Monday, September 23, 2013
DESTROYING INLET SALMON STREAM
The proposed Chuitna coal strip mine that would excavate a Cook Inlet salmon stream out of existence was the backdrop last week to a lawsuit seeking to force the Parnell administration to act on water rights applications to protect the stream.
– Lisa Demer, reporting in the Anchorage Daily News
More: adn.com
Wind drives vessel ashore
High winds and rough seas drove the F/V Chaos onto the rocks outside Unalaska – and delayed a Coast Guard air rescue of the ship's crew.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Lauren Rosenthal, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More: kucb.org
Rescuing stranded fishermen
Kodiak-based Coast Guard helicopter crews rescued four fishermen from a beach on Unalaska Bay near Dutch Harbor.
– Coast Guard
More: piersystem.com
Carlson deadline extended
Carlson was a class-action case that resulted in an order for millions of dollars in refunds to be paid to nonresidents who were charged excessive Alaska commercial fishing fees.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Lowdown on Adak
The company president, John Lowrance, is a familiar name in Alaska's salmon industry.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Kodiak Island's on for bait herring
The guideline harvest level in the two open districts is 99 tons for the South Afognak District and 180 tons in the Uganik District.
– KMXT
More: kmxt.org
No impacts from Lone Star's sinking
The impact of the sinking on the local commercial salmon fishery was outlined during a meeting in Dillingham.
– KDLG
More: kdlg.org
Ban on eco-labels?
Alaska's senior U.S. senator has introduced legislation that would prohibit federal agencies from using seafood eco-labels.
– Mike Mason, reporting for KDLG, Dillingham
More: kdlg.org
Wall removal opens fish habitat
Tens of thousands of fish will have a much easier time swimming upstream to their native spawning grounds when an old, rusty weir is removed at the Mad River Fish Hatchery.
– Times-Standard
More: times-standard.com
Sea ice growing for winter
The sea ice low was hit on Friday the 13th of September, according to a press release today from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
– Steve Heimel, reporting for APRN, Anchorage
More: alaskapublic.org
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
MORE PROFITS FROM BRISTOL BAY
This year's Bristol Bay catch of nearly 15.4 million sockeye salmon brought $138.4 million ex-vessel.
– Pacific Fishing columnist
Wesley Loy, writing in his blog, Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Governor eager for coal mine
In response to a petition from local Alaskans looking to protect salmon habitat from the proposed Chuitna coal strip mine, the Parnell Administration said "no."
– Rob Ernst, Alaska Native News
More: alaska-native-news.com
Discovering Jesus salmon
A Swedish fish factory worker said he was shocked to find a salmon with what appeared to him to be a Christian cross across its stomach.
– UPI
More: upi.com
B.C. celebrates fish farms
This is the start of British Columbia's Aquaculture Awareness Week, on Vancouver Island – an annual event aimed at raising awareness of the industry and providing the chance to thank the thousands of hard-working men and women who make the industry a success.
– FishNewsEU
More: fishnewseu.com
Pebble still a threat
Even though London-based Anglo has pulled out of the Pebble Partnership, Northern Dynasty Minerals of Canada still remains. And they insist the project is still very much alive.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More: sitnews.us
Bad-mouthing over Fukushima
Gregory Jaczko, a former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission who is in Tokyo upon being invited by a Japanese anti-nuclear citizen's group, said that the leaks of contaminated water that are hounding the decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima
nuclear plant had been known since early in the crisis, and have worsened only because the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. – the facility's operator – acted too slowly.
– Japan Daily Press
More: japandailypress.com
B.C. oil port prelude
Communities such as Kitimat, the main port, and Fort Nelson, center of gas production and processing, are already feeling the pressures of intense industrial development.
– Northern View, Price Rupert
More: thenorthernview.com
Marijuana farmer kills fish
Law enforcement saw unpermitted roads across water courses with portions filled in with dirt, timber land converted to home sites without permits, illegal grading and trash burning, and two large 1,000-gallon diesel tanks.
– Eureka Times Standard
More: times-standard.com
Oregon Trawl Commission lauded
The Oregon Trawl Commission has been recognized yet again for its contributions to sustainability in Oregon's thriving shrimp industry.
– Chelsea Davis, reporting for the Coos Bay World
More: theworldlink.com
Record-breaker in Alaska
"I feel kind of funny getting a world record for a 13.2-pound fish when there's 200-pound halibut swimming around in the same water."
– James Brooks, reporting in the Kodiak Daily Mirror
More: newsminer.com
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
PEOPLE MAGAZINE FISH FLUB
"I think he was just missing the boat here."
– Sen. Mark Begich, quoted by Jay Barrett, Kodiak
More: kmxt.org
Bills would help small harbors
More good news for Oregon ports, including the ports of Umpqua, Siuslaw, and Coos Bay.
– Steve Lindsley, reporting for the Umpqua Post
More: theworldlink.com
Russian pollock certified
Russian Sea of Okhotsk walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) fishery has received Marine Stewardship Council certification. The target stock is found throughout the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk and commercial fishing occurs during two seasons: January to April, and October to December.
– MSC
More: msc.org
B.C. girds for mining boom
In northern British Columbia, a mining frenzy is underway that could threaten Alaska fisheries and tourism jobs.
– American Salmon Forest
More: americansalmonforest.org
Noise tied to cod kills
Cod populations are depleted everywhere, and the blame has been directed variously at fishermen for not managing stocks, at the protections afforded seals and sea lions, and warmer ocean temperatures – but there is strong evidence that the failure of these fish populations to rebound may be tied to the loud sonar and air guns that are nearly constant in areas where these fish are found.
– Huffington Post
More: huffingtonpost.com
More Columbia time for fleet
Elated by a record-smashing fall Chinook salmon run into the Columbia River, Oregon and Washington fish managers decided to relax the river's last sport fishing restriction.
– Bill Monroe, reporting for The Oregonian
More: oregonlive.com
Arctic drilling standards?
Pew wants a fleet of ice-capable vessels, Arctic-hardened pipelines and tanks, and solid consultation with local people.
– Steve Heimel, reporting for APRN
More: alaskapublic.org
B.C. fish plant success
The fish processing plant, owned by the Lax Kw'alaams First Nation, has reached an annual payroll of $1.5 million, driving success for the village with sustainable income for more than 300 band members.
– Martina Perry, reporting for the Northern View, Prince Rupert
More: thenorthernview.com
Alaska subsistence won't work
One big, fundamental reality: Aside from salmon, which thrive because they spend their lives at sea, Alaska is a land poor in living resources.
– Craig Medred, reporting for Alaska Dispatch
More: alaskadispatch.com
Thursday, September 26, 2013
FISHERMAN AND OBAMACARE
Some in the industry say the cost and lack of access to comprehensive health insurance is a barrier to new fishermen and an ongoing concern for those already in the business.
– Matt Lichtenstein, reporting for KFSK, Petersburg
More: kfsk.org
No gillnet observers
It looks like Southeast gillnetters will not be watched by marine mammal observers next year.
– Matt Lichtenstein, reporting for KFSK, Petersburg
More: kfsk.org
More time for SE coho
A big run of coho salmon in Southeast Alaska means commercial trollers have an extension of the summer fishing season.
– Joe Viechnicki, reporting for KFSK, Petersburg
More: kfsk.org
No SE red and blue crab
Stock health ratings of poor in the majority of the survey areas and well-below average ratings in the others offered no harvestable surplus towards the minimum threshold in regulation.
– Matt Lichtenstein, reporting for KTOO, Juneau
More: ktoo.org
Third-party sustainability questioned
The issue of sustainable seafood certifications was addressed at length Tuesday during a hearing in the U.S. Senate.
– Mike Mason, reporting on KDLG, Dillingham
More: kdlg.org
MSC can't decide for feds
The General Services Administration has refused, upon review of their policies, to allow non-governmental organizations that "certify" sustainable fishing practices to dictate the sources of fish the federal government purchases.
– Kenai Peninsula Clarion
More: peninsulaclarion.com
Astoria OKs processor leases
After several meetings in which members split votes, and voluminous public testimony on both sides, the Port of Astoria Commission finally voted to sign leases with Da Yang Seafoods and Bornstein Seafoods for their expansion on Pier 2.
– Edward Stratton, reporting for The Daily Astorian
More: dailyastorian.com
Troublesome Westport sea lions
Encounters between California sea lions and people have gotten increasingly violent on the coastal town of Westport.
– The Oregonian
More: oregonlive.com
Sea lion suit in court
Animal-rights groups urged the 9th Circuit to halt a plan to trap and kill California sea lions that feed on protected fish species near the Bonneville Dam, asking the court, "When does it end? When does the killing stop?"
– Courthouse News
More: courthousenews.com
Where are Klamath fish?
Sure, there's a few fish that have squirted through and are now entering tributaries like the Trinity, Shasta, and Scott rivers, but with an in-river return at well over 250,000 predicted, the numbers aren't adding up.
– Kenny Priest, reporting for the Times Standard, Eureka
More: times-standard.com
Friday, September 27, 2013
CLIMATE CHANGE NEAR CERTAINTY
But while the broad conclusions of the science may not have changed that much, the political environment into which the report is being released has changed significantly.
– Time
More: science.time.com
Bashing Walmart
"It is unacceptable for Walmart to continue to deny Americans the right to choose sustainable Alaska salmon," said John Renner, Vice President, Cordova District Fisherman United.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, reporting in SitNews, Ketchikan
More: sitnews.us
Walmart stands tough
Neither retail giant Walmart, nor Sodexo, which does millions of dollars in business with federal government agencies and many private sector entities in food services and facilities management, have yet to lift their commitment to seafood certification via the Marine Stewardship Council.
– Margaret Bauman, reporting for the Cordova Times
More: thecordovatimes.com
MSC strikes back
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) issued a five-page statement, lashing out at its critics, including the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and some of the seafood industry media, for what it called "negative and inaccurate statements."
– Seafood Source
More: seafoodsource.com
Tangle-nets on the Columbia
The next step in the reform of lower Columbia River salmon fishing begins when a commercial tangle-net season to catch hatchery-origin coho begins between Woodland and the coast.
– Allen Thomas reporting for the Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian
More: columbian.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
There's bad news, good news, and then more bad news about wild salmon versus farmed. It may have taken a Senate hearing, but it looks like Alaska salmon will remain welcome on store shelves no matter who certifies them. And why we should choose salmon over logging?
– Compiled by Jay Barrett for KMXT, Kodiak
More: kmxt.org
Hope in Adak
Lowrance, founder and former owner of Leader Creek Fisheries, which won a reputation as a high quality processor of Bristol Bay salmon, said the Adak Cod Cooperative plans a number of renovations at the fish plant formerly leased to Icicle Seafoods, and plans to begin in January producing cod fillets for retail and food service markets.
– Margaret Bauman, reporting in the Cordova Times
More: thecordovatimes.com
Another mine to fight
This mega-mine, comparable in scale to the proposed Pebble Mine, threatens water quality, wild salmon and wildlife, and the fragile, remote ecosystems that support them in both the Unuk and Nass River watersheds.
– Rivers Without Borders
More: riverswithoutborders.org
Sonar suspected in strandings
A report released by a panel of scientists, conservation organizations, and government agencies have positively linked a mass stranding of whales to sonar used by Exxon/Mobile during an offshore survey.
– Candace Calloway Whiting, reporting for Huffington Post
More: huffingtonpost.com
Naknek-Kvichak short
The 2013 salmon season summary from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game shows that the sockeye run to the Naknek-Kvichak District came in 32 percent below the preseason forecast, and the harvest was well below the 20-year average.
– Mike Mason, reporting for KDLG, Dillingham
More: kdlg.org
