Monday, August 15, 2011
CHARTERS ANGRY OVER ONE-HALIBUT PLAN
Almost everyone now seems in agreement the plan will cut the 2012 halibut limit for charter anglers to one fish per day.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Ill will against charters
What the bumper stickers lack in brevity is more than made up for in animus — "I'd rather see my daughter working in a whorehouse than on a charter boat."
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More:www.alaskajournal.com
Confusion as Cook Inlet fishery ends
Upended regulations, costly logistical nightmares and concern over Kenai River king salmon marred a historic return of sockeye to Cook Inlet this season.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More:www.alaskajournal.com
Muzzled scientist to testify
No-fishing reserves can restore marine ecosystems better than previously thought and can turn a heavily degraded site into an international model for conservation.
– SignOnSanDiego.com
More:www.signonsandiego.com
Pebble: Both sides stage ad blitz
The battle over the giant Pebble gold and copper prospect is escalating across Alaska with a blitz of radio and television ads.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Whale still in Klamath River
After about seven weeks of swimming in circles under the U.S. Highway 101 bridge, the 45-foot-long gray whale shows no signs of leaving the Klamath River for the ocean.
– Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Agreement over Taku River mine
The Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN) and the province of British Columbia have hammered out an agreement that will allow for both Native stewardship of ancestral lands, and responsible economic development in partnership with industry.
– Indian Country
More:indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com
Fraser River sockeye openings
Purse seine test fishing catches of Fraser River sockeye in Johnstone Strait have increased substantially over the past week.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:www.psc.org
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
KING CRAB NOW OPEN
The total allowable catch for golden king crab in the eastern district is set at 3.15 million pounds, with 10 percent of that apportioned to the community development quota groups.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Fraser inquiry turns to salmon farms
The Cohen Commission into the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon stocks will turn its attention to a significant point when hearings resume in Vancouver on topics that surround salmon farming.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Salmon and jobs
For decades, Southeast Alaska fishermen have followed the evolution of recovery efforts aimed at Columbia and Snake River salmon.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Hope in Fraser runs
A modest increase in the size of sockeye runs returning to the Fraser River and an anticipated boom of pink salmon – which could number 17 million this year – should once again give commercial fishing on the West Coast a much-needed boost.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
Fraser sockeye take northern route
The diversion rate of Fraser sockeye through Johnstone Strait is currently estimated to be approximately 75 percent.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:www.psc.org
Anti-gillnet 'greed gang'
A proposed Oregon ballot measure would effectively end gillnetting on the main stem of the Columbia River. This is an old and weary battle, but with a new spin.
– The Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
New NOAA research ship in Newport
And now, the Bell M. Shimada – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's newest fisheries research vessel – calls the port home.
– Albany (Ore.) Democrat Herald
More:www.democratherald.com
Legislature plans halibut hearing
The House Special Committee on Fisheries is scheduled to meet in Anchorage for an "overview hearing on Pacific halibut management."
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Tribe cannot sell sockeye
Sto:lo Nation member bands can't legally sell the sockeye salmon they catch in the lower Fraser River this summer.
– BCLocalNews.com
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
FISHERMEN OPPOSE PEBBLE
A new poll commissioned by an environmental foundation concludes that Bristol Bay commercial fishermen are overwhelmingly opposed to development of the proposed Pebble mine prospect.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Study: Pests hurt salmon more
A recent study suggests that parasites in fish, including threatened species of Oregon coho salmon, may have more profound impacts on fish health than has been assumed, and could be one of the key mechanisms by which habitat and land use changes cause salmon mortality.
– TheFishSite
More:www.thefishsite.com
Klamath whale dies
The female gray whale that drew considerable public attention by staying the greater part of this summer in the lower Klamath River died of natural causes in the early morning of Tuesday, August 16.
– AlterNet
More:blogs.alternet.org
B.C. chum salmon bycatch killed
Thousands of chum salmon that are supposed to be released alive as a conservation measure are being thrown overboard dead or dying in a North Coast commercial fishery, two fisheries conservation organizations have charged.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
Who's packing your fish?
So, who works in Alaska's processing plants? If you think it's Lower 48 college kids up for a summer salmon adventure, you'd best get with the times.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Salmon and … Tang?
In the near future, astronauts could be treated to the delicacy of Alaska wild salmon; even as they orbit high above the ocean the fish came from.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Fish farm foe to stick it out
Biologist Alexandra Morton says she'll continue her fight against open net fish farms to the end, even though she's "exhausted" from her almost 20-year-old campaign.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Shell criticised for leak
Another leak has been found in the flow line beneath the Gannet Alpha oil platform, 113 miles off Aberdeen, in the wake of claims that oil giant Shell has underplayed the incident.
– FishNewsEU.com
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Essay: Stop arguing about frankenfish
The federal review process for genetically engineered (GE) food animals, now being applied to fast-growing salmon, is tortuously drawn out, scientifically unjustified, and likely to rob society of both environmental and economic benefits, argue researchers at the University of California, Davis.
– TheFishSite
More:www.thefishsite.com
Thursday, August 18, 2011
OREGON CRAB PAYDAY
Only one other time in history has the commercial crab fishery brought in more money over a season.
– KCBY, Coos Bay
More:www.kcby.com
Pebble Mine on ballot
A ballot initiative that could sidetrack the giant Pebble mine will be allowed to go before voters in the Lake and Peninsula Borough this October under a ruling Wednesday by the Alaska Supreme Court.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Anti-Pebble ad 'ludicrous'
The latest TV campaign by the anti-Pebble group is ludicrous.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Bering Sea medevac
The Kodiak-based Coast Guard Cutter SPAR crew medevaced a crew member from the fishing vessel Maverick more than 200 miles to Saint Paul Island Wednesday.
– Alaska Native News
More:alaska-native-news.com/article
Mafia-style halibut management
This is a story about one of the most powerful families doing business in the 49th state, though most Alaskans do not think of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council as a family.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Hatchery key to these sockeye
At the Gulkana Hatchery, a few people working for the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation raise a brood of up to 35 million red salmon each year and release them into the Gulkana River system.
– Capital City Weekly, Juneau
More:www.capitalcityweekly.com
Toxic algae could kill salmon
Toxic algal blooms are a growing problem in the world's oceans and may be responsible for killing salmon on the West Coast.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
Arctic race for fish
Fish from the Arctic are set to emerge as a huge resource, but also a potential source of friction.
– Financial Times
More:www.ft.com
Salmon not top B.C. seafood
Sure, 15 to 20 years ago, salmon and herring accounted for 90 per cent of the value of B.C.'s commercial fishing industry, but today, other species are more dominant.
– Vancouver Sun
Read more:www.vancouversun.com
Friday, August 19, 2011
TOUGH COOK INLET DECISIONS
Faced with a sockeye return that ranked among the top five all time and what may end up as the lowest return of Kenai River king salmon ever, ADFG was under even more scrutiny than usual in the most hotly contested fishery in Alaska.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More:www.alaskajournal.com
Harassment waiver for female observer?
The owner of the FV Princess Karlinna II, a longliner homeported in American Samoa is currently stuck at port, because its owner is asking for a written waiver of liabilities from the National Marine Fisheries in case of possible harassment for taking its selected observer - a female - on board the vessel.
– Samoa News
More:www.samoanews.com
Unexpectedly large B.C. chum run
The best chum salmon run in years has come to local waters, unexpectedly, and commercial fishermen who didn't expect it netted the waters for four days last week.
– B.C. Local News
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Drilling in Alaska roadless area
U.S. Forest Service Alaska Regional Forester Beth Pendleton said mining geotechnical and exploration drilling projects in inventoried roadless areas on Prince of Wales Island and Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska have been approved to go forward.
– SitNews
More:www.sitnews.us
Businesses like Columbia salmon ruling
Northwest businesses are rallying behind a federal court decision earlier this month affirming wild salmon's right to exist.
– Tacoma News Tribune
More: www.thenewstribune.com
Another fisherman medevaced
An Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a 19-year-old fisherman with reported severe facial injuries from Ouzinkie to Kodiak.
– Coast Guard
More: www.d17.uscgnews.com
Flawed B.C. oil spill plans
A serious flaw in the government's response plans for oil and chemical spills on the West Coast has been highlighted at a federal inquiry investigating the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
Outside domination of Alaska fisheries
More than 50 years ago, Alaska became a state and broke the domination Outside interests had long held over the salmon of the Alaska Territory.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, the Golden King Crab fishery kicks off; charter industry skippers get angry in Homer, and Fish in Space.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
