U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, D-2nd, joined Alaskan Rep. Don Young, a Republican, to introduce a bill reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Management Act on Thursday. But the bill would make changes to the law that some environmentalists fear may result in taking more fish than is sustainable. Among other things, the reauthorization would change how fishery councils determine fishery stock rebuilding timeframes, giving the public a greater role in the development of science and fishery management plans. In a statement, Van Drew said H.R. 3697 “ensures that we have healthy fisheries, keep anglers in the water and keep fishermen fishing.” >click to read< 09:10
Category Archives: Pacific
Vancouver Island fishermen upset after sudden salmon fishing closures
Bill Forbes and his crew geared up in French Creek to go salmon fishing. Forbes and his crew, who are heading to a spot near Prince Rupert, are one of the few commercial fisheries still open following a sudden and massive closure by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on June 29. “They can’t keep blaming the commercial fishermen, we may be part of the problem but kicking us out is not the solution,” said fisherman Bill Forbes. “It throws this boat and all my crew, I’ve got three generations of Forbes’ on this boat and it just puts us out of work. I’m old but you know my grandson and my nephew are not. So they have to go someplace else and I don’t know where that someplace else is,” Video, >click to read< 08:54
Too Few Tuna! Commercial season off to standard slow start
Safe Coast Seafoods and Ilwaco Landing each recorded their first offload of the 2021 commercial tuna season Monday, July 12 in Ilwaco. Landings have been slow to start the season, fishermen and processors reported, which is par for the course. August has historically been the month with the heaviest commercial tuna landings for Oregon and Washington, with the season wrapping up around October, depending on weather. “It’s a pretty typical start with fish scattered and in low numbers, but we are encouraged that the water temperature and sea life look more typical and are in good shape to hold large numbers (of tuna) as they come in,” >7 photos, click to read< 18:49
RCMP check of U.S. fishing vessel in B.C. led to multiple weapon seizures and a U.S. warrant arrest.
The crew of an RCMP Shiprider vessel, boats that have been enforcing the Quarantine Act and Customs Act since the pandemic began, came across a 54-foot fishing vessel about two nautical miles from the border near Moresby Island on June 23, according to police. The captain and three occupants told police they were travelling from Seattle to Alaska to fish. Police directed the boat and crew to Bedwell Harbour for inspection from the Canadian Border Services Agency where undeclared prohibited firearms and parts along with unrestricted firearms were found. During the inspection, officers found one of the individuals was found to have a U.S. felony warrant for drug-related charges. >click to read< 13:17
Coast Guard search suspended for missing boat fire victim near Carlsbad
The Coast Guard crews suspended their search efforts Friday for a missing Carlsbad boat fire victim at approximately 8 a.m. Missing is the owner and resident of the Relentless, a 50-foot boat that caught fire Thursday morning. >click to read< Coast Guard and local partner agency crews searched over the course of 21 hours, covering more than 600 square miles. The Coast Guard cutters arrived on scene and worked together to extinguish the boat fire while the Jayhawk helicopter crew searched for survivors. The boat sustained significant damage and eventually sank in approximately 1,800 feet of water. >click to read< 15:19
Coast Guard responds to a boat fire near Carlsbad
Coast Guard responded to a boat fire Thursday morning near Carlsbad. Coast Guard Sector San Diego watchstanders received several reports of a boat, 50 feet in length, on fire approximately seven miles off the Carlsbad coast around 9 a.m. Coast Guard watchstanders dispatched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and diverted the Coast Guard Cutters Munro, Benjamin Bottoms and the Haddock. While Coast Guard assets were en route, the Oceanside Harbor Master confirmed that the boat’s name was the Relentless, Coast Guard Sector San Diego. photos, >click to read< 15:07
“Sailing Back To the Bay” trip gets closer to launch
The launch of No. 76, a 29-foot restored Libby, McNeil and Libby double-ender sailboat once used for commercial fishing in Bristol Bay, and its journey in the decades-old wake of fishing boats traveling from Homer to the bay have been rescheduled for 2022. The delay was fortuitous, allowing time for Frank Schattauer Sails of Seattle to complete a new sail that was hoisted on the vessel’s single mast by Dave Seaman and friends on July 3, in the NOMAR parking lot. Seaman oversaw the restoration work and will captain No. 76 when it makes its voyage a year from now. “(The vessels) had keels and ribs of white oak, planking of Port Orford, Oregon’s yellow cedar, and were sprit-rigged with a wing-shaped sail,” said Seaman. “Belying their sweet lines, these boats were built for work.” photos, >click to read< 14:44
The“30 X 30 Plan” – The Biden Administration’s Latest Eco Con Job
Via yet another decree (Executive Order 14008), President Biden has ordered government agencies to “permanently protect” at least 30 percent of all US lands and waters by 2030. This “30 X 30 Plan” appears to presume that any areas not designated as park, refuge, or wilderness are not “protected,” even though the vast majority of federal lands are already effectively off-limits to mining, drilling, timber harvesting, and even grazing, by virtue of policies heavily tilted toward preservation and against any development.,,, But matters get truly interesting when we examine Team Biden’s plans to eradicate the 80 percent of US energy that now comes from fossil fuels and replace it with pseudo-renewable wind, solar, and battery power. >click to read< 12:20
Frank Teague, Storyteller, Trucker, Commercial Fisherman, has passed away in Bend, Oregon
“It is with deepest sorrow that we announce the passing of Edward Franklin Teague, beloved father, grandfather and great grandfather who passed away in Bend, Oregon, surrounded by family, on June 6, 2021,” He spent the first half of his life as a truck driver at Weaver Brothers, working for his father-in-law, Russell Weaver. When Frank retired from trucking, he realized a lifelong dream of buying a boat and becoming a commercial fisherman. “With his wife at his side, Frank and Janet moved to Wrangell, spending the next 30 years plying the waters of Southeast Alaska. Their days were spent sometimes fishing, sometimes sightseeing, but always together and that was what mattered most.” “Frank is once again with Janet.” >click to read< 09:36
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40′ Young Brothers Lobster Boat, 650HP Mack E-7 Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 17 photos, >click here< , To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:38
The Activists Who Embrace Nuclear – Shellenberger to Discuss Offshore Wind Farms Thursday 7 p.m. at OC Music Pier
Heather Hoff discovered a Web site called Save Diablo Canyon. The site had been launched by a man named Michael Shellenberger, who ran an organization called Environmental Progress, in the Bay Area. Shellenberger was a controversial figure, known for his pugilistic defense of nuclear power and his acerbic criticism of mainstream environmentalists. Hoff had seen “Pandora’s Promise,” a 2013 documentary about nuclear power, in which Shellenberger had been featured. She e-mailed him to ask about getting involved, and he offered to give a talk to plant employees. Hoff publicized the event among her colleagues, and baked about two hundred chocolate-chip cookies for the audience. On the evening of February 16, 2016, a couple hundred people filed into a conference room at a local Courtyard Marriott hotel. >click to read< , just like they will at the O.C. Music Pier, on Thursday evening! >click to read< 15:50
Michael Shellenberger: “I’m going to argue that everything we were told about renewable energy is wrong,”
Author and environmental advocate Michael Shellenberger will be the guest speaker Thursday evening at the Ocean City Music Pier. Best-selling author and nationally known environmental advocate Michael Shellenberger scoffs at the notion that ocean wind farms, like the one proposed off the South Jersey coast, are a good source of renewable, green energy. He regards them more as an industrialized threat to the environment, to the commercial fishing industry, to marine life and wildlife. “The big push to industrialize the East Coast will ruin the East Coast. It’s a gross environmental injustice,” he said. Video, >click to read< 11:57
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 11, 2021
Messages to the fleet, – Hey Pooh Bear. Did your satin pillowcase arrive OK? Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve checked in. You know that guy from last summer I thought was your brother? But then he turned out not to be your brother? He’s visiting again. I guess he’s a massage therapist, and is back in town for an internship. I’ve been more relaxed lately, so have been keeping busy and bedazzled your Carhartt coveralls and will work on snowmachine bibs next. Is Chartreuse still your favorite color? Miss you! Montana Chick (PS. Tell Matt Hakela that I couldn’t find that pumpkin spice beard oil he likes. Will look for alternative.) The Numbers! >click to read< 09:50
Illegal firework blamed for devastating partial amputation of a hand on a Morro Bay fishing boat
Firefighters are reminding people about the dangers of illegal fireworks after a person was injured on a 60-foot fishing boat Thursday night. Morro Bay Fire says firefighters and paramedics responded to a fishing boat off the South T-Pier around 11:40 p.m. for what they described as a “devastating partially amputated hand caused by an illegal mortar.” We’ll update it as we find more info. >click to read<, and here, >here<11:33
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 10, 2021
The Nushagak continues to cool off: yesterday the fleet hauled in less than a million fish for the second day in a row. Things are picking up on the East Side where fleets in the Naknek-Kvichak District nearly doubled their catch yesterday. The Ugashik District passed the one million mark for their total season catch. The Numbers: The bay-wide catch continues to barrel ahead at 41.8 million fish, and an estimated 730,000 fish are swimming up the plentiful rivers around the bay. >click to read< 08:15
DFO Fishery Closures – ‘radical course of action’ will devastate salmon harvesters and coastal communities
A coalition of 13 members partnered in the media statement issued by UFAWU, decried the Department of Oceans and Fisheries (DFO) announcement of closures as “a radical course of action to combat the salmon crisis,”. “Many harvesters were freshly geared up, fees paid and deckhands aboard, heading their vessels to the salmon openings they were told to expect,,, “These closures will devastate salmon, harvesters, and coastal communities alike. The only gain will be the political favour of those who’ve been fooled into thinking this is the answer to the salmon crisis,” UFAWU stated >click to read< 14:29
Opinion: Columbia Basin Collaborative anything but collaborative
The Columbia Basin Collaborative was introduced last year by the governors of the four Northwest states to help move the region past unending litigation around endangered salmon species. Our initial feedback was that the collaborative should expand beyond the four Northwest states, recognizing that salmon in Canada, Alaska, and Northern California have seen similar Chinook salmon declines the past 50 years by a shocking 65%. This finding was recently confirmed by the region’s Independent Science Advisory Board. Unfortunately, recent developments within the collaborative are causing concern. Instead of looking for new solutions, it seems the collaborative is essentially a recall effort aimed at removing the lower Snake River dams. >click to read< 10:22
Skipper rescued by girlfriend on an air mattress after falling overboard off Sitka
A fishing boat reportedly departed Sitka’s Eliason Harbor northbound earlier in the morning, with the skipper at the wheel and the deckhand below asleep. Once clear of the breakwater, the skipper put the vessel on autopilot and stepped on deck to wash the windows. A few miles north of the harbor at Magic Island, the skipper’s girlfriend came down to the beach to wave. “His partner was waving him off on the beach there,” said Fire Chief Craig Warren, who responded to the accident. His partner had to go out with, it sounded like almost an inflatable air mattress, The fishing boat continued northbound under autopilot for about five miles before it ran aground in Eastern Bay. >click to read< 16:50
Book Review: COFFIN COVE, By Jackie Elliott. A gripping murder mystery full of twists in a tiny fishing village
Andrea “Andi” Silvers needs a fresh start. Once a star reporter, she’s been dumped by her lover and by the paper,, Andi moves to the tiny fishing village of Coffin Cove on the Vancouver coast, where she lands a job at the local Gazette.,, Two sea lions wash up on the shore. They’ve been shot dead. Activists point the finger at local fishermen. Then things get far worse,,, She is driven to uncover mysteries and expose truths. She’s attracted to local fisherman Harry Brown, and he’s interested in her, but he won’t engage in a casual relationship. It’s all or nothing for him. Harry Brown brews some coffee in the galley, normally drinks his first cup of the day on the stern of his pride and joy, a sixty foot aluminum purse seiner, the Pipe Dream, >click to read< 15:10
Fisherman Settles Ventura Harbor Diesel Fuel Spill Case
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that Carlos Nelson Rivas, of Camarillo, entered a settlement with the District Attorney’s Office following an unlawful deposit of a toxic substance into the Ventura Harbor. Rivas is the owner of Rivas Fish Company Inc., and former operator of the commercial fishing boat, F/V Albatro. Rivas was charged with unfair business practices based on negligent maintenance of the boat which caused it to partially sink and release diesel fuel into the harbor. >click to read< 12:39
California’s first offshore wind farm has Morro Bay fishermen worried
Wind turbines are coming. “These things are as big as skyscrapers,” says Chris Pavone, who’s among roughly 120 fishermen who trap, troll, and drop lines off Morro Bay and Avila Beach. He’s worried about what could become the first offshore wind farm on the West Coast. Approved by the Biden administration, the project would bring roughly 200 floating turbines into the open ocean off the Central Coast. >click to read< 09:42
Gig Harbor’s iconic F/V Shenandoah is listed on the Washington State Historic Register
Gig Harbor’s historic fishing vessel Shenandoah has won a berth on the Washington State Historic Register. In a vote taken last Tuesday, June 27, the state Department of Archaeology and Historical Preservation agreed to accept the 97-year-old purse seiner as an “historical object” worthy of preservation. “With this listing it, becomes eligible for more potential grant funding.” The 64-foot Shenandoah was build in 1924 at Gig Harbor’s Skansie Shipyard, during what historians now call the “golden age” of purse seiner construction. (It was named for a popular airship, not the river.) The Purse Seiner Shenandoah is a classic example of a wood-hulled Puget Sound purse seiner from the early to mid-twentieth century. >click to read< 22:02
Book Release – “Two Tales of Old Kodiak”: The “Wreck of the Rustler” and “Confessions of a Seal Hunter”
Steve Descloux, a US Navy veteran who has worked in the commercial fishing, construction, and aviation industries in a myriad of roles such as welder, fabricator, equipment operator, small-plane mechanic, and airline instructor and resides in Starbuck, Washington with Diane, his wife of forty-eight years and a calico cat named Brindle, has completed his new book “Two Tales of Old Kodiak”,,, Let this author take you back with a couple memories to an earlier, wilder Kodiak, Alaska, when the seafood industry was booming and the town never went to sleep, when trappers were popular and often sold most of their prime furs to the locals and tourists, when the churches and the bars ran neck and neck in number and the congregation was always greatest in the latter. >click to read< 10:42
Survivor: Salmon Edition
In 2020, COSEWIC designated seven chinook populations in southern British Columbia as either endangered or threatened. Much the same is true in the Columbia River watershed in the northwestern United States, where chinook populations may have lost more than one-third of their genetic diversity. More worrying still, the rate of young salmon returning as adults to rivers from California to Alaska over the past half-century has plummeted to one-third of earlier levels. It’s a picture that puzzles many researchers. A myriad of variables impact salmon survival and it takes time and research to untangle them. Land use, from mining to damming and irrigation, for example, has affected chinook stocks in the Pacific Northwest at critical life stages, but it can’t be blamed for what’s happening in the northern latitudes. >click to read< 09:05
F/V Scandies Rose: Inaccurate Stability Instructions, Ice Accumulation Led to Fatal Sinking
NTSB issues 7 Safety Recommendations from its investigation into the F/V Scandies Rose sinking. The 130-foot crab fishing vessel capsized and sank on December 31, 2019, The investigation found that although the crew loaded the Scandies Rose per the stability instructions on board, the instructions were inaccurate and, as a result, the vessel did not meet regulatory stability criteria and was more susceptible to capsizing. The NTSB made seven recommendations, including four to the Coast Guard, one to the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association, one to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and one to the National Weather Service. The agency also reiterated two safety recommendations previously issued to the U.S. Coast Guard. >click to read<,– to review all related articles, >click here<10:32
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 4, 2021
A message to Captain Mike “Fishhead” Fourtner and crew on the F/V Bonnie B. They say another Independence Day fishing the bay and thinking “salmon fireworks” are more awe inspiring in their own special way. They hope you’re earning your share and keeping the tenders happy. From a friend in far-away Charleston, South Carolina. The Numbers, The bay-wide run is now over 19.5 million sockeye. Almost 1.2 million fish escaped yesterday, >click to read< 09:33
California Fishermen mark a pleasant surprise after preparing for a grim summer. An abundance of fish.
Scott Edson, who fishes out of Half Moon Bay, said this season has been great for everyone, with an abundance of fish in the water not seen in years. “This year is something guys say they haven’t seen in 15 to 20 years. It’s been a pretty good season so far,” Edson said.,,, Don Marshall, who fishes out of Half Moon Bay, said the salmon season had been a lot better than expected, and he had seen more fish than in the last 10 to 15 years. He recently caught 180 salmon totaling around 2,000 pounds, a daily catch worth $13,000 at $6 a pound pricing. “I had the best day I have ever had,,, Nobody expected this many fish, and many fishermen were preparing for a grim summer and other options,” >click to read< 11:17
Grounded 90-foot vessel American Challenger to be refloated
Hopes are to have the 90-foot American Challenger refloated and towed away later this summer, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response. The decommissioned commercial vessel grounded north of Dillon Beach on March 6 after running adrift under tow from Puget Sound to Mexico, where it was to have been scuttled. The tugboat operator towing the decommissioned vessel said later that a steel shackle connecting the boats failed in Bodega Bay, ultimately causing the American Challenger to drift into shore, though a Coast Guard crew was monitoring it at the time. photos, >click to read< 13:40
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 1, 2021
More than 1.9 million sockeye returned to the Nushagak District, the fleet hauled in its largest single-day harvest ever of 1.773 million fish. The timing isn’t a surprise, but the sheer size definitely is. A commercial fisherman has died after a vessel sank in the south end of Nushagak Bay on Thursday morning,,, Nushagak District fishermen caught the most fish ever in a single day in the history of the district. Josh Crozby owns and operates the tender Icelander. He and his crew were on the south line of the Nushagak River, about 25 miles downriver from Dillingham. Crozby said the huge swell of salmon caught them by surprise. Audio report, >click to listen/read< 08:28
James (Jimmy) Omegna, a retired commercial fisherman. has passed away in Tacoma, Washington
James (Jimmy) Omegna 04-05-1946 to 02-21-21 – Jim was born in Tacoma, grew up in the Fife Valley and lived his whole life in Washington State. Jim was an avid fisherman, bird hunter, journeyman plumber, entrepreneur, and boat captain; the best father and a kind and generous friend and neighbor to many people, from Alaska to Baja, Mexico. Jim was a popular and successful charter captain based in Westport, WA where he operated his boats the Cold Spaghetti I and II during the 70’s and 80’s. As the industry declined, he switched gears to commercial fishing in Bristol Bay, AK during the summer herring and salmon seasons. When not in Alaska, he fished the San Francisco Bay herring runs and worked The Great Salt Lake brine shrimp season, he was never one to sit still. >click to read< 14:45
