Monday, September 24, 2012
TRIBAL DEMANDS ON AREA M
A federal lawsuit to establish tribal fishing rights in Area M is now being prepared by a Seattle attorney who won a similar case in Pacific Northwest that gave Native groups 50 percent of fish harvests.
– Dutch Harbor Fishermen
More:thedutchharborfisherman.com
Bristol Bay numbers
This year's catch of nearly 20.6 million sockeye at Bristol Bay paid fishermen $117.8 million.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Finding sustainable fish
While plenty of countries are guilty of relentless over-fishing—southern Europe and China often get mentioned as key culprits—there are several nations that have worked hard to improve their fisheries management practices over the years. Iceland. New Zealand. Australia. And the United States.
– Washington Post
More:www.washingtonpost.com
Boomerang seafood imports
The top three seafood imports are shrimp, canned tuna and tilapia fillets. But NOAA Fisheries says a portion of the imported seafood is actually caught by American fishermen, exported overseas for processing and then re-imported to the U.S.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
Alaska village loses climate change fight
A federal appeals court has ruled against the northwest Alaska village of Kivalina, which sued energy companies over claims that greenhouse emissions contributed to global warming that is threatening the community’s existence.
– Alaska Public
More:www.alaskapublic.org
Alaska village loses climate change fight
A federal appeals court has ruled against the northwest Alaska village of Kivalina, which sued energy companies over claims that greenhouse emissions contributed to global warming that is threatening the community’s existence.
– Alaska Public
More:www.alaskapublic.org
New chief for Petersburg fleet
The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association has hired a retired fishery scientist as its new Executive Director.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:www.kfsk.org
Columbia gillnet battle bitter
Backers of a ballot measure that would ban the use of nontribal gillnets on the Columbia River and those who are tied to the fishing industry have reached little middle ground following Gov. John Kitzhaber’s “compromise” proposal announced last month, which called for limiting gillnets to the river’s off-channel areas.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Columbia restoration needs cooperation
We believe leaders in the region are ready and willing to support a broader discussion of steps that can be taken to manage our hydro system in ways that benefit salmon, power and transportation interests, and that could avoid another round of costly litigation and uncertainty.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Fine harvest out of Klamath
The Yurok Tribe’s largest salmon quota, which produced one of the most lucrative commercial harvests the tribe has ever seen, is wrapping up smoothly.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:www.triplicate.com
CG finds four fishermen
The Coast Guard rescued four men from a life raft after they abandoned their fishing vessel more than 30 miles south of Resurrection Bay.
– Coast Guard
More:d17.uscgnews.com
Busiest season for Alaska CG
The Coast Guard rescued four boaters and their dog near Sitka Friday marking the busiest search and rescue week this summer for the Coast Guard 17th District.
– Coast Guard
More:www.uscgnews.com
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
SITKA BATTLES 'ROCK VOMIT'
Scientists have been monitoring an invasive species of sea squirt growing on the bottom of Whiting Harbor in Sitka. It's called Didemnum vexillum, or D. vex for short.
– KCAW, Sitka
More:kcaw.org
Drill rig eyed for invasive species
A biologist hired by Buccaneer Energy has determined that any invasive shells and organic marine debris attached to the company's Endeavour-Spirit of Independence drilling rig did not survive the trip from Singapore to Kachemak Bay.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Crescent City readies for crab
The construction company tasked with the reconstruction of the Crescent City Harbor has assured local officials that come crab season there will be enough space for the entire local commercial crab fleet.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:triplicate.com
Alaska salmon count
A persistent commercial fleet caught nearly another 2.5 million wild Alaska salmon in the second week of September, boosting the preliminary season harvest total to nearly 121 million fish.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Farmed salmon weaknesses
Fish like wild salmon, tuna, and eel are built for the vigorous swimming required during migration.
– NPR
More:npr.org
Paying to gather Pebble signatures
Their slick PR representatives have been discretely hiring signature-gatherers to sign a pro-Pebble petition.
– Natural Resources Defense Council
More:switchboard.nrdc.org
Help for tsunami victims
The Alaska Fishing Industry Relief Mission (AFIRM) has identified and funded 10 requests from Northern Japan fishing fleets affected by last year's tsunamis, to deliver over $375,000 in donations from Alaska seafood processors and fishermen.
– AFIRM
More:akjapanhelp.org
Fund Columbia fish programs
It is startling when the Bonneville Power Administration says it wants to cut funding of fish and wildlife programs.
– The Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
Seven deadly jobs
Rough waters and capsizing ships elevate the rate of fatal work injuries among fisherman.
– Wall Street Journal
More:marketwatch.com
Extinct salmon not
The species is thought to have died out after an inflow of acidic water started entering the lake around 1940, polluting its living environment.
– Japan Times
More:japantimes.co.jp
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
STURGEON MAY STOP OIL PORT PLAN
One of the most powerful foes of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline through northern British Columbia is not a lawyer or a conservation group or any of the many First Nations who have lined up against the project.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:theglobeandmail.com
Chinese buy into Taku mine
A China-based engineering company and its Canadian subsidiary will acquire 30 percent of the Tulsequah Chief Mine in British Columbia at the headwaters of the Taku River.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoonews.org
Trash talk at UFA
United Fishermen of Alaska, the state's top commercial fishing group, has been looking since July for a new executive director.
– Pacific Fishing columnist and Deckboss Wesley Loy
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Salmon jobs on the line
Unless the Environmental Protection Agency takes action to protect Alaska's Bristol Bay from a mega-mine proposed by foreign mining interests, our salmon jobs and businesses in Seattle could be lost.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.com
Canadian snow crab certified
The southern Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab trap fishery has been awarded Marine Stewardship Council certification. This is the second Atlantic Canadian snow crab fishery to have earned certification, following the Scotian Shelf fishery.
– FishNewsEU
More:fishnewseu.com
Anti-farm activist to go it alone
Just hours after the Cohen Commission announced it had received yet another extension to submit its written findings, Alexandra Morton said she has already set up her own volunteer group to test and monitor wild salmon along the coast.
– CBC
More:cbc.ca
Wave power at False Pass?
If the experiment works, False Pass will be the first town in the country to be powered by ocean currents.
– Alaska Public
More:alaskapublic.org
Estimating tsunami debris
A smear of tsunami debris, rather than a massive surge, is likely to wash up on B.C.'s west coast over the next two years.
– Vancouver Sun
More:timescolonist.com
Don't read this
It seems the September issue of Pacific Fishing magazine put editor Don McManman in the doghouse.
– Pacific Fishing columnist and Deckboss Wesley Loy
More:deckboss.blogspot.com (scroll down)
Thursday, September 27, 2012
MONEY UNCLAIMED IN EXXON SPILL
By Jay Barrett
There is about $1 million dollars sitting in a trust account waiting for its owners to claim it.
– Alaska Public Radio
More www.kmxt.org
Frankenfish guys complain
The company behind the genetically modified AquAdvantage salmon – which was widely dubbed "frankenfish" by the mainstream media – has issued a statement accusing the US government of unjustifiable delays in licensing its product.
– FishNewsEU
More:fishnewseu.com
'Avalanche' hits Columbia
But the restructuring of the lower Columbia commercial and sport fisheries under way now is more like an avalanche — wide, fast and no one quite knows what the landscape will look like when it's finished.
– Vancouver (Wash.) Columbian
More:columbian.com
Bitter over Cook Inlet season
Emotions ran high during a Friday town meeting at the Peninsula Grace Brethren Church in Soldotna where fishermen gathered to talk about economic disaster relief and hear Alaska Department of Fish and Game managers discuss the disastrous 2012 fishing season.
– Homer News
More:homernews.com
Pebble is a bad investment
Pebble Mine, located at the remote headwaters of the world's greatest salmon fishery, is fraught with risk.
– Natural Resources Defense Council
More:switchboard.nrdc.org
Quake hits Adak
A powerful earthquake rocked one of the few inhabited islands in Alaska's Aleutian chain, but no damage has been found, federal and local officials said.
– NBC
More:usnews.nbcnews.com
Mines eyed in Southeast
Two potential mines on Prince of Wales Island remain in development, but both are promising enough that owners intend to submit preliminary economic assessment plans within the next couple of months.
– KRBD, Ketchikan
More:krbd.org
Climate change and Bristol Bay
Climate change is anticipated to impact the Bristol Bay region in the coming years.
– KDLG
More:kdlg.org
Friday, September 28, 2012
GOOSE STILL FLIES TO AKUTAN
Even with a brand new airport that just opened this summer, mail and people are still flying into Akutan the old fashioned way, splashing down in a Goose.
– Pacific Fishing magazine contributor Jim Paulin, writing in the Dutch Harbor Fisherman
More:thedutchharborfisherman.com
SE red and blue king crab closed
"There is a low number of mature crab and we will be unable to open the commercial fishery for the entire Southeast Alaska region."
– Petersburg Pilot
More:petersburgpilot.com
Alaska halibut split considered
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will consider several alternatives for Pacific halibut allocations at its October meeting.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More:alaskajournal.com
Westport highest West Coast harbor
In a report released by NOAA on commercial fishing for 2011, Westport tops the West Coast in the value of seafood landed outside Alaska, and 13th in the nation for volume.
– KXRO, Aberdeen
More:kxro.wordpress.com
Update: Alaska's CDQ battle
"I wanted the people of the Bering Sea to own the Bering Sea and not just own it and hire people, but own it and put people on the boats to fish it."
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Alaska salmon harvests substantial
While short of the 132 million fish forecast, it still ranks as a substantial harvest, including 65,660,000 humpies, 35,317,000 sockeye, 17,042,000 chum, 2,624,000 coho, and 290,000 king salmon.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
World's fish supply declining
A group of leading ocean scientists took a look at previously unstudied fisheries across the world and found grim news: declining stocks and poor fishery management threaten their future.
– Kansas City Star
More:kansascity.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week: You may be one of the people still owed part of a million bucks from the Exxon Valdez litigation; the state answers fishery disaster questions on the Kenai; and NOAA Fisheries Alaska is all over the series of tubes.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
Stikine subsistence limit considered
A regional panel says Stikine River subsistence sockeye harvests should no longer be limited.
– KCAW, Sitka
More:kcaw.org
Sorry!
In Thursday's Wrap, we had an item about money from the Exxon Valdez litigation still unclaimed. We attributed it to the wrong source. Jay Barrett of KMXT in Kodiak did all the work to unearth the story. We should have attributed the item to him.