Monday, December 7, 2009
Fisheries Board asks Pebble Mine assurances
The Alaska Board of Fisheries decided Saturday to send a letter to state legislators asking them to consider more regulatory protection for salmon in the Bristol Bay river drainages downstream of the proposed Pebble mine.
– Anchorage Daily News
Read more: www.adn.com/news
Unalaska smacked by storm
A massive storm rocked Unalaska on Friday night, taking down the American President Line’s container crane. Winds started kicking up around 6 pm. By about 9:30 pm different points clocked wind speeds ranging from 80 miles per hour at the senior center to about 115 miles per hour at the airport.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska (Photo by Jim Paulin)
Read more: www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial
Fisheries Board extends ‘dude’ fishing
The Alaska Board of Fisheries has voted to continue "dude fishing" in Bristol Bay's Nushagak District.
The dude fishery gives tourists a chance to ride aboard a commercial fishing boat and net a few salmon. A boat operating in the dude fishery may take up to 90 salmon per day.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
Read more: deckboss.blogspot.com
Enviro: Removing Snake dams good for economy
Getting rid of the Snake River dams could ignite regional interest in diversifying energy development and support for spending billions of dollars to upgrade highways and railroad systems for more efficient transportation of wheat overseas, the conservation director of American Rivers argued.
– Tri-City (Wash.) Herald
Read more: www.thenewstribune.com/news
Scientist tracks acidification of Alaska seas
Beneath the sparkling waters of Resurrection Bay, where rich runs of salmon support thriving commercial fish harvests and humpback whales can be seen breaching just offshore in summertime, Jeremy Mathis sees signs of the way greenhouse gases are changing the world’s oceans.
– Christian Science Monitor
Read more: features.csmonitor.com/environment
Opinion: Shell Oil not realistic
Shell's rosy picture of interim findings from industry-funded studies on cleaning up oil spills requires rose-colored glasses to see.
– Jim Ayers, vice president of Oceana, and Whit Sheard, Alaska program director for Pacific Environment, writing in the Anchorage Daily News
Read more: www.adn.com/guestcolumns
East Coast congressmen battle Magnuson-Stevens act
Congressman Barney Frank says he will call an East Coast congressional caucus within two weeks to organize what he recognizes will be an uphill battle against environmental forces to create a more equal balance between the reconstruction of fish stocks and community interests.
– Gloucester (Mass.) Times
Read more: www.gloucestertimes.com
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Fisheries Board keeps Bristol Bay length rule
The Alaska Board of Fisheries rejected a proposal to eliminate the 32-foot length limit on salmon driftnet boats in Bristol Bay.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
Read more: deckboss.blogspot.com
D. crab season called ‘awesome’
Crescent City’s harbor docks are awash in crabs several days into what fishermen are calling a promising season.
“This is an awesome season,” Joshua Fitzhugh, a deckhand on the Ingot out of Crescent City, said. “I’ve made more in the first two days than all of last season.”
– Crescent City Triplicate
Read more: www.triplicate.com
Halibut 2010 catch limits ‘demoralizing”
The scientific staff of the International Pacific Halibut Commission has released its recommended catch limits for the 2010 season, and the news is demoralizing.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
Read more: deckboss.blogspot.com
More about Unalaska windstorm
A massive storm rocked Unalaska on Friday night and toppled the 110 foot high APL cargo container crane. Winds started kicking up around 6 p.m. and by about 8 p.m. wind speeds ranged from 80 miles per hour to about 125 miles per hour. Some sources are saying they went even higher.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
Read more: www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial
Shell given go-ahead for Alaska drilling
The Interior Department on Monday gave the go-ahead for Shell Oil to begin drilling three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea, a move that could open the door for offshore oil and gas production from a new region of the Arctic.
– Anchorage Daily News
Read more: www.adn.com/money
Editorial: Years of ignoring beluga hasn’t helped
Having listed the Cook Inlet beluga as endangered, the federal government now says roughly a third of the Inlet is critical habitat for the whales, including the waters around Anchorage. Any development funded or permitted by the feds in that habitat will require extra scrutiny to avoid harm to the whales.
– Anchorage Daily News
Read more: www.adn.com/opinion
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Fish Board can’t agree on Pebble letter
The Alaska Board of Fisheries members adjourned Tuesday without finalizing a letter they plan to send to the state Legislature asking it to determine if additional protection for Bristol Bay's fisheries is warranted.
– Anchorage Daily News
Read more: www.adn.com/money
Threatened rockfish may curb
B.C. fisheries
The status of a small rockfish could impact all fisheries, and time is running out for garnering local support to protect the industry.
– North Island Gazette, Port Hardy
Read more: www.bclocalnews.com
Reward offered for tagged D crabs
Crab fishermen: If your haul includes a tagged crab, congratulations! You just scored $20.
The Oregon Wave Energy Trust, in partnership with Oregon Sea Grant, is researching Dungeness crab movements, and it needs your help.
– Coos Bay World
Read more: www.theworldlink.com/articles
Oil gushes from North Slope pipeline
Officials have found a 24-inch jagged rupture in a pipeline that began pouring oil and water Nov. 29, creating one of the biggest North Slope crude oil spills ever.
– Anchorage Daily News
Read more: www.adn.com/money
APL to use Unalaska city dock
APL ships will be arriving in Unalaska as planned, despite the fall of its crane. The ships will be loaded and unloaded at the city dock using the Horizon Lines crane.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman, reporting for KUCB, Unalaska
Read more: www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial
Thursday, December 10, 2009
North Pacific Council dividing up groundfish take
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council kicked off a weeklong meeting in Anchorage, and as always at its December session, the panel's top order of business is setting groundfish quotas for the coming year.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, writing in his blog: Deckboss
More: deckboss.blogspot.com
Little chance of Taku, Stikine fisheries
Gillnetters and trollers may not get a chance to fish for king salmon returning to the Stikine and Taku rivers in Southeast Alaska next May.
– KCAW, Sitka
More: kcaw.org
Wave power company returning to Oregon Coast
After faring waves of opposition and a tempest of lively committee meetings, Ocean Power Technologies will bring buoy-generated electricity ashore by next fall in Gardiner.
– Umpqua (Ore.) Post
Read more: www.theumpquapost.com
Coasties tow sinking California crabber to safety
Coast Guard rescuers from Crescent City teamed up to tow a sinking vessel safely into Crescent City Harbor on Wednesday afternoon.
– Eureka Times-Standard
More: www.times-standard.com
Oregon fish plant hit with $208,544 fine
Bandon Pacific, a subsidiary of Pacific Seafood Group and a small retailer and seafood processor facility in Bandon, Ore., has been issued a proposed fine from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ): $208,544
– Press release
More: www.businesswire.com
Hood Canal chum hatchery facing closure
Another Western Washington hatchery could be on the chopping block due to the state Fish and Wildlife's budget shortfalls, according to a news release sent out this week.
– Seattle Times
More: seattletimes.nwsource.com
Coast Guard medevacs ship’s skipper to Kodiak
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew safely completed the medevac of a 61-year old Filipino master from the Luna Spirit 150 miles southeast of Kodiak Island at about 10 a.m. Wednesday.
– Press release
More: www.piersystem.com
Friday, December 11, 2009
Administration pushes fish quotas nationally
The Obama administration proposed a national fisheries policy that promotes the use of new cap-and-trade management schemes for federal fisheries.
– New York Times
More: www.nytimes.com
Huge Chinook run forecast for Columbia
Fishery scientists forecast that some 470,000 spring Chinook will return to the Columbia River next year, which would be the largest run since 1938.
– Seattle Times
More: seattletimes.nwsource.com
Russia further reduces Far East king crab quota
The Russian Federal Fisheries Agency has cut its 2010 king crab catch quota in the Far East by 69 percent to 1,143 tons, or one-fifth of the 2007 level, indicating a further drop in exports to Japan.
– Japan Times
More: search.japantimes.co.jp
Guv wants more money spent on W. Alaska salmon
Gov. Sean Parnell today announced $1.3 million in proposed new funding for improved research and management of Western Alaska salmon stocks.
– Press release
More: www.gov.state.ak.us
Fisherman: Climate change changing ocean
Jeremy Brown, a fisherman from the Pacific Northwest, is pulling things from the ocean he says are so disturbing that he came to Washington to warn U.S. lawmakers about it.
“This is not overfishing, this is something far larger,” said Brown.
– Bloomberg
More: www.bloomberg.com
Fisherman: Climate change will hurt Alaska fisheries
Alaska's rich fisheries are the mainstay of our coastal communities, providing for livelihoods we love and a way of life most Americans cannot even imagine. In Alaska, we pride ourselves on science-based fisheries management. So when scientists go out of their way to alert us to the dangers of ocean acidification, we need to really listen. And our elected officials need to act.
– Dave Kubiak, a retired Kodiak teacher and resident fisherman since 1964, writing in the Anchorage Daily News
More: www.adn.com
S. Cal protected area one step closer
A controversial plan to improve marine habitat by closing or restricting fishing in nearly 400 square miles of ocean off Southern California moved forward at a public meeting in Los Angeles Wednesday.
– Daily Breeze, Los Angeles
More: www.dailybreeze.com
Canada to appeal Native fishing rights ruling
The federal government will appeal the Supreme Court ruling that last month affirmed Nuu-chah-nulth people’s right to catch and sell fish, Federal justice department spokesperson Carole Saindon said.
– Alberni Valley News
More: www.bclocalnews.com
