Monday, September 12, 2011
LOTSA ROCKFISH OFF AK PENINSULA
A new survey of rockfish on the Alaskan Peninsula has found a greater number than expected, possibly leading to bigger hauls for fishermen.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Seismic ship leaves Dutch
A research vessel operated by the National Science Foundation has left Unalaska to do seismic work in the Chukchi Sea.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Changes in Juneau docks
Docks and Harbors managers have several large projects and harbor rebuilds that have been in the works for years, and since last year the department has gained ground in most of the projects.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Congress members against frankenfish
Members of Congress are pushing to stop the Food and Drug Administration from approving genetically engineered salmon, saying not enough is known about a fish they say could harm fishery businesses in coastal states.
– Miami Herald
More:www.miamiherald.com
Kenai poets
When commercial fishing is slow, or Rich King just has a spare moment during a slow day on the water, he reads his poems to other fisherman over the marine radio.
– Peninsula Clarion
Read more:peninsulaclarion.com
Oregon albatross death
The death of an endangered albatross hooked by a fishing boat off Oregon has federal biologists and fisheries managers looking at requiring West Coast fishing boats to take extra steps to avoid killing sea birds.
– San Jose Mercury News
More:www.mercurynews.com
Sen. Cantwell to oppose Pebble
In a high-stakes battle that pits gold and copper against fish, members of Congress are scrapping over a plan to build one of the world's largest open pit mines in southwest Alaska.
– Kansas City Star
More:www.kansascity.com
Lice-eating fish
Marine Harvest and Scottish Sea Farms are each investing £450,000 over the next three years to develop and grow wrasse – a fish which cleans other fish of parasites and has been shown to help control sea lice in farmed salmon.
– FishNewsEU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Politicians scrapping over Pebble
In a high-stakes battle that pits gold and copper against fish, members of Congress are scrapping over a plan to build one of the world's largest open pit mines in southwest Alaska.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Fraser sockeye stronger
An estimated 4.5 million sockeye salmon are returning to the Fraser River system this summer and the run size has fishery managers cautiously optimistic about the survival of the iconic fish.
– B.C. Local News
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Fraser pinks still coming
At the meeting Monday, the panel adopted a pink salmon run size of 17,500,000 fish.
– Pacific Salmon Commission
More:www.psc.org
What’s an ocean worth?
A unique study, released on Monday from a Sydney think tank, has been the first to assess the actual financial worth of the environmental treasure beneath Australia's oceans.
– Peoples Daily Online, China
More:english.peopledaily.com.cn
Seafood money in Alaska
Millions more dollars are being pumped into Alaska communities and state coffers by the seafood industry.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
More tugs in Dutch?
Each year, thousands of ships travel through the Aleutians on the Great Circle route, and that number only continues to increase.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Temp docks in Crescent City
The plan for temporary docks in the Crescent City Harbor is changing as a result of upcoming dredging.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
Moving ahead against sea lions
Lethal removal of California sea lions and Endangered Species Act-listed salmon and steelhead at Bonneville Dam has been a political hot potato since it began, and this year in particular as it was allowed, then disallowed.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Murkowski helps lead ocean caucus
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she will be co-chairwoman of a new bipartisan caucus focused on oceans.
– San Jose Mercury News
More:www.mercurynews.com
Salmon farmers want big expansion
One of Scotland’s leading salmon farming companies is aiming to spend more than £50 million over the next five years to nearly double its operation – but it will have to overcome strong community opposition in some areas if it is to succeed.
– The Herald, Scotland
More:www.heraldscotland.com
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
B.C. dogfish certified
The British Columbia spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi) fishery has received Marine Stewardship Council certification as a sustainable fishery.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.msc.org
Low tech fishing for pinks
Reef netting is about as low-tech as it gets: four guys on two barges with a net strung between them.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
SF salt flat to wetland
With the crunch of a bulldozer Tuesday afternoon, the oldest salt flat in the Bay Area became the region's newest wetland.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Fishing festival in Seattle
As part of the 23rd annual Fishermen’s Fall Festival in Seattle, skippers and cast mates of the Discovery Channel program “Deadliest Catch" will again join other veteran Bering Sea crabbers to serve up crab melt griddles for festival goers.
– Bering Sea Crabbers
More:www.fishermensfallfestival.org
Fishing festival in Astoria
The Commercial Fishermen's Festival brings together commercial fishermen and the public for a weekend of finny fun Sept. 17 and 18.
– Coast Weekend
More:www.coastweekend.com
Less fish for farmed salmon
A 22 month trial with Atlantic salmon in a commercial scale farm in Norway has demonstrated the practicality of using feed with low levels of marine protein.
– FishNewsEU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Sockeye in B.C.’s Okanagan
Since 2004, the Okanagan Nation Alliance fisheries department has been working with governments, utilities and other agencies on both sides of the international boundary to restore fish passage for salmon up the Columbia system into the Okanagan, past McIntyre Dam and Okanagan Falls and ultimately into Okanagan Lake.
– BCLocalNews
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Sea lion scientists fined
A science consortium has agreed to a civil penalty of $9,000 for intruding into Alaska waters that were declared off-limits to protect endangered Steller sea lions.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Oregon wants bigger N. Pacific voice
Here's a resolution signed yesterday by the mayor of Newport, Ore., supporting the addition of two more Oregon seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which regulates federal fisheries off Alaska.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Fraser fisherman lost
A man who was swept away while fishing in the Fraser River near Chilliwack still hasn't been found.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Friday, September 16, 2011
Fish farmers shooting sea lions
Shootings and accidental drownings at fish farms were made public for the first time this month by Fisheries and Oceans, and critics are shocked by the number of marine mammals legally killed at farm sites in the first three months of the year.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Driving away cormorants
The number of cormorant nests in Michigan has been decreasing since population reduction actions were implemented in 2004. That's according to information released by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
– WNEM, Saginaw
More:www.wnem.com
Update on halibut cuts
Fisheries Management Specialist Rachel Baker of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gave the Juneau Chamber of Commerce an update of the proposed halibut catch sharing program.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Jellyfish replacing real fish
Over-fished commercial stocks of plankton-eating fish have been replaced in several locations by jellyfish species.
– PhysOrg.com
More:www.physorg.com
WalMart boycott over catch shares
The decision of the Walton Family Foundation to invest $36,341,561 in Environmental Defense Fund and other nonprofits helping the Obama administration re-engineer U.S. fisheries though catch share programs has produced a nascent campaign to boycott Wal-Mart stores.
– Gloucester (Mass.) Times
More:www.gloucestertimes.com
West Coast catch shares
A new system of managing groundfish on the West Coast is bringing fishermen and environmentalists together. The system is called "catch shares."
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita, reporting for Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:news.opb.org
Fish Tech Center threatened
Now, the program, a joint effort between the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the United Stated Department of Agriculture, is threatened by federal budget cuts.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Sporties complain about halibut
Yes, it is time once again for sport fishermen to pay for the shortages in our Alaska fisheries.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
The 27th annual Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium is happening right now in Anchorage; a joint fisheries consultant is being considered by Kodiak's two governments, and how to upgrade your 32-footer.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
