Monday, September 19, 2011
CRUCIAL PEBBLE MINE VOTE
In just two weeks, fewer than a thousand voters in the remote Lake and Peninsula Borough could decide the fate of the gigantic Pebble mine prospect and sidetrack one of the most controversial development projects in Alaska history.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Editorial: 'No' on halibut plan
But if there's a halibut problem, this catch-share plan isn't the solution.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Over-fishing shrinks fish
"There are clear indications that almost all... commercial fish are shrinking."
– BBC
More:www.bbc.co.uk
Tuna rules too restrictive
The popular "dolphin-safe" labels used to market tuna sold in the U.S. are illegal because they restrict too much trade, a World Trade Organization panel ruled in handing a partial victory to Mexico.
– BusinessWeek
More:www.businessweek.com
Funding frustrates Canada fish scientists
Employees at DFO — from scientists to fish hatchery workers — are all extremely frustrated with year after year of reduced resources and staffing to manage one of the most complex and least understood fish in the world.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Bristol Bay river fishing
In some years the imposition of limits means that large numbers of fish make it through the commercial fishing districts and are counted as escapement.
– Alaska Public Radio
More:www.alaskapublic.org
Meaning of Copper River fish
Nobody thinks about delivering un-iced fish. We take pride in our catch and know that each salmon we hand pick out of our nets will ultimately end up on someone's dinner plate.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Some fishery work gains money
As congressional lawmakers slash budgets in D.C., money for all-important fishery stock assessments was actually increased from $51 million to $67 million for the next fiscal year, the amount requested by President Barack Obama.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Fisher poets in Kodiak
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.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Shrimp farming is dirty
Shrimp farming, one of the most destructive industries for coastal ecosystems, may soon be endowed with a set of standards that would supposedly vouch for environmentally responsible production, through the efforts of the World Wildlife Fund.
– IPS
More:www.ipsnews.net
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
SHELL CLOSER TO ARCTIC DRILLING
Shell Oil Co. took a step closer to tapping vast petroleum reserves off Alaska's Arctic coasts when the federal Environmental Protection Agency approved an air quality permit for one of the company's drilling vessels.
– Anchorage Daly News
More:www.adn.com
Halibut editorial wrong
The recent debate over the halibut catch sharing plan has been plagued with misinformation.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Importing seafood
In the fourth decade of the nation's epic and largely successful effort to reverse centuries of overfishing, 2010 commercial fishing landings and revenues in U.S. ports increased, but the nation continues to import the vast majority of its seafood.
– Gouchester (Mass. Times) Times
More:www.gloucestertimes.com
Barging on the Taku
Juneau's legislative delegation is forming a fact-finding task force to address issues surrounding the possible impacts for Taku River salmon fisheries in response to barge traffic for the proposed development of Tulsequah Chief Mine in British Columbia.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
PETA protests in Seatte
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) plans a protest at Broad Street and Alaskan Way on the Elliott Bay waterfront. More than a dozen protesters promise to wave gruesome photos of hooked fish.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Cosco Busan pays fine
The shipping companies responsible for the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill, which polluted San Francisco Bay and killed thousands of birds and fish, have agreed to pay $44.4 million to restore habitat and reimburse.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Klamath dam removal doubted
The analysis, which will be made public Thursday, shows the costs of removing the dams is about $160 million cheaper than originally projected.
– Redding (Calif.) Record Searchlight
More:www.redding.com
Homer stays out of halibut fight
The Homer City Council recognized that in this community's diverse maritime economy, city officials and representatives shouldn't take sides in fish allocation disputes.
– KeniaPeninsula.com
More:peninsulaclarion.com
Trawl bycatch of halibut
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is taking a look at the allowable bycatch for halibut caught by trawlers in the Gulf of Alaska.
– KTUU, Anchorage
More:articles.ktuu.com
Kodiak collision
The 98-foot Flying Ocean and the 86-foot Muskrat collided at Pier 2 at about 11:30 p.m. No injuries or pollution was reported, though the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Detachment is investigating the incident.
– KMXT, Kodiac
More:www.kmxt.org (scroll down)
Coho in Alaska
The state's latest tally shows a Southeast summer troll catch of just over 1.1 million coho.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
JUDGE THROWS OUT SACRAMENTO
A federal judge in Fresno invalidated key parts of a plan to protect endangered winter- and spring-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead that migrate through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
– Miami Herald
More:www.miamiherald.com
Getting naked in Spokane
"We're getting naked, but on Wednesday, in Spokane," Hamilton said. The plan there is for the PETA gals to take off their tops and lie like dead fish in front of a sushi restaurant.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Sarah isn’t a fisherman
Palin, once again, failed to apply for a license to fish in Alaska this season. The request follows our report from earlier this year that revealed that Palin had only secured commercial fishing licenses for fewer than half of all the years she's claimed to have been in the business.
– The Awl
More:www.theawl.com
Solely Alaska news
This year's Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend will be $1,174.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
B.C. dogfish: First shark certified
B.C.'s spiny dogfish has become the first shark fishery in the world to be deemed sustainable, helping to open doors to foreign markets and offering a glimmer of hope for globally overfished shark populations.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
B.C. fish farm numbers shocking
For the first time ever, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has posted fish farm reports of mammal killings on its website, and some find the numbers shocking.
– Campbell River Mirror
More: www.bclocalnews.com
Editorial: Klamath plan makes more sense
An already strong argument for removing four fish-killing dams on the Klamath River gained even more strength when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that the cost of removing them will be significantly less than first believed.
– Eugene Register Guard
More:www.registerguard.com
New NOAA numbers
Those numbers will confirm that the catch-share system — which encourages fishermen to trade, lease or sell their allocated catch quota to larger businesses or outside investors — has concentrated more of the landings and revenue in the hands of those large-scale trawling operations while driving smaller, independent fishermen out of the industry.
– Gloucester (Mass.) Times
More:www.gloucestertimes.com
Warmth changing Atlantic species
The first "big picture" study of the effects of rapidly rising temperatures in the northeast Atlantic Ocean shows that a major shift in fish stocks is already well underway.
– Media Newswire
More:media-newswire.com
CG honors 1950 rescue
Members of Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Sector Juneau and the Alaska Department of Public Safety recognized three Alaska residents for their role in the 1950 rescue of a fisherman stranded off Chichagof Island during an awards ceremony.
– Military.com
More:www.military.com
No radioactivity in B.C fish
Government tests meant to see if fish from British Columbia are showing high levels of radioactivity following this year's devastating earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan have come up negative, says the agency responsible for Canadian food safety.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Thursday, September 22, 2011
EDITORIAL: CHARTER BAG LIMIT WON'T HELP
The charter business in Southcentral already was cut by 30 percent last year with a limited entry scheme. The effect of this one-third cut in the charter fleet on its catch is unknown.
– Homer Tribune
More:homertribune.com
Klamath plan to help salmon
Removing four hydroelectric dams and restoring habitat on Northern California's Klamath River would significantly boost the watershed's Chinook salmon population and the commercial salmon catch, according to several dozen federal reports released Wednesday.
– L.A. Times
More:www.latimes.com
Research the seas
Murkowski on oceans: We know more about the moon
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
Donations for classic fishing boat
The Kodiak Maritime Museum is looking for help from residents to move forward its plans to revive the historic fishing vessel Thelma C.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org (scroll down)
Newport and NOAA
Think of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's "homeport" as a high-end service station.
– Eugene Register Guard
More:www.eastoregonian.com
Overfishing and fish behavior
Does overfishing change the behavior and development pattern of fish? Scientists are trying to find out.
– FIS
More:www.fis.com
Warm weather pushes stocks northward
Northeast Atlantic Ocean fish stocks are already shifting due to warming waters, harming some fish stocks but benefiting others, according to research published in Current Biology.
– FishUpdate
More:www.fishupdate.com
Arctic sea ice melt
Arctic sea ice melted this summer to the second-lowest level since record-keeping began more than 50 years ago, scientists reported, mostly blaming global warming.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Friday, September 23, 2011
MISINFORMATION IN HALIBUT OP-ED
The recent debate over the halibut catch sharing plan has been plagued with misinformation. Unfortunately, a recent Daily News editorial ("Halibut? Go for two," Sept. 18) repeats some of that misinformation.
– Anchorage Daily News
More: www.examiner.com
Halibut plan affects Kenai businesses
A proposed change in how the local halibut fishery is managed and allocated between industries will have deep impacts across the Peninsula if it is implemented as it currently stands.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More: peninsulaclarion.com
N. Pacific Council and halibut
No issue has been more controversial over the past two months than the halibut catch sharing plan draft rule released July 22 by National Marine Fisheries Service.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More: www.alaskajournal.com
Biomass set for Bering Sea
Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center have calculated the initial biomass estimates from the 2011 eastern Bering Sea survey.
– Juneau Empire
More: juneauempire.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week: More money from the feds for fishery stock assessment is in the pipeline, Metlakatla's salmon fishery gets certified by the MSC, and NOAA Fisheries wants to hear your voice. All that, and studying how permits get dispersed among the fleet.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More: www.kmxt.org
Liquidfied nat-gas on Coos Bay?
For years, liquefied natural gas developers in Oregon shunned the idea of flipping their proposed LNG import terminals around to export natural gas instead.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More: ecotrope.opb.org
Safe sushi
Japan's sushi association and a Norwegian seafood promoter have signed a memorandum on promoting safe raw-fish eating culture in global markets.
– Japan Times
More: search.japantimes.co.jp
Research off Prince of Wales Island
NOAA ship Rainier has begun a month long survey of the sea floor near Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island as part of a multi-year effort to update nautical charts for the area.
– NOAA
More: www.noaanews.noaa.gov
GOP against dam removal funds
This is a tribute to the tenacity of the citizens and environmental groups who helped make it happen. It is also an example of the good that can be done with genuine bipartisan collaboration.
– New York Times
More: www.nytimes.com
Arguing against deep sea fishing
An international team of leading marine scientists is recommending an end to most commercial fishing in the deep sea, the Earth's largest ecosystem. Instead, they recommend fishing in shallower, more productive waters nearer to human populations.
– ScienceAlert
More: www.sciencealert.com.au
