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Summary for August 31 - September 4, 2009:

Monday, August 31, 2009

Fraser sockeye ‘commercial extinct’?

The fisheries advisor to the Sto:lo Tribal Council, Ernie Crey, says that Fraser River sockeye is now commercially extinct. He says that in the summer of both 2007 and 2008 sockeye salmon failed to make it back to the Fraser River in large enough numbers to support commercial fishing in either U.S. or Canadian waters

Georgia Straight, Vancouver

Read more: www.straight.com

Body of woman from factory trawler found

The body of a 30-year-old woman presumed to have gone overboard last week from an American commercial fishing vessel near Campbell River was found in Johnstone Strait afternoon after an extensive search.

– Vancouver Sun

Read more: www.vancouversun.com

Sound familiar?

This is from the Crescent City Triplicate, published in August of 1969.

“With this year’s commercial salmon fishing proving most disappointing, North Coast fishermen have turned to albacore tuna fishing in hopes of recovering some of the losses incurred when the salmon failed to materialize in any appreciable numbers for the local fishing fleet.”

– Crescent City Triplicate

Read more: www.triplicate.com

Alaska DOT inspectors raise ire of Petersburg fishermen

People are stirred up in at least two Alaska ports over an apparent Alaska Department of Transportation crackdown on commercial transit regulations.

Evidently some Cordova fishermen received citations in July related to the trailering of commercial fishing boats.

More recently, from what I hear, DOT enforcement officers have appeared in Petersburg to educate folks there about the potential for $1,000 fines for not complying with road rules that sound more appropriate for truckers than fishermen.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deck Boss

Read more: deckboss.blogspot.com, and be sure to see the September issue of Pacific Fishing magazine that describes the visit by Alaska DOT inspectors to Cordova.

Prince William Sound pink harvest still grim

Although preseason forecasts indicated a commercial catch of 40 million pinks in Prince William Sound, as of Friday the catch has been 15.9 million fish.

Read more about in-season salmon harvests in the ADF&G Blue Sheet: csfish.adfg.state.ak.us

Actor’s mercury-tainted sushi excuse raises questions

Though an arbitrator has cleared Jeremy Piven of any wrongdoing when he left the cast of “Speed-the-Plow,” the National Fisheries Institute isn’t pleased that he said his mercury poisoning might have been caused by a diet of fish.

– New York Times

Read more: www.nytimes.com

 

Tuesday, August 1, 2009

Breathtaking reports faults Alaska aquaculture

The state has issued a breathtaking report titled "Alaska Department of Fish and Game Internal Review of Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation."

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deck Boss

Read more: deckboss.blogspot.com

Coast Guard rescues crew from
burning vessel

Coast Guard crews responded to a boat fire approximately 10 miles from the coast of Long Beach, Wash., Monday. Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria received a call at 4 p.m. from a crewman aboard the 60-foot fishing vessel Portlock reporting that the vessel was on fire. The two crewmembers aboard Portlock were able to relay coordinates to a Coast Guard watchstander before abandoning ship into a life raft.

- Coast Guard press release

See a video of the rescue: www.piersystem.com

Good news on chum in Juneau area

It was a good summer for Douglas Island Pink and Chum, and also for Southeast fisherman. More than 1.6 million chum salmon were caught by sports and Commercial fishermen and DIPAC, a hatchery official said.

– Juneau Empire

Read more: juneauempire.com

Editorial: Columbia salmon fight to begin anew

This summer's awesome returns of Chinook, coho and steelhead have temporarily alleviated some of the gruff feelings among Commercial, sport, charter and guide fishermen, who in other seasons glare at one another across crowded hearing rooms like antagonistic grizzlies squaring off in an icy mountain stream as the fish leap past.

– The Daily Astorian

Read more: www.dailyastorian.info

Fish farms not only culprit in Fraser River sockeye crash

Ask just about anyone with a history of fishing for salmon along Canada's West Coast and they'll likely say it's not what it used to be.

– Canada.com

Read more: www.canada.com

 

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Legislator wants fishermen exempt from DOT enforcement

Deckboss on Sunday told you about an Alaska Department of Transportation crackdown on fishermen for violations of commercial hauling regulations. Now state Rep. John Harris, R-Valdez, is proposing legislation to exempt fishermen.


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

Read more: deckboss.blogspot.com

Disaster money sought for B.C. fishermen

Bulkley Valley, B.C., MP Nathan Cullen is calling on the government to provide compensation to commercial fishermen on the west coast, and for Fisheries Minister Gail Shea to get involved in the current crisis. – Northern View, B.C.

Read more: www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north

In fish/water fight, California farmers are ‘endangered’

California has a new endangered species on its hands in the San Joaquin Valley—farmers. Thanks to environmental regulations designed to protect the likes of the three-inch long delta smelt, one of America's premier agricultural regions is suffering in a drought made worse by federal regulations.

Wall Street Journal

Read more: online.wsj.com

Greenpeace has novel idea to promote sustainable tuna

Greenpeace has announced that over 70 million tins of sustainable, pole-and-line-caught Pacific skipjack tuna have been pre-ordered as part of an on-line campaign to promote the development of sustainable and equitable pole-and-line skipjack fisheries in the South Pacific.

– Greenpeace press release

Read more: www.greenpeace.org

Australian quota system has sharks thriving

Commercial fishermen are reaping reliable catches thanks to a quota system introduced in 2000, which has allowed stocks of gummy and school sharks to regenerate in greater numbers.

– The Australian

Read more: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

And, now a word from our sponsor

That would be Pacific Fishing magazine.  

If you’re in business and you want to send a holiday gift to clients, customers, suppliers, fishermen, or whomever, consider gift subscriptions to Pacific Fishing magazine.

For multiple orders, each annual subscription will cost you only $7. Plus, the recipient will be reminded of your gift 12 times in 2010.

It’s easy, quick, and you’ll have your business shopping done in September.

For more information, send a note to circulation@pacificfishing.com.

 

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Suggestion would limit Yukon coho subsistence fishery

With this year's commercial fishing season ending even worse than last year's, Yupik fisherman Nick Tucker Sr. is proposing what he calls a "radical" decision this fall on the Yukon River. He wants the state to allow commercial fishing for the fall run of silver salmon, even if it comes at the expense of subsistence fisherman upstream.

– Alaska Dispatch

Read more: www.alaskadispatch.com

New treaty would battle fish pirates

A band of 91 nations around the globe agreed to sign a United Nations treaty that will prevent sea vessels involved in the illegal fishing trade from entering their ports, a move that participants hope will prevent illicitly captured fish from entering markets, thus curbing the highly lucrative and widespread practice.

– Red Orbit

Read more: www.redorbit.com/news

Remember the Cook Inlet Salmon Task Force?

That was the 10-member panel of legislators formed in the spring of 2008 to look at ways to boost poor salmon returns to northern Cook Inlet, and to settle the perpetual feuding among commercial, sport, subsistence and dipnet fishermen in Alaska's busiest fishing hole.

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

Read more: deckboss.blogspot.com

New Bristol Bay salmon company formed

A major high-end salmon processor has partnered with a small Bristol Bay community to create the newest company to join the wide array of fish processors that do business in Bristol Bay.

Juneau Empire

Read more: www.juneauempire.com

Climate change, fishing alters Mid-Atlantic region

The basic makeup of the ocean waters off the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic region has fundamentally changed in the past 40 years because of climate change, commercial fishing pressures and growing coastal populations, according to a new report.

– Bangor (Maine) Daily News

Read more: www.bangordailynews.com

 

Friday, September 4, 2009

Alaska governor wants more offshore drilling

The federal government should allow offshore oil and gas drilling along Alaska's northernmost coastline, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said Thursday in a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

Kodiak Daily Mirror

Read more: www.kodiakdailymirror.com

 

Why salmon are disappearing: Greed

It’s a record year for pink returns in the region, but just nearby, inside the Maritime Heritage Centre, more than 50 people have gathered to address a more pressing salmon question: What has happened to all the coho and Chinook?

“Greed killed the stocks,” says First Nations Hereditary Chief Russell Quocksister. “There used to be herring from one end of the Strait of Georgia to the other.”

– Campbell River Mirror

Read more: www.bclocalnews.com

 

California cancels SF Bay herring fishery 

State wildlife regulators have voted to cancel the herring fishing season in San Francisco Bay for the first time because of plummeting populations of the fish.

The California Fish and Game Commission voted Thursday to close the winter season to help the struggling fish rebound. While the herring catch is small, it is among the last fish caught by commercial fishermen in the Bay.

- San Jose Mercury News

Read more: www.mercurynews.com

 

Lawsuit seeks listing for Alaska ribbon seals 

Ribbon seals should be listed as threatened or endangered because global warming is quickly melting sea ice, which the seals depend on for several months each year, two environmental groups said in a lawsuit filed against the federal government in San Francisco Thursday.

– Anchorage Daily News

Read more: www.adn.com

 

Alaska faces increased acidification 

The waters off Alaska, teeming with enough fish to support more than half the U.S. commercial seafood catch, face a new threat -- increasing acidification from the same atmospheric carbon linked to global warming.

– Reuters

Read more: www.reuters.com

 

Canada protests U.S. arctic fishing ban 

Canada has lodged a diplomatic protest with the U.S. government over its unilateral imposition of a fishing ban in a part of the Arctic Ocean claimed by both countries, Canwest News Service has learned.

– Vancouver Sun

Read more: www.vancouversun.com