Daily Archives: January 5, 2013

Commercial Herring Fishing Starts in San Francisco Bay – A nice report from the JuneauTek Blog

California fishermen are harvesting the first herring of 2013 in San Francisco Bay this week.  The total gillnet quota is 2,690 tons and the fishery  will last until March 15, 2013. Lots of links, and video. Very nice presentation. Read more

We do a lousy job of informing our fellow citizens about fishery issues. Read the Comments!

Message from Alaska: Our disaster relief isn’t ‘pork’

It’s unlikely that many Americans in the Lower 48 know about it, but the Alaskan salmon industry — a significant part of the state’s economy — has been struck by a slow-moving disaster for several years now.  Sources of salmon that even in the mid-2000s yielded hundreds of thousands of pounds of fish are now yielding next to nothing.  Nobody quite agrees on what is causing the problem, but as Knudson noted, in September the Commerce Department issued what is called a resource disaster designation covering parts of the Alaskan salmon industry, making it eligible for federal relief funds.

That’s where the Hurricane Sandy bill comes in……Read the article and the comments. How do we fix this?

Of course, there is no mention of the other fishery disasters,,,

‘Wicked Tuna’ returns! What you never knew about the tuna industry. It’s Wicked Pissah, not Pisser!

tf“Wicked Tuna” is coming back to the National Geographic Channel! The fishermen of “Wicked Tuna” set out off the coast of the wickedly cold North Atlantic, but it was the West Coast where tuna really took off in the United States, centered mostly around canning. Here are some interesting facts you probably don’t know about the history of the tuna industry. Read more

Here are the must-know terms in order to understand “Wicked Tuna” fishermen-speak.

Pisser: This one can be confusing since it means either wonderful or horrible, based on context. One of the more humorous and entertaining uses of the word is, “Wicked pisser!” Read more

Filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur gets deep – DD – What inspired you to make ‘The Deep?’

The "Breki" fishing boat  BK – When I was 18-years-old, the 1984 fishing tragedy was national news in Iceland.  Everyone can identify with this story because many here have lost loved ones to the sea.  Iceland’s economy depends heavily on the fishing industry.  I  actually had the opportunity to meet the hero of the story.  He had a profound impact on me.  Another reason I was drawn to the story was that our country went through an economic collapse with our banking system in 2008.  This story acted as a metaphor for what Iceland went through during that dark period. Read more  The Deep Trailer

Catch Shares for Central Gulf of Alaska Trawl Groundfish Fisheries? Control Date December 31, 2012, for Qualifying Landings

npfmcThe National Marine Fisheries Service published  its intention to work on rationalization for central Gulf of Alaska trawl  groundfish fisheries in the federal register Dec. 26. The Dec. 31 control date was set by the North Pacific Fishery Management  Council. As the council considers a catch share program for the central Gulf of  Alaska, the date will be used to determine catch history. The council has discussed rationalizing the fishery to slow down the fishery  and better enable the trawl fleet to minimize bycatch.  Read the Register. Alaska Journal

The Kiss of Death!

NMFS must go back to drawing board on Steller sea lions – Gov. Sean Parnell, Alaska

msSo familiar!

The National Marine Fisheries Service imposed draconian fishing limits in  2011 to protect Steller sea lions. The restrictions hit our Aleutian Islands  communities especially hard.

The State of Alaska and independent scientists reviewed the science behind  the federal action and found it flawed and the restrictions unjustified.  Read more

 

Osprey cleanup continues; investigation planned

Floating booms, first put out Thursday to stop and absorb further spillage were replaced Friday and will remain in place until Monday, Ferson said. The U.S. Coast Guard plans on conducting an investigation to learn the details of th100_1068e incident, Lt. Garrett Meyer said. In addition, boat owner Peter Mullen or its operator, Padriac Dirrane, may face a fine as a result of the accident. However, Meyer said fines are usually issued to people who do not take the proper follow-up actions, such as not cleaning up a spill, or cleaning up too slowly. Read more

Commercial fishermen challenge new Ore. gillnet rules; ask Wash. to delay decision

ASTORIA, Oregon — Commercial fishermen turned to the Oregon Court of Appeals on Friday to challenge a recent change in the state’s gillnet fishing rules.

On Dec. 7, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to ban the use of gillnets to catch fish on the main stem of the Columbia River, relegating the primary commercial-fishing tool to side channels and tributaries.

Washington’s fish commission is expected to decide next week on similar rules. That could eliminate the centuries-old practice from both sides of the river. Read More

Relentless Pew Menhaden Campaign topped with Cherry Picked Data Not Being Allowed to go Unanswered

DAILY PROGRESS: Save the crabs and menhaden Get the story and rebuttle from Ben Landry, director of public affairs, Omega Protein Inc., Here

December 12, 2012 — The following is an excerpt from the article “Outdoors: Save the crabs and menhaden” by Jim Brewer, published online in the Charlottesville Daily Progress:

 

TSUNAMI WARNING – Mag 7.7 090Mi NW Dixon Entrance, Alaska with tweets! (NO LONGER IN EFFECT) Earthquake 7.5

BULLETIN
PUBLIC TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 3
NWS WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER AK
117 AM AKST SAT JAN 5 2013

THE MAGNITUDE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO 7.5 AND A SMALL TSUNAMI
HAS BEEN OBSERVED AT PORT ALEXANDER, ALASKA. Link here