Daily Archives: October 16, 2013
Alaskan Crabbers Fear Russian Pinch in US Gov’t Shutdown
“There’s a ton of Russian product in Japanese cold storage. If the Japanese are not able to procure crab from Alaska, they’re not going to give up crab during the holidays,” Mark Gleason, head of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, a Seattle-based industry group, told RIA Novosti by telephone Wednesday. more@rinovosti 23:53
Bay Area commercial fisherman unloaded the season’s last haul of salmon – best Chinook fishing since 2005
The king salmon fishery, one of the most valuable in California, continues to rebound after suffering through three shortened or canceled seasons between 2008 and 2010. Fishermen and regulators attribute the resurgence in part to favorable river and ocean conditions several years ago when the current generation of adults hatched and made their way out to sea. more@timeherald 23:45
Artificial reef building project planned for summer 2014
“It’s like a manmade cave that we are putting on the bottom,” said Bob Martore of DNR. Frank Gibson III with the Beaufort Sportfishing & Diving Club said it’s incredible how the ocean transforms the junk metal into marine habitat. “The people who’ve never been diving are kind of mesmerized by seeing the sharks, the flounder, the grouper there,” he said. more@islandpacket 22:40
CF/V Gale Force grounded by storm leaking fuel onto Comox beach
“All of us, as hospital employees, have been watching oil and gas leak into the ocean on high tide every day, a big rainbow,” he says. “It’s quite a bit of oil and gas that’s been coming out of that thing at high tide … It’s devastating to watch.” more@cmoxvalleyrecord 22:24
Listen Live! From Honolulu – Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Meeting – Happening NOW!
The 158th Council Meeting starts today with agency reports and Hawaii Archipelago and PRIA FEPs. If you can’t make it down to the Laniakea YWCA in downtown Honolulu, you can catch the meeting online at
https://wprfmc.webex.com/
For the agenda and other information (including the webex link) visit www.wpcouncil.org 19:43
Undersized oysters, undersized greater amberjack, possession in a prohibited area from Apalachicola Bay
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers within Franklin County are continuing to address the illegal harvest of undersized oysters from Apalachicola Bay. more@thetimes 17:10
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – No Tanner crab fishery next year at Kodiak and the Westward regions. More after this
There will be no January Tanner crab fishery for fishermen at Kodiak, Chignik and the South Peninsula. It’s not unexpected. We’ve been seeing a decline in abundance of legal sized or mature male Tanner crab for the last couple of years. Mike Stichert is a shellfish biologist at ADF&G in Kodiak. more@fishradio 17:01
This is Fish Radio. I’m Stephanie Mangini. Diving for dollars. Hear more after this . . .
Diving for sea cucumbers, geoduck clams, and sea urchins is a unique yet very lucrative fishery. Southeast holds the title for the biggest dive fisheries when it opens in the fall. Around 150 divers are searching the bottom of the ocean for sea cumbers this year. listen@fishradio 16:51
US Coast Guard Braces for Western Alaska Winter Fisheries
This year’s forward operating location will consist of one Jayhawk with rotating crews from Kodiak. A second Jayhawk and crew will remain at the ready in Kodiak to assist in any long-range or complex cases. The forward operating location in Cold Bay ensures the Coast Guard will be able to assist fish harvesters working in and around Bristol Bay, the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands. A Coast Guard cutter equipped with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Kodiak will also be on patrol in the region throughout the season. more@fishermansnews 16:45
Maine Offshore Wind Project Scuttled – Statoil Scraps $120 Million Plans
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Norwegian company Statoil announced on Tuesday that it was abandoning a proposed $120 million wind project off the coast of Maine, which industry officials once said could make Maine a leader in offshore wind power, after Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration maneuvered to reopen the competitive bidding process. more@huffpo 10:01
Gloucester lands $75K state fishing grant – New Bedford the same for (drum roll,,,,) Another study!
The funds became available after Tarr and Sen. Mark C. Montigny successfully worked to insert an amendment into the state budget. That amendment authorized $150,000 in state grants “to assist local fishing communities in identifying port infrastructure that is critical to the continued viability and sustainability of the local groundfish industry.” (fer cripe sake! all of it!) more@GDT 09:23
All dressed up with no place to go – Alaska’s King-Crab Fleet Is Left in Port by Shutdown
The federal workers needed to process the permits for each boat’s catch quota were on furlough. Equally frustrating, said Tom Suryan, a crabber with 35 years of experience, was that the weather was lovely. The violent seas that crab crews can commonly confront in the fall, and that television audiences have become familiar with in shows like “Deadliest Catch,” were nowhere in sight. more@NYT o8:34
“It sets a dangerous precedent,” – Fish baron wins bid to use foreign ship to catch Canadian Redfish quota
In an unprecedented decision the federal Conservative government is allowing one of the region’s largest seafood processors to hire a foreign vessel to catch its Canadian fish quota. 
The move is being described as a temporary solution to a shore-based disaster, but it is raising questions for some. “It sets a dangerous precedent,” said outgoing Nova Scotia Fisheries Minister Sterling Belliveau. “I’m amazed. When I look at rural Nova Scotia I see boats tied up because they have no access to resource.” more@cbcnews 00:00
