Daily Archives: March 10, 2023
In memory of Carl Arvidson
Cordova recently lost a great fisherman. Carl Godfred Arvidson passed away during the evening of Feb. 21 in the arms of his wife, Suzanne Arvidson, in Carson City, Nevada. Carl was born in Cordova. His family entered the local fisheries in the early 1900s, when his father, Gus (John Gustav) Arvidson, made his way from Sweden to Alaska. Gus married another young immigrant, Minnie,,, Gus Arvidson plied his trade in the waters of the Copper River Delta. When he started fishing, he had to row his boat to the fishing grounds and haul in his net by hand, both formidable feats. At the young age of 38, he suffered an injury while at sea, returned to town and passed away. He was survived by his wife and seven young children. At the time, Carl was a tender 5 years old. When Carl and his three brothers, Gus, George and Bob, came of age, they knew their best opportunity for success in Cordova was in the commercial fishing industry. They all entered the treacherous industry. >click to read< 18:35
Fish exporter pleads guilty to mislabeling Florida spiny lobster sold to China
The company, Aifa Seafood Inc., based in Florida City, faces a sentence of five years probation and a fine up to $500,000. A judge could sentence its president, 57-year-old Jiu Fa Chen, of Parkland, to up to five years in federal prison and order him to pay a fine of up to $250,000 during his scheduled May 23 hearing in Miami. According to an Oct. 5, 2022, grand jury indictment, from May 16, 2019, to Aug. 3, 2019, the company bought about 5,900 pounds of lobster from a company in Port Au Prince, Haiti, and turned around and exported it to customers in China with the label, “Florida Spiny Lobster, Product of the USA.” >click to read< 15:32
Whale death confusion abounds, and some is deliberate
Press coverage of the tragic whale deaths is a supreme study in confusion, especially the foolish attempts to somehow exonerate offshore wind development. Here are some prominent examples. The evergreen New York Times wins the race for worst coverage by claiming to explain the numerous recent whale deaths as due to online shopping. I am not making this up. Their headline promises an explanation: “Why 23 Dead Whales Have Washed Up on the East Coast Since December”. The primary reason claimed is that East Coast shipping has increased due to people buying lots of stuff post Covid, especially online, and ship strikes account for a lot of the deaths. >click to read< 13:11
Scots salmon boss accused of spying is key player in plan for ‘UK’s largest fish farm’
According to Companies House, Craig Anderson is a “person with significant control” of AquaCultured Seafood Limited, which submitted early stage plans for a £75m onshore salmon farm in the English town at the end of last year. Anderson was the chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) who asked a private investigator to compile an ‘intelligence report’ on the anti-fish farming campaigner, Corin Smith, as first revealed by The Ferret in November 2021. The intelligence report included analysis of Smith’s movements and behaviour, searches of his financial and legal history, and pictures of his house. One environmental group said at the time that the SSC had used “Big Brother levels of corporate snooping” against Smith. >click to read< 10:45
Louisiana denounces federal rule for shrimp boats at Fifth Circuit
The small shellfish are big business in Louisiana with 15,000 residents employed in the industry, which has an annual economic impact of $1.3 billion for the state, according to its Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. But Louisiana shrimpers who followed their fathers and grandfathers into the trade say it is dying as wild-caught and farm-raised imports from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India into the U.S. have exceeded 1 billion pounds annually in recent years. Since 1987, the National Marine Fisheries Service has required shrimp trawlers in some circumstances to install turtle excluder devices, which separate sea turtles, sharks and other large bycatch so they can escape through an opening in the netting. >click to read< 09:52
Oregon fishing season called off due to dwindling salmon populations
An extremely low “abundance” of California Chinook salmon stocks and projected low spawning escapements has led to the cancellation of the upcoming commercial and recreational salmon fishing season along most of the Oregon coast. Thursday’s announcement came in two parts from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, with both actions canceling fishing seasons between March 15 and May 15, 2023. According to Fish and Wildlife, the action applies to all commercial ocean troll salmon fishery seasons from Cape Falcon to the Oregon-California Border. Meanwhile, recreational salmon fishing has been canceled in ocean waters between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain off the Oregon coast. >click to read< 08:45
Biden’s Budget More Than Doubles Funding For Offshore Projects, Potentially ‘Putting American Fisherman Out Of Business’
Biden’s budget allocates $60 million to expand the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) offshore wind permitting activities, an initiative fishermen say will damage their businesses and environmental groups warn could be killing whales. Experts warn that wind projects disrupt the whale’s habitats and generate disorienting noise, factors that could be contributing to a recent increase in whale deaths. So far, their requests for the Biden administration to investigate have been fruitless. Fishermen are also sounding the alarm on offshore wind efforts. “Offshore wind will put American fishermen out of business,” said commercial fisherman Jerry Leeman. >click to read< 08:02
