Monday, November 28, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
CAL CRAB NOW OPEN
The commercial crab season officially began moments after Central California crab fishermen and seafood processors agreed to a price of $2.25 per pound for the spindly crustaceans.
– San Francisco Chronicle
More:www.sfgate.com
Halibut stock assessment
The International Pacific Halibut Commission will webcast a briefing on its stock assessment and preliminary recommended catch limits for 2012.
– Juneau Empire
More:juneauempire.com
Union wants North Pacific Council change
Now comes yet another supporter for council realignment, the Seattle-based Deep Sea Fishermen's Union of the Pacific.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Yes, there are young fishermen
But while fishermen are getting older on average, that doesn't mean there isn't a new generation eager to enter the industry.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Alexandra Gutierrez, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
More:www.kucb.org
Kodiak program defunded
Federal funding for one of the programs at the Fishery Industrial Technology Center in Kodiak was eliminated by congress when it passed the "Mini-Bus" spending package earlier this month.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
B.C. fish farms cut jobs
Aquaculture giant Marine Harvest is cutting up to 60 jobs around the Campbell River area to cut costs as a global product glut pushes down farmed salmon prices.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
Deadliest catch actually in New England
Viewers watching television's "The Deadliest Catch" think the waters plied by the Alaskan crab boats of the Bering Sea are the most lethal in the world.
– Telegram, Worcester, Mass.
More:www.telegram.com
Fighting fish fraud
Restaurants around the world will soon use new DNA technology to assure patrons they are being served the genuine fish fillet or caviar they ordered, rather than inferior substitutes, an expert in genetic identification says.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Living with trawl bycatch caps
Still, Mr. Fitz did not try to hide his mistake by slipping it back into the deep. Instead, he reported himself.
– New York Times
More:www.nytimes.com
Alaska sockeye recalled
Trans-Ocean Products, Inc. of Bellingham is recalling its 4 ounce "transOCEAN Wild Alaska Sockeye Smoked Salmon" with lot numbers 1280W & 1293W because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
– Trans-Ocean Products
More:www.fda.gov
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
NEW JUDGE FOR COLUMBIA SALMON
A recent appointee to the federal court bench in Portland has been assigned one of the Northwest's longest and most contentious issues – the Columbia River Basin salmon case.
– The Oregonian
More:www.oregonlive.com
Sea lions and lawsuits
Deckboss is sure you've not forgotten that the state as well as a big segment of the Alaska fishing industry are suing the National Marine Fisheries Service.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Herring collapse?
A change in the Strait of Georgia herring fishery could be catastrophic for resident herring populations, conservationists say.
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:www.timescolonist.com
New oil spill plan for Columbia
The Washington Department of Ecology has approved the umbrella oil spill readiness plan that covers more than 1,000 commercial vessels that transit the Columbia River.
– Washington Department of Ecology
More:www.ecy.wa.gov
'No' to ocean zoning
As mayor of a community that relies upon healthy fisheries to sustain our economy and city services, I find the prospect of a centralized ocean policy that restricts the autonomy of our Regional Fishery Management Councils to be troubling.
– Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt writing in the Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Who gets the fish?
It's a question almost as old as Alaska's commercial fishing industry.
– Fairbanks Daily Miner
More:newsminer.com
Small-scale fish farming
But rather than monolithic factory fish farms, they see the oceans as the home of small-scale farms where complementary species are cultivated to provide food and fuel – and to clean up the environment and fight climate change.
– The Atlantic
More:www.theatlantic.com
New safety recommendations
"No one has a greater stake or interest in the safety of commercial fishing vessels than the captain and crew, who make their living going to sea."
– Bellingham Herald
More:www.bellinghamherald.com
New cookbook out of Alaska
There are no supermarkets at sea, nor gourmet grocery stores in Ketchikan. So LaDonna's recipes focus on simple and easy-to-find ingredients.
– Press release
More:www.prweb.com
Thursday, December 1, 2011
CANADA SECRECY ABOUT DISEASE
A decade before this fall's salmon-virus scare, a Canadian government researcher said she found a similar virus in more than 100 wild fish from Alaska to Vancouver Island.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Canadian secrecy dismays Americans
American scientists and a senator criticized Canadian officials after the disclosure that the country failed to reveal the results of tests that appeared to show the presence of a potentially deadly salmon virus nearly a decade before a salmon-virus scare this fall.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
NW crab season delayed
The start of the commercial Dungeness crab season has been pushed back to Dec. 15 in order to improve the crab's shell-to-meat ratio.
– Umpqua Post
More:www.theumpquapost.com
Halibut catch recommendations
The scientific staff of the International Pacific Halibut Commission made recommendations on catch limits for the 2012 season.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Halibut charters supported
Upon reflection, it became apparent that any economic squeeze on the charter boats would also pinch hundreds of other entrepreneurs in town.
– Homer Tribune
More:homertribune.com
Work on B.C. harbor
The Island Coastal Economic Trust announced on Wednesday that they approved $3.5 million in funding for the Port Alberni Fishermen's Harbour project.
– B.C. Local News
More:www.bclocalnews.com
B.C. killer whales back in court
The fight to protect British Columbia's killer whales returned to court as the federal government challenged a ruling that it has not adequately protected the endangered orcas.
– CBC
More:www.cbc.ca
Yukon fish, sled dogs, and lead
A new study by an environmental group shows that sled dogs on the Yukon River have higher levels of mercury than other sled dogs eating a commercial diet.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Tougher vessel inspections
Federal regulators want to stiffen inspections of small commercial fishing boats following two disasters, including the 2009 sinking of the Lady Mary off Cape May.
– Press of Atlantic City
More:www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Thawing permafrost dangerous
As the Arctic warms, greenhouse gases will be released from thawing permafrost faster and at significantly higher levels than previous estimates, according to survey results from 41 international scientists published in the Nov. 30 issue of the journal Nature.
– University of Alaska
See the background:www.biology.ufl.edu
Friday, December 2, 2011
TOUGH NEWS FOR HALIBUT FLEET
Biologists for the International Pacific Halibut Commission say the sustainable halibut catch may be only half of its current level.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Here are the halibut numbers:
The commission itself will consider the recommendations at its Jan. 24-27 annual meeting in Anchorage.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy writing in his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Alaska wants federal tax dollars
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator Mark Begich and Congressman Don Young, Alaska's Congressional Delegation, sent a letter to Dr. Jane Lubchenco – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator – making the case that Alaska's waters should receive the funds necessary to improve operations, while similar endeavors are being funded on an ongoing basis in New England and on the West Coast.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:www.sitnews.us
New bilge pumping rules
The draft permit would cover vessels 79 feet or longer, while a separate draft permit issued Nov. 30 would cover the same categories of vessels that are smaller than 79 feet, although the smaller vessels could use best management practices to control discharges and would not have to meet the discharge limits.
– BNA
More:www.bna.com
Liking California crab
"Give me two of the largest you've got," said Frank Haeg as he leaned into the crab counter at Oliver's Market.
– Santa Rosa Press Democrat
More:www.pressdemocrat.com
Fish bank lowers interest rate
The Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank will lower its lending interest rate by 2 percent on existing and new loans, effective Jan. 1, 2012.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Good news for the Shasta
With a total of 11,164 Chinook as of Oct. 18, the Shasta River is seeing numbers well above the Shasta runs of the recent past.
– Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka
More:www.siskiyoudaily.com
Irrigators like new fish judge
U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon has a new set of fans even before he made his first ruling in the Columbia-Snake salmon and dam lawsuits – the Coalition for Idaho Water.
– Idaho Stateman, Boise
More:voices.idahostatesman.com
Grim news for E. Coast cod
A peer review panel validated an exceedingly grim stock assessment of Gulf of Maine cod, finding that the foundation fish for the inshore dayboat fleet, operating primarily out of Gloucester, is overfished and subject to continued overfishing.
– Gloucester Times
More:www.gloucestertimes.com
Alaska Fisheries Report
More cuts are looming for the commercial halibut fleet; and we meet a Homer man who was inducted into the Seafood Hall of Fame.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
