Monday, October 28, 2013
SEINING FOR SQUID
Not a day goes by when I am not smacked in the face with a dripping, gelatinous wad.
– Jacob Shea, writing in EarthIsland.org
More: earthisland.org
B.C. Natives want Alaska salmon
Yukon First Nations are demanding the federal government enforce its salmon treaty with Alaska.
– CBC, Canada
More: cbc.ca
New fisheries in Mexico
The Center of Biological Research of the Northwest has identified new marine species capable of increasing the volume of this production.
– The Fish Site
More: thefishsite.com
Eating all the fish
Fisheries for the most sought-after species, like orange roughy, Chilean sea bass, and bluefin tuna, have collapsed. In 2003, a scientific report estimated that industrial fishing had reduced the number of large ocean fish to just 10 percent of their pre-industrial population.
– Alisa Rutherford-Fortunati, reporting in GreenLiving.com
More: care2.com
New rules for Cal lobster
The hope is that the larger and higher population of lobsters in the reserves will "spill over" to fishing spots outside of the marine reserves, leading to more catching for anglers and a more sustainable fishery.
– Orange County Register
More: ocregister.com
Tragedy of the oceans
The world's fishing fleet has about 4 million commercial vessels. Just one percent of these are factory ships, yet they account for 60 per cent of the world's fish catch.
– Sue Cross, reporting in Huffington Post
More: huffingtonpost.co.uk
Permits price rise 600 percent
The proposed fee increases are part of a state government plan to recover 100 percent of the cost of Fisheries Victoria's services across a wide range of fisheries that include the lobster industry.
– The Standard (Australia)
More: standard.net.au
Arctic nightmare
The Danish-owned Nordic Orion becomes the first cargo vessel to use the Northwest Passage as an international shipping route – at no little risk to Canada's environment and sovereignty.
– Michael Byers, writing in the Globe and Mail, Toronto
More: theglobeandmail.com
Fishing the Arctic
A group of determined hunters and trappers organizations from Baffin Island achieved a small but significant milestone in Qikiqtarjuaq.
– Myles Dolphin, writing in Northern News Services
More: nnsl.com
The nutrient cycle
After spawning, they die and their bodies become a source of nutrients for everything in the forest and sea.
– Paul Klaver for KMXT, Kodiak
More: alaskapublic.org
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
BIG FRANKENFOOD FIGHT
A bitter fight in Washington state over whether to label foods with ingredients that have been genetically modified has attracted tens of millions of dollars in spending, more than $27 million if you add the funds of both sides together.
– Michael Ames, reporting for Al Jazeera
More: america.aljazeera.com
Easy catch reporting
Licensed commercial fishers across South Australia can now lodge their Fishwatch reports straight from their smartphone or mobile device thanks to a new commercial fishing reporting app launched at the Seafood Directions 2013 Conference in Port Lincoln.
– TheFishSite (Australia)
More: www.thefishsite.com
Hot chef against Canadian boycott
A heated debate is raging among some of the biggest names in the food world over a boycott of Canadian seafood, a move aimed at ending the annual seal hunt.
– Ann Hue, reporting in the Globe and Mail, Toronto
More: www.theglobeandmail.com
We screwed up
“I don’t understand why it says ‘BC natives want Alaska salmon’ in Monday’s headlines. Not that I care, but that sure doesn’t look good. Yukon is Yukon.”
– Sean Halladay, writing to Fish Wrap on Monday.
Our (fairly lame) response: “We figured that any agency with ‘Tlingit" in its name had to have a B.C. presence. Also, for our readers, I think that ‘B.C.’ indicates ‘Canadian’ more than ‘Yukon.’ Lastly, we’ve spent a lot of time flying the Trench through B.C. to Teslin Lake. We can personally attest that there is no visible boundary along the 60th parallel north.
Here is the offending item: B.C. Natives want Alaska salmon Yukon First Nations are demanding the federal government enforce its salmon treaty with Alaska.
– CBC, Canada
More: www.cbc.ca
An end of hake?
The world’s tiniest creatures are heading for extinction and could take southwest fisheries with them.
– Jono Pech, reporting for The Standard (Australia)
More: www.standard.net.au
Lisa talks subsistence
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke about the subsistence challenges facing the Alaska Native people during a lengthy speech in the recent Alaska Federation of Natives convention.
– Mike Mason reporting for KDLG, Dillingham
More: kdlg.org
Kuskokwim men missing
Two Western Alaska men are still missing after an apparent mishap during their boating trip from Bethel to a funeral last week in the village of Tuntutuliak, near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River.
– Casey Grove, reporting for Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
Honoring Reagan
Congress is considering legislation to name our federal ocean waters the Ronald Wilson Reagan Exclusive Economic Zone.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting for his blog, Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Salmon finally in rivers
Anglers on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers are finally experiencing the Chinook salmon fishing that was expected with the second highest predicted return of salmon on record.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More: www.triplicate.com
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
DUTCH HARBOR IS TOP U.S. PORT
U.S. commercial fishermen landed 9.6 billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2012, valued at $5.1 billion, according to Fisheries of the United States 2012, an annual report released by NOAA today.
– NOAA
More: www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov
Stop sardine fishery
Concerned sardine numbers may be starting to collapse, conservation groups are calling on federal fishery managers to halt West Coast commercial sardine fishing to give the species a better chance to rebound.
– KATU, Portland
More: www.katu.com
Success in Mexico
The catch quota has already resulted in 14 commercial fisheries recording production successes.
– FIS
More: www.fis.com
Celebrity talks weed
We followed Sheriff Allman along on a raid near Ukiah where deputies had just discovered more than a hundred plants the size of giant Christmas trees, some reaching 15 feet high.
– Dan Rather, writing in Huffington Post
More: www.huffingtonpost.com
(Also, be sure to check out the November issue of Pacific Fishing magazine,
a non-celebrity vehicle.)
Fukushima claims wrong
The article is a paranoid, poorly reasoned attempt to link the tragedy of the Fukushima disaster to just about every environmental issue facing the US west coast in the last few months.
– Andrew David Thaler, writing in Southern Fried Science
More: www.southernfriedscience.com
Debating Pebble in Seattle
We are pleased to have John Shively, CEO, Pebble Limited Partnership and Norm Van Vactor is the president & CEO of the Bristol Bay EDC join us for a discussion on the Pebble Mine and its possible effect on Bristol Bay.
– Seattle Chamber of Commerce
More: www.seattlechamber.com
Importing booze to Togiak
Earlier this week, Tasha Echuck, 20, was arrested as she boarded a flight to Togiak with 12 bottles of Rich and Rare whiskey.
– Dave Beninger, reporting for KDLG, Dillingnam
More: kdlg.org
Cooking pets in a campfire pot
On investigation and looking into it, they found a few boxes from Petco and found that multiple small pets had been cooked in that campfire.”
– Phillip Manning, reporting for KTNA, Talkeetna
More: www.alaskapublic.org
Sea lice shenanigans
Ireland's Office of the Ombudsman is to extend its investigation into the Irish handling of the EU sea lice investigation to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
– FishNewsEU
More: www.fishnewseu.com
Great whites moving north
Great white shark tagging has been successful in the Pacific Ocean and in the waters off South Africa, tagging the massive predators in the Atlantic has proved to be a challenge.
– CBC
More: www.cbc.ca
Friday, November 1, 2013
ALASKA MSC CERTIFICATION CHALLENGED
The effort to get Alaska's commercial salmon fisheries covered under the Marine Stewardship Council's "Eco-label" could be delayed.
– KDLG
More: kdlg.org
Shell limits exploration drilling
If Royal Dutch Shell resumes exploration drilling in Alaska's offshore Arctic waters, it will do so only in the Chukchi Sea, the company's chief financial officer said Thursday.
– Alaska Dispatch
More: alaskadispatch.com
Monster sunfish pulled from Puget Sound
The fish was so large that he asked for assistance from a larger vessel, and with the help of three other people managed to bring the fish aboard.
– The Seattle Times
More: seattletimes.com
Dam could impact Susitna River
Critics say the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Susitna-Watana Dam could cost the lifestyles and livelihoods of Alaskans who rely on the river.
– Alaska Public Media
More: alaskapublic.org
Deadliest Catch wishes fulfilled
Wishes came true last week for a girl facing a life-threatening medical condition when she was able to achieve her dream of meeting with the captains and crews of her favorite boats on the Discovery Channel show Deadliest Catch.
– KUCB
More: kucb.org
Smelt rules clarified
KDLG's Dave Bendinger reports on some confusion over the weekend in Dillingham about the regulations for harvesting smelt.
– KDLG
More: kdlg.org
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, 2012 seafood landings and value were both down slightly from the record set in 2011, the Denny M recovery has been delayed, and we learn of the rise and fall of the fish trap.
– KMXT
More: kmxt.org
Lower Columbia seining gets go-ahead
Commercial salmon fishing with purse seines and beach seines — for profit not just testing — is coming to the lower Columbia River in the fall of 2014.
– Union-Bulletin.com
More: union-bulletin.com
Alaska harbor director gets state award
Hawkins was noted as a leader in dealing with issues that are of primary concern to many port and harbor directors statewide, including dealing with derelict vessels, and promoting and implementing the Clean Harbors Program.
– Homer Tribune
More: homertribune.com
Reagan ocean zone?
Congress is considering legislation to name our federal ocean waters the Ronald Wilson Reagan Exclusive Economic Zone.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
