Daily Archives: February 27, 2014
Alaska’s record pink salmon harvest in 2013 could create a market glut that will drive prices down for several years.
Alaska fishing fleets caught 219 million pink salmon last year. That helped fill an estimated 4 million cases of tall pink cans and left companies with almost 5 million cases in inventory. Read more here 22:41 petersburgpilot
“Deadliest Catch” star meets with Maine fishermen – Video
ROCKPORT, Maine(NEWS CENTER) — Maine commercial fishermen had a chance to meet one of their industry celebrities on Thursday and found out he knows a little bit about Maine fishing. Captain Keith Colburn is owner and captain of the fishing vessel “Wizard,” and is one of the stars of the TV show, “The Deadliest Catch.” Read more here 22:34
‘Deadliest Catch’ reality TV star hauls in big audience at Rockport fishing talk – Read more here at BDN 08:46
Rayne man arrested for theft and selling shrimp illegally
A Rayne man has bonded out of jail after being accused of shrimp violations by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. 36-year-old Shannon J Roche was charged with 13 counts of selling shrimp without a retail seafood license, three counts of theft by fraudulent sales, and failing to maintain records. Read more here 22:14
Industry Says U.S. Fish Law Works Well in Alaska
The Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 1976 law that governs fishing in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and other federal waters, is up for reauthorization in Congress. Listen, Read more here 22:08
Canada agrees to work to prevent fishing in High Arctic until there’s more study
Canada and four other Arctic nations have agreed to work toward a deal to block commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean until more is known about the potential of the resource. The agreement with the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway was reached late Wednesday in Nuuk, Greenland, after three days of talks Read more here 18:56
USF study: Diseased fish show dissolved oil from BP spill as far south as Sanibel
The study, published this week in a scientific journal called Deep-Sea Research II, is not good news for BP, which is battling the U.S. government and other claimants in federal court over how many billions of dollars in damages it owes for pollution caused by all the oil it spilled. Read more here 17:35 tampabay.com
Obama administration takes step toward allowing Atlantic Ocean drilling
The Obama administration forbids Atlantic Ocean drilling through 2017. An earlier version of President Obama’s five-year offshore drilling plan permitted such activity, but he excluded Atlantic drilling from the plan following the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more here 16:50
Maine’s Elver Season Could be Delayed
Commissioner Patrick Keliher said today that’s there is a “50-50” chance the start of the season on March 22 will be pushed back. Read more here 16:27 mpbn
Hearing scheduled for setnet lawsuit
Oral argument in the Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance’s appeal of the Lieutenant Governor’s decision not to certify its proposed ballot initiative is scheduled for April 22 in Anchorage. The alliance, or AFCA, wants to ask voters whether to ban setnets in urban parts of the state. If the initiative made it on to the ballot and passed, it would eliminate setnetters in Cook Inlet. Read more here 15:42
NEFMC – Press Release – Draft Habitat Protection Rules Move Forward
Dear Stakeholders and Interested Parties: Please click here for a copy of the NEFMC Press Release Council Moves Draft Habitat Protection Rules Forward for Pubic Review The Press Release provides details about the Council’s February 25-26, 2014 Council meeting in Danvers, MA. Read the Press Release here 14:48
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management : Proposed US energy rules would shield whales
The so-called mitigation measures outlined by BOEM also call for visual observers to avoid vessel strikes with whales and other marine life; testing to detect and avoid other marine life, including dolphins; and protections for nesting sea turtles, dolphins and areas where right whales congregate. Read more here 14:37
Hearing – Feb 27 2014 10:30 AM North Pacific Perspectives on Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard will hold a hearing on Thursday, February 27, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. titled, “North Pacific Perspectives on Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization”. Please note the hearing will be webcast live via the Senate Commerce Committee website. Refresh the Commerce Committee homepage 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time to automatically begin streaming the webcast. Read more here 10:00
Alaska joins Hawaii to have central North Pacific humpbacks struck from endangered list
California Salmon forecasts favorable, despite drought uncertainty
Predictions for a robust king salmon haul buoyed California fishermen assembled Wednesday for a preseason meeting with state and federal regulators, even if forecasts fell short of last year’s projection. Read more here pressdemocrat.com 09:01
Fukushima radiation on B.C. coast measured by crowdfunding – Scientists from Woods Hole recruiting ‘citizen scientists’ to collect data
People along B.C.’s coast are being asked to step in where governments in Canada and the U.S. have not — to measure radiation from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in B.C.’s ocean waters. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Maine, are calling on the public to collect data from B.C.’s oceans for a crowd-funded research project. Read more here 08:20
The crews of F/V Miss Jana and F/V Equinox rescue three persons from sinking vessel near Valdez Arm – Then it got sticky!
Sector Anchorage command center watchstanders received a mayday call on VHF radio channel 16 from the crew of the Belltech 5. Sector Anchorage issued an urgent marine information broadcast and the crew of the Miss Jana responded to the scene, rescuing the three men from the water. Shortly after embarking the men, the crew of the Miss Jana reported engine problems and transferred the men to the nearby fishing vessel Equinox. The Equinox took the Miss Jana in tow. Read more here uscgnews 07:27
Fisherman try for new ideas to generate cleaner waters
BEAUFORT, CARTERET COUNTY – Commercial fishing generates more than 3,000 jobs and $50 million in income in our state each year, but local fishermen say it’s getting harder to make a living on the water. Now a grassroots effort is being made to fix the problems they frequently face. The effort is being led by commercial fisherman Chris McCaffity. “We can’t change the reality of what we have we just need to offer positive solutions right now,” says McCaffity Read more here 07:06
N.E. lands $33M in federal fishing aid
NOAA announced the first apportioning of the federal fishery disaster funds Wednesday, awarding $32,847,955 — or 43.8 percent of the appropriated $75 million — to New England’s five Atlantic fishing states and New York. Read more here 00:33
