Daily Archives: October 24, 2015
Red crab fishing season underway
The Bristol Bay red king crab fishing season is underway, and the quota is almost the same as last year’s, at 9.7 million pounds. That’s down slightly from last year, and so is the number of boats. On Tuesday, 58 boats were registered, and a few more are on their way north from Seattle, according to biologist Miranda Westphal of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, in Unalaska. Last year, 63 crab boats were signed up, she said. The situation is different for another big Bering Sea crab fishery. When fishermen set pots for snow crab in a few months, they will have a lot less to catch. Read the rest here 19:11
Despite factory trawler opposition, Adak wins 5,000-ton cod quota
Despite factory trawler opposition, Adak has won a guaranteed minimum of 5,000 metric tons of Pacific cod each year, in hopes that the local 
will re-open. The Aleutian Islands Pacific cod catcher vessel fishery and shoreplant delivery requirement was approved last week at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, meeting in Anchorage. While the fish council action doesn’t specify exclusive rights for Adak, it did impose the requirement for cod west of 170 degrees longitude, where the only shore plant is in Adak. Read the rest here 13:24
Possible Scotian Shelf Blowout aftermath: To protect fishery, nix toxic oil dispersants
The fishing banks of the Scotian Shelf have supported coastal communities and the fishery for more than 300 years because our industry is both highly successful and highly regulated. Those stringent regulations benefit all Nova Scotia. Recent lobster catches are the largest ever recorded. Three-year classes of haddock are the largest in more than 50 years. Scallop landings are at all-time highs. The Scotian Shelf fishery is functioning at an extremely high level, contributing over $1 billion annually to provincial exports, supporting scores of communities and providing thousands of jobs. Read the rest here 11:44
Georgia man faces prison again for stealing sea turtle eggs
Less than two years after he was released from prison, Lewis Jackson found authorities waiting for him as he boarded a ferry boat on remote Sapelo Island carrying a cooler full of contraband valued by some as a mythical aphrodisiac. Inside the cooler, investigators found zip-top bags filled with the ping-pong ball sized eggs of loggerhead sea turtles, animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. Stealing eggs of the threatened species is a federal crime. Read the rest here 10:40
Net Effect: A different tack, and Campbell: Fishing regulations
Our new WRAL documentary takes a different tack. It’s the result of a growing chorus of recreational fishermen, associated organizations and environmental groups that have raised legitimate concerns about certain commercial fishing practices. They practically beat down our door, giving us information, showing us data and offering up experts to interview. Their concerns are backed up by a number of state officials, including a scientist. Read the rest here – Campbell: Fishing regulations: After publishing my column about this topic in September, a coastal newspaper that had long printed my offerings immediately said they would no longer publish me. Read the rest here 09:49 Nova Scotia to unveil new aquaculture regulations, attempt to ‘restore public confidence’ after recent fish health scares
Nova Scotia will unveil much tougher rules Monday to oversee the aquaculture industry in a bid to “restore public confidence.” Regulations governing the industry will go from two pages to 60 by the start of the week, the province’s minister of fisheries and aquaculture said. “We are going to a more firm regulatory process. We are going to be doing more testing,” Minister Keith Colwell told CBC after a tour Friday of the department’s new laboratory in Truro, N.S. Moratorium on new salmon farms remains – Aquaculture has an image problem in Nova Scotia, fuelled by ,,, Read the rest here 08:52
Alaska should never stray from ‘Fish First’ policy
Fish come first” has been the essential foundation of Alaska’s salmon management since statehood. The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed this principle on Sept. 25, 2015, by rejecting a lawsuit from commercial fishermen in Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund vs. the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which asked for more fishing time even when it reduces spawning escapements below minimum goals established to protect future returns. This ruling is a significant win for all fishermen concerned with the sustainability of the state’s salmon resource and for our Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Read the rest here 08:21
