Monday, December 17, 2012
FISHERMEN WANT CRAB WAIT
Northern California crab fishermen, mostly from Crescent City, signed a petition showing support for a Jan. 15 opening day based on "industry-wide concern for thin shelled, weak crab, which would result in significant dead loss.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:triplicate.com
Feds eye Gulf of Alaska bycatch
Incidental harvest of king salmon in the non-pollock trawl fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, a hot button issue for commercial and sport harvesters and environmentalists, may come before federal fisheries regulators again in April.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Canadian firm must face U.S. law
A federal judge ruled that his court has jurisdiction to apply the U.S. Superfund law to a Canadian company that acknowledges polluting Lake Roosevelt in Washington state.
– The Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
Wash. gillnet decision delayed
A decision by the commission is tentatively set for mid-January, a delay that offers more opportunity for public comments.
– The Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
Gillnet ban would kill industry
Commercial fishermen in Washington and Oregon say a proposal to ban gill nets from the main stem of the lower Columbia River would destroy their livelihood, while supporters say the plan would protect endangered salmon.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.com
NW salmon consensus sought
Barry Thom, deputy regional administrator for the agency, said they are looking for a regional picture of what people think it will take to bring about recovery for the fish.
– Daily Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
Observer rule lacks video provision
Restructured observer plan drew protests from fishermen from Ketchikan to Kodiak, mainly due to the high cost of the program and the lack of a less expensive option to use video monitoring as an alternative.
– SitNews, Ketchikan
More:sitnews.us
A simple way to escape fiscal cliff
But there is a simple, elegant option that involves no tax increases, no spending cuts and just a bit of imagination. Sell Alaska.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Where to put wave energy buoys?
It goes without saying that the Pacific Ocean is vast.
– Oregon Public Broadcasting
More:earthfix.opb.org
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
SEEKING TSUNAMI DEBRIS
Federal, state and tribal officials are attempting to track a large dock that was reported drifting off the coast of Washington state, one of potentially hundreds of objects that could wash up along the West Coast from the tsunami that struck Japan last year.
– Daily Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
Gillnetters under attack
Georgia Marincovich had a blunt message for the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.
– Daily Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
Council to consider Chinook bycatch
Incidental harvest of king salmon in the non-pollock trawl fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, a hot button issue for both commercial and sport fishermen, may come before federal fisheries regulators again in April.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Blue crab quota taken
For the first time since the fishery reopened in 2009, crabbers have caught the entire quota of St. Matthew's blue king crab.
– KUCB, Unalaska
More:kucb.org
Silent CDQ review
Curiously, no public hearings have been held. The review presumably will wrap up around the end of the year, but who knows.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Fishing ergonomically
Making some easy changes to a boat's deck lay out, or simply modifying knives and scrapers can reduce the strains, sprains, and pains of fishing.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch, writing in SitNews, Ketchikan
More:sitnews.us
Fish management 101
This spring, a distance learning program offered through the University of Alaska Southeast will offer aspiring fisheries professionals an opportunity to gain insight into some of the principals, concepts and techniques of fisheries management.
– Alaska Dispatch
More:alaskadispatch.com
Not room for crab fleet
Despite predictions that construction work in Crescent City Harbor would fall short of providing enough space for the local commercial fishing fleet, almost three weeks of 24/7 work just might do the trick.
– Crescent City Triplicate
More:triplicate.com
New fish guy for Murkowski
Jay Sterne is the new fisheries aide for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy, reporting on his blog: Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Dredging in lower Fraser
The inside channel that links Steveston harbour to the Fraser River will be kept free and clear for recreational and commercial boaters thanks to new dredging funding.
– Richmond Review
More:richmondreview.com
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
JAPANESE DOCK FLOATS IN
The Coast Guard spotted a large dock that has washed ashore in a remote section of Olympic National Park on the northwest Washington coast.
– Daily Astorian
More:dailyastorian.com
Shell abandons drilling plan
Shell Canada will no longer be pursuing any coal bed methane development in the Klappan, an area where the Skeena, Nass, and Stikine rivers form known by First Nations as the Sacred Headwaters.
– The Northern View, B.C.
More:thenorthernview.com
All Cal otters free to roam
As expected, the quarter century-old plan to protect sea otters north of Point Conception while mandating that they be moved to San Nicolas Island upon entering the Santa Barbara Channel came to an end this week.
– Santa Barbara Independent
More:independent.com
Another tick in climate clock
The team, led by an Arizona State University life-sciences professor, found that shifts in temperature, moisture and species ranges will have profound effects on human activities, from commercial fishing to storm preparedness.
– Arizona Republic
More:azcentral.com
High tides to be higher
"Yesterday's tide would be an everyday tide by midcentury," James Rufo-Hill, a Seattle Public Utilities meteorologist studying the potential effects of climate change.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.com
Drill rig behind on payments
Buccaneer Energy has experienced another setback in its efforts to deploy the Endeavor jack-up rig, which has been docked at the Homer Harbor about four months longer than originally planned.
– Alaska Public.org
More:alaskapublic.org
Cal caviar farms
The Sacramento Valley has become home to the nation's surging caviar industry, as California fish farmers capitalize on a shortage of wild caviar.
– Sacramento Bee
More:sacbee.com
Money imperiled for fishery disasters
Alaska provisions in a relief bill for states affected by Hurricane Sandy are coming under scrutiny.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoo.org
Time for annual seafood bout
For commercial seafood processors in companies large and small, it's that time of the year again: time to answer the call for market ready products competition for the annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood.
– Cordova Times
More:thecordovatimes.com
Thursday, December 20, 2012
STEINBECK SEINER IN THE DRINK
The boat used by John Steinbeck and his marine biologist buddy Ed Ricketts on their journey to the Sea of Cortez is still on track to become the centerpiece of a downtown Salinas restaurant — despite having sunk in 28 feet of water about three months ago.
– Salinas Californian
More:thecalifornian.com
No Oregon Dungeness price
"There was a big difference between what we want and what they offered."
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
Farm critic wins, but still pay
"I have concluded that Mr. Staniford's open disrespect for the witnesses and disdain for the court and the judicial process are deserving of rebuke."
– Victoria Times Colonist
More:timescolonist.com
B.C. packers consolidate
A Nanaimo-based cannery has bought Raincoast Trading, a sustainable canned seafood company based in North Delta.
– Vancouver Sun
More:vancouversun.com
NW storm washes turtles ashore
Aquarium staffers will be slowly warming the turtles — both have hypothermia – over the coming days.
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
Room for wave energy?
It's perhaps even too crowded to make room for the nascent industry of wave and tidal energy.
– OPB, Oregon
More:opb.org
Lubchenco will not be missed
Jane Lubchenco's resignation as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency responsible for regulating the fishing industry, was greeted with bipartisan celebration by Massachusetts lawmakers.
– Boston Globe
More:bostonglobe.com
Heard this before?
Environmentalists complained several member states still sought too much short-term gain for their industry but said that after decades of slumping stocks due to overfishing there were finally signs for a turnaround in EU policy.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:adn.com
Friday, December 21, 2012
GILLNET BAN? COMMENT TODAY
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission is preparing to decide whether gillnets will be banned in the main stem of the lower Columbia River – a so-called restructuring of salmon and sturgeon fisheries that will hand the resource to sports anglers. The commission is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Jan. 11-12.
To comment on the proposed policy, address an email here:commission@dfw.wa.gov
To read the proposed policy:wdfw.wa.gov
Ceremonial salmon: For sale
Courts acknowledge more than 90 per cent of the fish was feeding neither aboriginal families nor cultural ritual, but rather was being illegally sold.
– Edmonton (Alberta) Journal
More:edmontonjournal.com
Chinook hatchery improvements
A plan to improve hatchery king salmon returns near Petersburg has made it past another couple hurdles.
– KFSK, Petersburg
More:kfsk.org
Bristol Bay initiative OK'd
The Bristol Bay Forever citizen initiative cleared the Lieutenant Governor's Office, which means the initiative's sponsors can start collecting the necessary signatures to put the initiative on the ballot.
– Alaska Public Radio
More:alaskapublic.org
Arguing over Aleutian tug
There's a lot of disagreement over how soon the tug is needed – and whose job it is to acquire it.
– Alaska Public Radio
More:alaskapublic.org
Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, Republicans in the U.S. Senate are challenging aid for Alaskan fishermen in the wake of the King Salmon disaster; Good Samaritans were busy in Southeast last week; and we hear the results of a genetic study of Western Alaska salmon.
– KMXT, Kodiak
More:kmxt.org
No timetable for EPA report
EPA said that it's updating the assessment in response to over 230,000 public comments and comments from a peer review panel.
– KTOO, Juneau
More:ktoo.org
Another dock washed ashore
Crews will again try to check out the giant dock that washed ashore on Washington's rugged Olympic Peninsula today.
– Daily Astorian
More:www.dailyastorian.com
No aliens on earlier dock
After a large dock from the Japanese tsunami washed ashore last June on a Newport beach, volunteers scraped off 2 tons of seaweed and creatures that had hitched a ride across the Pacific.
– Coos Bay World
More:theworldlink.com
Focus on saving Columbia fish
The salmon are worth saving. But so many diverse constituents in the region will need to get on the same page to do so.
– The Oregonian
More:oregonlive.com
See ya!
If our many Mayan readers are correct, you won't experience Fish Wrap on Monday. Seems the world will come to an end sometime today. (Greenwich time? Pacific time? Alaska time? Those darn negative Mayans aren't clear.) However, if the Mayans are wrong, if the world doesn't end, you still won't see Fish Wrap on Monday. In fact, you won't see us until Thursday, Dec. 27, when our publishing juggernaut makes its last 2012 appearance. We'll pick up on Wednesday, Jan.2. Have a peaceful holiday.
