Monday, September 27, 2010

Fish poacher eaten by shark



The fisherman was among a group of 12 poachers who had tried to swim to safety after spotting the shark in shallow waters.

– The Telegraph, U.K.

More:www.telegraph.co.uk


Pollock estimates seem to be improving

The Groundfish Plan Team's initial review of this year's pollock survey data shows that the fish stock could be improving.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

Record sockeye to Baker River

Sockeye salmon returned to the Baker River this year in record numbers – a mark that fisheries managers hope to see eclipsed again and again in coming years.

– Puget Sound Energy press release

More:newsroom.pse.com

State says no to new Yukon fishery

The Yukon River's only Bering cisco buyer wants state managers to expand an experimental fishery to create much-needed jobs.

– The Tundra Drums

More:www.thetundradrums.com

Frankenfish just not right

To approve or not to approve? The transgenic question is back in the form of the super salmon or the Frankenfish (which sobriquet you pick depends on how GM-tolerant you are).

– The Guardian, U.K.

More:www.guardian.co.uk

Boycott of Cook Inlet oil advisory panel

Five conservation groups said they will boycott the citizen group created by Congress to watch over Cook Inlet's oil and gas industry.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

Just how bad are Alaska demerits?

You might know that a violation of Alaska's commercial fishing regulations can earn you "demerit points." If so, I'll bet you've wondered — as I have — whether anybody ever loses his fishing privileges because of an excess of points.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss

More:deckboss.blogspot.com

Kodiak seeks stance on groundfish closures

The Kodiak City Council scrambled to take a stance on a series of proposed Kodiak-area groundfish closures at its regular meeting.
 
– Kodiak Daily Mirror

More:www.kodiakdailymirror.com

A chance to comment on Oregon reserves

The public soon will get a chance to comment on three proposals for marine reserves and marine protected areas in the Cape Arago area.

– Coos Bay World

More:www.theworldlink.com

Fish fraud: B’ham processor guilty

A Bellingham fish processor has pleaded guilty to a federal charge that he sold cheaper coho salmon labeled as Chinook salmon.

– The Oregonian

More:www.oregonlive.com

Alaska fish bank celebrates anniversary

A private, member-owned cooperative, the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank, is celebrating three decades of service to the commercial fishing, agriculture, timber, tourism and resource-based industries of Alaska.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

 

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Enviros after trawling – again



The very worst thing man does to the sea floor is fish it, specifically using the method known as bottom trawling.

– Takepart.com

More:www.takepart.com


Food chain harmed by sharks’ absence

The sight of hundreds of bloodied dead sharks, waiting to be sold at fish markets across the UAE, does not bode well for the ocean's super-predator.

– Gulfnews.com

More:gulfnews.com

Alaska senators: No more wilderness

Alaska's U.S. senators say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has no business conducting reviews of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to see if more areas should be designated as wilderness.

– Anchorage Daily News

More:www.adn.com

Proposed Oregon protected areas

Some proposals include a small marine reserve, with no fishing allowed, surrounded by a larger marine protected area, with certain fishing allowed.

– Coos Bay World

More:www.theworldlink.com

Editorial: No to test tube salmon

The super-salmon – or Frankenfish, depending on your perspective – can grow to market size in half the time as a normal Atlantic, a boon for fish farmers. But while we can do this, should we?

– Victoria Times Colonist

More:www.timescolonist.com

Ted Stevens buried today

Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens will be buried Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery. Stevens was one of five people killed in plane crash Aug. 9 in southwest Alaska. He was 86.

– Coos Bay World

More:www.theworldlink.com

Washington state gets salmon money

Gov. Chris Gregoire announced that Washington was awarded $27.5 million for salmon recovery efforts by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office from the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, an annual Congressional appropriation provided to the states.

– GovMonitor.com

More:www.thegovmonitor.com

End of fishing only a myth

Seafood Services Australia has criticized a United Nations agency for perpetuating the myth that commercial fish stocks may collapse worldwide by mid-century. 

– FIS.com

More:www.fis.com

California has said no to frankenfish

The state has a ban on live genetically engineered fish. The fish are not allowed to be imported, transported or possessed within the state.

– California Watch

More:californiawatch.org

Names added to B’ham memorial

The Squalicum Harbor Fishermen's Memorial in Zuanich Point Park, entitled "Safe Return," offers our community a place to remember and honor Whatcom County fishers who were lost at sea. The memorial, sculpted by Eugene Fairbanks, was dedicated May 31, 1999.

– Bellingham Herald

More:www.bellinghamherald.com

 

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Diving into a dead zone


Wolf eels lay sluggish on rocks, their gills pumping in and out as if panting. Deep-water rockfish and shiner perch congregated in massive schools at the surface. An octopus died and turned a sickly white.

– Seattle Times

More:seattletimes.nwsource.com

Alaska: ‘The curse of coal’

Alaskans love pristine wilderness, but many also have an paradoxical aversion to "greenies," which are loosely defined as anyone who thinks they know what's best for other people at the expense of "progress."

– Huffington Post

More:www.huffingtonpost.com

Schwarzenegger appoints, then fires

Michael Sutsos, 56, of Sonoma, who was appointed to the California Fish and Game Commission on Sept. 9, by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been unceremoniously unseated Monday, 18 days later, by the lame-duck California governor.

– San Diego Union-Tribune

More:www.signonsandiego.com

Call for B.C. sport-commercial compromise

Port Edward Mayor Dave MacDonald says stakeholders need to meet to resolve the current dispute between the commercial and commercial-sport fishery.

– The Northern View, British Columbia

More:www.bclocalnews.com

Lubchenco controversial administrator

Jane Lubchenco, career environmental activist and author of a cap-and-trade plan for America’s fisheries, is the most controversial director ever to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

– Washington Examiner

More:www.washingtonexaminer.com

Group to examine energy costs in fishing

A new Seattle conference, The Energy Use in Fisheries Symposium, has been created to provide a forum for commercial and recreational fishermen, processors, engineers, boat and engine developers, aquaculture ventures, fisheries managers, administrators, scientists, and others to address both the direct and indirect effects of energy costs related to fisheries, and share solutions.

– World Fishing & Aquaculture

More:www.worldfishing.net

Fishermen thank their customers

An interesting half-page ad appears in today's Anchorage Daily News:
"Thank you to those who purchased, served or ate Bristol Bay wild salmon this season," says the ad, with 100 commercial fishermen signing on.

– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss

More:deckboss.blogspot.com

Fishing ends on Norton Sound

The final fish tickets are coming in from the buyers, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is preparing season summaries following closure of Norton Sound’s commercial crab and salmon fisheries.

– Nome Nugget

More:www.nomenugget.net

Sea otters hit with poison microbe

Now it turns out that some of these sea otters are also being poisoned by an ancient microbe – a type of cyanobacteria – that appears to be on an upsurge in warmer, polluted waters around the world.

– Vancouver Sun

More:www.vancouversun.com

S. Puget Sound stream run weak

Anglers know the coho salmon run on the Puyallup River has been slow. It has been so bad, however, that the Puyallup Tribe of Indians has shut down its commercial fishery until further notice.

– Tacoma News Tribune

More:blog.thenewstribune.com

 

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Diving into a dead zone

Sig Hansen vows to leave Deadliest Catch

The Deadliest Catch production crew will be arriving in Dutch Harbor to prepare for the seventh season of the popular Discovery Channel television series. However, some of the show's biggest stars won't be greeting them. Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand of the Time Bandit and Sig Hansen of the Northwestern sent a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, saying that they will not be returning to the show.

- Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska

More:www.kucb.org

Senate passes big Coast Guard bill

The U.S. Senate late Wednesday night unanimously approved a Coast Guard authorization bill that includes a major overhaul of federal fishing-industry safety laws, and measures to strengthen efforts to prevent Puget Sound oil spills.

- SeattleTimes

More:seattletimes.nwsource.com

Hatchery fish one-third of Alaska catch

Hatchery-raised fish in Prince William Sound accounted for about 30 percent of the statewide salmon harvest this year, a new economic study shows.

- Alaska Dispatch

More:www.alaskadispatch.com

Alaska Native corporations' promise unmet

Native shareholders have gotten relatively little of the contracting largess. In many cases, the bulk of the money and jobs has gone to nonnative executives, managers, employees and traditional federal contractors in the lower 48 states.

- Washington Post

More:www.washingtonpost.com

PWS aquaculture economic review

Deckboss has reported previously on the controversy swirling around the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corp., the Cordova-based operator of some of the world's largest salmon hatcheries.

- Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss

More:deckboss.blogspot.com

Tsunami of spawning Fraser sockeye

A tsunami of sockeye salmon in their striking body-red and head-green spawning colors is flooding into the Adams River in B.C.'s Shuswap region in numbers potentially unseen for the past century.

- Vancouver Sun

More:www.vancouversun.com

Crescent City top N. Cal fishing port

Crescent City Harbor was tops on the North Coast in the value of commercial seafood unloaded last year, and that's a fairly common occurrence.

- Crescent City Triplicate

More:www.triplicate.com

Exxon Valdez spill panel not successful

At the end of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the people who fought for a citizen's regional council to oversee the oil industry had high hopes a toothy watchdog would be on guard to monitor the oil industry. But the group that emerged over the past 20 years isn't functioning the way it was intended.

- Homer Tribune

More:homertribune.com

Boeing to clean up stream

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed an agreement with The Boeing Company to construct a new storm water treatment system at North Boeing Field in Seattle. The treatment system will greatly reduce the amount of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are an on-going source of pollution to the Duwamish River.

- EPA

More:yosemite.epa.gov

 

Friday, October 1, 2010

ONLY 11 SPOTS LEFT IN CALENDAR

Advertisers have exactly one month to sign up as a sponsor of the 2011 Pacific Fishing calendar.

The Port of Kodiak has already claimed one month – April. That means advertisers have only 11 months left to choose from. Our deadline is Nov. 1.

Each sponsoring advertiser will have a message emblazoned across the calendar page, where it will be seen by successful fishermen for an entire month.

Sponsors can submit a photo of your liking (that meets our specs), or take your pick from the Pacific Fishing photo files.

One rule: The photo has to be striking and representative of commercial fishing in the North Pacific.
 
Calendars will be inserted in Pacific Fishing’s January issue, which is mailed in mid-December.

For more information, call Ad Manager Diane Sandvik at 206-962-9315.

www.pacificfishing.com/PF_2011_CalendarPromo.pdf

Kodiak torn over groundfish closures

Kodiak’s two regional governments are taking opposing stances on a set of proposed groundfish closures in waters near Kodiak.

– Kodiak Daily Mirror

More:www.kodiakdailymirror.com

Short-tailed albatross more numerous

Fishermen harvesting Pacific cod in the Bering Sea saw a rare sight over the past month: two short-tailed albatrosses, spotted on different days in different places. The bad news: The critically endangered birds were dead.

– Los Angeles Times

More:latimesblogs.latimes.com

Editorial: Some reservations about reserves

A marine reserve sounds appealing to many people, especially inland urbanites, who may equate them with wildlife refuges, places where creatures threatened with extinction can be safe from human predation.

– Coos Bay World

More:www.theworldlink.com

Containment fish farm tank delivered in B.C.

A local closed-containment salmon aquaculture pilot project has moved closer to reality with the arrival of the first floating solid-wall tank.

– Courier-Islander, British Columbia

More:www.canada.com

Congress passes CG/safety act

Congress unanimously passed and sent to the president a Coast Guard Authorization bill that sets new fishing vessel safety standards and strengthens oil spill protections for Puget Sound and other U.S. coastal waters.
 
– Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office

More:cantwell.senate.gov

Summary of the Coast Guard Act

H.R. 3619, as amended, the “Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010,” is the annual authorization act for the Coast Guard.

– Marine Executive

More:www.maritime-executive.com

California water: It’s all in the numbers

Anyone who pays attention to water in California knows that the drought led to very serious political posturing, arguing, and drama, especially in the Central Valley.

– San Francisco Chronicle

Read more:www.sfgate.com

Good Chinook run in Cowlitz

With a strong run of fall chinook salmon returning to the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery, state fishery managers plan to transport up to 5,000 hatchery fish upriver and release them upriver above the last of three dams on the Cowlitz River.

– Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

More:wdfw.wa.gov

A glance at trawl rationalization workshop

As part of a broad-based effort to prepare for catch share groundfish management on the West Coast, a comprehensive workshop was held in Santa Rosa.

– West Coast Trawlers’ Network

More:www.westcoasttrawlers.net

Alaska Fisheries Report

Coming up this week: Cannery expansion in Dillingham, harbor expansion in Dutch, and harbor taxes in Wrangell. Also, keeping shellfish safe and three familiar faces leave The Deadliest Catch.

– KMXT

More:www.kmxt.org





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