Daily Archives: December 26, 2013
Video Presentation – Fishers Forum: Debunking Fishery Myths from the WPRFMC
Learn what’s fact and fiction in Hawaii’s fisheries: longlines (Jim Cook), lay net (Frank Farm), aquarium fish collecting (Matthew Ross) and SCUBA spearfishing (Makani Christensen). Watch the video here 22:00
No friend of the fishing industry, Sally Jewell at a different kind of summit: Head of the Department of the Interior
Sally Jewell would rather scale the Washington Monument than sit in one more meeting about cutting her budget. This is not just hyperbole. The secretary of the interior has done both and clearly prefers the former. Read more@wapo 16:53
In halibut turf wars, no one’s looking out for the little guy
The time is well past for contemplating why the U.S. government would stick it to Alaska halibut fishermen least able to defend themselves, but that doesn’t make the question moot. Too long it has been ignored, and in that regard I am forced to contemplate the long-ago comments of an acquaintance highly placed in the hierarchy of the bureaucracy dictating the management of fisheries in the north Pacific Ocean. For reasons about to become obvious, this person will remain nameless. Suffice to say, however, that it was a member of a federal bureaucracy that is supposed to protect the interests of all Americans Read more@alaskadispatch 14:08
Ya can’t make this stuff up! – This weird deep-sea worm has a dick on its head – From the good folks at grist
The bone-eating snot-flower worm (or Osedax mucofloris if you wanna get prissy) was just discovered less than a decade ago, on the ocean floor — and it’s hella weird. For starters, 600 or more males can compete for each female. (AW yeah!) Plus, it looks like a fluffy pink cloud. Well, a cloud with a giant dick blossoming out of it: Read [email protected] 11:42
Knitting with Stainless Steel Wire! (get ready to bleed) Grant’s Getaways-Winter Crab – Video
When you’re lucky enough to go fishing with a good friend who knows the water well, you’re sure to learn something new. That’s especially true when the Columbia River is under your keel to carry you toward new adventure. Steve Fick first explored the Columbia River estuary as a kid, so he knows his way around the vast waterway where the river meets the sea. Read [email protected] 09:05
A king without a crown: Chinook vulnerable to ocean forces
Editor’s note: This is the ninth in the Morris Communications series – “The case for conserving the Kenai king salmon.”Alaska’s long-lived monarch — the king salmon — has fallen from its throne. The species, which once thrived as a fabled ruler in state waters, was sought-after by fisherman from all over the world. Their massive presence in rivers like the Kenai, the Yukon and the Taku, to name only a few, brought sport and commercial fisherman to banks and river mouths for a chance to harvest this mighty resource. Read more@alaskastar 08:48
Splitting the S-K NOAA Crumbs: NOAA zeroing in on tariff grants – Editorial: Fishing aid dollars shouldn’t be limited to new appropriations
NOAA zeroing in on tariff grants – The process for determining the successful applicants for Saltonstall-Kennedy grant funds is entering the final stages of technical review and administrators hope to begin the flow of money to successful candidates sometime in January, NOAA officials said Tuesday. The money is drawn from federal tariffs paid on seafood imported into the U.S., and nearly 90 percent of all seafood sold in the U.S. is now imported. Read more@gdt
Editorial: Fishing aid dollars shouldn’t be limited to new appropriations – It’s been 15 months now since Rebecca Blank, then the acting secretary heading the U.S. Department of Commerce, formally declared the Northeast groundfishery an “economic disaster.” Still, with independent fishermen selling off their boats, and in some cases their homes, to find a means of support for themselves and their families, the federal government largely responsible for these death-through-regulation mandates and policies has still not provided a dime of meaningful aid for those on the front lines of the crisis. Read more@gdt 08:26
“We really don’t know if the stock is rebuilt,” Roy Crabtree of the National Marine Fisheries Service – Goliath grouper could be placed back on the hook
The possible future of South Florida fishing rules, including the latest information on Goliath grouper populations, goes before combined panels of federal and state fishery experts convening Jan. 7-9 in Key Largo. “This is really interesting stuff,” said Robert Mahood, executive director of the federal South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Read [email protected]” 01:15
North Carolina could reap a great deal of both the potential rewards and costs if the Atlantic coastline were to be opened up to oil and gas exploration.
Offshore development would require the construction of a massive support infrastructure, which could certainly negatively affect the important inland waterways and wetlands across Eastern North Carolina. And oil spills and drilling rig accidents are a fact of life in the coastal waters where offshore drilling is allowed in other parts of the country. Read more@rockymounttelegram 01:03
Maryland assigning commercial fishermen catch shares – will have individual quotas of striped bass
State fisheries officials say they’re not trying to hurt watermen. “Whenever you have a major change like this … you have winners and losers,” said Tom O’Connell, state fisheries director. “It sorts itself out.” Read more@baltimoresun 00:57
Effects, lessons of 1983 freeze evident on Texas ecosystem
Ed Hegen still shivers at the memory of the frigid morning 30 years ago this week when the Rockport-based coastal fisheries biologist boarded commercial fisherman Bucky Vannoy’s skiff at Flour Bluff and they beat their way across miles of a leaden Upper Laguna Madre to Baffin Bay. Read [email protected] 00:37
