Daily Archives: January 13, 2023
Kodiak fishermen stand down to protest low tanner crab prices
Kodiak’s biggest tanner crab fishery in nearly 40 years is set to open on Sunday, but the fleet is standing down. Fishermen say they won’t go fishing for the prices offered by local canneries. It’s the latest wrinkle on a winter fishing season already impacted by closures and strikes. Processors in Kodiak offered $2.50 per pound for tanners when negotiations started earlier this month. Kevin Abena is the secretary and treasurer for the Kodiak Crab Alliance Cooperative, which represents about 120 permit holders in the fishery. He said since then, all of Kodiak’s canneries haven’t budged from their initial price. “We haven’t been given anything to consider. $2.50 isn’t the number that we’ll consider,” Abena said. >click to read< 16:00
A seventh dead humpback whale has washed up on the Jersey Shore
State and marine mammal experts had responded on Friday, Jan 13 to Brigantine Beach a half-mile beyond a former U.S. Coast Guard station. There was much speculation on social media whether offshore testing for wind turbines has played a role in their deaths. The latest whale was described as a 20-foot juvenile. The dead whale washed up just miles from where another whale was found in Atlantic City on Saturday, Jan. 7. It was the seventh dead whale washed up in 39 days. >click to read< 13:45
Kodiak fishermen gearing up for biggest tanner crab season in decades
Kodiak’s tanner crab fishery opens on Sunday, Jan. 15 and it’s a whopper – this year’s harvest levels are the biggest they’ve been in nearly 40 years, and fishermen are gearing up for a big season in more ways than one. Darren Platt owns the fishing vessel Agnes Sabine. It’s a 48-foot seiner – normally, he goes out for salmon – sometimes herring – and this is his fourth season fishing for tanner crabs. He said this year, there’s been a buzz in both of Kodiak’s boat harbors. “It looks almost like pre-salmon season,” he said. “There’s a lot of boats that haven’t fished tanner crabs in a while, or maybe have never fished it and so they’re just getting geared up now. And so the docks have been pretty darn busy for December and January.” >click to read< 12:15
Is the freeport to blame for loss of marine life in Teesside?
The deaths of thousands of crabs on the beaches of Teesside and North Yorkshire has created bitter divisions between the fishing industry and the government. With so much disagreement over the cause, the issue has “set off a row that shows little sign of dying off”, In October 2021, crabs and lobsters began washing up dead on the beaches in the region. The beaches were “piled with hundreds of thousands of dead and dying crabs and lobster” With their catches plummeting, the fishing industry has called for financial support from the government to “save” the North East fleet in the face of the huge losses. >click to read< 11:00
Fishing boats depart for Alaska – Local crabbers begin dropping pots for season opener
A number of the larger commercial fishing boats that call Newport’s Yaquina Bay their home headed out this week for the annual trek to Alaska’s Bering Sea. It can take eight to 10 days for them to make the journey up north, depending on the weather. Boats from Newport will be docking either at Dutch Harbor or Kodiak, where they will be based while fishing for pollack and cod, a fishery that generally lasts for several months. The Port of Newport’s International Terminal was hopping with activity this week as boat owners and their crews made final preparations. In addition to the Alaskan fleet getting ready to head north, local commercial crabbers were busy loading their gear in preparation for the opening of the season this Sunday, Jan. 15. >click to read< 08:40
Restrictions lifted on beleaguered North Bay Dungeness crab fleet
The restrictions were imposed earlier this season to reduce the risk of marine animals becoming entangled in gear. Beginning this weekend, commercial crabbers south of Mendocino County can deploy 100% of their allotted crab pots, instead of operating at 50% reduction, as they have for the past two weeks. Extreme weather and rough seas proved an impediment this season, however, as have prices, which so far have kept the commercial fleet north of Sonoma County tied up at dock. Dick Ogg, vice president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, was busy Thursday with his crew prepping gear on a rare clear day so they could try to fish this weekend. >click to read< 07:31
