Monday, September 8, 2014
SALMON FARMING’S ‘SUPER PROFITS’
A price hike of 50% or so in 2013 translated into fat earnings — dubbed ‘super profits’ by analysts — for salmon farmers worldwide, especially in northern Europe.
– Undercurrent News
More:www.undercurrentnews.com
Strong Yukon runs
The Yukon River is having strong runs of silver and chum salmon this fall, giving a boost to fishermen after another tepid summer for king salmon.
– Newsminer.com
More:www.newsminer.com
Ruling affirms Cook Inlet exclusion
A federal judge ruled Thursday to uphold the federal decision to remove Cook Inlet from the salmon fishery management plan.
– Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Conference stirs controversy in Adak, Unalaska
The two cities worry about losing out on economic opportunities stemming from growing interest in the Arctic, especially both communities’ exclusion from the study on funding new ports by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
– Alaska Dispatch News
More:www.adn.com
PWS otters signal ecosystem health
The return of sea otters in force to the Prince William Sound is an indication that the ecosystem is returning to a natural balance. So said Randall Davis, who heads the long term study of the behavioral ecology of sea otters in Simpson Bay, which just finished up a season at Alice Cove.
– Cordova Times
More:www.thecordovatimes.com
No insurance for Crescent City docks
The new docks installed in Crescent City Harbor to replace old floats destroyed by tsunamis will not be insured for tsunamis, a decision harbor commissioners voted on Tuesday.
– Del Norte Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Eight rescued from ‘Superfish’
The U.S. Coast Guard in San Francisco says eight people were rescued from a troubled charter fishing boat while the captain stayed aboard to plug the leak.
– SFGate
More:www.sfgate.com
Groundfish, coho, halibut on PRMC agenda
The Pacific Fishery Management Council will meet Wednesday for a week-long session, Sept. 10-17, in Spokane to address issues related to groundfish, highly migratory species, coastal pelagic species, salmon, ecosystem management and habitat matters.
– The Spokesman-Review
More:www.spokesman.com
CA watershed hammered by drought, diversions
This is an alarming and worrisome development for the third-largest watershed in California. We spoke with Scott Greacen, executive director of Friends of the Eel River, about the factors that led to this situation — primarily California’s beyond-extreme drought but also the warm weather and countless illegal water diversions irrigating our county’s illicit marijuana grows.
– Lost Coast Outpost
More:lostcoastoutpost.com
East Coast fisheries at low ebb
Scientists who participated in an annual survey of Maine and New Hampshire fish stocks say they caught fewer fish than any year since 2006.
– WABI
More:wabi.tv
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
PUTTING ALASKA TO WORK AT SEA
The state of Alaska, the University of Alaska and representatives from Alaskan fisheries, seafood and marine industries created a plan to increase the number of in state residents working in maritime careers.
– KDLG
More:kdlg.org
Cook Inlet changes criticized
Like other sectors, Cook Inlet’s drift fleet faced changes this summer as the result of Board of Fisheries action at the Upper Cook Inlet meeting in February — including a change to the allowable fishing area.
– Peninsula Clarion
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Candidate drops fisheries debate
“Surprised and disappointed” was the reaction by U.S. Senator Mark Begich upon learning that his opponent Dan Sullivan has bowed out of an October 1 fisheries debate in Kodiak.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in Sitnews
More:www.sitnews.us
Orca birth off B.C. coast
A killer whale has given birth to a calf in the Salish Sea, first such birth there since 2012.
– Peninsula Clarion
More:www.timescolonist.com
USCG security cutter visits Kodiak
The 418-foot Stratton, the fourth of eight planned Legend Class National Security Cutters, was passing through on its way from its homeport of Alameda, California, to the Arctic Ocean.
– KMXT
More:www.kmxt.org
Residents doubt handling of B.C. spill
Some residents of the small British Columbia community of Likely, downstream from a mine breach say they don't trust that the provincial government is dealing with the disaster.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
EPA offers Pebble webinar
Region 10 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is offering an online webinar on Sept. 9 and Sept. 10 to provide a brief overview of the Clean Water Act Section 404 (c) proposed determination for the Pebble deposit in Southwest Alaska.
– Cordova Times
More:www.thecordovatimes.com
Whaling shadows Iceland seafood
A new poll reveals that more than four out of five people are unlikely to purchase seafood products from Icelandic fishing companies, such as HB Grandi, which have links to whaling.
– Fish News EU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Gulf of Maine hit by warming
Imagine Cape Cod without cod. Maine without lobster. The region's famous rocky beaches invisible, obscured by constant high waters. It's already starting to happen. The culprit is the warming seas — and in particular the Gulf of Maine.
– CBC News
More:www.cbc.ca
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
OPEN MARKETS LIMIT RUSSIAN IMPACT
Because of robust markets elsewhere for some of the products favored by Russians — like salmon caviar — the showdown may be more about politics than economics.
– KCAW
More:www.kcaw.org
B.C. fishers push for higher salmon catch
Joy Thorkelson is wondering who will stand up for the commercial fishing industry in light of another dismal season on the North Coast.
– Northern View
More:www.thenorthernview.com
Monitoring system prevents vessel flooding
To the rescue: a simple monitoring system on doors and hatches with inputs displayed in the wheelhouse.
– Alaska Fish Radio
More:www.alaskafishradio.com
Seiners endorse incumbent senator
Another prominent commercial fishing organization has thrown their support behind incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Begich in his quest for another term.
– KDLG
More:kdlg.org
West Coast bait line rule proposed
Federal fisheries managers have proposed a new rule requiring West Coast commercial fishermen who unroll long lines of baited hooks on the ocean bottom also put out long lines of fluttering plastic to scare off seabirds trying to steal the bait.
– SFGate
More:www.sfgate.com
Ferry probably killed humpback
A medical examination has concluded that the female humpback whale found dead off the shores of Kodiak in July was killed by a ship strike, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
– Alaska Dispatch News
More:www.adn.com
Norway cod price up, volume down
The value of exports of Norwegian codfish in August was NOK 824 million (USD 132.2 million), an increase of NOK 67 million (USD 10.7 million) or 9 per cent, compared to last August. According to figures from the Norwegian Seafood Council, this was accompanied by a decrease in the exported volume of 4 per cent.
– Fish Information Services
More:www.fis.com
Study forecasts Fraser oil spill impact
The environmental recovery from a “full bore” oil pipeline rupture into the lower Fraser River could take up to five years.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Alaska salmon catch at 148 million fish
Preliminary updates from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game show that the Alaska commercial salmon harvest reached 148,116,000 fish by Sept. 9, and the catch total keeps slowly climbing.
– Cordova Times
More:www.thecordovatimes.com
Thursday, September 11, 2014
UNUSUAL WARMING IN GULF OF ALASKA
Government scientists say they are "watching a persistent expanse of exceptionally warm water spanning the Gulf of Alaska that could send reverberations through the marine food web."
– Pacific Fishing Editor Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Columbia salmon short of forecast
Fall Chinook salmon returns to the Columbia River are big this year, but appear tracking short of the forecasted record-high.
– The Columbian
More:www.columbian.com
Storm system headed for Bristol Bay
A large storm system is expected to roll through the Bristol Bay region later this week. The system will likely result in some heavy rain and strong winds.
– KDLG
More:kdlg.org
Kodiak-based research ship spills oil
An oily sheen in Women’s Bay has been traced to the NOAA research ship Rainier docked at Nyman Peninsula on the Kodiak Coast Guard base.
– KMXT
More:www.kmxt.org
Ruling: fishermen may have been illegally searched
A family of commercial fishermen who say wildlife agents have a vendetta against them may have an illegal-search case, the 9th Circuit ruled.
– Courthouse News Service
More:www.courthousenews.com
Fish-blocking WA dam removed
Last week, explosives destroyed the last piece of the once 210-foot tall Glines Canyon Dam, returning the river to its wild state. The blast was part of a three-year effort to remove the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, which had blocked fish from swimming upstream for more than a century.
– NOAA
More:www.habitat.noaa.gov
Russian company challenges import ban
A Russian fish-processing firm has filed a lawsuit against the Government with the Supreme Court due to the resolution to ban import of fish and other foodstuffs from Norway, EU, US and other countries. The firm states this measure is harming its business.
– Fish Information Services
More:www.fis.com
White House warned against fishing ban
John Podesta, the Obama administration’s climate and energy czar, got a blunt warning this week that a plan to cut off all fishing in a huge, U.S.-controlled tract of the Pacific Ocean would have devastating economic effects in the region, and would cede geopolitical advantages to China and other Pacific powers.
– Fox News
More:www.foxnews.com
CA farmers question fish protection
Environmental protections for endangered salmon in California’s rivers and streams are drawing complaints from drought-stricken farmers who say water that could be pumped to them is allowed to empty into the ocean.
– Bloomberg
More:www.bloomberg.com
Clarification: The Sept. 8 edition of Fish Wrap included a misleading headline. In a Sept. 7 Coast Guard response to a fishing vessel taking on water in the Bolinas area of California, the charter boat Superfish actually assisted in the rescue and was not the vessel in distress as the headline implied. We apologize for any confusion.
Friday, September 12, 2014
PACIFIC FISHING WELCOMES NEW EDITOR
Pacific Fishing, the business magazine for fishermen, is pleased to announce veteran fisheries journalist Wesley Loy will assume the editor’s chair of the 35-year-old media enterprise.Read more here.
U.S. FISHING WORTH $90 BILLION
Taken together, commercial and recreational fishing contributed nearly $90 billion to the U.S. economy in 2012, according to Hamilton Project data, including over 1.5 million jobs for American workers.
– Business Insider
More:www.businessinsider.com
CA squid migrate north
Commercial squid fishermen from Southern California were drawn to the North Coast by following squid that were driven out of their typical habitat by a rise in ocean water temperatures.
– Times-Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Fisheries meetings loom
Fall means it is time for fish meetings that shape all of the management and oversight for Alaska’s fisheries.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, reporting for Alaska Fish Radio
More:www.alaskafishradio.com
Storm system swamps SW Alaska
The storm system making its way up the southwestern coast of Alaska is bringing rain and high winds. This is a large weather front. Very large.
– Alaska Public Media
More:www.alaskapublic.org
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, Alaskans won’t get to hear the Republican candidate for Senate’s take on fisheries, West Coast fishermen may be required to scare birds off, and more tests for radiation from Fukushima, all coming up on the Alaska Fisheries Report.
– KMXT
More:www.kmxt.org
Dam removal opens fish migration
Two years ago, we worked with partners to remove a dam from Hostler Creek in northern California—this summer, we saw fish swimming upstream.
– NOAA
More:www.habitat.noaa.gov
Icelandic cod on the rise
Exports of Icelandic cod so far this year, along with prices, are continuing to rise, the latest Marko Partners Seafood Intelligence Report shows.
– Fishupdate.com
More:www.fishupdate.com
Western ‘Megadrought’ feared
A new study warns that the chances of western states in the U.S. experiencing a multi-decade 'megadrought'—not seen in historical climate records in over 2,000 years—has a much higher chance of occurring in the decades ahead than previously realized.
– Common Dreams
More:www.commondreams.org
Opinion: support of Pebble unacceptable
Congressman Don Young recently reiterated his support for the "Regulatory Certainty Act of 2014," a bill designed to allow the Pebble Mine to go forward. His support of this bill to eliminate the 404(c) power and lend a hand to the Pebble Mine is unacceptable.
– Bristol Bay Times
More:www.thebristolbaytimes.com