Daily Archives: September 15, 2013
**PHOTO AVAILABLE**Two rescued by Coast Guard after drifting for eight days at sea
Coast Guard Sector Miami watchstanders received a report of a capsized vessel with two people sitting on the hull in the vicinity of Riviera Beach Saturday afternoon. Watchstanders quickly diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Comorant and authorized the launch of an MH-65 rescue helicopter from Air Station Miami. The helicopter crew arrived on scene, assesed the situation and lowered a rescue swimmer to render assistance. The two people stated they had been drifting for eight days and had ingested salt water.
The Coast Guard urges all boaters, especially those transiting offshore or to remote areas, to carry an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon or a Personal Locator Beacon. EPIRBS and PLB’s save valuable time during maritime emergencies by transmitting electronic distress signals and GPS coordinates. more@uscgnews 19:30
Marine Creatures Migrations Determined by Climate After All
Marine ecologists have been grappling with a puzzler. They had expected that, as climate change warms the oceans, most species would migrate toward the poles, fleeing the ever hotter waters near the equator and tracking the zone of their preferred water temperature as it shifts. But some studies revealed that some species seemed to migrate in the “wrong” direction. Now, however, researchers have apparently solved the riddle: For the past 4 decades, marine species found along North America’s coasts mostly have followed cooler water, but that doesn’t always mean moving poleward.“This is really quite a neat study,” says Trevor Branch, a fisheries scientist at the University of Washington, Seattle, who was not involved in the work. “It is likely to be the highest profile fisheries paper this year and an instant classic.” more@science 15:46
NAFTA Commission: Canada Must Respond to Concerns that Fish Farms Hurt Wild Salmon
An international commission ruled this week (see PDF) that a citizen petition challenging Canada’s failure to protect wild salmon from industrial fish farms warrants an official response from the Canadian government. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an entity established under the North American Free Trade Agreement, determined the petition includes sufficient information that Canada may be violating its own conservation laws to trigger a formal response. [email protected] 14:18
Permit brokers hopping – IFQ funk – Here comes the crab! – Puny pinks – by Laine Welch
Alaska’s record salmon season has permit brokers hopping as buyers seek to break into or expand their fishing opportunities in many fisheries…Brokers tell a far different story when it comes to sales of halibut catch shares…It’s mixed results for Bering Sea crab, based on the annual summer trawl surveys…Alaska pink salmon set a record this summer but it turns out the fish in the three major producing areas were pretty puny. more@sitnews 13:52
The fall Chinook salmon run on the Columbia River is the largest ever, and could hit 1 million fish by the time it is done.
The fish count at Bonneville Dam went over 613,700 on Friday, the largest number since the dam was completed in 1938. At the peak of the run, nearly 64,000 fish passed the viewing windows in a single day. more@registerguard 13:43
Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection continue escorting 85 Mexican vessels to safe harbor
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection crews escorted 53 Mexican shrimping vessels into the Port of Brownsville Saturday and are escorting another 32 Mexican vessels into port Sunday. more@uscgnews 12:26
Scientists fear for Alaska’s king crab fishery
New research earlier this year shows that Bristol Bay red king crab – the supersized monster that has come to symbolize the fortunes of Alaska’s crab fleet – could fall victim to the changing chemistry of the oceans. Barring a hasty reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions – or evidence that the creatures could acclimate to changing sea conditions – a team of scientists fears Alaska’s $100 million red king crab fishery could crash in decades to come. more@newsminer 12:18
Opinion: Halibut plan is best yet: Catch sharing manages uncertainty, conserves stock
Heath Hilyard, the executive director of the Southeast Alaska Guides Organization, is right (Aug. 9, News-Miner). The halibut catch sharing plan, or CSP, isn’t about conservation. It’s about managing the charter halibut resource responsibly so businesses can operate with more certainty. In fact, the plan was supported by the charter sector many times throughout the years for that precise reason. Why the hue and cry now? They want more fish. more@newsminer 12:02
Japan to conduct radiation surveys at 600,000 points on seabed off Fukushima
TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear authority plans to conduct radiation contamination surveys at 600,000 points on the seabed off the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, up from 200 places so far, a report said Saturday. more@japantoday 10:19
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance – Weekly Update – September 15, 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 09:38
The past-due rent of wrath: Boat linked to John Steinbeck becomes $7,978 Port of Port Townsend liability
As of Friday, Gerry Kehoe, the owner of the Western Flyer — which was brought into the Boat Haven covered in mud and barnacles earlier this summer — owed the Port of Port Townsend $7,877.73 in fees and has not responded to any communications about the bill, according to port executive assistant Jean French. Kehoe, a businessman and developer in Steinbeck’s old stomping ground of Salinas, Calif., purchased the Western Flyer in 2010 with the intention of using it as a tourist attraction. more@peninsuladailynews 09:31
Cape May wants oyster firms to flourish
LOWER TOWNSHIP – In 1997, Dan Cohen started growing oysters on the Delaware Bay tidal flats using a unique French method that promised to produce the perfect restaurant oyster. Cohen’s Ocean Drive fishing company, Atlantic Capes Fisheries, began its oyster project with three workers who initially produced fewer than 200,000 oysters per year. He named them Cape May Salts. more@pressofatlanticcity 08:25
Mexican fishing vessels seek safe harbor ahead of Tropical Storm Ingrid in Brownsville Tx – Video
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection and the Brownsville Harbor Master are working together Saturday to allow safe harbor in the Port of Brownsville for more than 20 Mexican fishing vessels seeking refuge ahead of Tropical Storm Ingrid. more@uscgnews 08:09
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to discuss closing Georgetown Hole, other areas, to fishing
Murrells Inlet seafood dealer Chris Conklin will be sworn as a new member of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council at the start of the council’s meeting on Monday and will immediately find himself embroiled in what promises to be an intense discussion on the proposed establishment of more Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) off the South Atlantic coast. The impact on South Carolina fishermen – both recreational and commercial – could be significant if all the proposed MPAs are approved, and the council is being urged to do just that by at least one environmental group, the PEW Charitable Trusts. more@myrtlebeachonline 00:26
the outsourcing of US domestic fisheries
In my job as a research fishery biologist, I work closely with the Hawaii commercial fishing industry. This industry is dominated by pelagic longline vessels that target tuna and related species for both the U.S. and global markets. The vessels are all U.S. flagged and the captains are all U.S. citizens as the Jones Act dictates, but the crew is almost always outsourced to foreign labor— which should violate the Jones Act. more@dailykos 00:00
