Daily Archives: January 5, 2014
Conserving the Kenai king is a mandate for board, ADFG
Editor’s note: This is the 10th and final part of the Morris Communications series “The case for conserving the Kenai king salmon.” King salmon are the lynchpin of the Cook Inlet fishery. Other runs of other salmon species are far more abundant, but the health of king salmon affects all users. Alaska is currently experiencing historic low runs of king salmon returning to major systems throughout the state. It affects Alaskans who have fished for kings for years in these rivers and creeks, and the visitors thousands of businesses depend on every summer. Read more@juneauempire 22:26
Project hopes to define lobster brand for one of nation’s iconic foods
When asked what foods represent Canada, people may think Canadian maple syrup before considering one of Canada’s most iconic foods: lobster. The Lobster Council of Canada, the voice of the Canadian lobster industry, believes the time is right to launch a project focused on defining a Canadian lobster brand identity, focused on its superior quality, delicious taste and year-round availability. Read more@the guardian 21:31
West Coast sardine crash could radiate throughout ecosystem
The sardine fishing boat Eileen motored slowly through moonlit waters from San Pedro to Santa Catalina Island, its weary-eyed captain growing more desperate as the night wore on. After 12 hours and $1,000 worth of fuel, Corbin Hanson and his crew returned to port without a single fish. “Tonight’s pretty reflective of how things have been going,” Hanson said. “Not very well.” Read more@latimes 20:35
Lower Columbia River – Discussions under way about a possible smelt season this year, one-day-per-week sport fishery or a small commercial bobber-net test fishery
There was a time when millions of migrating Pacific smelt would jam the Lower Columbia River en route to tributaries, while thousands of sport dip-netters lined the shores to catch them by the bucket loads. By the late 1990s, these small silver-colored fish started falling off the map, and fisheries dwindled to the point where National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed them as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in spring of 2010. Smelt have been off-limits to fishermen since 2011, and that means even touching them dead or alive is a no-no. Read more@seattletimes 14:41
In Deep Winter Alaska’s Largest Fisheries Get Underway
(SitNews) – Salmon will always be the heart of Alaska’s fisheries. That’s why many people think of summer as “the fishing season.” But that’s not the case. The deep of winter is when Alaska’s largest fisheries get underway each year. On January first, hundreds of boats with hook and line gear or big pots will begin plying the waters of the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for Pacific cod, rockfish and other groundfish. Then on January 20th trawlers take to the seas to target Alaska pollock, the world’s largest food fishery with harvests near three billion pounds. Read more@sitnews 12:59
Price of bluefin tuna nosedives at Tokyo auction – Dramatic Pew statement- “You have to wonder what the last fish is going to cost,”
TOKYO — Sushi restaurateur Kiyoshi Kimura paid 7.36 million yen (about $70,000) for a 230-kilogram bluefin tuna in the year’s celebratory first auction at Tokyo’s Tsukiji market on Sunday, just five per cent of what he paid a year earlier despite signs that the species is in serious decline. Read more@therecord 12:27
On the Grand Banks – Hibernia platform oil leak curbs production
An oil leak at the site of the Hibernia offshore platform on the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland has resulted in a significant downturn in oil production.Workers reported a small leak on Dec. 18. Hibernia management company officials said it happened in a valve that is part of the rig’s offloading system. Only 10 litres of crude oil spilled at the time, and no oil sheens were spotted on the water at that time. Read more@cbcnews 12:10
Baker – The axeman cometh for DFO and Coast Guard?
Some things are hard to explain even by the most verbose of politically astute minds. The ongoing gutting/changing of budgets and services at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Coast Guard are beginning to defy logic. Less offshore fishing surveillance – I won’t ramble on about the rationale, only to say it’s comparable to firing the cops because you haven’t had a serious crime in a while. Read more@cbcnews 10:35
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update JANUARY 5, 2014
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 10:16
