Daily Archives: May 31, 2018
Social media post criticizes Trident Seafoods, Gulf of Alaska trawl fleet for halibut bycatch
A fisherman based out of Homer posted images on social media of halibut bycatch headed for the grinder at Kodiak’s Trident Seafoods processing plant. The post got a lot of attention online and sparked criticism of Trident, the Gulf of Alaska trawl fleet and a body that regulates the commercial fishing industry. Trident is the largest primary processor of seafood in the United States and is heavily invested in Alaska. “We’re a company built by fishermen for fishermen and we don’t just buy pollock or cod or crab or salmon or halibut, we buy everything that we can sustainably harvest and feed the world with. Halibut is a very important part of our business,” said Lumsden. Longtime fisherman Erik Velsko says if Trident really cares about halibut and sustainability some things need to change. >click to read<18:59
Something smells
Prince Edward Island and northern Nova Scotia fishermen are scratching their heads in bewilderment these days over lower-than-expected prices for spring lobster. At the halfway point in the season, it’s well past time for some straight answers from buyers, processors and shippers. All market factors heading into the May 1 opening indicated a strong season for prices, certainly matching, if not surpassing, 2017. Yet, the latest fish price report indicates otherwise. The price per pound for canner lobster ranges between $5 and $5.50, while markets are fetching $6 to $6.50. That’s a $1 drop since opening day and about $1 less than last year — comparable with prices paid in 2002. >click to read<17:44
Chatham County requests disaster declaration for shrimpers
In a letter sent Tuesday to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Chatham County Commission Chairman Albert J. Scott makes the request citing the fact that federal waters were closed to shrimping over the winter and spring because of unusually cold water. The closure, which affected the shrimping area from 3 to 200 miles offshore, was meant to protect the remaining population of spawning shrimp after an expected die off from the cold. State waters closest to shore have also been closed since mid-January, though that’s a typical closure. Scott recognized the necessity of the closure but said it still imposed a hardship. ″ >click to read<16:21
More Fishing Tugs 7
This road trip was partly about seeing more fish tugs, the focus of the next few posts. One of the current hubs of fishing tugs still fishing is the Bayfield Peninsula, jutting out of northern Wisconsin into Lake Superior. Bayfield still had chunk ice in the harbor on May 9! Let’s start out at Bodin Fisheries, and the docks there. Photo’s, >click to read<14:36
Norton Sound: Expect Strong Salmon Runs This Summer
Salmon runs in the Norton Sound area are expected to be at least as strong as last year, with the exception of king, or Chinook, salmon. That’s according to Jim Menard, the Norton Sound and Kotzebue area fisheries manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “We think things are going good. And we just don’t want to be surprised with another crash. The sun’s shining right now, and we’re counting on a good year. The only long-term trend we’ve seen is the downward spiral of the king salmon.” >click to read<14:01
23year Old Lady Born Without Vagina Has One Made Out Of Fish Skin (Photos)
A 23-year-old university student who was born without a vagina, has become the first in the world to undergo pioneering surgery that constructed a new vaginal canal out of fish skin. According to Mirror, the operation took place at the Federal University of Ceara (UFC), Brazil. The girl was diagnosed in her teens with having no cervix, uterus, ovaries or womb. Jucilene Marinho has now spoken for the first time and talked about how the revolutionary operation using skin of the tilapia fish has changed her life and allowed her to have sex for the first time. >click to read<11:43
Editorial: Will wind energy deliver?
It sounds very promising as do a lot of the carefully worded highlights on the Vineyard Wind’s “Benefits” page. “Vineyard Wind’s turbines, totaling up to 800 MW, are expected to reliably produce the amount of energy used by over 450,000 Massachusetts homes. Offshore wind delivers much of its power in the winter, when Massachusetts needs the most energy for both heat and electricity generation.”,,, But there is a lot of greenwashing going on in the renewable energy world. “Greenwashing” is essentially the spreading of disinformation by an organization to present an environmentally responsible public image. It’s a good word to know. So let’s look at the questionable aspects of wind energy. >click to read<11:01
What no one talks about when a loved one goes missing
It has been two years since Matthew Roberts vanished after his commercial fishing trawler capsized near Fraser Island from an unknown cause. After five days of air and sea searches Matthew’s wife, Cheryl, accepted he could not have survived the incident. “I resigned myself to the fact that he wasn’t coming home that night, it’s a big sea out there,” she says. Cheryl dealt with the devastation and grief of losing her husband but she wasn’t prepared for the administrative and bureaucratic trouble that would follow his disappearance. “I cannot get access to Matthew’s super money to help me because we do not have a death certificate,” she explains. >click to read<09:42
Copper failure
The commercial fishing season for Copper River salmon – the most coveted of Alaska fish – is shaping up as a disaster for the isolated fishing community of Cordova. Prices paid to fishermen are now reported at $9.50 per pound for prime fish, but there just aren’t many fish to be had and most of them are small. “Absolutely unprecedented” is how Stormy Haught, the area research biologists for Alaska Department of Fish and Game described the situation Wednesday. Haught is well aware of the long, detailed history of Cooper River commercial fisheries because he’s been back through all the data looking for a parallel to this season that might indicate to fishery managers how they can expect the run to play out going forward. >click to read<08:18
Copper River sockeye run likely to fall well below forecast
The Copper River commercial sockeye fishery is likely to fall below forecast for the second year in a row. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed one of the fishery’s 12-hour openings last week due to low escapement and abysmal harvest levels. That trend continued this week with a slow fishing period on Monday, and the department announced Wednesday that it’s closing the fishery on Thursday for the second week in a row. >click to read<07:40
