Monday, August 8, 2011
SPORTIES UPSET OVER KENAI OPENING
Greed has trumped conservation on the Kenai River, the Kenai River Sportfishing Association charged as the return of prized, late-run king salmon was projected to fall below spawning needs and commercial fishermen in Cook Inlet again put their nets in the water.
– Craig Medred, reporting in Alaska Dispatch
Morewww.alaskadispatch.com
Murkowski flubs chance to do right
If he'd told her he had backed a truck up to Costco and stolen $100,000 worth of fish, might the senator have found that a cause for firing?
– Anchorage Daily News
Morewww.adn.com
Alaska waits for fish
Alaska's commercial salmon catch now exceeds 103 million fish. We'll need 100 million more to hit the state's preseason forecast of 203 million.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
What happened to the fish?
Petersburg fishermen and processors are seeing a lull in fishing after a strong showing north of Petersburg so far in the season.
– Petersburg Pilot
More:www.petersburgpilot.com
New way to call for help
Inmarsat, the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, has announced the commercial availability of a new voice distress service on FleetBroadband.
– Inmarsat
More:www.prnewswire.com
Homer and halibut
Visitors to Homer are welcomed by a sign at the top of Baycrest Hill proclaiming Homer the "halibut fishing capital of the world."
– The Republic
More:www.therepublic.com
Sporties face cuts in halibut take
A proposed catch share plan for the Gulf of Alaska halibut fishery would include significant reductions in harvest allocations and bag limits for the charter sector, but those operators won't find much sympathy from commercial fishermen who have seen their quota reduced by as much as 79 percent in the last five years.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskajournal.com
Invaders infest Sacramento Delta
Lean out of a boat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin grab a handful of plants or a net full of fish, and you'll haul in a bunch of stuff that doesn't belong there.
– Sacramento Bee
More:www.sacbee.com
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
COOK INLET SETNETTERS NOW IDLE
Less than 48 hours after directing Cook Inlet commercial fishermen to hammer the tail-end of a strong run of sockeye salmon to the Kenai River, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has ordered an end to the fishing season for commercial set netters because of fears about the returns of late-run king salmon to the same river.
– Alaska Dispatch
Judge dismisses trawl challenge
A United States District Court judge dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) to halt the West Coast groundfish trawl catch share program. Judge Charles R. Breyer found in favor of the federal defendants' request for summary judgment, an outcome supported by West Coast trawl organizations and the Environmental Defense Fund.
– West Coast Trawlers Network
More:www.westcoasttrawlers.net
Gillnetters on Fraser stocks
The Fraser River Panel met Monday, August 8 to receive an update on the migration of the Fraser sockeye and review the status of migration conditions in the Fraser River watershed.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:www.psc.org
Senator: Get good Columbia R. plan
Federal agencies should expect no fix from Congress, and get to work designing a long-term recovery plan for Columbia-Snake River salmon that will pass muster with an exacting federal judge in Portland, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said.
– Seattle P-I
More:blog.seattlepi.com
B.C. pinks now green
Pink salmon from B.C. have received the "green" label after being certified for sustainable management.
– Vancouver Sun
Read more:www.vancouversun.com
Fear in Emmonak
The Alaska Dispatch reported that the Alaska Fish and Game announced that it was closing its Emmonak office. The reason given was not economic, it was . . . fear.
– The Examiner
More:www.examiner.com
Harnessing tides for electricity
Joshua Myers has been busy putting electrodes on the heads of juvenile salmon, trying to determine how the fish will react to the simulated sound of giant steel and fiberglass turbines, which soon could be submerged in Washington state's Puget Sound.
– Miami Herald
More:www.miamiherald.com
That mysterious goo? Eggs.
Scientists have identified an orange-colored gunk that appeared along the shore of a remote Alaska village as millions of microscopic eggs filled with fatty droplets.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Alaska salmon a top seller
Fishing occurs far away from where the catches end up, namely, retail counters and restaurants, and it is fun to get a feel for how Alaska's seafood is faring.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
SELLING YOUR FISH – DIGITALLY
On the deck of his trawler, Steve Arnold took out his Droid Incredible and photographed the best of that day's catch of fluke. He e-mailed the photograph to a number of chefs and sent them a note saying what he had hauled in, what he would be fishing for in the coming days, and when he could deliver his catch that afternoon. The chefs fired back requests for squid, fluke, striped bass and a dozen or so other species.
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
Not certified? Distributor won't sell it
First went the Chilean sea bass. Then the sharks and bluefin tuna. Now, Western Canada's largest seafood distributor says it is committed to removing several more groups of seafood worth $250,000 in annual sales from its product list because they are not certified as being harvested sustainably.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Halibut, black cod get recertified
The U.S. North Pacific halibut and the U.S. North Pacific sablefish fisheries that operate in territorial waters off the coast of Alaska, Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska have earned re-certification to the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.
– MSC
More:www.msc.org
All gear types on Fraser fish
The panel approved an increase in the run size-estimate for Harrison River sockeye from the forecast of 372,000 fish, to 640,000 fish. Assessments of Late-run sockeye abundance are ongoing.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:www.psc.org
Chum helps Yukon R. fishermen
A strong run of fall chum salmon in the Yukon River is helping make up for a weak king salmon run.
– Fairbanks News Miner
More:newsminer.com
Tear down dams
Almost 1,200 businesses, most of them from the Pacific Northwest, have sent an open letter to President Obama saying it's time for a new approach to helping salmon and steelhead — up to and including possible removal of dams.
– Eugene Register Guard
More:www.registerguard.com
Crescent City Harbor handles fishermen
Despite tsunami damage, the Crescent City Harbor is accommodating fishermen this summer, the harbormaster.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Frankenfish firm pushing back
The company that wants to produce genetically modified salmon is pushing back against its critics.
– KRBD, Ketchikan
More:krbd.org
Thursday, August 11, 2011
RUN NEARS THE FRASER
Between 1.5 and seven million sockeye salmon are expected to return to the Fraser River this year, with commercial fisherman getting their first crack at the river on Thursday.
– The Province, Vancouver
More:www.theprovince.com
Cold spring means a cold river
An unseasonably cold spring and summer could mean a better than expected return on sockeye salmon in the Fraser River.
– CTV, Canada
More:www.ctvbc.ctv.ca
Fuglvog to plead today
A former fisheries aide to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, is expected to appear Thursday in federal court in Anchorage to plead guilty to charges that he falsified fishing records.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
NOAA gets top cop
Bruce Buckson, a nationally recognized leader with 29 years experience in natural resource conservation law enforcement, has been named the new director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement.
– NOAA
More:www.nmfs.noaa.gov
Maine pink shrimp fishery tightens
One of New England's last open-access commercial fisheries could be closed to new participants as regulators look at new ways to manage the region's shrimp fishery, a restriction that some fishermen fear would harm their ability to make ends meet in the winter.
– Boston Globe
More:www.boston.com
Alaskan Ben Stevens off legal hook
Ben Stevens has been told he's off the hook in the rapidly fading Alaska political corruption investigation, according to people with knowledge of the case.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
No gold dredging in Cal
The current moratorium on suction dredging in California's rivers and streams was extended another five years when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that prohibits the controversial gold mining technique through June 2016.
– Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Tracking salmon to your plate
If you've ever wondered where the salmon on your plate came from – other than the promise from your local fishmonger that it's from B.C. waters – Thrifty Foods may have the answer.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Friday, August 13, 2011
ARNE MAY FINGER OTHERS
Arne Fuglvog, who was Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's top fisheries adviser, pleaded guilty Thursday to breaking commercial fishing law and also indicated he could be feeding information to prosecutors in an attempt to lighten his sentence.
– Anchorage Daily News
Read more:www.adn.com
Halibut charters decry Arne
A former leader of the politically powerful Petersburg Vessel Owners Association, Fuglvog was on the council when it began plotting ways to freeze the catch of halibut by charter boats and anglers.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Feds comment on Arne case
The U.S. attorney's office issued this press release on Arne Fuglvog's court appearance today.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Muzzled scientist to testify
Miller is a top-level Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientist. Her recent findings on what's causing the decline of B.C. salmon stocks was allegedly muzzled by the Prime Minister's Office. But she will talk at the Cohen Commission. And a fellow aquaculture expert can't wait to hear her.
– CBC
More:www.cbc.ca
Alaska Fisheries Report
The makers of Frankenfish push back against their detractors; changes are afoot at the University of Alaska's Fisheries Technology Center, and which gear group whines the most.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Bellingham boat sinks
A family narrowly escaped disaster early Thursday when a commercial fishing boat started sinking into Squalicum Harbor while they were asleep inside.
– Bellingham Herald
More:www.bellinghamherald.com
B.C. fishermen decry Native rights
As commercial fishermen filled their nets with Fraser River sockeye salmon Thursday afternoon, some called for more chances to fish, like their First Nations counterparts.
– CTV, Canada
More:www.ctvbc.ctv.ca
Oregon's reserve process
Biologists and members of the fishing community are engaged in a second season of fact finding for pilot marine reserve sites on the Oregon Coast.
– Bandon (Ore.) Western World
More:www.bandonwesternworld.com
A scorecard from Laine
Pink salmon catches are setting records in Southeast Alaska, nearly all in the northern regions, where nearly 30 million have been landed so far. At this pace, the Southeast forecast of 55 million humpies will be easily reached. In all, the state predicts a catch of 133 million pink salmon this summer – a 25 percent increase from last year – but with slow going at prime producers of Kodiak and Prince William Sound, that might be a stretch. Dock prices at major ports are roughly 41 cents a pound, or about $1.50 per pink. … Upper Cook Inlet's sockeye salmon catch has topped 5 million so far, the best in 10 years. … Good numbers of chums are being caught in the Yukon River and Norton Sound is seeing its best chum catches since 1988. Also setting salmon records this year – Russia where the total wild harvest has topped 305,000 tons of mostly pink and chum salmon. That competition is likely to put a downward press on Alaska salmon roe prices.
