Daily Archives: December 24, 2015
Hawaii Longliners get a Christmas Gift, Ahi Ruling Upheld! Enviro’s get coal.
A federal judge has ruled longline fishermen in Hawaii may continue catching more bigeye tuna, or ahi, than the maximum set by international regulators. U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi on Wednesday issued a ruling rejecting environmental groups’ claims that the extra fishing is illegal. The opinion came just in time for the year-end holidays when Hawaii consumers crowd stores to buy ahi sashimi for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. A ruling adverse to the fishermen had the potential to shut down or curtail the Hawaii fishery for the rest of the calendar year. Read the article here 20:50
Norad Tracks Santa: Christmas tradition for children turns 60
When the red phone rang on the desk of U.S. Air Force Col. Harry Shoup one night in early December 1955, he took a deep breath before answering. After all, it was the height of the Cold War and he was commander of the combat alert centre charged with watching for Russian threats in the skies over Canada and the U.S. If that phone rang, only one of two people was likely on the other end: a four-star general at the Pentagon or the president of the United States. Instead, Shoup heard the very small voice of a child who had a very big question: “Is this Santa Claus?” Read the article here 18:03
An Update on the Caledonian Family Relief Fund.
On December 17th we posted There appears to be a problem with the Caledonian Tragedy Family Relief Fund. We said inquiry’s would be made, and we did inquire! We received a response from you caring on Dec 18, saying they would investigate the status of the fund. Calls were made to the company for comment, but we got dumped at the voicemail of the company attorney, with no response. Today, an article (damage control) was posted at undercurrent via seafoodnews.com that the funds will be released. When we post a fundraiser for people in need, we expect those funds to be distributed, otherwise we certainly wouldn’t post them. I believe this would still be in limbo if we didn’t dog them. Merry Christmas to the surviving loved ones of this tragedy.
Pacific Seafood Group, the parent company of Vancouver Island, Canada-based S&S Seafood and Ucluelet Harbor Seafood, announced on Dec. 23 that a fundraiser for the families of the crew lost on Caledonian has raised over CAD 100,000. The 33-meter trawler sank on Sept. 5, 2015 resulting in the deaths of skipper Wesley Hagglund, engineer Keith Standing, and deckhand Doug White. Standing and White were both from Port Alberni. Hagglund was from Duncan. A fourth crew member survived. Read the article here 16:40
Rhode Island: Investing in seafood industry pays off
Monday’s shoreline Port of Galilee ribbon-cutting ceremony was a perfect example of how investing in infrastructure can make the cash register ring for Rhode Islanders. “This dock was in rough shape. You couldn’t drive heavy vehicles on it. But thanks to the team here today, our capacity will be enhanced by 30 percent. This is big for our company,” said Ryan Clark, vice president of Town Dock, a fishing and fish processing company. Read the article here 15:24
Feds wasting too much taxpayer money on public relations efforts
Our federal government is a master of self-promotion, comprising the second-largest public relations firm in the world, according to a new report from Open the Books, a project of the nonprofit group American Transparency. From fiscal years 2007-14, the federal government spent $4.37 billion on public relations efforts, according to the study. This sum includes more than $2.3 billion for 3,092 in-house public affairs officers – 60 percent of whom make at least $100,000 a year in base salary – across more than 200 federal agencies and $2 billion spent by 139 agencies on outside PR vendors. Read the op-ed here 10:50
Death of woman found on lobster boat no longer considered suspicious
RCMP say the death of a 20-year-old woman found dead on a Brier Island-based lobster boat Tuesday is no longer considered suspicious. “The investigation, obviously, is still ongoing,” Const. Mark Skinner said Thursday morning. “We’ve ruled out foul play.” The woman was discovered dead in a bunk on a fishing boat as it was heading into Westport Tuesday afternoon. It’s not believed the crew knew the woman was on board. Read the article here 08:54
Sidetracked salmon rescued, released into Sacramento River
Operation Salmon Rescue is in full swing in Yolo County, where hundreds of the endangered fish are getting a second shot at life. Since as early as this past September, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has teamed up with both local and regional organizations to capture hordes of fully grown along the Colusa Basin Drain in the Yolo Bypass, who have strayed from their natural migration patterns into dead-end drainage canals. Read the article here 08:21
