Monday, October 8, 2012
HALIBUT SPLIT(S) DECIDED
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has approved a "catch sharing plan" for halibut.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Squid begins strong
The past couple of years have been phenomenal for squid fishing and so far, we're doing really good.
– Ventura County Star
More:vcstar.com
Tsunami skiff in Hawaii
US Coast Guard officials in Hawaii say fishermen have found a Japanese skiff swept out to sea by last year's tsunami.
– Nine News, Australia
More:news.ninemsn.com.au
Nuke seismic tests to disturb fish
High-energy ocean seismic surveys scheduled to begin in November offshore of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant will scatter fish and make them initially harder to catch, but the long-term effect of the loud sonic blasts on fish stocks is less well understood.
More:sanluisobispo.com
Devil is in gillnet details
Indeed, in less than half a year, Oregon (and perhaps Washington) seems bent on resolving decades of bitterly fought allocation issues by moving gillnets off the river's mainstem and shifting the commercial fleet to more fish-friendly seine and tangle nets.
– The Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
Pot cod fishery more flexible
Last year was the first time octopus had an individual bycatch quota.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Blue crab blues
Here's one last quota announcement for the upcoming Bering Sea crab fisheries.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Snow crab quota drops
After a major surge last year, the Bering Sea snow crab quota has dropped back down again.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
ALASKA SENATOR TALKS TUF
Just about every politician champions God, motherhood and apple pie. U.S. Senator Mark Begich is adding rubber boots to the list. Begich, who's touring Southeast Alaska, says he's heard numerous complaints about Xtratufs since production moved to China. He says what he jokingly calls "Sort-of-tufs" leak and the soles separate after just a few weeks of wear.
– KRBD, Ketchikan
More:krbd.org
Fish prevent kids' attention disorder
Eating at least two servings of fish per week was linked to about a 60 percent lower risk of kids developing certain ADHD-like symptoms.
– Vancouver Sun
More:vancouversun.com
Explosives off our coasts
Lurking (and leaking) beneath the world's oceans are an estimated 200 million pounds of unexploded and potentially dangerous explosives – from bombs to missiles to mustard gas.
– Fox News
More:foxnews.com
Gambling ring at Unalaska processor
Police have cracked down on gambling at an area seafood processing plant.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Fighting B.C. oil port critics
Organizations founded by an American oil baron and a Silicon Valley philanthropist are among the foreign charities being targeted by Enbridge in its battle against critics of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:theglobeandmail.com
Doubts about B.C. oil port
One of Canada's most outspoken champions of the oil and gas industry has doubts whether Enbridge will ever build a pipeline to the B.C. coast — even if the $6 billion project gets federal approval.
– Vancouver Sun
More:vancouversun.com
Gillnets kill birds
Gillnets don't just kill protected wild fish. They also kill other wildlife such as birds.
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
Hatchery salmon not weak link
An article in the Idaho Statesman looks at a study published last week in the journal Molecular Ecology. It addresses the narrow, but highly critical question of whether "releasing hatchery stock into the wild weakens the genetics of the wild stocks and reduces the overall productivity of the surviving fish."
– Daily Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
He throws back money fish
Imagine Ivan Regular's surprise when he hauled in his herring net and discovered that it contained a monstrous bluefin tuna that might have been worth a small fortune on the Japanese market ... only to learn that he had to throw the whopper back.
– Grind TV
More:grindtv.com
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
PROPOSAL TO INCREASED NOAA SECRECY
But a new proposal from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will greatly reduce the public's access to essential fisheries data, including taxpayer-funded programs.
– OMB Watch
More:www.ombwatch.org
That fizzing sound
Marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, named ocean acidification global warming's "equally evil twin."
– Anchorage Daily News
More:community.adn.com
Aquaculture fish cleans aquafarms
The wrasse, proven to be effective 'cleaner fish' were transferred to one of The Scottish Salmon Co.'s farms in the Western Isles where they will provide a natural biological means to control and minimize the impact of sea lice.
– Worldfishing.net
More:worldfishing.net
In Kodiak, it's a shipyard
After ten years of planning, two years in construction, and now three years of operation, the Kodiak management team made a discovery: It's more than a boatyard, it's a shipyard.
– Port of Kodiak
Morekodiakshipyard.com
Fishery disaster aid questionable
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich says he and other members of the Senate will try to move a fishery disaster relief bill after the election. Time and money will be hard to find.
– Alaska Public Radio
More:alaskapublic.org
Short list for UFA director
United Fishermen of Alaska, the state's largest commercial fishing association, has narrowed the pool of applicants for the executive director's position to these three.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
No on gillnet ban
Measure 81 is the easiest "no" vote on the Nov. 6 ballot. No one wants it to pass; not even its sponsors.
– Salem Statesman Journal
More:statesmanjournal.com
Sockeye back to Cle Elum
Carcasses dot the banks of the Cle Elum River bank, signifying an end as well as a beginning.
– Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
Petersburg fishermen endorse candidates
The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association, a top Southeast Alaska commercial fishing group, has endorsed a slate of candidates for the upcoming election.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
NE fishermen fear Magnuson
The law that governs the nation's fisheries was passed 36 years ago to oust foreign boats working in U.S. waters. Today, New England fishermen wonder if it will soon oust them.
– Portland (Maine) Press Herald
More:pressherald.com
Thursday, October 11, 2012
YUCK! FEEDING MANURE TO FARM FISH
The manure the Chinese use to feed fish is frequently contaminated with microbes like salmonella.
– Bloomberg
More:businessweek.com
Fish farmers look to miracle fish
Their work could be a major breakthrough for the £500 million-a-year fish farming sector, which spends huge sums fighting the effects of sea lice infestation and fatal diseases such as IPN (Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis).
– Scotsman
More:scotsman.com
Five rescued off Kodiak
The five crewmembers of the 58-foot vessel Kodiak Isle donned their survival suits and evacuated into a life raft late Wednesday night.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoo.org
New Akutan airport idle
A dispute over transporting the mail is holding up the process of bringing scheduled service to the new airport.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Prison for polluter
A Washington state developer is getting prison time for polluting.
– Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
Low water hinders salmon return
The Nanaimo River is running so low that fisheries officials have been forced to order the release of water upstream so salmon can spawn.
– Vancouver Sun
More:vancouversun.com
Why Americans like tuna
Mainstream Americans considered the fish too gamey, until a cannery in San Pedro Bay, Calif., figured out that the steamed white meat of albacore tuna has very little flavor if you drain the fish's own oil and can the meat with olive or cottonseed oil instead.
– Minneapolis Star-Tribune
More:startribune.com
U.S.-Canada talk Columbia treaty
Canadian and U.S. representatives are already discussing the opportunity to take the treaty beyond its original mandate of flood control in the U.S. and power production in both the U.S. and B.C. Fisheries, agriculture, community, climate, and aboriginal concerns are on the list.
– Vancouver Sun
More:vancouversun.com
Protect fish migration routes
Some work their way through thousands of miles of water and cross half a dozen state lines in the process. And that's why, she argues, fish need "swimways."
– phys.org
More:phys.org
Friday, October 12, 2012
VACUUMING UP SEA URCHINS
Several tests show that the remotely operated underwater vehicle "Seabed Harvester" beats the divers when it comes to harvesting sea urchins – one of the world's highest paid seafood products.
– TheFishSite
More: www.thefishsite.com
Nearly dry river stops salmon
The Cowichan River, whose Chinook salmon run numbers are used to set fisheries throughout the south coast, almost ran dry during this year's drought.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More: timescolonist.com
Council wants observer changes
The 2013 annual deployment plan uses random sampling of two different pools — a trip-based pool and a vessel pool — to assign observers to fishing vessels.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
More: alaskajournal.com
Problems with Canadian fish bill
This ignores the whole concept of an ecosystem and the recognition of many people here that fish species humans consider inedible or unimportant are often the main food for the fish we do want to protect.
– Canada.com
More: canada.com
Search called off
The Coast Guard suspended its search for a missing fisherman 30 miles northwest of Sitkinak Island at 9:37 p.m. Thursday.
– Coast Guard
More: uscgnews.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week: The fish council proposes a compromise for everybody who loves halibut – though not many from either side are happy about it all, paycheck poker doesn't pan out for processors in Dutch, and Alaska's junior senator says looking for Chinook disaster money will be a multi-state effort.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More: kmxt.org
Judge to rule on cleaner Columbia
A federal judge in Yakima will decide whether a Canadian mining company must pay to clean up pollution that for decades crossed the border into Lake Roosevelt in Washington.
– Seattle Times
More: seattletimes.com
Sounds familiar? Sonic tests
The Interior Department has signaled that it will reach a final decision early next year on whether to approve a draft environmental assessment that helps lay the groundwork for such testing along the coasts of seven states, from the northern tip of Delaware to central Florida.
– New York Times
More: green.blogs.nytimes.com
