Monday, July 25, 2011
FIRE CLAIMS UNALASKA GEAR
Multiple piles of commercial fishing net caught fire Saturday evening near the Unalaska spit dock, resulting in a significant amount of damage.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Run into Cook Inlet is stunning
The latest guess is that the blessing from the ocean might well number 6 or 7 million when all is said and done.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Sitka packer back in operation
A seafood processing plant in Sitka is back in operation after a brief shutdown because of an anhydrous ammonia leak.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Battling for Bristol Bay sockeye
Fishermen will push the limits of legality to ensure they get their fair share of that run, and crewmen will bury their heads, make sure their arms and hands are inside the protection of the bulwarks of their ships, and add up the bright red dollars plopping from plugged nets onto the deck.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Mixed feelings about Deadliest Catch
Even as these jobs are declining, there's one place where their profile has never been higher: On reality shows such as "Deadliest Catch" and "Ax Men" fishermen and loggers are portrayed as working-class heroes. Still, some who work in those industries have mixed feelings about their TV images.
– Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.coml
Correction!
I screwed up in Friday's Fish Wrap. I included an article referencing a large fine against a major fish processor for failing to clean up fish waste off the coast of Unalaska. Turns out the story was from 2007. I don't know how the article appeared four years after the fact, but I apologize to Icicle for distributing it and I'll strive to be more careful in the future.
Don McManman
Red Lobster ads to feature fishermen
That is the premise of a campaign for the Red Lobster chain of seafood restaurants, scheduled to begin on Monday. The theme of the campaign, "Sea food differently," is new, replacing "Ignite the crave" (whatever that meant).
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
Gray whales ailing in Klamath River
A gray whale and her calf have been in the Klamath River for nearly a month, and wildlife experts are fearful that their health is in danger.
– Record Searchlight, Redding
More:www.redding.com
Latest on Fraser returns
A large proportion of the Fraser sockeye return to-date have been five year old fish, which is likely associated with the very large return of four year old Fraser sockeye in 2010. Test fishing catches over the past week indicate a modest but steady migration of Fraser sockeye through the marine approach areas.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:www.psc.org
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
SPAWNING SEA CUCUMBERS IN LAB
The male red sea cucumbers were spawning already, induced by water, light and temperature manipulations.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Salmon and mining-next door neighbors?
British Columbia will preserve big chunks of a renowned salmon river that crosses into Alaska, but is leaving to development the site of a proposed major mine near where the Taku River enters Alaska.
– Seattle PI
More:blog.seattlepi.com
Public input sought on sustainable management of halibut stock
The public is being asked to weigh in on an innovative new catch sharing plan that for the first time would allow transfers of halibut quota between commercial and charter operators in Southeast Alaska and the Central Gulf of Alaska.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, reporting for SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Kodiak Salmon Catch Passes 3-Million as Pinks Start to Surge
The Kodiak salmon harvest breached the 3-million mark late last week as the pink salmon run begins to exert itself. Over 159,000 humpies were caught on Thursday, bringing that day's total catch to almost 234,000, pushing the all-species catch over 3-million.
– KMXT Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Japan Scientists Say Sea Radiation Tests May Miss Seafood Threat
Japan's government has to release more data from ocean radiation tests to accurately assess the contamination threat to seafood, according to a statement by the Oceanographic Society of Japan.
- San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Commercial fishery hurting Alberni businesses: Carter
City businesses are taking a financial hit because sockeye are hitting commercial nets, Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce executive director Mike Carter said.
– Alberni Valley News
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Year-on-year commercial halibut catch lower
At the beginning of the year, a debate broke out between the recreational and commercial fishing industries over the allocation of halibut, which at times was quite acrimonious.
– Muskeg News
More:www.muskegnews.com
Another Oregon anti-gillnet drive
The Coastal Conservation Association this week gained permission from the Oregon Secretary of State to launch a drive that would ultimately aim to have voters ban the use of gillnets in the state's waters for the non-tribal, commercial harvest of fish.
– Chinook (Wash.) Observer
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
FEDS SILENCE SCIENTIST OVER WEST COAST SALMON STUDY
Top bureaucrats in Ottawa have muzzled a leading fisheries scientist whose discovery could help explain why salmon stocks have been crashing off Canada's West Coast, according to documents obtained by Postmedia News.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.canada.com
Salmon may face greater threat than water shortage
California's salmon wars have been characterized as a choice between thriving fisheries or prosperous San Joaquin Valley farms; there is not enough water, it has been argued, for both.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Tourists again allowed to view Tsukiji auction
The Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, commonly known as the Tsukiji fish market, reopened its popular frozen tuna auction to sightseers Tuesday after a four-month closure following the March 11 quake and tsunami.
– Japan times
More:search.japantimes.co.jp
Navy gets OK to sink ships in Gulf of Alaska target practice
The Navy has obtained authority to blast and sink as many as two real ships a year in the Gulf of Alaska over the next five years to give pilots and gunners authentic targets for their sights.
– Alaska Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Protecting fishery by protecting forest
There's a new Southeast outreach program in Sitka to raise awareness of and advocate for the Tongass National Forest's salmon.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
End seafood trade imbalance
More than just about anything else on our plate, our seafood has likely traveled a long way before it arrives at our table.
– Time
More:ecocentric.blogs.time.com
Debate brewing between PG&E and Morro Bay fisherman
There's a big debate brewing between Morro Bay commercial fishermen and PG&E, over those seismic studies needed to keep Diablo Canyon licensed.
– KSBY.com
More:www.ksby.com
Judge voids new salmon regs for Inlet
An Alaska Superior Court judge tossed out emergency revisions to Upper Cook Inlet salmon regulations July 13 and reignited a battle sports fishing groups thought they'd won at the Board of Fisheries meeting in March.
– Penninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Trooper report: fisheries violations, domestic violence, sea rescue
Alaska State Troopers reported nine incidents July 17-24 for fishing in closed waters, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, trespass, failure to register to fish, domestic violence and a rescue at sea.
– The Bristol Bay Times
More:www.thebristolbaytimes.com
Importing salmon eggs increases disease risk
Salmon farmers in B.C. are going bananas on the threats posed by infectious salmon anemia, known as ISA.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Coast Guard helps disabled fishing vessel
The U.S. Coast Guard assisted a fishing vessel disabled by an engine room fire off Grays Harbor, Wash., Tuesday.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Sea lions that eat endangered salmon get reprieve
Federal fisheries authorities have lifted their authorization for Oregon and Washington to kill sea lions eating endangered salmon at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River while a legal challenge from the Humane Society of the United States works its way through court.
– Oregonlive.com
More:www.oregonlive.com
Thursday, July 28, 2011
KENAI SOCKEYE STINK UP CITY
The fallout from an explosion of sockeye salmon in the Kenai River has hit Alaska's largest city, and officials with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are not happy. They say it's slimy, stinky and unsightly.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Cook Inlet 'perfect storm'
That scenario is comprised of a dangerously low return of late-run king salmon bound back to the Kenai River, unknown abundance of Kasilof king salmon, unknown abundance of Susitna sockeye salmon, unknown abundance of coho, and very large return of sockeye salmon bound back to the Kenai River.
– Homer Tribune
More:homertribune.com
Wesley catches up
Deckboss apologizes for his silence the past few days. Had some nonfish business to deal with.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Atlantic cod rebound
Canada's fabled East Coast fishery, which was feared to be gone forever, is showing "very positive" signs of recovery, according to scientists.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Fishing family memorializes those lost
Having stuffed the hold of his 50-foot trawler, Relentless, with Dover sole, David "Rowdy" Pennisi, 43, and crew member Michael Odom headed to San Francisco in the early hours of June 21, 2004 to offload their catch. But, like hundreds of other Central Coast fishermen, they never made it back to port.
– Monterey County Weekly
More:www.montereycountyweekly.com
King Cove needs road
For more than three decades now, King Cove has battled to have a road to Cold Bay's all-weather airport.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Whale won't leave Klamath
Scientists have herded it with boats, used noisemakers to frighten it and piped the sound of its main predator under water, but the 45-foot-long gray whale that has been in the Klamath River for four weeks refuses to budge.
– Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Tribe's Klamath opener soon
Commercial salmon season on the Klamath River is set to open soon for the Yurok Tribe.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Friday, July 29, 2011
HAGFISH DISAPPEARING
A fish that doesn't get much love — and that's despite the fact that it has four hearts and two brains — is being rapidly depleted, a conservation alliance warned, citing a study that estimated at least 20 percent of the species are at an elevated risk of extinction.
– MSNBC
More:www.msnbc.msn.com
B.C. pink salmon certified
The independent certification body, Moody Marine Limited, has awarded Marine Stewardship Council certification to three British Columbia pink salmon fisheries that were entered into assessment by the Canadian Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Society.
– MSC
More:www.msc.org
B.C. halibut catch down
At the beginning of the year, a debate broke out between the recreational and commercial fishing industries over the allocation of halibut, which at times was quite acrimonious.
– Perishable News
More:www.perishablenews.com
Radiation still in Japanese food
Radiation fallout from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant poses a growing threat to the nation's food chain as unsafe levels of cesium found in beef on supermarket shelves were also detected in more vegetables and in the ocean.
– Japan Times
More:search.japantimes.co.jp
New guy at MCA
Merrick Burden has been named the new executive director of the Marine Conservation Alliance.
– MCA
More:www.marineconservationalliance.org
Alaska Fishing Report
Coming up this week: the fall chum run on the Yukon has started, and managers are expecting it to be strong; NOAA has a new plan to address the problem of the charter industry constantly exceeding its harvest limits; and the lessons learned from the ammonia leak at a Sitka cannery.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
CG recovers Oregon boat
The Coast Guard recovered the 44-foot fishing vessel Dotsea Ann with two people on board approximately two miles west of Manzanita Thursday.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Norwegians admit Chile infection
Cermaq, a state-controlled Norwegian aquaculture company that has become one of the principal exporters of salmon from Chile, has endorsed a scientific study concluding that salmon eggs shipped from Norway to Chile are the "likely reason" for the outbreak of the virus in 2007.
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
Editorial: Muzzling scientists is wrong
Taxpayers paid for Kristi Miller's important research on why West Coast salmon stocks have been crashing.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
CG can't respond to Arctic spill
The top officer of the US Coast Guard said that the government is not prepared to respond to an oil spill in Arctic waters if a drilling company fails to control its own well.
– Platts newsletters
More:www.platts.com
