Daily Archives: January 31, 2016

Disease in herring threatens broader food web

0131_KSLO_HerringTiny herring eggs and larvae are eaten by a multitude of invertebrates, such as crabs and amphipods. They are also important to fish, such as juvenile salmon and smelt, as well as numerous marine and diving birds. As herring grow into juveniles and adults, they enter into the larger food web, including numerous marine mammals, from harbor seals to orcas; vast numbers of birds, from tufted puffins to great blue herons; and a wide variety of fish, from Chinook salmon to halibut. Paul Hershberger, research fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, has been studying diseases of herring at his lab on Marrowstone Island near Port Townsend. Read the article here 21:22

WICKED TUNA: Season Five Premiere on Nat Geo Brings New Challenges, (Video)

This Monday, top-rated series WICKED TUNA is returning to National Geographic Channel for Season Five. Some of the captains are still struggling, with a rough winter season not putting cash in their boats, as fans watched on spin-off series “Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks.” But, Captain Dave Marciano of the Hard Merchandise has plans to pull in the major haul again this season. It won’t be only Captain Dave Marciano striving to prove something this season, however, so he’d better be ready for some competition! Captain Dave Carraro of the FV-Tuna.com had an embarrassing third-place finish last season, Video, Read the rest here 20:16

5 rescued from sinking fishing boat off the coast of Yarmouth

canadian coast guardA Coast Guard ship rescued five people from a fishing boat early Sunday morning after they reported the vessel was sinking 16 nautical miles, or about 30 kilometres, off the coast of Yarmouth, N.S.  A spokesman for Joint Task Force Atlantic says the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax received a mayday distress call from the  around 11:30 Saturday night. Cpt. Cameron Hillier says JRCC Halifax dispatched a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules aircraft from 14-wing Greenwood to help with the rescue efforts. He says the group was reported safe and sound at around 1:30 a.m. Read the rest here 16:20

North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Portland Oregon, Feb 1thru 9, 2016

Blue NPFMC SidebarThe Council will meet the week of February 1, 2016 at the Benson Hotel, 309 Southwest Broadway in Portland, Oregon. The AGENDA and SCHEDULE are available and will be updated as documents become available. The Council’s meeting will be broadcast live beginning their first day via Adobe Connect HERE. Motions will be posted following the meeting. 15:26

Video – Samson ropes live up to their biblical name

blue%20ropeInside a nondescript industrial building on Thornton Street, workers are tending complex machinery that turns wispy skeins of synthetic fiber into ropes robust enough to tie down a seagoing cargo ship or a Mississippi River barge. The workers are at Samson Rope Technologies, a company that can trace its ancestry back to at least the 1880s. During that decade, company founder James P. Tolman patented a rope-braiding machine for his Massachusetts company. After he adopted the name Samson Cordage, Tolman registered a trademark that shows biblical strongman Samson grappling with a lion. The company still uses that trademark today, and outgoing CEO Tony Bon says it’s the oldest such trademark still in use. Read the article here 08:47

Alaska commercial halibut quota goes up for first time in 15 years

wrangellAlaska halibut stocks are showing signs of an uptick, and for the first time in 15 years, commercial fishermen’s catches will not be slashed this year. Fishery managers on Friday set the coastwide Pacific halibut harvest at 29.89 million pounds, a . Because halibut paid more than $6 a pound at the docks last year, even a small increase can be lucrative. Bowen said it could push the price for halibut quota share to $60 a pound in major fishing region. That equates to $90,000 for a small lot of 1,500 pounds. Read the article here 08:14