Daily Archives: August 21, 2013

Stephen Taufen – To: Kodiak City/Borough Joint Fishery Working Group

Stephen Taufen – August 19, 2013  KFWG – 3 minutes.

  1. Regarding Americans for Equal Access – it is “important to make every fish count,” but the way to do that is from full-time Observer Coverage on all Trawlers, year round, in the Central GOA.  Calling excessive Bycatch Shares a “hard cap” is just a cute way of saying “give us all the known damage we’ve done to fisheries to date (in the race for quota), and never take it away from us.” more here   21:13

    Groundswell Fisheries Movement

      http://groundswellalaska.com/

Wayne Erny, 35, of Lake Charles, and Eric L. Linden, 33, of Grand Lake, cited for crab trap molestation violations in Calcasieu Parish

blue crab 2The citations stem from a complaint from a crab fisherman on Black Bayou that some of his equipment was stolen. During the course of the investigation, LDWF agents discovered the fisherman’s crab traps near Fred’s Lounge on Black Bayou. more@kplc  20:29

Crabber Dundee – Professional crabber Dale Collie has gone to extreme measures to send crab pot thieves scurrying.

He hired a chopper so he could search from the sky for his stolen pots, and has scattered numerous infra-red Scoutguard cameras among the trees and mangroves on Big Dawson Creek to catch the crooks. [email protected]  20:13

No Alaska salmon for US troops??? Sen. Begich SLAMS Sodexo for “insult” – French Arrogance under British ENGO influence!

One of the world’s largest foods contractors is the latest to snub Alaska salmon over an eco-label  – in this case, fish that’s targeted to the US troops.  The company Sodexo, home based in France, has an eight year contract to provide food services to US military mess halls.  The Fortune 500 company’s  policy is to only serve seafood certified by the London-based Marine Stewardship Council   more@alaskafishradio  18:11

U.S. Dolphin Deaths Rise to 300; Cause Still a Mystery

Based on the rapid increase in dead bodies (bodies?)washing ashore, and the broad geographic reach, “an infectious pathogen is at the top of the list of potential causes,” according to NOAA’s website. more@natgeo  17:12

Great Lakes plagued by tiny plastic beads

We posted this on July 30, 2013, Initial samples from several Great Lakes are teeming with abrasive “microbeads,” or tiny bits of polyethylene plastic commonly used as exfoliants in face soaps, body washes, toothpastes and other personal care products more@sacbee  14:32

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service seeks comments on Atlantic bluefin tuna management proposals

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking public comment on a proposed rule and its associated draft environmental impact statement, which aims to reduce discards of Atlantic bluefin tuna, and outlines measures to help ensure compliance with international quotas. Link  Absolutely everything is here at this link,  Atlantic Highly Migratory Species: 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 7 and I defy  anyone to find NOAA Fisheries anywhere on this pages!  13:55

Aleutian Islands golden king crab kicks off Alaska’s big fall crab fisheries

A small fleet of boats dropped pots last week in Alaska’s most far flung crab fishery:  golden king crab along the Aleutian Islands.  The boats can remain at sea for a month or more through February.  Golden king crab is Alaska’s most stable crab fishery with a conservative harvest each year capped at just over  6 million pounds.  The golden kings live at depths of 1,800 feet or more amid underwater mountain ranges.  more@alaskafishradio  13:33

Port Everglades expansion plans are environmentally damaging, says National Marine Fisheries Service

The $313 million project with the Army Corps of Engineers calls for blasting and dredging through limestone and coral to deepen the port’s entrance channel from 42 feet to 48 feet. But the National Marine Fisheries Service says a draft environmental impact statement prepared by the Corps “significantly understates the project’s impacts to seagrass, coral reef and mangrove habitat” and underestimates the amount of work that would be needed to mitigate the damage. more@orlandosentinal  13:23

Carteret County Commissioners in North Carolina threatens legal action over loggerhead habitat designation

Carteret County Commissioners are taking a stand against proposed federal rules they say would be costly and unnecessary regulation and cross a line in efforts to protect loggerhead sea turtles. “There needs to be an end,” said Commissioner Robin Comer during Monday night’s meeting of the Board of Commissioners, where two actions were taken in opposition to proposed critical habitat designations. more@starnewsonline  13:14

Scientists, Industry Leaders Question Validity of Yellowtail Flounder Assessments

logoAs the Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC) publicizes its recommendations for drastically reduced catch limits for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, a diverse group of industry stakeholders and marine scientists are raising questions about the reliability of the TRAC’s advice and the underlying science behind it. This includes one of the largest industry associations, the Fisheries Survival Fund, and the current President of the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists (AIFRB), Dr. Steve Cadrin. more@savingseafood  12:29
Scallop Industry: There has been “no progress” in Yellowtail Flounder Assessments  Links

Water Wars and the Life of Salmon

Water that flows through the Central Valley to irrigate farms is an enormous part of the California economy. Traveling from the northern reaches of the state southward, the Central Valley Project yields 7 million acre feet of water a year. But, if this water diversion were at odds with the existence of California tribes and Salmon Fisheries, and the health of the salmon species overall, which would and should take priority? more@examiner   12:09

British Columbia: Low salmon numbers keep nets out of the Fraser

They would rather be out on the Fraser River chasing sockeye, but instead local commercial and sport fishermen alike were engaged in their second-favourite pastime Tuesday afternoon – cursing Fisheries and Oceans Canada.  moremapleridgenews  12:00

Judge questions Cape Cod wastewater pollution claims

BOSTON — After months of inaction on two lawsuits brought by environmental groups against the Environmental Protection Agency over Cape Cod’s  plans, a federal judge hinted Tuesday at the possible outcomes of the cases. more@capecodtimes  10:09

Sandusky man sentenced to three months custody, ordered to pay $489,007 for false distress calls that caused lake Erie search

On the evening of March 14, 2012, Kumar took off in a Cessna  single-engine plane for a solo flight from Burke Lakefront Airport to Bowling  Green State University. About 30 minutes into his flight, Kumar called the  Cleveland-Hopkins Airport control tower and reported seeing a vessel “launching  up flares,” according to court documents. Moments later, when asked for additional details about the vessel in  distress, Kumar responded “a 25-foot fishing vessel I guess you could say.  Everyone had a life jacket with a strobe light. I counted four of them,”  [email protected]  09:20

“technical error.” has Skeena River missing from Pacific NorthWest LNG project map!

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Office is currently reviewing the Pacific NorthWest LNG export facility and marine terminal. The project originally omitted the Skeena River — a major river near the proposed plant — from a map in its review application. more@cbcnews

PEI: Decades-old oil spill re-emerges on banks of West River

CBC_News_logoA nearly forgotten, decades old oil spill in Bonshaw, P.E.I. has prompted a call for the cleanup of the West River. Exactly how the oil and how much of it got into the river is not clear. more@cbcnews  08:48

Deep-water mussel farming could become more widespread in Newfoundland and Labrador.

CBC_News_logoRight now, mussels are usually grown in shallow water, up to about five-meters deep, but the possibility of growing them in water up to 15-metres deep is being tested. more@cbcnews  08:38

US Navy has rejected recommendations by the California Coastal Commission for its use of sonar and underwater explosives

In a letter July 31, the Navy said it disagreed with the commission’s determination that naval training plans did not include enough information to conclude the overall marine mammal count isn’t affected by sonar technology or by detonations at sea. The Navy is applying for a five-year renewal of its federal marine permit to conduct training over a huge swath of ocean between Hawaii and Southern California. more@utsandiego  08:24

Lobsters here clear of claw disease – “You might see one or two, but there are no alarms going off up here,”

gdt icon“Up around Gloucester, it’s much less, usually 1 percent or less of the lobsters landed,” Glenn said. “The highest we ever saw up there was 3.1 percent in 2003 and 2.2 percent in 2012.”That’s good news not only for Gloucester lobstermen, but for lobster lovers throughout the region.That’s because Gloucester, according to the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, is home to more lobstermen (145) and more lobsters landed (2.27 million pounds in 2011) than any other of the Bay State’s 52 ports. more@GDT  03:50

3 fishermen treated for smoke inhalation after fire aboard F/V Friendship in New Bedford Harbor

sct logoCrew members thought they had the blaze aboard 99.1-foot Friendship extinguished, but it flared up again and firefighters used a dry chemical (carbon dioxide) to put it out, he said. The fire started as the fishing boat was in the vicinity of Butler Flats Lighthouse. It turned around about 4:22 p.m. and headed inside the hurricane barrier to meet the Fire Department, Kruger said. more@southcoasttoday  03:32