Monday, July 30, 2012

PINKS IN BRISTOL BAY

The sockeye salmon season is basically over in Bristol Bay, and in the Nushagak district fishermen are shifting over into a pink salmon fishery.


– Alaska Dispatch

More:alaskadispatch.com

One fisherman rescued

A Coast Guard Station Ketchikan 47-foot Motor Life Boat and crew rescued a fisherman Sunday morning when his fishing vessel began sinking while under tow to Ketchikan from Gardner Bay.

– Coast Guard

More:uscgnews.com

Alaska catch at 50 million

Commercial catches of wild Alaska salmon rose to 50 million fish in the third week of July.

– Cordova Times

More:thecordovatimes.com

No help for Cook Inlet setnetters

Here's the official summary from yesterday's emergency Board of Fisheries meeting on the Cook Inlet setnetters.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss

More:deckboss.blogspot.com

Chum denied Yukon villagers

More than 2 million chum salmon have been counted swimming up the Yukon River this summer, the biggest run in years.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:adn.com

End seen for Kenai run

A recent pulse of sockeye salmon through the lower Kenai River is good news for people fishing the area, but official expect the numbers to drop considerably next week.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:adn.com

Valdez vs. Sea Hawk Seafoods

Here's an Alaska Supreme Court opinion that seems to very much favor the city of Valdez in a dispute with Sea Hawk Seafoods.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss (scroll down)

More:deckboss.blogspot.com

No one dies in sinking

The Coast Guard is investigating the sinking of the fishing vessel Mary Kay near Dixon Entrance.

– Coast Guard

More:uscgnews.com

Adak to keep jet service

Earlier this year, it looked like Adak was going to lose jet service as part of cutbacks to the federal Essential Air Service program. It turns out they might keep it after all - at least for a little while.

– KUCB, Unalaska

More:kucb.org

Shell cuts back on drilling

Shell has modified plans for drilling in the Arctic this summer. Shell spokesman Curtis Smith says lingering sea ice and logistical challenges are shrinking their window for work.

– KUCB, Unalaska

More:www.alaskapublic.org

 

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

COOK INLET WARS RAGE ON

The fish wars on the Kenai Peninsula rage on, with the sport fishing industry taking steps to prevent more commercial fishing in August.

– KTUU, Anchorage

More:ktuu.com

Cook Inlet drifters doing OK

For Cook Inlet overall, the cumulative harvest reached 3,686,000 salmon of all species, including 3,140,000 reds, 244,000 chum, 239,000 pink, 60,000 silvers, and 2,000 kings.

– Cordova Times

More:thecordovatimes.com

Skipper chases crew with shotgun

Two people aboard a commercial fishing boat were forced to leap onto the bow of an RCMP boat in remote North Island waters, a dramatic escape from the skipper, allegedly high on drugs and armed with a loaded shotgun, who had earlier threatened to kill them.

– Victoria Times Colonist

More:timescolonist.com

Not all dams need to go

A more balanced approach would be identifying dams we can live with, and dams we can live without.

– Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian

More:columbian.com

SE trollers come up short

Southeast's Alaska commercial troll fleet came up well short of the targeted catch of king salmon in a nine day opening early this month.

– KFSK, Petersburg

More:kfsk.org

Review of CDQ program

The six nonprofit corporations split roughly ten percent of various fish quotas and collectively own more than $700 million in assets.

– KUCB, Unalaska

More:kucb.org

Exxon Valdez heads for India

India's Supreme Court has allowed the Exxon Valdez, which caused one of the worst U.S. oil spills, to be dismantled in the country but required the owner to pay for disposal of any toxic materials found on the ship.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:adn.com

Europe looks at trawling ban

The European Commission proposed phasing out bottom trawling and bottom gillnetting among deep sea fishing fleets in the northeast Atlantic Ocean.

– Cordova Times

More:thecordovatimes.com

Watching boat stuck in the mud

The Michelle D, a fishing vessel based in Warrenton, ran aground, hitting pilings near the mouth of the Skipanon River and getting stuck in the mud.

– Daily Astorian

More:dailyastorian.com

Coos Bay port names leader

The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay promoted Kathy Wall to serve as chief operating officer, the position formerly held by Chief Executive Officer David Koch.

– Coos Bay World

More:theworldlink.com

 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

CHARGES AGAINST SHOTGUN SKIPPER

Charges have been laid against the skipper who allegedly threatened to kill his crew while armed with a shotgun, sparking a dramatic high seas rescue.

– Victoria Times Colonist

More:timescolonist.com

Body found on missing boat

The Coast Guard reports that it tracked down a missing fishing boat out of Half Moon Bay, the Sunrise, and recovered the body of one man inside the boat's cabin. His name has not been released. According to the Coast Guard, he was 70-years-old.

– Half Moon Bay Patch

More:halfmoonbay.patch.com

Gillnet ban won't help fish

Moreover, the measure won't save a single fish – not one. It simply reallocates the existing commercial fishermen's share of salmon and sturgeon to ... sport fishermen.

– The Oregonian

More:oregonlive.com

Recall of Alaska smoked salmon

This misleading label implies that consumers may keep the fish in conditions that could in actuality allow for the growth of Clostridium botulinum, which produces botulinum toxins that attack the human nervous system, leading to paralysis.

– Food Safety News

More:foodsafetynews.com

Sonar counts Kenai Chinook

The good news is that, with continued biological research, data analysis, and the implementation of improved technology, sonar scientists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are confident they now have the best data ever produced on Kenai River king salmon abundance.
 
– Redoubt Reporter, Kenai

More:redoubtreporter.wordpress.com

Measuring noise effects on whales

For the past two summers, she and a group of interns from all over the world have looked at vessel noise and its impact of humpback whale communication.

– KFSK, Petersburg

More:kfsk.org

Togiak sockeye plentiful

Almost all of the factors indicate a successful sockeye run and fishery in the Togiak District this season.

– KDLG, Dillingham

More:kdlg.org

Alaska readying for tsunami debris

Gov. Sean Parnell has signed an administrative order to deal with marine debris washing up on Alaska's shores from the Japanese tsunami in March 2011.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss

More:deckboss.blogspot.com

Tsunami dock going away

A famous chunk of ocean debris will be removed from the Oregon coast, starting Wednesday.

– Oregon Public Broadcasting

More:news.opb.org

Coal trains and your business

The 1997 study found the polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in coal dust affect genes in the fish, but concluded that more study was needed.
 
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting

More:ecotrope.opb.org

 

Thursday, August 2, 2012

COOK INLET SETNETTERS GET BREAK

Setnet fishermen were thrown a lifeline when the state fisheries board rejected a petition from Kenai River sport fishermen that would have left the setnet fishermen sitting on the beach for the remainder of their season.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:adn.com

Alaska catch nears 60 million

Alaska's statewide salmon catch was approaching 60 million fish by July 27 and is heading towards a total of 132 million salmon this summer. That's down from 177 million fish taken in 2010. The shortfall stems from an expected drop in pink salmon catches. Managers project a 70.2 million pink catch this summer, a drop of 40 percent.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch

More fish stats:adfg.alaska.gov

Fish pass removed dam

Just months after the 108-foot tall Elwha Dam was removed, salmon and steelhead are already returning to the restored habitat.

– Tacoma News Tribune

More:thenewstribune.com

Europe eyes end to deep trawling

The European Commission has proposed new measures to regulate fishing for deep-sea species in the North-East Atlantic.

– The Fish Site

More:thefishsite.com

Senate hearing in Kodiak

Next Monday's hearing will focus on the nation's need for a robust United States Coast Guard presence in Alaska as the nation begins to pursue expanding opportunities in northern waters.

– Lisa Murkowski' Office

More:murkowski.senate.gov

Delay in frankenfish measure

U.S. Senator Mark Begich decided this week to pull his frankenfish bill from immediate consideration by a Senate committee.

– KDLG, Dillingham

More:kdlg.org

Ranchers and salmon get along

Its conciliatory aims remain unchanged: Improving areas for migratory fish to reproduce, while making sure ranchers can stay in business.

– The Oregonian

More:oregonlive.com

State starts CDQ review

The community development quota groups, or CDQ groups, were created in 1992 to bring impoverished Western Alaska communities into the lucrative Bering Sea fisheries.

– KUCB, Unalaska

More:kucb.org

Fishing of yore: Oregon

Here's a timeline for fishing in the state of Oregon from Oregon Public Broadcasting:opb.org

Memorial for fisherman

More than 130 fishermen have lost their lives trying to make a living on the waters of California's Central Coast over the past 70 years, a sad footnote to the rich maritime history of the area.

– Monterey Herald

More:montereyherald.com

 

Friday, August 3, 2012

SINKING CLOSES ALASKA FISHERY

The Coast Guard planned to inspect the waters off western Chichagof Island on Friday morning, after the Thursday sinking of a 50-foot seine boat. A sizable oil sheen after the incident forced an emergency closure of the area's purse seine fishery.

– KCAW, Sitka

More:kcaw.org

Trawler delivery irks Sitkans

A Sitka-based seafood processor is taking heat from locals after purchasing trawl-caught fish.

– KCAW, Sitka

More:kcaw.org

PenAir to shun villages

More than a half-century after getting started in the air taxi business, PenAir wants to stop service to small villages and towns in Bush Alaska and focus instead on larger hub communities.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:adn.com

Klamath deal: Fact and fiction

Full water allotments went to farmers in the Upper Klamath this year, which left little water for salmon and the birds in the Nation's first wildlife refuges.

– Eureka Times Standard

More:times-standard.com

Packer fined for slow paperwork

Alaska Glacier Seafoods Inc. in Juneau was fined $500, with $250 suspended, for failure to submit fish tickets to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game in a timely fashion.

– Juneau Empire

More:juneauempire.com

Alaska tsunami debris website

Gov. Sean Parnell signed an Administrative Order to facilitate a continuing timely and effective response by state agencies to marine debris from the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

– SitNews, Ketchikan

More:sitnews.us

Big cuts in NE cod

The Northeast commercial groundfishery is facing an economic abyss in 2013, based on the first hard but unofficial calculations of catch limit cuts that loom beginning next May 1.

– Gloucester Times

More:gloucestertimes.com

Morro Bay honored

Morro Bay is recognized for its innovative work with commercial fishermen, The Nature Conservancy, and other coastal communities to rebuild the town's fishing industry in a more sustainable fashion after many of the West Coast's fisheries collapsed a decade ago.

– San Luis Obispo Tribune

More:sanluisobispo.com

Alaska Fisheries Report

Coming up this week, Cook Inlet setnetters finally get a break; there'll be no Frankenfish Bill this year in Congress; Southeast kings come up short, while the Copper River sockeye run is nearing a record.... and crewmen: if you think your skipper is tough on you, wait till you hear the story of the shotgun-toting Canadian fishing boat captain.

– KMXT, Kodiak

More:kmxt.org

 


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