. The forecast called for 50 degrees.
Invasive snakehead in B.C.
It's a toothy, nasty-looking creature, with a torpedo-shaped body, small head and a big mouth.
– Globe and Mail
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
End halibut bycatch
I hope Alaskans from all walks of life will call or send in a short note by letter or email to push our resource managers to finally take this baby step to control the killing of unwanted halibut during the course of another fishery.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Make halibut panel more open
A consulting firm has recommended sweeping changes centered on improving transparency and increasing stakeholder participation after completing a performance review of the International Pacific Halibut Commission.
– Homer News
More:homernews.com
GOP against fish management
Add fish and oceans to the long list of environmental issues that House Republicans do not much care about.
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
GOP: 'Victory for fishermen'
This is a small victory for recreational and commercial fishermen, and coastal communities."
– The Star
More:www.starfl.com
Good forests = good fisheries
In the 1960s, areas like Prince of Wales Island were heavily logged in clear-cuts.
– KTUU
More:www.ktuu.com
Pebble doesn't meet goal
While many of Alaska's mining projects have met Hammond's basic standards, the proposed Pebble Mine has not.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Kodiak leaves herring in water
A late start to the Kodiak sac roe fishery will leave about a thousand tons unharvested.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Measure would fund harbor projects
In June, Ketchikan City voters will decide whether to approve $5 million in bonds to fund harbor projects.
– KRBD, Ketchikan
More:www.krbd.org
New hatchery in Southeast?
The Department of Fish and Game is considering whether to issue a permit for a new Southeast Alaska hatchery to produce Chinook and coho salmon.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Friday, May 18, 2012
SALMON FARMERS READY TO SLAUGHTER FISH
A B.C. fish farm where a virus deadly to Atlantic salmon was detected has been quarantined, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Thursday, as officials scramble to contain the highly infectious disease.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Death in Togiak fleet
Alaska State Troopers say a 43-year-old Washington state man died Thursday on board a commercial fishing vessel anchored 10 miles off Togiak.
– The Republic
More:www.therepublic.com
First fish away!
Alaska Copper River salmon have begun their long journey from the ocean to dinner plates across the country
– KTUU
More:articles.ktuu.com
Rich guy fights against you
Norman L. Brenden, once the chief financial officer for a large Salem-based chain of senior living homes, has kicked in another $150,000 for a proposed ballot measure aimed at banning non-Indian gillnetting on the Columbia River.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Togiak fishery hampered
The largest herring fishery in Alaska has been hampered the last few days by weather and unripe fish.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Another herring disappointment
It looks like the sac roe herring fishery in Seymour Canal was just not to be this year.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More: www.kfsk.org
Beware of Canada oil port
Twenty-three years after the Exxon Valdez spilled more than half a million barrels of oil into Prince William Sound, another threat looms over Alaska's remote and beautiful coastline — in the form of heavy oil exports from Canada to China.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, the Togiak sac roe herring fishery happened all of a sudden this week; NOAA Fisheries issues its report on the status of U.S. Fisheries, close encounters of the cetacean kind, and jig fishermen get some marketing help.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Map of watery reserves
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a new map of all 1,700 marine protected areas in the country.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
Tsunami buoy traced home
A spherical buoy found on the coast of Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska after apparently being swept away in the March 2011 tsunami was one of several used for the sign of a restaurant in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, 5,000 km away.
– Japan Times
More:www.japantimes.co.jp
