Monday, June 27, 2011
A SATISFYING SALMON SEASON SO FAR
We came into the summer expecting a huge commercial salmon harvest — about 203 million fish, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecast.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
CG inspectors on Bristol Bay
Coast Guard personnel have conducted numerous safety compliance boardings across Western Alaska this week resulting in the termination of the voyages of two fishing vessels near Dillingham.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
Bering tug sinks, crew on barge
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew rescued the four crewmembers of the tug Aries from their barge 109 miles east of St. Paul Island Sunday afternoon after the 68-foot tug sank in the Bering Sea.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
No Arctic fishery until more is known, Canadians say
A survey suggests that most Canadians back a ban on commercial fishing in the Arctic where experts warn melting sea ice and warming water could draw fishing fleets to the North within the next few years.
– CTV News
More:m.ctv.ca
New rules for state crab harvest
Recreational crab fishermen in Puget Sound are being awarded a bigger share of the state's harvest under new rules.
– The Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Coral study may influence fishing plans
Rockfish like it rough, Cherisse Du Preez discovered as she shone a light on the usually dark world beneath the ocean north of Haida Gwaii.
– Victoria times colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
U.S. Addresses Sewage Discharge Violations In Unalaska
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a Clean Water Act complaint on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) against the City of Unalaska, Alaska, and the State of Alaska for long-standing and repeated Clean Water Act violations.
– Pollution Online
More:www.pollutiononline.com
AgriMarine to Rear Bluefin Tuna in Japan
AgriMarine Holdings Inc. the leader in floating closed containment technology for sustainable aquaculture, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Research & Development Agreement with Tokai University in Japan, for a project to rear Bluefin tuna on a commercial scale, using AgriMarine's proprietary solid-wall closed containment systems.
– MarketWatch.com
More:www.marketwatch.com
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
SEVEN ALASKA FISHERMEN HAVE DIED
The death of two Yakutat residents last week brings to seven the number of commercial fishermen killed this year in Alaska – and the season is just getting started. The fact that all seven lost their lives in open boats – and all were wearing life jackets – has caught the attention of agencies involved in marine safety.
– KRBD, Sitka
More:krbd.org
Canadian trollers yanked off the water
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has closed the troll fishery in the North Coast.
– CFTK, Terrace, B.C.
More:www.cftktv.com
Bristol Bay website has fans
We're enjoying the new website from The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA), launched just as the season kicks off.
– PerishableNews.com
More:www.perishablenews.com
Raising tuna on farms
AgriMarine Holdings Inc., the leader in floating closed containment technology for sustainable aquaculture, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a research and development agreement with Tokai University in Japan for a project to rear bluefin tuna on a commercial scale.
– MarketWire
More:www.marketwatch.com
Alaska fish guide is indicted
A 37-year-old Juneau fishing guide has been indicted by an Anchorage federal grand jury on charges of illegally trafficking in migratory bird and bear parts.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Fisheries and rural Alaska
A University of Alaska Fairbanks research team is studying ways to connect fisheries and processors with rural schools.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Work to raise sunken tug
The Coast Guard, State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and C&K Marine are working jointly to address the environmental impact and response efforts concerning the sinking of the 68-foot tug Aries.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d17.uscgnews.com
Alaska coastal management still alive
The Senate passed a bill extending the life of the Coastal Management program in a convoluted special session.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Ballard memorial fundraiser on Friday
You are invited to the third annual Ballard Seafood Festival Kickoff Barbecue for Seattle Fishermen's Memorial on Friday.
More:www.brownpapertickets.com
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
FISHERMEN CITED ON BRISTOL BAY
Alaska State Wildlife Troopers have cited 26 commercial fishermen for illegal activities in Bristol Bay.
– Bristol Bay Times
More:thebristolbaytimes.com
Alaska permit prices soaring
Purse seine permits are up almost 40 percent over last year and gillnet permits 30 percent. Their value has been rising steadily since lows in the last decade, but this year's spike is exceptional.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:kfsk.org
Cal albacore fishermen arrested
Two commercial fishing captains from San Diego pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally fishing for albacore tuna in Mexican waters without the permits required by Mexican law and an international treaty.
– L.A. Times
More:latimesblogs.latimes.com
Fiji albacore fishermen seek MSC nod
The Fiji Tuna Boat Owners Association has put the albacore forward for full assessment for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.
– Fiji Times
More:www.fijitimes.com
Congress fumes over Coast Guard
Congressional patience with the Coast Guard's bureaucracy is wearing thin. Lawmakers are growing increasingly frustrated with the service's inability to provide up-to-date budget and fleet plans and mission studies, and are seeking to compel the completion of a plan to recapitalize the aged icebreaker fleet.
– Navy Times
More:www.navytimes.com
'Gap' in Alaska offshore drilling data
In response to a request from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the U.S. Geological Survey released the "science gap and sufficiency" report evaluating science needed to better inform decisions regarding oil and natural gas exploration and development in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Klamath dam removal won't help salmon
Two major Klamath River water-sharing agreements, which will remove four dams in the basin, will not in itself be beneficial to salmon, an independent government panel found earlier this month.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Whale swims up Klamath River
A gray whale and her calf were swimming more than three miles up the Klamath River on Monday.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Wandering gray while found in Mediterranian
When a 43-foot gray whale was spotted off the Israeli town of Herzliya last year, scientists came to a startling conclusion: It must have wandered across the normally icebound route north of Canada, where warm weather had briefly opened a clear channel three years earlier.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
MSC makes guide public
The Marine Stewardship Council has launched a new online tool to help shoppers find certified sustainable seafood, linking customers to businesses that use the MSC ecolabel on packaging.
– FishNewsEU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Thursday, June 30, 2011
FORGET FEARS, EAT FISH
Just like the Meryl Streep commercial about Alar horrified new moms away from apples in the late 1980s, fear-mongering messages about mercury in seafood contribute to the woefully low amount of seafood women eat today in the U.S. The distinction is that seafood- and omega 3-deficient diets introduce measurable risks to health.
– Huffington Post
More:www.huffingtonpost.com
Selling shares of your catch
The Community Supported Fishery is itself an interesting project. If you'll forgive my simplified description, a cooperative of people buy shares, in advance, in the season's catch from a commercial fishing boat. They take the same risks in the season as the fishermen, and at the end receive their share of the catch.
– BCLocalNews
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Fighting sea lice with mussels
Researchers plan to test the effectiveness of using mussels to combat sea lice by placing a fully loaded mussel aquaculture raft at an undetermined salmon aquaculture site in Washington County sometime this summer.
– Bangor Daily News
More:bangordailynews.com
Deadliest now monstrous
Brothers Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand, captains of the Homer-ported crab fishing boat Time Bandit of Deadliest Catch fame, are the subjects of a new Discovery Channel spinoff, Alaskan Monster Hunt.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Oceans' health critical
The state of the oceans can best be likened to a case of multiple organ failure in urgent need of intervention, suggests the most comprehensive analysis yet of the world's marine ecosystems.
– Reuters
More:www.reuters.com
Klamath: Will dam-less plan work?
A $1.4 billion project to remove four hydroelectric dams and restore habitat to return Chinook salmon to the upper reaches of the Klamath River amounts to an experiment with no guarantee of success, an independent science review has concluded.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Klamath: Let science decide
U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar has until March 2012 to decide if removing 4 dams from the Klamath River and implementing a restoration agreement will increase fish populations and serve the public good.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
N. Cal tribes may fish in reserves
The California Department of Fish and Game voted to allow traditional tribal gathering to continue in some of the proposed restricted areas recommended by North Coast stakeholders.
– Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Salmon commish requests research ideas
The Pacific Salmon Commission's Northern and Southern Fund Committees, composed of representatives from the United States and Canada, have determined that up to approximately U.S. $3.2 million and U.S. $2.4 million respectively will be available for project funding in 2012 consistent with the goals and principals of the two funds.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:fund.psc.org
Who's guiding Fraser probe?
For months, lawyers have been sparring over an issue that has caused heated debate, led to personal aspersions being cast, and raised doubts in some minds about where the commission is heading.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
Friday, July 1, 2011
Fête du Canada!
Yep, you heard right. French being spoken right here in Fish Wrap, or, as the Quebecoise would say, Enveloppez poisson (if Monsieur Google is to be believed). What we're celebrating today is Canada Day, observing an act that created Canada – albeit 91 years after folks south of the 49th meridian accomplished that feat in a far bloodier fashion. So, happy birthday, Canada! As for the United States, its birthday lands on Monday, and we will go even further than a simple anniversary salute. We won't work. So, celebrate on the appropriate day. We'll see you on Tuesday, July 5th.
Big chum bycatch by pollock boats
Chum bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery this B season is outpacing recent years.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: www.kucb.org
Good Samaritans on Bristol Bay
Multiple good Samaritan vessels rescued and assisted three crewmembers of the 32-foot fishing vessel Horizon near Bristol Bay after their vessel started taking on water about midnight Wednesday.
– Coast Guard
More: www.d17.uscgnews.com
Aground in Bodega Bay
Coast Guard rescue crews from Station Bodega Bay responded to a 45-foot commercial fishing vessel that grounded in the Bodega Bay Harbor.
– Coast Guard
More: www.pacificareainfo.com
CG cutter skipper punished
Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, Commander, 17th Coast Guard District, awarded punishment to Lt. Matthias Wholley, who was found to have violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice Thursday during an Admiral's Mast.
– Coast Guard
More: www.d17.uscgnews.com
Judge upholds catch shares
A federal judge has sided with the government in a legal dispute over catch shares and fishing industry sectors brought by the state's two largest ports, Gloucester and New Bedford.
– Gloucester (Mass.) Times
More: www.gloucestertimes.com
Norton Sound herring
Norton Sound herring fishermen in June topped their own high mark set a year ago by harvesting herring with a record recovery of roe, the Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. announced today.
– Arctic Sounder
More: thearcticsounder.com
Frankenfish backers blame feds
A cumbersome and time-consuming federal regulatory process is stifling commercial investment in the development of genetically engineered animals for food.
– Dairy Herd Network
More: www.dairyherd.com
Polar bear judge blames global warming
A federal judge backed a finding by government scientists that global warming is threatening the survival of the polar bear.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week: Seven commercial fishermen have died already this year, prompting renewed emphasis on small boat safety; the challenges of tracking chinook with sonar, and tricking salmon for fun and profit.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More: www.kmxt.org
Natives, not others, have right to fish
In cross-examination at the Cohen Commission examining the decline of the sockeye salmon in the Fraser River, a senior official with Fisheries and Oceans Canada admitted that he believes non-native Canadians don't have a right to fish recreationally, but rather a privilege, and that he takes that attitude into negotiating rooms where he works with first nations leaders.
– Vancouver Sun
Read more: www.vancouversun.com