Monthly Archives: June 2013
Dungeness Bay: Cleaning up the bay: Divers dig deep for derelict crab pots [ *** PHOTO GALLERY *** ]
SEQUIM – The group pulled 103 pots — 99 crab pots and four shrimp pots — out of 17 square kilometers of the bay over 3½ sailing days. continued@peninsuladailynews
Tribal fisherman harvest Pacific lamprey from the Willamette Falls (photos) Nice photos at that!
Tribal fisherman from Pendleton motor to the Willamette Falls to harvest lamprey, Sat., Jun. 29, 2013, in Oregon City. The fish hang out in pools below the falls and also climb the rock walls to move up stream. The take was trucked on ice for distribution to tribal members. Lampreys are round like snakes but with smooth skin and fins. Their mouth is a parasitic suction cup with concentric rings of teeth. The tribes have treaty rights that allow them to harvest Pacific lamprey. For generations, it’s been an annual tradition. continued@oregonlive
Colossal crustacean: Couple catches 15-pound lobster – ‘Oh my God, it’s a monster,'”
“When we pulled the trap up, we saw this huge, dark mass in the back of the trap, and we put it on the deck, and we looked at it and said, ‘Oh my God, it’s a monster,'” Scott Rawding said, noting it was easily the biggest lobster he has ever caught. “We were both aghast when we put it up. We were like, ‘Oh my God. How’d that thing get in there?'” Then came the next step of getting the colossal crustacean out of the trap. continued@seacoastonline
Salmon Tender “Lonestar” has Capsized in the Mouth of the Igushik River – All hands safe
A large vessel, used to transport sockeye salmon from the fishing grounds to a processing facility, has capsized in the mouth of one of the major salmon producing rivers in Bristol Bay. KDLG’s Mike Mason has the details. listen
Maritime fisheries ministers appointed Lobster panel starting its work – Discussions to take place in PEI, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick
The three-member independent panel appointed by Maritime fisheries ministers to examine factors affecting lobster prices will begin meeting with industry organizations in early July. continued@yarmouthcountyvanguard
Tim Bradner: Studies mine some intriguing data concerning Pebble
The fur is flying again over the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine near Iliamna. Sunday is the deadline for comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest version of its “assessment” of the effects of a large mine in the Bristol Bay region. continued@adn
VEAZIE, Maine – Date set, July 22, for historic Veazie Dam breaching
Once the Veazie Dam, the lowermost barrier on the Penobscot River, is removed and a dam in Howland is bypassed, sea-run fisheries will gain access to more than 1,000 miles of upstream habitat that has been closed to their predecessors for more than a century, continued@bangordailynews
To Save Our Fisheries, Eat Like a Fish: Sarah Schumann
Sarah Schumann is a commercial fisherwoman and the creator of Eating with the Ecosystem. Eating with the Ecosystem holds a traveling dinner series that offers a guided culinary tour of local marine ecosystems and encourages us to eat a broader and thus more sustainable array of seafood. (note This is an excellent presentation, but there are some other fish consumers that are not included in the presentation. The explosion of marine mammal populations in the past forty one years of MMPA must also be included in the eco based system. The unregulated fishing community must be controlled if there is to be a healthy balanced food chain. To not include them is irresponsible.) Watch the video here
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report for Saturday, June 29
The Bristol Bay Fisheries Report for Saturday, June 29 includes an update on how things are faring for the ongoing Port Moller Test Fishery and the latest genetic stock composition estimates. The report also includes a story about t
he latest in-season forecast from the University of Washington’s “Fisheries Research Institute”. All of that and more in the Bristol Bay Fisheries Report for Saturday, June 29. The report is hosted by KDLG News Director Mike Mason. listen
Alewives spawn optimism – Supporters expect noticeable benefits from the return of the species to the St. Croix River above Grand Falls Dam.
BAILEYVILLE – Here in the shadow of the Grand Falls Dam power house, the fish ladder is clear for alewives to climb, the boards that once prevented their passage having been taken away. From the top of the ladder, the schooling fish have access to a staggering expanse of spawning, nursing, and feeding habitat: more than 65,000 acres of river, stream, and lake bottom straddling the Maine-New Brunswick border. continued@mainesundaytelegram
Pacific halibut fisheries in Southeast Alaska and the Central Gulf of Alaska – NOAA seeks public input on proposed halibut catch sharing plan
The public comment period on the proposed rule is open for 45 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register. Address comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Regi
on NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian, and identified by FDMS Docket Number NOAA-NMFS-2011-0180. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods: Electronic Submission: via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal – Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668 – Fax: 907-586-7557 readproposedrule news release
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update June 30, 2013
“The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance is dedicated to its mission of continuing to help create sustainable fisheries without putting licensed fishermen out of business.” Read the Update
Shark trackers plot migration of great whites up and down East Coast
The three East Coast sharks tracked by Ocearch are the first white sharks in history with Facebook followers. As of Saturday, both Lydia and Mary Lee, a 3,500-pounder named after Fischer’s mother, were in waters off the southeast coast of the United States. In early May, Lydia visited Georges Bank fishing grounds off Massachusetts. During one 12-minute period on May 6 she swam a distance comparable to the length of the ferry ride from Point Judith to Block Island and back. continued@providencejournal
Unprecedented Restrictions Change Lower Yukon Fishing Culture
An unprecedented set of new policies from Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game are changing the way Yukon commercial and subsistence fisherman have been fishing their entire lives. Some residents are using Kenai River style dip nets for the first time and catching lots of fish. continued@alaskapublicmedia
From the Moderator: I was wondering,,,,,,,,,,,
Just a few questions continued here
. scroll down the page to the third article
From the Deckboss – Is this anything? Walmart sent salmon suppliers this letter.
The letter said the company will buy only from fisheries “certified sustainable to the MSC standard,” or actively working toward certification. “It is amazing to me,” Tyson Fick, spokesman for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute said, “that America’s largest retailer appears to be saying that they will not buy American seafood without the endorsement of a foreign-based environmental group while promoting foreign seafood with clearly inferior fisheries management and quality, all in the name of sustainability.” continued@deckboss the letter
Poor lobster season ends in northeastern N.B.
Fishing in Zone 23 ends on Sunday. It started with a protest as fishermen tied up their boats to show their displeasure over low prices. They soon returned to the water. continued@cbcnews
Opinion: Worst times, or just very, very bad? Industry splits hairs over the awful condition of cod
There remain some marginal voices in the fishing industry who continue to claim that cod populations are not in bad shape. Taking issue with a recent conclusion of mine that Atlantic cod were in their worst condition in history, these 
apologists for overfishingThe act of removing fish from a population faster than they can reproduce, which will thus deplete the population, or stock. Note that both healthy and depleted (i.e., overfished) populations can be subjected to overfishing (see definition of overfished). suggest that cod are just “in the middle of a rebuilding period.” Nonsense [email protected]
New, state-of-the-art research vessel visits the Exploratorium – video (like a real fish trawler, only bigger!!)
Docked at the Exploratorium in San Francisco from now until July 1st is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) 209-foot, state-of-the-art fisheries research vessel Bell M. Shimada. . 
continued@ktvunews
Lee County derelict crab trap cleanup planned for July 10-19
Southwest Floridians who like to boat, fish or catch crabs should be aware that the state will be closing the blue crab trap fishery briefly in July and will be out cleaning up derelict crab traps. continued@capecoraldailybreeze
Catfish on Craigslist: Man’s arrest protects public health, DNR says
A Grand Rapids man was recently arrested for attempting to sell 14 catfish caught in the Kalamazoo River to undercover members of the Wildlife Resources Protection Unit, authorities said. Prior to the attempted sale, the department received several tips that the man was using Craigslist to try and sell the fish online. continued@mlive
Virginia shucks oyster taxes, starts user fees
On Monday, Virginia officially shucks its antiquated bushel-based tax system for commercial oyster operations and replaces it with annual user fees. But not all watermen are happy with the new fee system, even if it means less paperwork and more revenue to grow more oysters. “Watermen have got it tight now as it is,” said local waterman Richard L. Green, citing his yearly costs for various commercial licenses, the limited access to public oyster grounds and the hardship of finding an affordable place just to dock his boat. “Add the price of fuel and ain’t no crab, ain’t no fish — I don’t think they can stand no more.” continued@tidewaterreview
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Address Overfishing (lots of info)
HONOLULU (28 June 2013) The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council concluded its three-day meeting today [Friday] in Honolulu on federally managed fisheries in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and other US Pacific Islands. continued@pacificnewscenter
Abbotsford fisherman, Albert Arthur Armstrong,56 dies in Prince Rupert
On June 25, members of the Prince Rupert RCMP Coastal Police Unit responded to a report of a commercial fishing boat travelling in circles off the coast of the community of Lax Kw’alaams, B.C. (Port Simpson). Boaters in the area boarded the vessel and discovered a man entangled in a gill net and in medical distress. The boaters called for help and the man was taken to the nursing station in Port Simpson where he was pronounced dead. [email protected]
NOAA seeks public input on proposed halibut catch sharing plan
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended the catch sharing plan to establish a clear allocation between the commercial and charter sectors in Southeast Alaska and the Central Gulf of Alaska, provide stability in charter harvest, and provide halibut fishery managers with greater precision in setting halibut catch limits and management measures that are responsive to changes in halibut exploitable biomass and fishing effort. continued@sitnews
Carla Ann Samson, 37, of D’Escousse, is charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact after the fact in the June 1 disappearance and presumed death of Phillip Boudreau of Petit de Grat.
A fourth person has been arrested in connection with the alleged murder of a Richmond County man. continued@chronicleherald
The California Fish and Wildlife Commission modify abalone fishery regulations along the Northern California coast. Anyone tell the Sea Otters?
The number of red abalone that can be taken annually off the coast of Marin and Sonoma counties has been cut back drastically to improve the health of the species. continued@marinijNOAA says Pacific great white shark not in danger of extinction
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday that the northeastern Pacific Ocean population of great white sharks is not in danger of extinction and does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act. continued@latimes
Enviro’s Slam NMFS – declined to protect great white sharks off the coast of California under the Endangered Species Act.
Last August, Oceana, the Center for Biological Diversity, Shark Stewards, and WildEarth Guardians petitioned the federal government for federal endangered species protection for the apex predator’s genetically distinct Northeastern Pacific
population, found off California and Guadalupe Island, Mexico. continued@lakecountynews
ADF&G closes shrimp fishing in Juneau
Sport and personal use shrimp fisheries in the Juneau area will be closed starting Monday. The commercial shrimp fishery, which opens in October, will also be closed. Commercial shrimp fishing will be closed for three years, which Harris says is a good portion of the shrimps’ life cycle, to give the stock a chance to rebound. After three years, the Department hopes to have a sustainable level and offer limited openings. Personal use and sport fishing will be closed until further notice. continued@ktoo
