Monthly Archives: October 2013
New England Fishery Management Council – Sept/Oct Council Report
Please contact Public Affairs Officer Patricia Fiorelli with any questions or concerns at (978) 465-0492 ext. 106 or [email protected]<mailto:pfi
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NEFMC – CouncilReport_10.2013.pdf 266K View Download |
Listen to the The Alaska Fisheries Report
Coming up this week, Bering Sea crabbing might be delayed because of the federal government shutdown, clean up continues on the fuel spill caused by that tender sinking in Haines, and the largest longliner built in Alaska gets christened. All that and more coming up on the Alaska Fisheries Report. We had help this week from KUCB’s Lauren Rosenthal in Unalaska, KHNS’ Margaret Friedenour in Haines, KRBD’s Sean Carlson in Ketchikan, and KDLG’s Mike Mason in Dillingham. more@kmxt 11:32
Scientists Recommend Spatial Management Measures to Conserve Bigeye Tuna, Elimination of Hawaii Bottomfish Restricted Areas
WPRFMC Press Release, Oct. 11, 2013 – An international group of scientists that advises the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Council) concluded its three-day meeting Thursday admonishing the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission (WCPFC) for its failure to prevent an increase in fleet capacity, fishing effort and catch of tropical tunas in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). more@ Press Releases 10:28
Alaska Department of Fish and Game – Alaska Boards of Game and Fisheries Set to Host Joint Meeting
“The boards may allow commercial fishing, the boards may allow personal use fishing, they may allow sport fishing or general hunting but not something that’s labeled subsistence hunting and fishing,” said James Fall, ADFG Statewide Program Manager for the Division of Subsistence. more@ktuu 09:09
Baker | Will rule change spark boat-building boom? Bigger Boats – Rapidly changing fishery
This week on The Fisheries Broadcast we revealed a little tidbit of news that could have some big implications for both the fishery and the boat building industries here in this province. We managed to confirm that Transport Canada is moving to replace the existing small fishing vessel regulations, possibly as early as next year. more@cbcnews 08:19
“I feel like we’re putting the Russians to work and American fishermen out of work,” Kieth Colburn
Speaking before the Senate Commerce Committee, Colburn said the furloughs of staff from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration mean they won’t be around to assign quotas before the start of Alaska’s crab fishing season next week. The quota assignments, required for all fishermen in the area, are doled out to prevent overfishing, with each fisherman entitled to a percentage of the total catch. [email protected] 23:04
Conservation and commercial fishing groups sue EPA over fish consumption in Wash.
SEATTLE (AP) — A fight over how much fish people eat in Washington — and thus, how much toxic pollution they consume — is now in federal court. more@westportnews 22:50
F/V Lone Star recovery efforts begin to pay off – “The Lone Star is currently being pumped out and floating,,,”
“The Lone Star is currently being pumped out and floating, and they’re going to move it away from its current location Monday night at high tide and work on getting it seaworthy and ready to be towed,” said Magone. “We’re towing the ship to Unalaska, and we’ll most likely leave when we see a weather window that allows it.” more@bristolbaytimes 14:22
Bering Sea crabbers feel like they’ve been ‘rammed’ by Congress
The scheduled opening of the Bristol Bay red king crab season Tuesday could be delayed because of the shutdown of federal agencies including the National Marine Fisheries Service’s RAM program, which issues individual fishing quota permits. “We’re pretty concerned about it,” said crab fishermen’s representative Jake Jacobsen of the Inter Cooperative Exchange. “We can’t set pots until we have an IFQ permit on board the vessel.” He hopes the RAM staff in Juneau will soon be “unfurloughed.” more@bristolbaytimes 14:13
To NEFMC stakeholders – Groundfish Economic Analysis
The NEFMC has contracted an economic analysis of the Northeast multispecies (groundfish) fishery with the economic consulting firm Compass Lexecon. The purpose is to provide the NEFMC with an analysis that would help determine whether there are excessive shares of fishery access privileges in the multispecies fishery, and if so, what form those excessive shares take. More detail’s in Public Notice’s 11:44
Sheeeit Judge! It was only 3.26 million barrels! (I think he’s lyin’)
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BP’s Macondo well spilled only 3.26 million barrels of oil during the 87 days that followed the April 20, 2010 blowout that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killing 11 workers, a witness for the company testified Thursday. Martin Blunt, an assistant professor of petroleum engineering at Great Britain’s Imperial College, said his estimate takes into account the geology of the area of the Gulf of Mexico where the Macondo reservoir was located, unlike the 5 million or more barrels estimated by expert witnesses for the Justice Department. more@nola 11:27
Huge Weekend Event in Port Angeles – The 12th annual Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival – kicks off today with PDN community crab feed
The festival, held at City Pier and in the Red Lion Hotel parking lot at the intersection of Lincoln Street and Railroad Avenue, celebrates the Dungeness crab, first commercially caught in Dungeness Bay and historically an economic boon to the region. more@pdn 10:41
ESA Working Group Hears from Participants from Across the Nation on the Need to Improve and Update the Law
At the forum, there was widespread acknowledgement of the need to review the ESA, which hasn’t been reauthorized by Congress in 25 years. Christy Plumer, Director of Federal Land Programs for the Nature Conservancy, even noted that the law “could benefit from a review by Congress for the purpose of improving its effectiveness.” [email protected] 10:27
The “Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment” Discussed During Congressional Oversight Hearing – audio
Many of the recent policy and enforcement efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency came under fire Thursday during an oversight hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives. Much of the hearing was focused on the EPA’s “Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment”. KDLG’s Mike Mason listened in and filed this report, which is part 1 of a 2 part series. more@kdlg 10:15
“So far it looks like a good season,” “So far all I’ve heard is good news.” – Chuckie White, President of the Kent County Watermen’s Association
There have been no reports of dead or dying oysters, and prices are up because the Gulf Coast fishery is still crippled after the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout in April 2010. more@myeasternshoremd 09:04
Booming Southeast pink returns fuel Alaska’s biggest salmon harvest ever
JUNEAU — Booming pink salmon runs made Southeast Alaska the state’s top salmon fishery this year, as the state itself set a record for the number of salmon caught, the Department of Fish and Game said Thursday. In 2013, there were 219 million pink salmon caught across te state, where a total of 272 million salmon were landed. Both numbers were records. more@alaskadispatch 08:35
The Northeast Seafood Coalition digs in vs. fed ‘habitat’ plans
“It’s all about habitat,” NSC executive director Jackie Odell said when asked what’s next on the coalition’s agenda. And with good reason. It is an extraordinarily complex process, now moving into its sixth year. It is heavily driven by science and varying perspective — and thus often rife with the contention and disagreement that have emerged as the hallmarks of the effort to sustain and govern the American commercial fishing industry. more@GDT 07:54
Sen. Murkowski tells Commerce: crabbers pay for their fishery, not the gov’t
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch … Crabbers are likely to arrive late to their fisheries. More after this here 19:00
The P.E.I. government and Ottawa are pitching in $1.575 million to assist a land-based halibut farm in Victoria-by-the-Sea to double its production.
In August 2012 Halibut P.E.I. received permission from the Victoria-by-the-Sea Community Council to expand its plant into an adjacent provincial park, part of a plan to increase production from 35 to 70 tonnes of fish a year. more@cbcews 16:25
Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation to Explore Maximizing the Value of Cod
This research effort will be an ongoing process, and as opportunities are identified to enhance aspects of harvesting, processing, and marketing activity, the Centre may propose pilot projects to explore new approaches. Industry feedback will define the focus of research and the parameters of pilot projects. more@thecoaster 15:54
Ocean sciences: Follow the fish
Next year, the United Nations aims to complete its first World Ocean Assessment, a process akin to the regular reporting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [email protected] 15:27
Navigating the Western Pacific Council Process
Guide to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, 5th Edition [email protected] 15:20
Gulf of Mexico Commercial King Mackerel Fishing Closes October 12
NMFS will close the northern Florida west coast subzone of the Gulf of Mexico to commercial fishing for king mackerel effective 12:00 noon (local time) October 12, 2013. The commercial quota of 178,848 pounds for this zone is projected to be reached by this date. more@wmbb 15:11
F/V Bill B II Runs Aground off Martha’s Vineyard, Coast Guard helicopter crew safely hoisted the fishermen
BOSTON — Coast Guard rescue crews rescued two fishermen from a grounded vessel near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., Thursday at approximately 6 a.m. Watchstanders from Sector Southeastern New England received notification, via VFH channel 16 at approximately 5 a.m., that the 44-foot lobster vessel Bill B II was taking on water and the crew ran the vessel aground. more@uscgnews 14:41
Louisiana Shrimp “Red Listed” by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch
A recently released report concludes most wild-caught U.S. shrimp, including a majority harvested from the Gulf of Mexico, remains a good alternative for consumers, except for shrimp landed in Louisiana or harvested in nets unmodified to protect sea turtles and other species caught accidentally. more@gulfseafoodnews 10:37
Murkowski, Young, Hastings, Press Pritzker – “We urge you to use your authority consistent with the Antideficiency Act to responsibly manage the 2013 Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands crab fisheries.
The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery in Alaska is scheduled to open next Tuesday, October 15th, but before crab fishing boats are allowed to fish, they must be issued quota permits by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) – which the Department of Commerce has shuttered for issuing permits until the government is funded. [email protected] 09:27
Snow Crab Quota Down 19% Compared to Last Year
The total allowable catch for the Bering Sea Snow Crab fishery is over 53.9-million pounds. more@kdlg 08:54
PORT TOWNSEND – Fin-fish farm issue resolved, Jefferson County officials say
The net pen policy has held up approval of the shoreline management program, which regulates development on the shoreline, since February 2011. That’s when Ecology approved most of a proposed update of the shoreline management program, also known as an SMP, except for a proposed county ban on fin-fish aquaculture, which raises non-native species, such as Atlantic salmon, in pens. more@pdn 08:46
Co-operation needed in Atlantic Canadian fishery for its survival
GEORGETOWN, P.E.I — Until the bickering ends and a spirit of co-operation triumphs within the Atlantic Canadian fishing industry, success in the global market will be limited, said a lobster fisherman from Tignish, P.E.I. “We’re always competing. We’re always after each other,” said Francis Morrissey, also the general manager of Tignish Fisheries Co-operative Association Ltd. more@sou’wester 23:39
