Daily Archives: January 20, 2015
Alaska Board of Fisheries Chairman Karl Johnstone has resigned.
The chairman, whose term was set to be up in June of 2015, confirmed in an email Tuesday that he had resigned his position after being told by Gov. Bill Walker that his name would not be submitted to the Legislature for reappointment. “I offered to step down if it would assist him in getting someone else in place and up to speed,” Johnstone wrote. Read the rest here 21:18
Third phase of BP trial to establish environmental penalties opens with graphic reminders
Images of oil-coated birds and testimony about “widespread socio-cultural harm” opened the third phase of a trial to establish environmental penalties BP must pay for spilling millions of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The government wants the oil giant to pay another $13.7 billion for harming not just the birds and fish, but the business climate and social fabric of coastal communities. Read the rest here 20:27
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Strong-armed Tactics Taken to Task
Attorney Daniel G Rodgers held a press conference on Monday at Southampton Town’s Shinnecock commercial fishing dock in Hampton Bays to call attention to what he says is the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s strong-armed tactics at dealing with violations by commercial fishermen. According to Mr. Rodgers, Bill Reed, the captain of the Providence was charged,,, Read the rest here 19:08
Salmon Sperm Could Help Us Recycle Rare Earth Elements
It’s time to scrape that salmon semen off your plate, because it’s got a much better use than tickling your taste buds (yes, fish sperm is actually a delicacy in Japan). This unusual magical ingredient could help us extract and recycle rare earth elements from ore and a variety of other materials, such as magnets or old electronics. Not only would this process be significantly cheaper than traditional chemical extraction methods, but it’s also much better for the environment. Read the rest here 18:53
Harper Government Helps Make BC Fishing Industry Safer
Wai Young, Member of Parliament for Vancouver South, on behalf of the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, announced today that the Government of Canada is investing $262,000 in Fish SAFE, a BC fishing industry driven program that works to improve safety on board commercial fishing vessels. Read the rest here 14:12
Dock to Dish Opens Florida’s First Community Supported Fishery
Dock to Dish, the first community and restaurant supported fishery program anchored in Montauk, announced last week it would open Florida’s first ever Community Supported Fishery (CSF) in Key West in February of this year. The program is being developed in conjunction with Key West restaurateur Chris Holland and the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association. Read the rest here 14:00
Growing wings for southwest Nova lobster a priority
Last fall, the Zhangzidao Group, a Chinese seafood giant, purchased a lobster processing plant in Eastern Passage. Its subsidiary – Capital Seafoods International – will be exporting up to 10 million pounds of lobster in the near future. The new owners hired 50 new employees and are turning the plant from a seasonal to a year-round operation, spending between $1.5 and $2 million on upgrades. Read the rest here 12:23
Florida ‘cracker’ fishermen?
To the editor: Just to add a little humor to last week’s article, Exploring the Island’s History, Matlacha is described as a cracker fishing village turned artist-colony and the home of pioneering Florida “cracker” fishermen. With that said, my question is, just what is a “cracker” fisherman? Read the rest here 12:06
Canada Q&A – Without massive government subsidies, can the salmon farming industry survive?
Can the salmon farming industry survive without massive government subsidies,” writes Marike Finlay-de Monch in Port Dufferin, Nova Scotia, “and does a forensic economic analysis show that taxpayers are paying through the nose to pollute their own waters?” National correspondent Mark Hume explains: Read the answer here 11:58
Good lobster year helps boat builders – Video
People who work in Maine’s lobster industry have been celebrating after what many say was a good year. The higher incomes mean that after a number of slow years for boat builders, fishermen are once again buying new boats. At Holland’s Boat Shop in Belfast, they said several new boats have already gone out the door and others are under construction. Video, Read the rest here 10:15
Medred fell overboard accusing commercial fishermen of not contributing
Craig Medred’s Dec. 30, 2014, opinion piece “Oil pays the way while extraction giants like fishing and mining skate” was just more of the deceptive bravado and vindictive rhetoric that appears to be his trademark. I can easily buy into Medred’s first few paragraphs pointing out that Alaskans have not let wisdom get in the way of mitigating inevitable declining oil revenues, but the apples vs. oranges comparison of tax rates, royalties and revenues scapegoat commercial fishing in particular and obscure economic realities while further politicizing complex issues. Read the rest here 09:52
A review of the past, the present, and the future of fishers’ knowledge research: a challenge to established fisheries science
Fishers’ knowledge research is an approach to fisheries research that has a relatively long history, yet has generally failed to become integrated into the fisheries science mainstream alongside approaches that rely primarily on the knowledge of professional scientists. Its continued position on the margins of fisheries science has not however stopped fishers’ knowledge researchers from publishing an expanding literature, which they often use to advocate for the greater consideration of fishers’ knowledge by fisheries scientists and managers. Read the rest here 09:35
Commercial fisherman guilty in man’s sea cucumber diving death
Jurors found Joshua J. Wodyga guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Levi Adams, 32, in a trial that ended on Friday in Ketchikan Superior Court, according to The Associated Press. The jury found Wodyga not guilty of manslaughter. Wodyga is scheduled to be sentenced in May. He faces up to 10 years in prison. Read the rest here 08:41
Pressure’s on to help Delta fish suffering amid drought
With populations of numerous endangered Delta fish species at alarming lows, officials in California are planning a number of steps to help them survive if 2015 proves to be a fourth year. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife last week released the results of its annual fall population survey for five key fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Read the rest here 08:10
