Monday, June 17, 2013
PRICEY SOCKEYE
Copper River salmon are a hot item on restaurant menus from Anchorage to Seattle in early summer, and at seafood counters too, with a word to the wise to always get them while you can.
– Alaska Dispatch
More: alaskadispatch.com
SE salmon forecast
This year's pink salmon harvest forecast is 54 million, which is double last year's forecast.
– KTOO, Juneau
More: ktoo.org
Wesley's salmon roundup
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports about 2.9 million fish have been taken so far, on a preseason forecast of 179 million.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Free life jackets
The first of 5,000 bespoke life-jackets to be produced for Scotland's fishermen as part of a £438,000 life-saving safety project has been officially handed over to the fishing industry.
– FISHupdate.com
More: fishupdate.com
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report
The Bristol Bay Fisheries Report includes an update from the ongoing Port Moller test fishery and a report about the results of a survey of drifters about fleet reduction efforts.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More: kdlg.org
New Bering Sea rules
In the wake of several high-profile cases of alleged scale-tampering by Bering Sea groundfish vessels, the National Marine Fisheries Service is revising its regulations for weighing fish at-sea.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More: kucb.org
Crab legs last longer
"As the crab meat in the leg is well protected by the shell, the meat in the legs has a longer shelf life than meat from the shoulder."
– FishNewsEU
More: fishnewseu.com
Replacing Astoria plant
"I can't believe it.They're working around the clock. I think they had every electrician in Clatsop County up there working on the electrical part of it."
– Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian
More: columbian.com
Congressman against Pebble
Congressman Rick Larsen has taken a side in the Pebble debate: His district, including Bellingham, represents 251 Bristol Bay commercial fishing permits and many small businesses that manufacture and sell equipment in Bristol Bay.
– Press release
More: larsen.house.gov
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
NON-LETHAL GEAR ON THE YUKON
What's really interesting about this opener is that fishermen can use only beach seines and dipnets, rather than the usual gillnets.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
More: alaskadispatch.com
Kodiak money fish
But while the reds are running strong, the pinks are the real money fish in these parts.
– Jay Barrett, reporting in KMXT, Kodiak
More: kmxt.org
Good news from Port Moller
The Port Moller Test Fishery continues to produce high index numbers leading to speculation that the Bristol Bay sockeye run is either early or large.
– Mike Mason, reporting for KDLG, Dillingham
More: kdlg.org
Adak processor auction today
On Tuesday, the processing plant's equipment will be auctioned off and, as KUCB's Stephanie Joyce reports, if it leaves the island, Adak will be left without its economic engine.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More: kucb.org
CG tow fishing boat
An 88-foot, 151-ton fishing vessel stranded 40 miles west of Fort Bragg was being towed to Eureka for repair by the Coast Guard Cutter Barracuda.
– Times Standard, Eureka
More: times-standard.com
Selling frozen halibut
Harvested from the cold waters near Kodiak, Alaska, Duke's Premium Halibut is better than fresh because it is ice chilled at the source and processed immediately after harvest, making it more consistent with a just-caught fresh flavor.
– Press release
More: heraldonline.com
Copper River coming on
Some 843,000 sockeyes and 7,200 king salmon have been harvested to date in the Copper River District and a 36-hour commercial opener was under way June 17, on the heels of an abundant catch this past week.
– Margaret Bauman, writing in the Cordova Times
More: thecordovatimes.com
Try a different halibut tag
It's back to the drawing board for halibut iTags that will soon tell us more about where the fish travels than ever before.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More: sitnews.us
Suing over Sacramento Delta
At least seven lawsuits were filed in three counties against what is known as the Delta Plan.
– Sacramento Bee
More: sacbee.com
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
TEN REASONS!
Amy Majors – aka Tough Girl – is part of our advertising promotion for September. Discover her and nine other reasons you should be part of Pacific Fishing.
Chick here: Pacific Fishing September Promotion
Search for missing crewman
The Coast Guard is searching for a missing crewman who went overboard from the fishing vessel "Swift."
– KCAW
More: kcaw.org
$1.8 million for Adak equipment
The equipment from Adak's fish processing plant was auctioned off in one piece Tuesday morning.
– KCUB
More: kucb.org
Bristol Bay oil lease bill in Congress
A bill working its way through the House of Representatives would open Bristol Bay to oil and gas lease sales in a new leasing plan.
– KDLG
More: kdlg.org
Marketing Alaska seafood
This week a number of representatives from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, also known as ASMI, are in town for an annual meeting to discuss how to better market Alaska seafood around the world.
– KMXT
More: kmxt.org
Open smaller fisheries
"If we carve out a small portion of these fisheries and regulate them differently, lower the cost of entry for small-scale fishers but require that the catch be marketed locally, we would be taking a huge step toward improving food security across the state."
– Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
More: agdevjournal.com
Tribes against canyon trawling
Idle No More is a Canadian-born movement that reached the state earlier this year. It represents the indigenous people who've been affected by legislative measures to curb the commercial fishing industries and other issues facing local tribes.
– Juneau Empire
More: juneauempire.com
Fishermen ask for impact assessment
Hawaii fishermen on Monday asked policymakers to address how runoff caused by land development harms reefs, fisheries and oceans when they consider how to cope with the effects of climate change.
– SFGate
More: sfgate.com
Greenland to open commercial fishing
A recent announcement by the territory that it plans to open a commercial fishery has caused alarm in some North Atlantic countries where certain salmon populations are in critical decline.
– Alaska Dispatch
More: alaskadispatch.com
Fishermen oppose river diversion
The plan to divert the Mississippi River into wetlands has sparked an uproar, with some in the fisheries industry saying it'll kill their livelihood.
– WWLTV.com
More: wwltv.com
Thursday, June 20, 2013
MISSING CREWMAN SEARCH SUSPENDED
The Coast Guard suspended its search late last night for a crewman who went overboard from a fishing vessel near Hoonah.
– KCAW
More: kcaw.org
Alaska rep warns of GE interbreeding
The Anchorage Democrat has been following the GE salmon issue closely, and came across a report in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the London-based journal of biology, which reports a study that shows GE salmon can interbreed with wild stocks if given the chance
– KMXT
More: www.kmxt.org
Slim odds for Klamath dam bill
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden's hearing Thursday on the Klamath Basin water crisis has sparked hope among supporters that landmark deals reached three years to unite many of the basin's combatants will finally get through Congress. But prospects for the Klamath Basin deals to win approval still look slim.
– The Oregonian
More: oregonlive.com
Alaska groups demand habitat protection
When is enough salmon protection enough, in the face of proposed coal mining?
– Cordova Times
More: thecordovatimes.com
Slow sockeye escapement continues
The escapement of sockeye to the Nushagak and Wood Rivers continues to be slow as commercial fishermen are anxiously awaiting the numbers to climb so they can go fishing in the Nushagak District.
– KDLG
More: kdlg.org
Aleutian CDQ buys Seattle fish supplier
The Aleutian Islands' community development quota group is branching out. They're currently in the final stages of a deal to buy Cannon Fish Company, a Seattle seafood marketer and supplier.
– KUCB
More: kucb.org
Funding sought for SF fish market
A San Francisco-based fisherman's cooperative that has been fighting for better wages and more sustainable fishing practices is now gunning for a retail shop to sell fresh, off-the-boat fish in the heart of Fisherman's Wharf.
– San Francisco Business Times
More: bizjournals.com
Report: Cook Inlet salmon fishery worth $56.4 million
As the push-pull of allocative arguments continue to churn in Cook Inlet fisheries, the Alaska Salmon Alliance has released an economic report to support its position that commercial fisheries are a significant part of the Kenai Peninsula economy, and so should have a place in the water and at the regulatory table.
– Homer Tribune
More: homertribune.com
Prey fish are important
A lack of forage fish can have serious repercussions – especially for the fishing industry.
– Christian Science Monitor
More: csmonitor.com
Friday, June 21, 2013
FRANKENFISH LABELING ADDED
TO BILL
A U.S. Senate committee on Thursday narrowly agreed to add to a spending bill language that would require that genetically modified salmon be labeled.
– Juneau Empire
More: juneauempire.com
'Off the charts' Egegik harvest
The most active of Bristol Bay's 5 commercial fishing districts is the Egegik District.
– KDLG
More: kdlg.org
The price of OR gillnet restrictions
The impact of the threat to gillnetting on the Columbia River is here.
– The Daily Astorian
More: dailyastorian.com
Klamath dam hearing
Local officials present at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday came away optimistic, but firm in their convictions that Congress must act now to address long-standing water issues in the Klamath Basin.
– Times-Standard
More: times-standard.com
NPFMC appointments
The Commerce Department has reappointed Duncan Fields, of Kodiak, to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and also has appointed newcomer David Long, of Wasilla.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, Southeast nets went in the water on Sunday and fishermen are expecting a big pink return this year; it turns out genetically engineered salmon might be able to breed with wild stock if they ever got out, and bringing Alaska seafood to the world, and the world to Kodiak.
– KMXT
More: kmxt.org
Dock sales boost Half Moon Bay's economy
With intermittent summer days on the coast, the weather isn't always conducive for fishermen in Half Moon Bay's Princeton Harbor. But when the skies clear and provide spurts of calm, the public is sure to have direct access to off-the-boat salmon sales.
– The Daily Journal
More: smdailyjournal.com
Cape Winslow sockeye counts
The sockeye are running out at Cape Wislow, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is keeping a close eye on the numbers.
– KCUB
More: kucb.org
Dam removal opens steelhead habitat
Politicians, utility officials and environmentalists will gather Friday in Carmel to celebrate the long-awaited removal of the 106-foot tall San Clemente Dam, which has blocked the Carmel River in Monterey County for 92 years.
– SFGate
More: blog.sfgate.com
Tribal hatcheries open on Columbia River
Salmon season is upon us, and two tribal hatcheries opening this week are testaments to restoration efforts.
– Indian Country Today Media Network
More: indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com