Monday, July 22, 2013

BRISTOL BAY REPORT

The Bristol Bay Fisheries Report for Friday includes an examination of the large price increase this season in the Bay.

– Mike Mason on KDLG, Dillingham

More: kdlg.org

Lawsuit for Cook Inlet time

A coalition of commercial fishermen have sued the Alaska Department of Fish and Game over its management of the 2013 sockeye run and requested the court compel the state to allow up to 51 hours of extra fishing periods for Upper Cook Inlet setnetters.

– YourAlaskaLink

More: youralaskalink.com

Lawsuit for Puget rockfish

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service citing the agency's failure to protect habitat for endangered rockfish in Puget Sound.

– San Juan Islander

More: sanjuanislander.com

See the fish you missed

The U.S. Forest Service is live-streaming an underwater camera from Steep Creek, located at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center in Juneau.

– KTOO, Juneau

More: ktoo.org

Catcher/processor in Kodiak

The U.S. Intrepid is one of two catcher/processor vessels owned by Fishermen's Finest, an independent American fishing company with offices in Seattle.

– Brianna Gibbs reporting for KMXT, Kodiak

More: kmxt.org

Pebble plan: Broken record

They said the same thing nin years ago in 2004 and repeated it on an almost annual basis leading up to this year.

– Ben Matheson on KDLG, Dillingham

More: kdlg.org

Bristol Bay price jump

The sockeye harvest this year in Bristol Bay came in short of the pre-season forecast and is low compared to the harvest's recorded in recent years.

– Mike Mason on KDLG, Dillingham

More: kdlg.org

Boat aground

Alaska State Troopers in Ketchikan received a report of a fishing vessel grounded on the beach near Sunset Drive.

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

More: deckboss.blogspot.com

Alaska salmon rejected

It might sound like a whopper of a fish story – but Alaska salmon is not good enough for Wal-Mart or the US National Park Service.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan

More: sitnews.us


Tuesday, July 23, 2013


GUV URGES SALMON ON WAL-MART

A decision by executives at Wal-Mart to purchase salmon only if certified by the London-based Marine Stewardship Council has prompted Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell to urge the multinational corporation to reconsider how it selects its seafood.

– Cordova Times

More: thecordovatimes.com

Senator urges salmon on feds

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is taking issue with a new National Park Service policy to sell only fish deemed sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council at park concessions, including Alaska's popular Denali National Park.

– Cordova Times

More: thecordovatimes.com

Few Yukon kings

This isn't about a late run – it's about a weak run that was overfished.

– Delta Discovery, Bethel

More: deltadiscovery.com

Gillnet ban to governor

"Sports fishing groups have been working hard for 27 years to moderate gillnets and fisheries' damage."

– Natural Resource Report

More: naturalresourcereport.com

Bristol Bay prediction correct

This year's Port Moller Test Fishery successfully predicted this year's early run of sockeye to Bristol Bay.

– Mike Mason reporting for KDLG, Dillingham

More: kdlg.org

Salmon farm critic fined

An outspoken critic of B.C.'s salmon farming industry has been ordered to pay a major industry player $75,000 for claims he made online about the safety of farmed salmon.

– CBC

More: cbc.ca

Nuke spilling into Pacific

A Japanese utility said its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is likely leaking contaminated water into sea, acknowledging for the first time a problem long suspected by experts.

– The Oregonian

More: www.oregonlive.com

Tender still leaking fuel

A 78-foot vessel used to move sockeye salmon from the fishing grounds to a processing facility is still leaking fuel into a pristine salmon producing river in Bristol Bay.

– Mike Mason, reporting on Alaska Public Media

More: alaskapublic.org

Wednesday, July 24, 2013


NINERS OK SEA LION PROTECTION

A federal agency was correct when it restricted fishing in the Aleutian Islands to protect endangered Steller sea lions, which are nutritionally stressed because of a lack of food, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

– Fairbanks News Miner

More: newsminer.com

Kings on the Nushagak

One of the biggest king runs in the state is doing quite well.
 
– Mike Mason, reporting on KDLG, Dillingham

More: kdlg.org

Cook Inlet battle continues

The Cook Inlet Fisherman's Fund accused the ADFG of unfairly targeting setnet fishermen for a closure during the 2013 sockeye season while other fishing groups were allowed to fish.

– KTUU, Anchorage

More: ktuu.com

Keep setnetters ashore

They have already caught more than 2,000 late-run kings, more than double the sport catch.

– Dan Coffey, writing in the Anchorage Daily News

More: adn.com

State fights setnetter suit

Here are three documents the state filed in response to the lawsuit seeking additional fishing time for Cook Inlet salmon setnetters.

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

More: deckboss.blogspot.com

Salmon prices higher

Alaska seafood processors saw a substantial rise in average wholesale prices for pink, chum, and coho salmon roe prices in the first four months of 2013.

– Margaret Bauman, reporting in the Cordova Times

More: thecordovatimes.com

Still fishing in Togiak

The vast majority of the commercial fishermen who ply their trade each summer in Bristol Bay have called it a season.

– Mike Mason, reporting in KDLG, Dillingham

More: kdlg.org

Nearly swallowed by whale

Two divers who were nearly swallowed whole by a pair of humpback whales were the victims of a violent feeding frenzy.

– CBC

More: cbc.ca

Kodiak: More humpies

Kodiak's pink salmon have started exerting their numerical dominance in fisheries around the islands.

– Jay Barrett, reporting for KMXT, Kodiak

More: kmxt.org

'Are we going to die today?'

Tragedy and Courage on the Bering Sea, the gripping story of the fire and explosion that destroyed the 190-foot fishing vessel Galaxy, and the heroic rescue efforts that saved 23 of 26 men and women on board that day, will be screened Thursday, 7/25 at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., and Sunday, 7/28 at 7 p.m.

More: 360north.org

 

Thursday, July 24, 2013

KENAI RESTRICTED

After four days of dwindling late run king salmon counts on the Kenai River, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that anglers would be restricted to catch-and-release and trophy king salmon fishing through the rest of the season.

– Homer News

More: homernews.com

More time on halibut plan

NOAA Fisheries is extending the public comment period for the proposed halibut catch sharing plan by 14 days, after receiving a number of requests for additional time for public input.

– NOAA

More: alaskafisheries.noaa.gov

Halibut charters howl

In New Jersey they call this "extortion," but in Alaska it is called "fishery management."

– Homer Tribune

More: homertribune.com

Remembering Ted Stevens

Sen. Stevens had the clarity of vision to identify a unilateral 200-mile fishing limit as the means to control foreign fishing fleets off the coasts of the U.S.

– Fairbanks Miner

More newsminer.com

Cal gillnets in water

The National Marine Fisheries Service this week declined to issue a required marine mammal "take" permit for California's swordfish drift gillnet fishery in light of the recent entanglement of two sperm whales, but agreed to call a special meeting next week to discuss possible emergency measures to allow the fishery to continue operating legally while reducing interactions with these endangered whales.

– Press release

More: biologicaldiversity.org

Salmon's nose for home

At an early age, juvenile salmon learn or imprint on odors associated with their natal stream, and later, as adults, these same attributes call them back to their birth place.

– Comox (B.C.) Valley Record

More: comoxvalleyrecord.com

Reflecting on Bristol Bay

It was a historic year featuring the earliest run on record and a significant price increase.

– KDLG, Dillingham

More: kdlg.org

Crescent City crab king

Crescent City remains the top Dungeness crab producer in California. 

– Crescent City Triblicate

More: triplicate.com

Fisherman swims for 12 hours

The Coast Guard made a dramatic rescue of a lobsterman stranded at sea for 12 hours, just waiting for help to arrive.

– ABC

More: abclocal.go.com

 

Friday, July 26, 2013


ALASKANS NOT WALKING THE TALK

There is a lot of chatter about how "well-managed" these Alaskan fisheries are, but when it comes to B.C. salmon swimming through their waters, the Alaskans are not walking their talk.

– The Province, Vancouver, B.C.

More: blogs.theprovince.com

B.C. fishermen on strike

Captains and crews on all 36 Canadian Fish Company (Canfisco) vessels have tied up the boats and walked away from their jobs.

– Quinn Bender, reporting for The Northern View, Prince Rupert

More: thenorthernview.com

Congressional hearing on Pebble

A proposed Alaskan mine that's been making waves in Washington, D.C., will go under the microscope next week in the House.

– The Hill

More: thehill.com

Bleak Bering bycatch numbers

After a relatively light year for chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea, numbers are back up this season as the pollock fleet clears out of "hot spots" in order to avoid compromising the fishery.

– Jill Homer, Alaska Dispatch

More: alaskadispatch.com

Alaska Fisheries Report

Coming up this week, the 9th Circuit says NOAA Fisheries was right to restrict fishing to protect Steller sea lions; and as if king salmon didn't have enough challenges, over 1,000 of them are killed by the hot summer. All that, plus the governor pleads with Walmart to take Alaska salmon.

– KXMT, Kodiak

More: kmxt.org

Alaska volcano erupting

The most active volcano in Alaska right now is the Veniaminof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula.

– Mike Mason, reporting on KDLG, Dillingham

More: kdlg.org

Douglas Island salmon

DIPAC rears and releases chum, coho, sockeye, and Chinook, but chum salmon is the organization's main species for recovering operational costs.

– Lisa Phu, reporting for KTOO, Juneau

More: ktoo.org

King crab cannibalism

Researchers at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Kodiak are exploring predation between red and blue king crab as a possible mechanism for limiting the recovery of blue king crab populations around the Pribilof Islands.

– Cordova Times

More: thecordovatimes.com

B.C. oil coast

A little-noticed federal ocean monitoring program around Kitimat is the clearest signal yet that the federal government is preparing the region for crude oil tanker traffic.

– Tom Fletcher, reporting for the Northern View, Prince Rupert

More: thenorthernview.com

Halibut catch-share plan

"The halibut catch sharing plan has been developed through the collaborative effort and hard work of many people over several years, and through a transparent and robust public input process," said Alaskan regional administrator Dr. James Balsiger. "We strongly encourage folks to take the time to sit down and read the actual text of the plan so they'll have the facts before commenting."

More: alaskafisheries.noaa.gov, alaskadispatch.com and regulations.gov



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