Daily Archives: August 6, 2017
Rape allegation against division manager reveals ‘highly sexualized’ culture at state agency
An inappropriate sexual culture festered for more than a year within the upper ranks of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife until a rape allegation against a former division manager brought it to light. A law firm hired by Fish and Wildlife to investigate claims of sexual harassment spawned after the alleged rape found that a group of workers in the agency’s upper echelon often held or tolerated sexually explicit conversations at work. Some engaged in other inappropriate behavior both on the clock and after hours. The firm, MFR Law Group, also reported that the behavior, including at least one case of workplace sexual harassment, largely went unreported and unaddressed by the agency’s top leaders. click here to read the story 17:04
Where are the coho?
The bad news came in triplicate for Little Susitna River guide Andy Couch on Friday. First there was the daily coho salmon enumeration from the Little Su weir. The 39 fish counted the day before brought the season’s total to 679, the lowest count since 2012. August 2012 started with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announcing that bait fishing – scheduled to open Aug. 6 – would not be allowed. Four days later came the announcement the river would be closed to coho fishing for the rest of the year. When Couch, a longtime Little Su angler and guide saw the Thursday count this year, he knew what to expect next: another bait ban. But before that was announced the commercial catch statistics for a Thursday opening of the Cook Inlet drift gillnet fleet started trickling in. Fish Politics. click here to read the story 15:49
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in San Antonio, Tx. August 7 – 10, 2017
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will meet at the Marriott Plaza, San Antonio, located at 555 S. Alamo St. San Antonio, Texas. The meeting will convene on the following days and local times: Council Committees meet 10:30 – 5:00 on Monday. Council Committees meet 8:30 – 5:00 on Tuesday. Council Committees meet 8:30 – 10:30 on Wednesday. Full Council meets 10:45 – 5:30 on Wednesday. Full Council meets 8:30 – 3:45 on Thursday Read the Committee and Council Agenda, Click here Register to listen live click here www.gulfcouncil.org 13:59
Re-examining safety practices in the wake of this year’s commercial fishing deaths
“It’s time for a checkup from the neck up” — meaning an industry time-out to evaluate fishing operations and behaviors — advises Jerry Dzugan, director of the Sitka-based Alaska Marine Safety Education Association for over 30 years. Dzugan was speaking in response to the 11 fishing deaths that have occurred in Alaska so far this year. It’s the most in 13 years and follows a 76 percent decrease in commercial fishing fatalities since the 1980s. “The causes are still capsizing, sinkings, swampings and man overboards (MOBs). They haven’t changed much,” Dzugan said. “People need to step back and focus on the basics, such as making sure your vessel is stable and watertight, and that your crew is protected from man overboards.” click here to read the story 11:37
Our View: Federal fishery decision undermines management
Years of measured, responsible attempts to improve the effectiveness of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in these dynamic and troubled waters are challenged by a new threat: the secretary of Commerce, the next to last stop (before the president himself) in the chain of command for fishery management. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, known as the “King of Bankruptcy” for his investment strategy, overruled at the end of July a decision by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, potentially undermining the cooperative management of near-shore fisheries of the 15 coastal states from Maine to Florida. click here to read the op-ed 09:38
Brexit Betrayal: EU Boats ‘Will Still be able to Catch Large Amounts of Fish in British Waters’, Says Gove
Leave campaigner and Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove has shocked the British fishing industry by walking back a pledge to end the exploitation of Britain’s waters by EU vessels, saying they “will still be able to catch large amounts of fish” on a visit to Denmark. “Danish fishermen will still be able to catch large amounts of fish in British waters, even if the British leave the EU. Britain has no fish cutters [those employed to clean, trim and bone fish] and production facilities enough to catch all the fish in British waters,” he said. Video, click here to read the story 09:16
