Tuesday, July 7, 2010
No MSC certification for Fraser sockeye
B.C. sockeye salmon fisheries in the Skeena, Nass and Barkley Sound were certified by the Marine Stewardship Council for sustainable fishing practices last week, but the Fraser River has yet to meet their standards.
– Vancouver Sun
Read more:www.vancouversun.com
NW hake fishermen tie up boats
After struggling to catch big enough fish while avoiding bycatch, fishermen targeting Pacific whiting have agreed to tie up their boats until July 20.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Cassandra Marie Profita, writing in The Daily Astorian
Bristol Bay: millions caught
The Bristol Bay sockeye catch has now surpassed 10 million fish.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
Chef praises handling of Yukon salmon
The executive chef for Elliott's Oyster House praised fishermen on the lower Yukon River for properly icing and caring for fish.
– Tundra Drums
Fish cops ticket Bristol Bay fishermen
The Alaska State Troopers have issued another 32 illegal fishing citations at Bristol Bay, where the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery is just reaching its season peak.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
Help out anti-net pen crusader
Alexandra Morton, who has led the fight against open salmon net pens in British Columbia, has gone without a paycheck for quite some time. So, she’s opened an online store with her books, cards, fish prints, and more: www.alexandramorton.ca
Few salmon caught in Cal opening
Though Central Coast waters opened to commercial salmon fishing for the first time in two years Thursday, few fish caught in the region were turning up in local markets. – San Jose Mercury-News
More:www.mercurynews.com
Alaska guv signs fishing bills
Alaska Governor Sean Parnell visited Petersburg to sign three bills related to the fishing industry in Alaska.
– Petersburg Pilot
Sport fishermen whine
The sports lobbyists are paid to whine, and are notorious for telling fish stories.
– Gary Durheim, writing to The Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.info
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Alaska wants plan for Taku polluter
The state of Alaska wants any new owner of the Tulsequah Chief mine to show it can afford to clean up acid mine drainage leaking into the Taku River watershed, as well as have a viable plan with a timetable to do the cleanup.
– Juneau Empire
A Fraser sockeye fishery this year?
Commercial fishers on British Columbia's Fraser River have stayed tied to the dock for the past three summers, waiting for a viable sockeye run that could fill their nets as they have in distant decades.
– National Post, Canada
More:www.nationalpost.com
B.C. reefs closer to protection
An announcement that ancient glass sponge reefs on Canada’s Pacific coast are one step closer to receiving permanent protection was welcomed by Living Oceans Society.
– North Island Gazette, Port Hardy, B.C.
More:www.bclocalnews.com
It’s OK to eat Oregon salmon
Oregon wild-caught salmon are safe to eat, and the fishery is not being depleted. That’s the message Oregon’s commercial salmon industry and the Oregon Department of Agriculture are sending to consumers.
– Newport News-Times
More:www.newportnewstimes.com
Underwater labs off Northwest coast
The National Science Foundation is seeking public input on a site-specific environmental assessment to address potential marine environment impacts that could result from proposed underwater laboratories that scientists want to build and place off Grays Harbor and other locations on the Washington and Oregon coasts.
– The Daily World, Aberdeen
More:www.thedailyworld.com
Ballard seafood fest this weekend
The Ballard Seafood Fest will be held this weekend at the Ballard Elks on Seaview Avenue N.W. It is a fundraiser for the Seattle Fishermen's Memorial and Ballard Chamber of Commerce.
– Press release
More:www.seafoodfest.org
Brain scientists want us to eat more fish
Two of the world’s top brain and neurological development experts are being joined by 125 others in requesting that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration update its 2004 advice on fish and pregnancy because it is outdated and may be “inadvertently causing harm.”
– FIS
More:www.fis.com
Editorial: Why new secrecy over sea lice treatments?
The provincial government spent six years – and a lot of taxpayers' money – fighting to keep statistics on sea lice and farmed salmon secret. It lost.
– Victoria Times Colonist
Read more:www.timescolonist.com
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Cold delays Bristol Bay sockeye
It has been slow going for sockeyes in Bristol Bay. The commercial fishing season historically hits its peak on July 4, but this year that wasn't the case.a
– KTUU, Anchorage
More: www.ktuu.com
Deadly CG copter crash investigated
Three members of a Coast Guard helicopter crew were killed in a crash off La Push on Wednesday morning, and a fourth crew member, who was pulled from the water soon after the aircraft went down, suffered a broken arm and a broken leg.
– Seattle Times
More: seattletimes.nwsource.com
Monterey Aquarium guy explains himself
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program doesn't take lightly our recommendation that consumers avoid wild-caught salmon from Oregon (south of Cape Falcon) and California.
– Edward Cassano, who directs the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, writing in The Oregonian
More: www.oregonlive.com
Yukon Chinook reach Canada
Yukon River king salmon reached Canada during the weekend, but it remains to be seen if enough fish will make it across the border to meet goals laid out in an international treaty between Alaska and Canada.
– Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
More: newsminer.com
Fraser panel scientist quits
One of six members of a science advisory panel for a federal inquiry into declining Fraser River sockeye salmon stocks has quit so he can be a witness at the probe.
– Globe and Mail, Canada
More: www.theglobeandmail.com
Accidents kill 1 million Sitka salmon fry
Accidents at two Sitka hatcheries over the weekend have killed more than 1 million juvenile salmon.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
Ocean Beauty to sell Yukon Chinook
Ocean Beauty Seafoods announced in late June a multi-year agreement with the village of Kaltag and Yukon River Gold LLC to market Keta salmon from the Yukon River.
– Bristol Bay Times
More: www.thebristolbaytimes.com
Boat vs. Rock
What is more amazing than the fact that he had lived after hitting the rock face of Salmo Point at 21 knots, is his textbook response following the crash.
– Cordova Times
More: www.thecordovatimes.com
Astoria experiments with anchovy market
Anchovies: salty, pungent, and way too fishy, right? Not in Astoria.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Cassandra Marie Profita, writing in The Daily Astorian
More: www.dailyastorian.com
ASMI staffer to MSC Americas
The Marine Stewardship Council has named Maggie Beaton, a seafood industry veteran with more than 10 years experience and formerly at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, as commercial manager for the foodservice sector. In this role, Beaton’s primary responsibility will be to manage and grow MSC’s relationships with food service companies and their clients within the Americas region.
– MSC press release
More: www.msc.org
Friday, July 9, 2010
Genetically altered farmed salmon?
Engineers in a lab say they've figured out a way to make a salmon grow twice as fast, delivering it to supermarkets in half the time it normally takes and using less resources doing it. Their Massachusetts employer, AquBounty, has applied to the FDA to create and sell genetically altered eggs to create such fish.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Names released after deadly helicopter crash
The Coast Guard has identified the one survivor and three crew members who lost their lives Wednesday after their MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crashed in the waters off of James Island, near La Push, Wash.
– Coast Guard press release
More:www.piersystem.com
ADFG closes Nushagak sport fishery
In Bristol Bay, a king salmon closure has killed business for sport fishing guides. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game placed a restriction on the Nushagak River two weeks ago, only allowing catch and release of kings – and on Monday, the restriction changed to a closure.
– KTUU, Anchorage
More:www.ktuu.com
But Bristol Bay looking good for driftnetters
Unlike the sportsmen targeting Nushagak River king salmon, the commercial fishermen targeting Bristol Bay sockeye salmon are having a decent year.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Editorial: Oregon troll salmon are safe
Oregon wild-caught salmon are safe to eat and the fishery is not being depleted. That's the message Oregon's commercial salmon industry and the Oregon Department of Agriculture is sending to consumers.
– Curry County (Ore.) Reporter
More:www.currycountyreporter.com
Big run of Columbia River sockeye
Sockeye salmon have returned to the Columbia River in record numbers this summer, more than tripling the forecast of state and tribal biologists.
– Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian
More:www.columbian.com
Giving other fishermen a hand
In just four weeks, the North Pacific fishing industry has raised $85,000 to help restore the artisan lobster fishery on Robinson Crusoe Island, the lifeblood of a community located 400 miles west of mainland Chile that was demolished by a tsunami in February.
– Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers press release
More:alaskaberingseacrabbers.com
Some lobster fishing may be banned
Up and down the coast of Southern New England, as well as on Long Island, commercial lobster harvesters reacted bitterly to news that the fishery might be closed for as long as five years.
– East Hampton (N.Y.) Star
More:www.easthamptonstar.com
Gillnetting in Yellowstone National Park
Two National Park Service boats and a commercial gill-netting craft ply the waters of Yellowstone Lake with nets to hook the voracious fish that eat native cutthroat trout.
– Powell (Wyo.) Tribune
More:powelltribune.com
Fighting to keep B.C. lighthouse keepers
The fight to preserve Canada’s staffed lighthouses, which began almost three decades ago, took on new momentum after keepers learned last September that the government was planning to fully automate the country’s remaining manned light stations.
– The Epoch Times
More:www.theepochtimes.com