Pacific Fishing - Fish Wrap Archives | November 23

Monday, November 23, 2009

Study: Fresh salmon has bigger carbon toll than frozen

Frozen salmon is better for the planet than fresh, because it takes so much less energy to make it safely to your dinner plate. That's the finding of Portland-based Ecotrust, which studied how sustainable it really is to catch fish, keep them cold and fly them to markets around the world – instead of flash-freezing at sea and then shipping to market later, by truck or rail.

– The Oregonian

Read more: www.oregonlive.com

Albacore might be solution for guilt-free dining

Skipjack and bluefin are dirty words among conscientious diners, but a guilt-free alternative could see tuna back on the menu. Guy Adams boards a Californian fishing boat to find out whether albacore is truly sustainable.

– The Independent, U.K.

Read more: www.independent.co.uk/life-style

Ivar would have been proud

An underwater billboard hoax helped a restaurant on the Puget Sound increase chowder sales by a factor of four.

Ivar’s Seafood Restaurant placed billboards underneath the Puget Sound, then told the media that the boards had been placed there in the ‘50s by Ivar’s founder who, as the story goes, thought people would one day travel beneath the Sound in submarines. The founder wanted to make sure his advertising message was there for all to see.

The story was a sham.

– Media Buyer Planner

Read more: www.mediabuyerplanner.com

Kodiak cod draggers work on halibut excluder

It is called the halibut excluder – a scary name for a nifty device, especially for halibut caught in a cod net off Kodiak Island.

– Globe and Mail, Toronto

Read more: www.theglobeandmail.com

N. Cal crab season awaits Oregon price negotiations

With tests this month confirming that Dungeness crab are ripe for the picking, local crab fishermen are now waiting to see if negotiations in Oregon set a price and clear the way for the Dec. 1 opener.

– Eureka Times-Standard

Read more: www.times-standard.com

Rationalization killing Fishermen’s Terminal fleet

There are few places where the term “family fisherman” has more meaning than here in Ballard. Our Fishermen’s Terminal houses one of the largest commercial fleets on the West Coast and affords locals the opportunity to purchase fish right off a boat or near the docks at the Wild Seafood Exchange.

– Carina Barnett-Loro, Fair Fish Campaign Seattle, and Tom Hanlon, Ballard Resident, former commercial fishermen, LLM marine resource law, writing in the Ballard News Tribune

Read more: www.ballardnewstribune.com

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Federal judge rules against Southeast halibut charters

Halibut charter operators lost an attempt Monday to rid themselves of the one-fish-a-day rule, which they say is putting them out of business in Southeast Alaska. The charter operators accused the U.S. secretary of commerce, acting through the National Marine Fisheries Service, of failing to explain how the change from two halibut to one was made, and if it was fair and legal. The new rule took effect in June. The one-fish rule does not apply elsewhere in Alaska waters.

– Anchorage Daily News

Judge has kind words for federal Columbia salmon plan

Salmon court has adjourned. The judge ended the day with some kind words for the government's salmon plan.

"I think we can do it," Judge Redden said. "The government has to do something a little bit more, I think."

– Seattle Times

Alaska fishermen support new arrangement for MSC

United Fishermen on Alaska voted to support the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) in assuming “client” status for the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) ongoing sustainability certification of Alaska Wild Salmon. Ray Riutta, Executive Director of ASMI and Joe Bundrant, ASMI Board chairman, talked to UFA about the advantages of ASMI assuming the “client” role and also about their concerns with the MSC certification program.

– UFA press release

Crescent City Harbor to be dredged – finally

After nine years, the Army Corps of Engineers is about to once again dredge Crescent City Harbor’s Federal Channel. It is long overdue.

– Crescent City Triplicate

Commercial fishermen examine subsistence shortfalls

Declaring the federal government's newest salmon recovery plan "a good piece of work," U.S. District Court Judge James Redden on Monday appeared eager to resolve a 15-year legal battle about how to restore threatened and endangered fish runs in the Columbia River basin.

– Seattle Times