Daily Archives: July 22, 2022
Fish and Game closes part of the Upper Cook Inlet to gillnet fishing
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed all set gillnet fishing in the Kenai, Kasilof, and East Forelands sections of Upper Cook Inlet after low counts of large king salmon passages. This is the third year in a row that the department has closed this fishery, with Ken Coleman saying it’s becoming a strain on some of those who set gillnets for a living. “We watch the fish jump by, watch everybody else having a good time doing what they do and we’re all losing money,” Coleman said. This closure impacts businesses collectively as it’s a chain reaction effect across the area. Video, >click to read< 15:07
Bodega Bay salmon fishing ‘very productive’ so far this season
On a late morning in early July, Dick Ogg stared off into a sea of gray. The 69-year-old Sonoma County local had just departed from Bodega Bay for five days of commercial salmon fishing off the coast. Heavy fog, rough waves and strong winds made this a bad time for a phone call with a reporter. He was able to talk for a few minutes though. Ogg, vice president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, has lived in Sonoma County for 62 years and has fished for crab and salmon along the coast for more than 40 of those years. “The ocean conditions right now are probably the best we’ve seen in the last 10 years,” he said. Ogg unloaded his five-day catch in Bodega Bay on a Wednesday, about 3,500 pounds or so, “right in the middle” of the pack, he said. At $6.50 per pound, the haul comes out to more than $20,000. So far this season, “everybody’s done very well … this has been a very productive year.” Video, photos, >click to read< 12:15
Senators Demand Federal Scrutiny of Private Equity’s Incursion Into Fishing
Three U.S. senators, including two members of a Senate subcommittee that oversees the fishing industry, are calling for greater federal scrutiny of private equity’s incursion into East Coast commercial fishing. The ProPublica/New Bedford Light investigation found that a federal regulatory system known as “catch shares,” which was adopted in 2010 to reduce overfishing, has fostered private equity’s consolidation of the industry at the expense of independent fishermen. The single largest permit holder in the New England groundfish industry is Blue Harvest Fisheries, which has rights to catch 12% of groundfish, approaching the antitrust cap of 15.5%. The current antitrust cap “fails to prevent excessive consolidation in the fishery,” said Geoff Smith, one of 18 members of the New England Fishery Management Council, which advises NOAA. >click to read< 10:23
P.E.I. snow crab fishers fined for underreporting catch
Judge Nancy Orr expressed frustration at the low fines set out in the sentencing guidelines for this type of charge, saying the fines aren’t much of a disincentive if someone ends up being able to sell 20,000 pounds of snow crab that didn’t get reported as counting toward their quota. She made the remarks in relation to the sentencing of James Gavin. Court heard Gavin had an extensive record, with convictions dating back to 1995. Gavin was fined $2,500. The cases in Georgetown court Thursday followed a Department of Fisheries and Oceans investigation in Souris dating back to 2019 and 2020. It was called Operation Gannet. Both fishers and dockside monitors ended up being charged. >click to read< 08:57
Trawler tanker fire; TAIC orders Talley’s to review its maintenance procedures
Languishing in the water off the West Coast, the boat had to be towed back to shore after suffering extensive heat and smoke damage despite a quick response from the crew to bring the blaze under control. Amaltal Enterprises crew were fishing near Hokitika on July 2, last year when the main engine was shut down to fix repairs to a low-pressure fuel pipe. About 50 minutes after being restarted, an accumulator installed in the engine unwound and dislodged from its pipe connector, spraying marine diesel “at 8 bar pressure to jet upwards” all over the hot engine exhaust, sparking the fire. >click to read< 08:03
