Daily Archives: December 30, 2017
“Paper Captain” – Coast Guard cites fishing boat for illegal foreign captain
The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it found a foreign worker acting as the captain of an American-flagged commercial fishing vessel in federal waters off Hawaii. The crew of the U.S. Cutter Oliver Berry boarded the unnamed vessel on Dec. 19 and issued a citation after they suspected a foreign national was acting as the captain and operating the boat, the Coast Guard said in a statement . It’s illegal for a foreign national to operate a U.S.-flagged commercial vessel. The Coast Guard said the vessel was cited for a violation known as a “paper captain.” click here to read the story 18:43
Fighting the tide
After three years of work, a University of Alaska Fairbanks study of the state’s commercial fishing industry has reached one conclusion nobody in the 49th state wants to talk about and another that not even the authors of the report seem willing to confront. The first conclusion is barely disguised in the report: “Since limited entry programs were implemented in state commercial fisheries, permit holdings by rural residents local to their fisheries have declined by 30 percent. Some regions like Bristol Bay have lost over 50 percent of their local rural permits.” A systemic fail? click here to read the story 17:11
The Shipwrecked Sailors & the Wandering Cod
In the remote archipelago of Lofoten, Arctic cod have been dried on oceanfront racks since the age of the Vikings. This is the unlikely story of how the humble fish became king of Norway. “I could tell you the story of the shipwreck,” says Steinar Larsen, smoothing his hands over the belly of a blue-striped sailor shirt. “But,” demurs the brusque proprietor of the Lofoten Stockfish Museum in the village of Å (pronounced OH-ah) “it would take too long.” (Big Read!) click here to read the story 13:30 
FALL 2017 Pacific Islands Fishery Newsletter
There is a lot of information in the newsletter about issues that are common to other area’s, MPA’s, council actions, and includes a post from Paul Dalzell, senior scientist and pelagic fisheries coordinator for the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, reflects on trends in fishery management since 1996 and takes a stab at a few of his pet peeves and vexations. A key problem with environmental activists is they must constantly campaign. The campaign can never die. Thus groups seeking an end to fishing simply shift the goal posts as one issue fades or is addressed by fishery management. Campaigns to address large top predators in the marine ecosystem are supplanted by campaigns gravely concerned about small forage fish. click here to read the newsletter11:13
Oregon Coast crabbing closure impacts the industry
In the middle of a parking lot on the Charleston Marina a large square of crab pots sits six pots high and 12 wide. Fisheries and fishermen alike are geared up for the commercial crabbing season that has been pushed back to Jan. 15. ,,, Fishermen have spent the last month without any income and will spend at least two more weeks without pay because of closures. Adams said that the local economy is really where the crabbing closure hits hardest. click here to read the story 09:09
The last remaining California Department of Public Health advisory for Dungeness Crab was lifted Friday – click here to read the story 10:03
Famous 16-Foot Great White Shark Gone Missing
Mary Lee, the 16-foot Great White Shark that has had Twitter in a frenzy the past few weeks, has gone missing – electronically speaking. According to Ocearch, a conservation group set out to track and collect date from tiger and great white sharks, said her transmitter hasn’t had a “ping” since June 17, and no one has seen or heard from her since. Fans on twitter have been speculating her death, but never fear, it is more likely her tracker has lost battery power. click here to read the story 06:15
Major Fight Shapes up Over Salmon Harvest in the Columbia River
Agreements that have reigned for a decade on how to divide the catch of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin expire on the last day of 2017. The new plan is so contentious that multiple sides have promised to sue over it. What are the outrageous details? Same as the current ones. But the moment is a pressure point that allows old arguments to resurface. The current agreement, which expires at midnight on Dec. 31,,, click here to read the story 05:54
