Daily Archives: March 21, 2019
Breaching Snake River dams could save salmon and orcas, but destroy livelihoods
THE GROWING Snake River Dam people’s self-defense movement has no written public-relations manual containing a list of cardinal sins. If it did, a new entry at the top might suggest this: DO NOT DISPARAGE THE ORCAS. Not that anyone in Washington’s southeast corner — wheat country, USA — would do that, anyway. Most of them will tell you that they, too, love chinook salmon, cherish orcas and see both as iconic Northwest species.,,, When a state task force on orca survival called for a study widely seen as a means to justify dam breaching (ultimately a federal, not a state, decision), people from the Tri-Cities to Clarkston felt the metaphorical crosshairs trained once again on their backs. While not new, it is a newly uncomfortable position — one that has prompted the people of the lower Snake to issue a simple short-term request: Whoa, pardners. Whoa. Just whoa. 23 photo’s >click to read<21:16
NOAA questions BOEM’s Vineyard Wind environmental impact study
Michael Pentony, the head of NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, warned in a March 15 letter that the report on Vineyard Wind completed by the U.S Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in December included conclusions that were not well supported by data and needed additional analysis of several key angles of impact. “We determined that many of the conclusory statements relating to the scale of impacts for biological and socioeconomic resources are not well supported in the document,” Pentony wrote in his letter to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. “Specifically, impacts categorized as major appear under-inclusive, while impacts designated as moderate seem overly inclusive.” >click to read<18:36
Vineyard Wind impact on fish under scrutiny – NOAA Fisheries criticises several aspects of BOEM’s draft environmental impact statement of 800MW project >click to read<
Photos: Remembering the Exxon Valdez oil spill 30 years later
It was just after midnight on March 24, 1989, when an Exxon Shipping Co. tanker ran aground outside the town of Valdez, Alaska, spewing millions of gallons of thick, toxic crude oil into the pristine Prince William Sound. The world watched the aftermath unfold: scores of herring, sea otters and birds soaked in oil, and hundreds of miles of shoreline polluted. Commercial fishermen in the area saw their careers hit bottom. It’s been 30 years since the disaster, at the time the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Only the 2010 Deep Water Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has eclipsed it. >click to read<16:16
Working Watermen Commission Takes on Timely Issues at their Inaugural Meeting
The revitalized Dare County Commission for Working Watermen held their inaugural meeting on Wednesday, March 21, and tackled several pressing issues that are connected to the local fishing industry. The commission originally formed in 2008, but quietly ceased meeting in December of 2012 without formally disbanding. After public comments made by journalist and researcher Susan West at the BOC’s August 20, 2018 Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting, interest in reviving the commission was renewed, with County Commissioner Steve House signing on to be the Chairman and county commissioner representative for the endeavor. >click to read<15:13
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 64’ RSW Seiner, scalloper, herring carrier
Specifications, information and 3 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<14:13
FFAW’S March of Madness
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) describes the FFAW-Unifor’s demonstration Wednesday through downtown St. John’s as a “march of madness.” “FFAW supporters demonstrated to ‘fight for the future of our fisheries’ when it’s the union itself that has been threatening their survival,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. Here are 20 reasons how: 1) The FFAW-Unifor is in a conflict of interest in representing inshore harvesters/plant workers/offshore trawlermen/aquaculture workers/oil tanker workers/cold storage workers/Long Harbour workers, etc. >click to read<12:32
Columbia River Reforms – Both sides on gillnet issue dig in
A crucial vote concerning the Columbia River Reforms regarding gillnets will be taken by the full Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission at a meeting on June 6-7 in Salem It will determine whether the alterations suggested by the joint-state task force will be adopted.,,, Former Washington commissioners and fisheries scientists have also weighed in with a letter to the legislature, and groups that oppose or endorse the changes have rallied the troops. >click to read<10:28
Prince William Sound Tanner crab fishery gives winter season a boost
A rejuvenated Tanner crab fishery in Prince William Sound is showing positive signs of finishing out its second season in 30 years. The fishery opened for the first time since 1988 in 2017, operating on commissioners permits. A test fishery operated as an information-gathering pot fishery in the area in 2016 to a limited number of vessels. Based on Alaska Department of Fish and Game survey data, the stocks were good to go for another season this year, opening March 1 and closing either by EO or on March 31. So far, 11 vessels have landed about 16,850 Tanner,,, >click to read<09:37
NOAA/NMFS Seeks Comments on Proposed Measures for the Jonah Crab Fishery
NOAA Fisheries seeks comments on proposed measures for the Jonah crab fishery that complement the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Jonah Crab.,,, Proposed measures include limiting Jonah crab harvest to those who already have a limited-access American lobster permit, a minimum size, protection for egg-bearing females, and incidental catch limits.These proposed regulations do not expand trap fishing effort. They propose to regulate the catch of Jonah crabs that is already occurring in the American lobster fishery. >click to read<13:20
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