Daily Archives: March 24, 2018
Corps of Engineers wants to remove 500 cormorant eggs to support salmon conservation in Columbia River
The Corps is in the fourth year of a five-year plan to cut the cormorant population on East Sand Island at the river’s mouth from more than 14,000 breeding pairs to no more than 5,380 to 5,939 birds to reduce pressure on fish listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Double-crested cormorants are not listed under the federal Endangered Species Act but have federal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The colony on the island at one point was believed to account for more than 40 percent of the entire Western population of the double,, >click to read<18:45
Russell Wangersky: Fish science still taking a backseat
In science, it’s critically important to compare apples to apples. If you’re looking at comparing data sets, you have to know that you’re using the same comparative parameters, and that all parts of the equation are the same. But that might not be the case for a critical fishery survey being done off Nova Scotia. The coast guard vessel Alfred Needler can’t do the survey, because it’s laid up in the St. John’s shipyard undergoing refit — a refit that has had to be extended after additional work was added. The Teleost, which normally would have done the work if the Needler couldn’t do the five-week trawl survey, is also laid up, and is also behind schedule. >click to read<17:44
IPHC commissioners hope to find middle ground on catch limits
In January, disagreements on the International Pacific Halibut Commission came to a head. U.S. and Canadian commissioners are in agreement on one thing, halibut stocks are on the decline. But when it came to divvying up the catch between U.S. and Canadian waters, commissioners were at an impasse. The fundamental disagreement comes down to whether halibut should be allocated solely based on the science or if social and economic considerations should also play a role. Next month commissioners will begin that conversation. >click to read<11:54
Northern cod stock declined over last year; scientists urge minimum fishing effort
Those in the province’s fishing industry hoping the northern cod would be ready for a commercial fishery in a few years’ time — a saviour to an industry suffering repeated blows from declining crab and shrimp stocks — better hold on to their hooks and nets. Northern cod this year are in the same leaky boat, having declined significantly over the past year. And that has come as a surprise to many because the northern cod stocks off the province’s east and northeast coast showed promising growth since 2012 — the first real glint of light since the dark and uncertain days of the northern cod stock collapse of the late 1980s and early 1990s. >click to read<10:10
Pensacola Bay – Coast Guard, local agencies respond to vessel fire and spilt diesel
Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a notification of a 50-foot commercial fishing vessel catching fire while moored at Joe Patti’s Marina in Pensacola Bay at 4:26 p.m. Pensacola Fire Department extinguished the fire but the vessel sank and discharged an estimated 100 gallons of diesel into the water. Seatow deployed containment boom and sorbent pads around the vessel to collect oil. A vacuum truck and skimmer are en route to begin operations Saturday morning. An inquirey revealed the name of the as F/V New Horizon. >click to read<09:28
