Monday, October 10, 2011
SEA OTTER LINE 'DUMB'
"Putting a line across the water and asking a marine mammal to not swim across it is dumb."
– Santa Barbara Independent
More:www.independent.com
Demand high for albacore
Demand for sustainable, Northwest albacore was greater than ever this summer, despite a slow start to the season caused by unfavorable weather conditions. The increase in demand is part of a wider trend of Northwest consumers seeking out locally-caught seafood.
– FIS
More:www.fis.com
Two Nushagak whales dead
Biologists are still looking for the youngest in a trio of killer whales that swam up Southwest Alaska's Nushagak River.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Puget crabbers denied
Judge Thomas McPhee denied the motion by the Puget Sound commercial crab industry to stop the expansion of crab fishing by sport crabbers.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Stealth hides fish pirates
The recent seizure of a stateless ship in international waters 2,600 miles off Alaska's coast has spotlighted the challenge that the U.S. and other nations face in trying to crack down on illegal fishing, an activity that accounts for up to $23.5 billion a year in global economic losses.
— Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Otters would decimate others
Not even the most politically savvy sea otter activist tries to deny it: If the endangered species is once again allowed to swim in Southern California waters as is currently being proposed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the commercial shellfisheries along the mainland coast from Point Conception to Carpinteria — namely spiny lobster, sea urchin, crab, and sea cucumber — are likely to be decimated within a decade.
– Santa Barbara Independent
More:www.independent.com
Fewer rats on pirate ship
The contractor hired to eradicate the rats aboard a seized vessel accused of illegal fishing says the rat problem isn't so bad.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Calif salmon stamp
The bill, SB 470, extends the commercial salmon stamp program which was initiated by fishermen more than 30 years ago.
– FishNewsEU
More:www.fishnewseu.com
Bristol Bay leadership
Here's an announcement from the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Salmon shun B.C. spill river
Coho and Chinook salmon are milling about in Saanich Inlet, but few have entered the Goldstream River and concerns are growing that residual effects from the April fuel spill could be keeping them away.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
HALIBUT BYCATCH REDUCED
The halibut by-catch – all of which is dumped back into the sea, much of it dead – was down almost 5 percent the last week of the month.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:www.alaskadispatch.com
Hopes high for Calif. salmon
It's been a "so-so" year, they all agree, but one that brings hope that salmon fishing in California has returned for good.
– San Jose Mercury News
More:www.mercurynews.com
Yellow salmon on Fraser
"I am writing to ask for your progress report on the thousands of silver-bright sockeye and now Coho that are floating dead down the Fraser River tributaries feeding into the Harrison River."
– The Straight, Vancouver
More:www.straight.com
Murrelet area changed
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has revised the critical habitat of the endangered marbled murrelet, citing a lack of detection of the bird in some inland areas between the Klamath River and the Oregon border.
– Eureka Times-Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Great Lakes mercury down
A newly released report says mercury levels in the Great Lakes region generally have dropped over the past four decades, although concentrations in some fish and bird species have increased more recently.
– Wall Street Journal
More:online.wsj.com
Pelican city buys fish plant
The city also will take control of the massive fish plant, which has been closed for years. The city foreclosed on it in 2010.
– KCAW, Sitka
More:kcaw.org
Volcanism in Aleutians
Since July, scientists have been watching Cleveland Volcano for signs of an eruption. The potential for an explosive event has only increased in the last month.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
National G on Pebble
If given the go-ahead, the companies expect to dig a crater spanning two miles (3.2 miles) wide and thousands of feet deep.
– National Geographic
More:news.nationalgeographic.com
Japan catch down
Fish catches at eight major ports in the tsunami-hit Tohoku region have plunged since April in part because of the severe damage the fleet suffered in the March 11 disaster but mainly due to radiation fears amid the Fukushima nuclear crisis that are making hauls hard to sell.
– Japan Times
More:search.japantimes.co.jp
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
PIRATE RATS LINGER
A seized vessel suspected of illegal fishing hasn't been cleared of rats a week after the Coast Guard hired a Dutch Harbor company to eradicate the pests from the ship.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Cute animals, ugly fight
Adorable and playful, otters consistently rank among the top reasons for visits to aquariums and zoos. Out in the wild, though, the furry creatures are currently stuck in the middle of a heated debate.
– Discovery News
More:news.discovery.com
King crab doggerel
Tom Casey of Seattle offers this lament as we approach Saturday's start of another king crab season in the Bering Sea.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Kidnap charge in Unalaska
A 31-year-old man was arrested this Saturday after allegedly attacking a woman at a processing facility.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Neat video of dam takedown
The world's largest river restoration project is underway as two dams are demolished on Washington's Elwha River. Go to: daily.sightline.org
– Pacific Fishing correspondent Cassandra Marie Profita reporting in Ecotrope, Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:ecotrope.opb.org
Cal dive for oil in WWII ship
The SS Montebello was just a few miles off California's Central Coast on a December morning in 1941 when a young lookout spotted the dark outline of a Japanese submarine headed straight for the oil tanker hauling 3 million gallons of crude.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Fears over modern ship spill
Fears grew Wednesday that a ship stuck on a New Zealand reef would break up and release a new wave of pollution, as its two chief officers were charged over the nation's worst oil spill.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Ship disabled off Columbia
The U.S. Coast Guard and Wash. Dept. of Ecology were monitoring a 728 foot bulk carrier that lost propulsion nine miles west of Cape Disappointment.
– Coast Guard
More:www.d13.uscgnews.com
U.S. begging for ice breakers
The United States is so short of icebreakers capable of navigating those still-unpredictable waters that since 2007, it has made the annual supply run to McMurdo Station, the American research outpost in Antarctica, with a ship leased from Sweden.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Thursday, October 13, 2011
MELTING ICECAP SPAWNS COD BOOM
Fishermen and scientists agree they've never seen as many cod as they're catching now, and they say melting Arctic ice is the reasons.
– Globe and Mail, Toronto
More:www.theglobeandmail.com
CG readies for king crab opener
Alaskan waters are notoriously volatile, and before Alaska's fishing crews can comb the Bristol Bay in search for the "king" of crabs, it is vital they prepare their boats and crews.
– Military.com
More:www.military.com
Another Yukon R. lamprey season
Looks like we'll see another commercial fishery for Arctic lamprey this year on the Yukon River.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Offshore aquaculture to be costly
Achieving the government's goals for the industry would come at a tremendous cost to both wild fish populations and the marine environment.
– FISHupdate
More:www.fishupdate.com
A sustainability score
FishChoice.com, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the seafood supply chain buy and sell sustainable seafood, will begin featuring FishWatch and Fish Stock Sustainability Index (FSSI) scores.
– Progressive Grocer
More:www.progressivegrocer.com
Pirate crew heading home
The crew of a vessel that was seized about 2,600 miles southwest of Kodiak after being suspected of illegal fishing is being deported.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Capturing fish pirates is tough
Finding rogue vessels in the vast, open ocean can be like finding a needle in a haystack. But U.S. officials and some environmentalists say progress is being made, including multinational patrol and enforcement agreements and the potential for sanctions against countries that engage in illegal, unreported and unregulated (or IUU) fishing.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Killer whale was pregnant
A team of veterinarians performed a necropsy exam on an adult, female killer whale. The carcass of the whale had been secured to a beach in Dillingham, after it was discovered floating in the Nushagak River Saturday.
– NOAA
More:www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov
Feds allowed contaminated seafood
In the wake of last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a new study by an environmental watchdog group contends that current federal standards underestimate the risk to pregnant women and children of cancer-causing contaminants that can accumulate in seafood from such spills.
– Tallahassee Democrat
More:www.tallahassee.com
Friday, October 14, 2011
SUSTAINABILITY SELLS
In our area, much is to be gained by fostering a strong appreciation of our premium-quality local food products, which emphatically include albacore. Bon Appétit!
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
Target stores to go sustainable
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich welcomed Target’s announcement that it plans to sell only sustainable and traceable seafood in its stores nationwide, and imposing a deadline of 2015 to reach that goal.
– Alaska Native News
More:alaska-native-news.com
Safeway pledges sustainability
Canada Safeway Limited, one of Western Canada’s largest grocery retailers, announced its Sustainable Seafood Policy in partnership with SeaChoice, a national Canadian coalition of environmental organizations.
– SeaChoice.org
More:www.seachoice.org
Klamath dam knock-down
Those watching the Klamath River dam removal project closely are hoping that the public shows up in full force to express their support – or concerns – over the project's environmental review document.
– Eureka Times Standard
More:www.times-standard.com
Canada to protect B.C. islands
The rich environment of the southern Strait of Georgia is slated to become a national marine conservation area, giving extra protection to the marine life and water, but allowing most recreational and commercial activities to continue.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Anti-Pebble road show
Red Gold – the award-winning film documenting salmon fishing culture in Bristol Bay – returns to Seattle next week, three years after its first local screening.
– Seattle Weekly
More:blogs.seattleweekly.com
Speed up B.C. treaty talks
The glacial pace of treaty negotiations in B.C. must be shaken up or, if problems cannot be fixed, the entire process should be shut down, the B.C. Treaty Commission's chief commissioner said Wednesday.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Tongass roadless areas
In a recent letter to Chief of the U.S. Forest Service Tom Tidwell, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich requested the service to update the inventoried roadless area maps for the Tongass National Forest.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, Southeast dive fisheries have gotten underway. The city of Pelican is taking over the cannery there, and why that king crab you're eating is named Hannibal.
– KMXT
More:www.kmxt.org
