Monday, June 20, 2011
NO ONE HURT IN HARD GROUNDING
The Coast Guard and good Samaritans responded to the grounding of the 48-foot Kodiak-based fishing vessel Sisiutl in Portage Bay off Shelikof Strait 133 miles southwest of Kodiak City Friday.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
'Optimistic' outlook for SE gillnetters
Fish processors say the season looks promising and the folks on the water agree. "We're pretty optimistic" is a phrase repeated by those spoken to in the industry.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Good money for kings in Nome
Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. announces its Norton Sound Seafood Products division will pay fishermen $5.29 per pound in 2011 for Norton Sound red king crab at the dock in Nome. Last year the crab price was set at $3.77 at the dock.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com (Scroll down)
Fined $120,000 for rockfish
A commercial fisherman who is suing Fisheries and Oceans Canada has been fined $120,000 in Campbell River provincial court for unlawful possession of halibut and rockfish.
– Campbell River Mirror
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Oregon silvers still threatened
NOAA Fisheries announced that it is retaining the threatened Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing status of Oregon coast coho salmon.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Bristol Bay fishermen's new web site
The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA) has launched a new website that connects consumers with the region responsible for the world's largest wild sockeye salmon run. The site was unveiled during the BBRSDA Annual Membership Meeting.
– BBRSDA
See the site atwww.BristolBaySockeye.org
Canadians seek MSC nod for opilio
The Affiliation of Seafood Producers Association of Nova Scotia (ASPANS) has entered both the Scotian Shelf and Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab (Chionecetes opilio) trap fisheries into independent, third-party assessment to the Marine Stewardship Council's principles and criteria for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.
– FishNewsEU.com
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Enviros target catch shares
The campaigning group, Food & Water Watch, yesterday launched a campaign calling on the U.S. Congress to stop the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from further expand the catch share system for fisheries management.
– FishNewsEU.com
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Tourists on commercial halibut boat
An Alaska Legislative House Bill that passed in 2005 allowed the purchase of 7-day crew licenses to allow visitors an affordable way to engage in a sort of extreme tourism adventure by actually participating in the fishery as a crewmember.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Droves of fishermen drown
As many as 550 fishermen in 33 trawlers went missing in the Bay of Bengal on Friday in rough weather due to heavy rains triggered by a depression.
– Hindustan Times
More:www.hindustantimes.com
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
MONITORING WESTERN STELLAR SEA LIONS
For years, scientists have tried figuring out why the western stock of Steller sea lions have continued to decline. Now, a team of university researchers, commercial fishermen, and military contractors are testing a new way to monitor the endangered animals.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
E. Coast writer loves salmon scraps
In Alaska, I gorged on a banquet of bits and ends and it was nothing short of unforgettably delicious.
– The Atlantic
More:www.theatlantic.com
But Alaskans can't get those scraps
The fact that average, non-fishing, Alaskans, as well as those who don't write for a living, can't get their hands on a crispy sockeye belly is perhaps one of the most perfect examples of a wasted economic opportunity in Alaska. Or something like that.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
NOAA short on Arctic knowledge
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is being inundated with requests for weather and ice forecasts as well as navigation information about the Arctic, but isn't able to provide all of the information that the Coast Guard, industries and Alaska Natives need, NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco said.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Cal reserves deny Native practices
"They just make outlaws out of us," Hoopa Tribe member Dania Colegrove said, as she stood along the shore on Clam Beach.
– Times Standard, Eureka
More:www.times-standard.com
Feds brush removal to hurt fish
A federal order to clear-cut trees and shrubs from thousands of miles of levees in California will destroy precious wildlife habitat and cost the cash-strapped state more than $7 billion, conservation groups argued in a lawsuit filed Monday.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Alaska coastal management stays dead
Speaker Mike Chenault said Monday that he polled the state House and there's not enough support for a special session to keep the coastal zone management program alive for another year.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Fishermen die in capsizing
The Coast Guard says two people died when a 20-foot boat capsized early Monday night near Yakutat at the top of Alaska's Panhandle.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
CG medevace Seabird skipper
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced the 61-year-old master of the 167-foot Seattle-based fishing vessel Seabird 253 miles southeast of Kodiak in the Gulf of Alaska Monday afternoon.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
Oceans face mass extinctions
The world's oceans are faced with an unprecedented loss of species comparable to the great mass extinctions of prehistory, a major report suggests today.
– The Independent, UK
More:www.independent.co.uk
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
HARD CAP FOR KING SALMON IN ALASKA
The federal board that regulates offshore fishing around Alaska has moved to protect king salmon in the Gulf of Alaska, setting a hard cap on June 12 for a king salmon bycatch in those waters of 25,000 fish, effective in 2012. This follows a 60,000-fish cap of Bering Sea bycatch kings in 2009.
– Star Tribune
More:www.startribune.com
United Fishermen of Alaska Announces New Officers, At-large Board Members and Committee Chairs
The United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA), the largest statewide commercial fishing trade association, announced yesterday the reelection of Arni Thomson who resides in Anchorage, and represents the Alaska Crab Coalition, as President of UFA.
– UFA
More:www.ufa-fish.org
Fisherman transported by Coast Guard
The Coast Guard medically transported a man from a fishing vessel near Grays Harbor, Wash., Tuesday. Coast Guard Station Grays Harbor received a call from fishing vessel Excellence, at approximately 9:30 a.m., reporting a crewmember was experiencing dizziness and having difficulty breathing. A 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Grays Harbor met fishing vessel at the Grays Harbor entrance buoy and received the man at approximately 1:25 p.m. The 47-foot motor lifeboat crew then transported the man to Station Grays Harbor where he was transferred to local EMS and transported to Grays Harbor Community Hospital.
– The Daily Astorian
Yakutat fishermen died of exposure and drowning
According to an uncle of one of the two fishermen who died in Monday's commercial fishing accident near Yakutat, both of the victims were wearing life jackets and died due to the extreme temperature of the water. Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters said the boat appeared to have been swamped, and the deaths were likely a combination of hypothermia and drowning.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Frankenfish' debate comes to Santa Monica
The Food and Drug Administration is inching closer to approving the first genetically-modified animal for human consumption, and commercial fisherman, dietitians nor Santa Monica city officials are happy about it.
– Santa Monica Daily Press
More:www.smdp.com
Tribal groups bring attention to traditional gathering practices; members continue to protest MLPA guidelines
Tribal members practiced traditional gathering Saturday morning to bring attention to their resistance to state and federal regulations, including the Marine Life Protection Act initiative. "They just make outlaws out of us," Hoopa Tribe member Dania Colegrove said, as she stood along the shore on Clam Beach.
– Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Metlakatla runs get MSC certification
The Metlakatla Indian Community fishery located in tribal waters surrounding the Annette Islands Reserve (AIR) in Southeast Alaska has been awarded Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification by an independent, third-party certifier. There are 12 Units of Certification covering Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), and King Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), using three gear types, Gillnet, Seine, ands Troll.
– MSC
More:www.msc.org
SeaShare and others win leadership awards
The nomination committee of Global Food Alaska recently announced the recipients of the 2011 Global Food Alaska Leadership Awards. All of the awardees were prestigious organizations and businesses which have continually dedicated themselves in providing a world-class service while uplifting and commercializing Alaska's natural bounty and resources to the world.
– Alaska News.com
More:thealaskanews.com
Thursday, June 23, 2011
SEA LICE-INFECTION LINK FOUND DURING STUDIES
Sea lice can indeed transfer waterborne infections from one fish to another.
– Nanaimo Daily News
More:www.canada.com
Keep fishermen safety research
It simply doesn't make sense to defund a program that directly saves people's lives.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing for SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Curious migratory routes surprise researchers
Tracking program points to feeding and trekking hot spots across Pacific in need of protection.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
My Turn: Sealaska bill bad for commercial fishermen
One aspect of the Sealaska Lands Bill (S.730) that has garnered little attention in these pages is a discussion regarding Sen. Lisa Murkowski's hollow attempt to gain the support of commercial fishermen.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Norton Sound salmon prices up 20-25 percent
Commercial fishermen delivering to Norton Sound Seafood Products will be paid 72 cents a pound for chum salmon and 25 cents a pound for pink salmon landed at the dock at Unalakleet at the start of the 2011 season.
– Cordova Times
More:www.thecordovatimes.com
Sealaska Helps Kake's Fish-Processing Plant Reopen
Sealaska is helping reopen Kake's fish-processing plant. It's part of the regional Native corporation's increased emphasis on Southeast Alaska investments.
– Alaskapublic.org
More:www.alaskapublic.org
Port's livelihood rests on scallops
But the city's modern fortunes are tied to a far smaller sea creature: scallops.
– Wall Street Journal
More:online.wsj.com
Shellfish operations on North Coast get training funding
Training program supports First Nations aquaculture workers.
– Rupert Daily Online
More:www.rupertdaily.ca
