Monday, July 9, 2012
UPDATE ON ALASKA FISHERIES
We’re approaching the halfway mark of the 2012 salmon season. Here are a few highlights from the action thus far.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Chinook off limits to Kenai dippers
Participants in the Kenai River personal-use dipnet fishery will be prohibited from retaining king salmon when the fishery opens Tuesday.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Lobster selling cheap
With a glut of the crustaceans now hitting the market, Maine lobstermen are slashing prices on the delicacy just in time for the summer tourist rush.
– Time
More:newsfeed.time.com
SF salmon selling cheap
There are so many fish coming into San Francisco that the wholesale price has been cut in half.
– ABC 7, San Francisco
More:abclocal.go.com
Ammonia leak, three treated
Three people were treated for inhalation of ammonia vapors leaking from a Seattle-based fishing vessel as it was docked in Alaska's Dutch Harbor.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Dam the Fraser for the money
While the salmon runs to be ruined will cost the province and those who fish a lot of money, that is offset, we're told by industry and government, by the enormous financial gains from the dam itself many, many times over.
– Tyee, British Columbia
More:thetyee.ca
New lift in Juneau
The hydraulic boat lift is capable of hoisting vessels up to 45-tons and 65-feet in length out of the water. It arrived at the Auke Bay Commercial Loading Facility on Friday, and is already attracting attention from passersby.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoonews.org
Cal planning for tsunami debris
Well before the predicted arrival of debris, a dock wrenched from Japan's coast during last year's tsunami washed up on an Oregon beach last month, highlighting the need for a coordinated response by local and state agencies.
– Eureka Times Standard
More:times-standard.com
Southeast Alaska debris survey
NOAA scientists have completed the Southeast phase of a survey effort, looking for marine debris along Alaska’s coast, including possible debris from last year’s Japanese tsunami.
– KRBD, Ketchikan
More:krbd.org
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
BRISTOL BAY ON TRACK
The managers of the Port Moller Test Fishery have adjusted their forecast for the total run to Bristol Bay up to 32 million sockeye.
– KDLG, Dillingham
More:kdlg.org
Too many kings off Cal coast
Amid one of the best fishing seasons in almost a decade, commercial salmon fisherman on the North Coast are tying up their boats and will stay in port for the next few days in an attempt to drive up prices.
– Santa Rosa Press Democrat
More:pressdemocrat.com
Slow start for SE trollers
This year's summer troll opening in Southeast — by most accounts — got off to a slow start on July first.
– KCAW, Sitka
More:kcaw.org
Worrying about village subsistence
In the Yup'ik language, the word for fish and the word for food are the same.
– Tundra Drums
More:thetundradrums.com
Fighting Pebble with sockeye
Rich, lush and distinctively deep vermilion in color, sockeye salmon from Bristol Bay, Alaska, is now in season for about a month.
– New York Times
More:nytimes.com
Drilling ship at Dutch Harbor
One of Shell's drill ships has arrived in Unalaska and the other is expected by the end of the week.
– KUCB, Dutch Harbor
More:kucb.org
Ammonia vessel vented
The Coast Guard says a hazardous materials team is venting a fishing vessel that's leaking toxic ammonia near Dutch Harbor.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Kotzebue season open
The 2012 season opens tonight at Kotzebue, Alaska's farthest north commercial salmon fishery.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Soybeans for farmed fish
It takes one to two pounds of wild fish, processed into fishmeal or oil and put into commercial feed, to produce one pound of farmed fish.
– Care2.com
More:care2.com
Eat your herring
From an environmental perspective, it is better if the herring is used for food for humans.
– TheFishSite
More:thefishsite.com
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
10 HOUR HALIBUT OPENING
Commercial halibut fisherman along the Oregon coast will get a second 10-hour window.
– KPIC, Roseburg, Ore.
More:kpic.com
Rally for king salmon
About 80 people, mostly professional guides and sport fishermen along with a few commercial fishermen, showed up to address the low number of king salmon returning to the spawning grounds of the Kenai River.
– YourAlaska.com
More:youralaskalink.com
No chum because of kings
The chum and sockeye salmon are running strong in the Lower Kuskokwim River, but state fish managers are reluctant to call a commercial fishery as they normally would.
– Alaska Public
More:alaskapublic.org
Begich seeks disaster declaration
After visiting with local leaders and fishery managers in Bethel last week, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is asking Alaska Governor, Sean Parnell to declare a fisheries disaster in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
– Alaska Public
More:alaskapublic.org
First Yukon king to Canada
The first Yukon River king salmon have made it to Canada. Now it's a matter of how many more will show up.
– Fairbanks News Miner
More:newsminer.com
Snow crab gains MSC certification
The Scotian Shelf Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) trap fishery, entered into assessment by the Affiliation of Seafood Producers Association of Nova Scotia, has become the first snow crab fishery in North America to become MSC certified.
– FishNewsEU
More:fishnewseu.com
Average year on Bristol Bay
The number of fish returning to the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery has fallen sharply in at least one major river, but state officials say that overall Bristol Bay is on track for a close-to-average year.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Uncertainty on Fraser
Current run size assessments of Early Stuart sockeye are tracking in the forecast range, however, there is still very high uncertainty in the run estimates since high river flows have delayed the start of lower Fraser River hydro-acoustic assessment programs.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:psc.org
ASMI: Help wanted
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is looking for a new executive director.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoonews.org
No B.C. oil port
A damning report on Enbridge Inc.'s inept handling of the 2010 crude oil spill in Michigan should kill the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline.
– Vancouver Sun
More:vancouversun.com
Thursday, July 12, 2012
COPPER RIVER DOING WELL
Jeremy Botz, Gillnet Area Management Biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, predicts the 2012 Prince William Sound sockeye harvest to be 1.52 million fish. As of July 9, 1.2 million sockeye were harvested by the districts' commercial driftnet fishermen.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Beth Poole, writing from Cordova
More:copperriversalmon.org
More bad news for Fraser
The largest Fraser River freshet in 40 years could negatively impact already dismal forecasts of sockeye salmon this season.
– Chilliwack (B.C.) Times
More:chilliwacktimes.com
Sports guys catching early albacore
Those with a hankering for albacore tuna will be glad to know that the fish are starting to appear off the southern coast much earlier than expected.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Marine preserve said to work
One of the main concerns of recreational and commercial fishers has been the lack of formal proof that no-take zones in marine parks have an effect beyond their borders.
– Herald Sun, Australia
More:heraldsun.com.au
Heartening return at SE hatchery
A Southeast hatchery chum salmon run important to the region's purse seine fleet has had a better start than last year's failed run.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:kfsk.org
Dutch ammonia leak stopped
An ammonia leak on board the processing vessel Excellence has finally stopped.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Watching for tsunami debris
Marine debris trackers are taking to the air any day to get a better idea of where and what is washing ashore from last year's devastating tsunami in Japan.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:sitnews.us
Building Yakima sockeye runs
In its fourth year of a program to reintroduce sockeye salmon to the Yakima River Basin, the Yakama Nation plans to wrap up the process Thursday of collecting thousands of adult fish for release in Lake Cle Elum on the east slope of the Cascades.
– The Daily Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
Selling salmon abroad
To that end, ASMI has earmarked about half of its annual budget, some $8.5 million, on a cross section of activities ranging from international trade shows to studying traditional and emerging markets in some 17 countries, and educating wholesale and retail buyers about the value of its responsible fisheries management certification program for Alaska fisheries.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Cheap lobster on the market
Not since the 1970s has the price Maine fishermen have been paid for their lobster been so low.
– Bangor (Maine) Daily News
More:bangordailynews.com
Friday, July 13, 2012
FISHING SAFETY PROGRAM TO
BE CUT
The commercial fishing program, which is a large part of NIOSH’s Alaska Pacific Office, will be eliminated because of cuts in President Barack Obama’s budget.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More:alaskajournal.com
Ferry skipper blamed for dock smash
The Alaska Marine Highway System has concluded that a strong tidal current and a maneuvering error by the captain of the state ferry Matanuska resulted in the May 7th crash with a seafood processing plant in Petersburg. The accident shut down the Ocean Beauty Seafood cannery for this year.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:kfsk.org
Lotsa Chinook off Northwest Coast
The Chinook salmon are swarming this summer like they haven’t in years.
– Smithsonian magazine
More:blogs.smithsonianmag.com
Too few Chinook an Alaska disaster
Alaska's congressional delegation wants the acting U.S. Commerce secretary to declare a federal fisheries disaster for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Charleston yard getting busy
Since 2007, Giddings Boat Works has expanded its seven-strong payroll to 21 employees.
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, the long-time boss at ASMI is fixin’ to retire, while officials plan to fix the M/V Excellence, fishing on the Kusko is on hold, and salmon goes from haute cuisine to haute couture.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Bombs in your backyard
The U.S. Navy has called on Kodiak residents to provide information about possible WWII ordnance left on or around the archipelago.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Copper harms salmon
A research report published in the scientific journal Ecological Applications documents that minute amounts of copper from mining operations can affect salmon in ways that make them subject to death by predators.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Suit filed against Shell drilling
Environmental groups are suing the federal government, arguing that Shell Oil does not have an adequate plan to deal with a spill.
– Alaska Public
More:alaskapublic.org
Juneau doesn’t support fishing
In addition to creating marine safety hazards for small vessels, their actions will jeopardize approximately 21 million dollars of local spending and jobs held by Juneau residents directly engaged in the seafood industry.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
