Daily Archives: May 25, 2022

The U.S. Has Spent More Than $2 Billion on a Plan to Save Salmon – The Fish Are Vanishing Anyway.

The Carson National Fish Hatchery was among the first hatcheries funded by Congress over 80 years ago to be part of the salvation of salmon, facilities created specifically to replace the vast numbers of wild salmon killed by the building of dozens of hydroelectric dams along the Northwest’s mightiest river, the Columbia. Tucked beside a river in the woods about 60 miles northeast of Portland, Carson has 50 tanks and ponds surrounded by chain-link fencing. They sit among wood-frame fish nursery buildings and a half-dozen cottages built for hatchery workers in the 1930s. Today, there are hundreds of hatcheries in the Northwest run by federal, state and tribal governments, employing thousands and welcoming the community with visitor centers and gift shops. The fish they send to the Pacific Ocean have allowed restaurants and grocery seafood counters to offer “wild-caught” Chinook salmon even as the fish became endangered. photos, >click to read< 16:58

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 76′ Seiner/RSW Carrier

To review specifications, information, and 45 photos’>click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here<  09:55

Mitchell warns of ‘potentially consequential’ impacts if leasing is approved

Mayor Jon Mitchell is “deeply concerned”,,, “There is no denying that there will be costs and impacts associated with the leasing program,” Mitchell wrote. “The playing field will be tilted on day one, perhaps irrevocably so, and the transformation of the scallop fishery from a ‘community fishery’ to a ‘corporate fishery’ may become all but inevitable.” The Scallopers Campaign, the lobbying effort behind the leasing proposal, commissioned a study in 2021 by Alaska-based consulting firm Northern Economics, which concluded leasing could collectively reduce annual costs for vessel owners by about $12 million. Listen to the video. >Click to read< 08:55

Troubled waters: the forces behind the death of the Tees

The Tees Estuary is dying. Its demise the result of widespread contamination on the one hand, and a wilful mishandling of information on the other. There was mass crustacean die-off in September/October 2021, and there has been a resurgence of this in recent weeks. We have also received numerous reports of deaths of seal pups as well as porpoise. Those seal pups that have survived are seriously underweight. Dead crab and lobster have been washing up on beaches again.  Razor clams that inhabit the shallow waters of estuary beaches are also reported to be affected. And the official response to these sobering facts currently appears to be a mixture of indifference, belligerence and denial. >click to read< 08:11

Commercial Fisherman Michael Alan Doyle of Wakefield, R.I. has passed away

Michael Alan Doyle, 64, of Wakefield, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, May 22, 2022 surrounded by his adoring family. Mike loved and respected the ocean with a deep passion. He started lobstering as an early teenager and began fishing commercially soon after. Mike was the proud owner of the F/V Seafarer and the F/V Charlie’s Pride for over 30 years, leaving behind his friend and Captain Scott Smith. His family knows he is happy to be reunited with his best friend and Captain Charlie Niles. Mike Doyle was the salt of the Earth. He was a kindhearted, loyal, and selfless man. He built a longer table instead of a higher fence. There was always room for everyone at Mike’s table and in his enormous heart. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mike’s name to the Point Judith Fisherman’s Scholarship Fund: PO Box 386, Narragansett, RI, 02882. >click to read< 07:30