Daily Archives: January 6, 2014

The History of Upper Cook Inlet Salmon Fisheries By Katie Sechrist and Joe Rutz

The salmon-rich waters of Cook Inlet in Southcentral Alaska have given rise to several unique fisheries over the past century. The Kenai River boasts some of the most active fisheries in the state. Thousands of recreational fishers flock to the crowded banks every year with their rods, reels, and dip nets, ready to take home their limit of salmon. Alaska’s recreational fisheries are a relatively new concept (the majority of the state’s historical fisheries being largely commercial) but have grown to become an integral part of the state’s income and fisheries management. Read [email protected]  22:15

Western Gulf Fishermen’s Association have voiced their opposition DFO’s logbook plans

fisheries_and_oceansWGFA president Craig Avery raised his group’s concerns with Colin MacIsaac, PEI chief of resource management with DFO. MacIsaac was attending the group’s annual meeting. “We want to see something in place where we know the data is going to be used before we go ahead with the work and expense of logbooks. I think it should be put off until 2015, until DFO demonstrates to us that they can use the information they are going to get,” Avery said. “I think it is a waste of time.” Read more@sou’wester  21:25

Press Release: WPRFMC – Tuna Commission 2014-2017 Measures Are Driven by Allocation, Not Conservation

Despite being unjustly cast as the villain in the negotiating process, the United States ceded longline catch and purse-seine fishing effort limits. By contrast, despite being subject to some constraints, the member nations of the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) can continue to expand their tuna fisheries, especially purse seining. The flimsy excuse for this unchecked expansion is that the Pacific Island members of FFA have to bear a disproportionate burden of the conservation measures, though this has yet to be convincingly demonstrated to the United States and other Commission members. Read more here  19:27

Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell Rejects Gill Net Initiative

January 6, 2014, Anchorage, AK – Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell today rejected an initiative to prohibit shore gill nets and set nets in nonsubsistence areas of the state. Read [email protected]  19:16

Farming salmon on land is possible, project suggests – Future of fisheries may not require fish to ever see the ocean

CBC_News_logoAs its name implies, the Atlantic salmon has always been seen as an ocean dweller. But the Canadian fishing industry is on the verge of being able to grow this saltwater fish anywhere – including, hypothetically, in the prairie provinces. The Namgis closed containment facility on Vancouver Island is the first salmon farm in North America to grow Atlantic salmon on a commercial scale in a completely land-based aquaculture system. Read more@cbcnews  18:06

Fisheries and Oceans library closings called loss to science

863a4ac9dc_64635696_o2Irreplaceable science research may be lost when Department of Fisheries and Oceans libraries across the country are closed down, researchers fear. Fisheries and Oceans Canada hopes to close seven of its 11 libraries by 2015. Already, stories have emerged about books and reports thrown into dumpsters and the general public being allowed to rummage through bookshelves. Read more@cbcnews  17:59

Board of Fish at Kodiak: permit stacking, trawling hot topics; Wal-Mart reps talk salmon at Juneau

FISH-With-Mic-Logo-GRAPHIC-303-x-400-e1360148757522This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch  — The Fish Board comes to Kodiak and Wal-Mart reps talk salmon in Alaska – Permit stacking and trawl fisheries are the topics that will likely get the most attention when the State Board of Fisheries meets in Kodiak today through Friday. Read more@fishradio  17:43

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It’s not every day scientists discover a new ocean current.

Well, in 2004, two Icelandic researchers announced that they’d found what they thought was a whole new ocean current flowing south through the Denmark Strait, off the east coast of Greenland. They called it The North Icelandic Jet, and they hypothesized that it supplied half the deep, southerly-flowing water that counter-balances the Gulf Stream. Dr. Bob Pickart a senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, was immediately intrigued by the North Icelandic Jet. Was it real? Where did it come from? How much water did it carry? Read more@capeandisland  15:32

Oceans Under Siege: NRDC tries to legitmize marine spatial planning as combating “ocean sprawl”. MSP IS ocean sprawl!

kevinhearnDear EarthTalk: I recently heard the term “ocean sprawl,” which was a new one on me. We all know “sprawl” as it manifests itself above sea level. But in the oceans? Can you enlighten? – Bill Chadwick, Nantucket, MA  Read more@infozine  13:57

Proposed rules call for more reporting by seafood dealers to help fisheries

nmfs_logoBeaufort County seafood dealers may have to do more paperwork in 2014 due to proposed changes in federal reporting requirements. The biggest change would require dealers to report their purchases from fishermen every week instead of every two weeks. While not excited by more red tape, Beaufort County dealers have been largely receptive to the proposed changes, which could help the fish that provide their livelihood. Read more@islandpackett  11:49

“We were primed to make some money,” – Georgia’s shrimping season a disaster

Jim Page, a marine biologist with the DNR Coastal Resources Division, says sample trawls along the coast show shrimp catches had been well below average throughout the fall season. “Food shrimp is the most valuable component of Georgia’s seafood industry. Thus far, during the 2013 season, slightly over 1 million pounds has been reported, with a value of around $5 million,” Page said.   Read more@albanyherald  11:19

Man’s body found near boat after search in Lunenburg County

CBC_News_logoA 78-year-old fisherman from Lunenburg County is dead after he failed to return home overnight, according to Nova Scotia RCMP. Police said a search for the man in South Stonehurst, near Blue Rocks, ended at about 5:15 a.m. on Monday when the man’s body was found on the shoreline near his nine-metre fishing boat. Read more@cbcnews  08:32

Raising the Nemesis after storm sinking

gdt iconThe Nemesis, a 21-foot Novi vessel made in Nova Scotia, sank off T-Wharf in Rockport Harbor sometime late Thursday night or early Friday morning, during the snowstorm. And on Saturday, owner Andy Arnold of Beverly — a commercial scuba diver who salvages sunken boats for a living — led the effort to haul it back to the surface. Read more@gdt  00:12