Monday, July 11, 2011

PRICES GOOD FOR SALMON THIS SUMMER

The first wholesale price for salmon is generally the best indicator of how well it should sell in world markets. Prices in 2011, so far, show nice increases nearly across the board.

- Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in the Anchorage Daily News – Bristol Bay Times

More:www.adn.com

Adrift fishermen found after five days

The Coast Guard has rescued two albacore tuna fishermen who had been missing since Monday 50 miles off the Columbia River on their F/V Dahlia.

– Lincoln County (Ore.) News

More:newslincolncounty.com

Crab boat aground in San Juans

The Coast Guard said alcohol appeared to be a factor in the grounding of a 22-foot vessel in San Juan County Friday. Six people were hurt.

– KIROTV, Seattle

More:www.kirotv.com

Ketchikan CG boat too small

The U.S. Coast Guard intends to transfer the cutter Chandeleur from Miami, Fla., to Ketchikan to replace the Acushnet, which was decommissioned in March. But some folks, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, are unhappy with the swap.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss

More:deckboss.blogspot.com (Scroll down.)

Aleutian rockfish under new management

Last week, the northern rockfish fishery opened up in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. While rockfish is targeted out in Southeast Alaska, this small fishery operates differently and it’s under a somewhat new management style.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

More:www.kucb.org

Fish processor closes in Prince Rupert

It’s another blow to the city of Prince Rupert and the commercial fishing sector. JS McMillan Fisheries has announced that it plans to close down its North Coast fish processing facility later this year which will mean the loss of 80 full time jobs in Prince Rupert.

– Rupert Daily

More:www.rupertdaily.ca

Crescent City fights tsunami red tape

While local eyes are focused on Crescent City's dredging efforts and the upcoming crabbing season, communities across the state are also watching the town to see how it utilizes disaster relief aid.

– Eureka Times Standard

More:www.times-standard.com

Feds pushing fish farms

The federal government is moving to open up large swaths of coastal waters to fish farming for the first time in an effort to decrease Americans' dependence on imports and satisfy their growing appetite for seafood.

– The Oregonian

More:www.oregonlive.com

Bill would cut NOAA funding

House Republicans passed an appropriations bill through subcommittee that, if signed into law, would severely retard efforts to protect our oceans, coasts and communities.

– Natural Resources Defence Council

More:switchboard.nrdc.org

Fuel barge aground near Dillingham

The Coast Guard is monitoring a loaded fuel barge that ran aground early Sunday near Dillingham.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

MYSTERIOUS SKELETON IN SURVIVAL SUIT

The red survival suit caught the runner's eye. The skeleton inside prompted the call to police.

– KOMO, Seattle

More:www.komonews.com

Bristol Bay sockeye run ebbing

The sockeye salmon run to Bristol Bay has dropped off to nearly nothing according to the daily run summary from Sunday.

– KDLG, Dillingham

More:kdlg.org

Trash, radioactivity vex Japanese fishermen

Four months after the quake and tsunami hit communities along the Tohoku coastline, fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture and nearby areas still find themselves in uncharted waters as contamination of the sea remains a major obstacle to their business.

– Japan Times

More:search.japantimes.co.jp

Fin-clipping may harm fish

The long-established practice of clipping the small back fin on hatchery salmon may be affecting their swimming ability and the survival rate of the fish, suggests a new study coauthored by University of Victoria biologist Tom Reimchen.

– Victoria Times Colonist

Read more:www.timescolonist.com

Fishing regs don’t limit property rights

Alaskan commercial salmon fishermen suffered a major setback as the 9th Circuit ruled that a series of salmon fishing regulations did not violate their property rights.

– Courthouse News Service

More:www.courthousenews.com

Adrift, using sleeping bag for sail

Tuna fisherman Jim Clayholt said Friday he and his son rigged makeshift sails to keep their disabled boat on course as they drifted south for five days along the Oregon Coast.

– Los Angeles Daily Breeze

More:www.dailybreeze.com

Stikine, Taku runs small

Southeast’s commercial fishing fleets this May had no opportunity for a directed fishery targeting Chinook salmon returning to the Stikine and Taku rivers, two trans-boundary rivers in central and northern Southeast.

– KRBD, Ketchikan

More:krbd.org

NOAA chief promotes fish farm

“This facility really shows what potential exists in expanding sustainable marine aquaculture in the U.S,” Lubchenco said. “As we turn the corner to ending overfishing with wild-caught fisheries, I think it’s particularly important to simultaneously build a sustainable aquaculture industry here in the United States.”

– Sign on San Diego

More:www.signonsandiego.com

Grounding, fire near Ketchikan

The Coast Guard responded to the grounding and a subsequent fire aboard the 58-foot fishing vessel Legend at Bostwick Point about eight miles south of Ketchikan.

– Coast Guard

More:www.d17.uscgnews.com

Coastal fish moving further north

Climate change may push fish native to the Northwest coast further northward. That's according to a forthcoming study by American and Canadian fisheries biologists.

– Oregon Public Broadcasting

More:news.opb.org

Don’t trust restaurant menus

Wild-caught Pacific salmon is more myth than reality on some Puget Sound restaurant menus, a study at the University of Washington Tacoma has found.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

POLLOCK FLEET CLOSES WATERS

The pollock fleet is allowing more fishing grounds in the Bering Sea to be closed in an effort to reduce the high levels of chum bycatch.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

More:www.kucb.org/post


Think you have a dangerous job?

The most violent job in Washington state isn't being a police officer or a security guard. It's working as a nurse's aide.

– Seattle Times

More:seattletimes.nwsource.com

Lax rules caused CG collision

The National Transportation Safety Board today determined that the probable cause of a 2009 collision in San Diego Bay between a United States Coast Guard patrol boat and a recreational motorboat was due to the excessive speed of the Coast Guard boat in nighttime conditions in an area of high vessel density, and the Coast Guard's ineffective oversight of its small boat operations nationally and at Coast Guard Station San Diego.

– NTSB

More:www.ntsb.gov

Sleuths against fish fraud

The relative simplicity and affordability of modern DNA testing has made fish-tracking a feasible project for young scientists who once spent their lab sessions mounting hair on microscope slides and dissecting fetal pigs.

– Seattle Weekly

More:blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious

Running on oil grease

Long-time resident of Sitka, James Swift doesn’t pay much attention to the price of fuel like most people.

– KCAW, Sitka

More:kcaw.org

Young protecting fish resources

U.S. Rep. Don Young has been working overtime this year to protect our state fisheries.

– Juneau Empire

More:juneauempire.com

Tsunami coastal towns pair with Japanese

In an effort to “learn by example," four coastal cities may be paired with four Japanese cities to determine how to prepare for – and recover from – a massive earthquake and tsunami.

– Daily Astorian

More:www.dailyastorian.com

Crescent City relies on Dungeness

As the largest Dungeness crab exporter on the West Coast, the harbor plays an integral role in the town's economy. Once home to more than 100 fishing vessels, the inner boat basin is now a shell of its old self, with only a handful of boats that tie up each night. The lack of activity is not because of a lack of fish, however, but rather a lack of places to tie up.

– Eureka Times Standard

More:www.times-standard.com

Petersburg dock plan funded

After going from the state senate, to the house and finally across the governor’s desk, the state capital project budget included $2.75 million in Petersburg projects when it was released late last week.

– Petersburg Pilot

More:www.petersburgpilot.com

Palin thinks she can win

Sarah Palin hasn’t jumped into the race for the White House (yet), but she believes the prize is there for the taking.

– Newsweek

More:www.newsweek.com

 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

ILLEGAL KING CRAB AUCTION RAISES EYEBROWS

A big auction for blue king crab is underway in Seattle, and it’s got some members of the seafood industry talking.

Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Guitierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

More: kucb.org

'Property right' to Cook Inlet salmon denied

Once more commercial fishermen in Alaska's Cook Inlet have been told that the ownership of exclusive state permits to catch and sell salmon does not entitle them to those fish.

- Alaska Dispatch

More: www.alaskadispatch.com

Runway work could hinder commercial salmon fishing near Kotzebue

Great Pacific held a meeting with fishermen and because of airport construction this summer a change of the usual daytime fishing schedule to night fishing is necessary to better coordinate with plane schedules.

-The Arctic Sounder

More: www.thearcticsounder.com

Chinook closure "devastating" for fishers, plant workers

Haida Gwaii jobs were flushed out to sea with the closure of the commercial troll Chinook fishery in late June.

-QCI Observer

More: www.qciobserver.com

Alaska's salmon harvest tops 38 million

After a strong start, with the famed run of wild Alaska sockeye salmon coming in early, the blustery weather continued, but the Bristol Bay salmon fishery has slowed down.

-The Bristol Bay Times

More: www.alaskadispatch.com

Salmon seine boat sinks after hitting a rock near Valdez

All five members of a purse seiner safely escaped their boat before it sank Wednesday near Valdez.

-Anchorage Daily News Read

More: www.adn.com

Cook Inlet commercial salmon industry scores huge victory as judge grants restraining order

The 12-page ruling says the Alaska Board of Fisheries lacked an "emergency" basis to enact late-minute regulations that drift gillnetters said could have cut their catch by up to half this season.

Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss

More: deckboss.blogspot.com

Yukon River salmon processor blames state for plant closure

A fish processing plant in Kaltag that employs about 70 people from nearby villages shut down for the summer even though Yukon River chum salmon are plentiful, the operator said.

Anchorage Daily News Read

More: www.adn.com

Friday, July 15, 2011

LAKE WASHINGTON SOCKEYE COUNTS CLIMBING AT BALLARD LOCKS FISH LADDER

The Lake Washington sockeye return is steadily creeping up toward the preseason forecast of 34,683, and normally the peak occurs around the third week of this month.

- Seattle Times

More:seattletimes.nwsource.com

Seafood processors employ the most in Kodiak’s private sector

The state’s economy has been weighed in the scales, and in the Kodiak Island Borough, fishing is still the winner.

-Kodiak Daily Mirror

More:www.kodiakdailymirror.com

Alaska's Fisheries Healthy According to New Stock Report

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released their annual stock assessment report today.

Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

More:kucb.org

Kodiak Salmon Harvest Tops 2-Million

According to figures released by the Kodiak office of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Kodiak salmon harvest has surpassed the 2-million mark.

-Jay Barrett, KMXT Kodiak

More:www.kmxt.org

Modified salmon can breed with fish in wild

Concerns of cross-contamination between genetically modified and non-GM foods are no longer reserved for crop farmers.

-Victoria Times colonist

More:www.timescolonist.com

41 new citations issued for commercial, sport fishing violations

Alaska State Troopers on July 11 and July 12 reported a total of 34 new citations issued for violations in the Bristol Bay commercial salmon fishery. The list included 13 Alaskans and 21 non-residents.

-Bristol Bay Times

More:www.thebristolbaytimes.com

Overfishing eats away at genetic diversity of fish

Plenty more fish in the sea? Maybe not for much longer.

-New Scientist

More:www.newscientist.com

Alaska Pollock cooperatives agree to 5,000 square mile salmon bycatch avoidance area

This week, the Bering Sea pollock industry took action to reduce chum salmon bycatch.

-SitNews

More:www.sitnews.us

Officials: 40 fish populations being overfished

Forty stocks of fish populations are subject to overfishing in U.S. waters, but progress is being made to rebuild stocks and reduce overfishing, federal officials said Thursday.

-Seattle Times

More:seattletimes.nwsource.com


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