Daily Archives: July 8, 2023
Why are chinook runs declining in Bristol Bay, while sockeye runs are shattering records?
Tim Sands is the westside area management biologist with the Alaska Department for Fish and Game, where this issue is top of mind. “That’s one of the questions we get: ‘Well, are the sockeye up there competing with the kings? Is that what’s going on?’” Sands said. “I don’t think so. The sockeye for the most part are bearing in the lake. Kings are in the river. They spawn in different areas.” Sands says sockeye and chinook lay and bury their eggs in different spawning grounds and at different depths. So most likely the issue is tied to ocean conditions when kings migrate out to sea. But what’s exactly behind this decline remains a mystery. “There’s something else going on,” Sands said. >click to read< 13:45
P.E.I. fishermen compete for $1,000 in lobster trap stacking competition in Summerside
Sweat dripped down Ryan Murphy’s face as he caught his breath after winning the Journal Pioneer Lobster Trap Stacking Competition in Summerside on July 6. “The last one, I couldn’t feel my legs there. They were a little bit rubbery,” said Murphy, laughing. Altogether, only four of P.E.I.’s toughest lobster fishermen tested their strength and competed for a grand prize of $1,000. The competition has been part of the Summerside Lobster Carnival at Credit Union Place for a number of years. The fisherman had to move eight lobster traps about nine metres across the fairgrounds on a sweltering summer evening. >click to read< 11:12
Data shows Florida seafood landings rank below historic trends, Hurricane losses, high diesel prices likely to blame
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes and increased fuel costs have reduced the catch of Florida’s seafood industry. Florida’s Gulf Coast is the largest fishery for the state and is still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Ian in late 2022. The storm made landfall at Fort Myers and devastated Florida’s shrimping industry, sinking boats and destroying infrastructure crucial to the industry. According to preliminary data compiled by The Southern Shrimp Alliance from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fishery Monitoring Branch, Florida’s March 2023 landings off the West Coast were 72.7% below the historical average. In total, 2023 landings for the West Coast are 42.1% below historical trends. >click to read< 10:06
Whittier officials say fuel dock operational after closing due to 4th of July fire
The fire started on Tuesday, sinking a boat and forcing two people to be medevaced out with injuries. It also resulted in the closure of the dock, the only refueling station for many vessels. It also occurred right before a 36-hour commercial fishing opening in the Prince William Sound on Wednesday. Whittier Harbormaster David Borg says time was of the essence to get the dock ready for fueling. “We knew we had about a 30-hour window to get fuel back down to the dock, just based on the fact that when that 36-hour opener shut down, we would have the fleet coming back to Whittier to offload,” Borg said. “And they take that opportunity to refuel, resupply with food and so forth.” >click to read< 09:22
60 North Fishing director welcomes arrival of new Prolific
The new 25-metre Prolific arrived in Lerwick late last night (Thursday), much to owner Mark Anderson’s relief. She is the sister ship of the new Copious LK985, which arrived in the isles at the end of January. Both vessels belong to 60 North Fishing (Shetland) and replace two of the company’s previous vessels with the same names. “Both of the boats were nine months late, each of them, in being delivered,” Anderson said. “We sold the previous boats, first one in April last year and the second one in the end of June… so it’s been a long time coming.” Photos, >click to read< 08:39
In aftermath of sinking, crew member’s widow says Transport Canada reform falls short
Transport Canada will tighten inspections of fishing vessels in the aftermath of a deadly Nova Scotia sinking in 2020, but the widow of a lost crew member says the reform doesn’t go far enough to prevent future tragedies. Six crew members died on Dec. 15, 2022, when the Chief William Saulis capsized as heavy seas crashed into the rocking boat and 2,700 kilograms of unsecured scallops slid around a deck, blocking drainage. But Michelle Nickerson-Forbes, the widow of Dan Forbes, said in an interview Friday that the federal department is failing to move on what she and other families consider a root cause of repeated fishing tragedies: unstable vessels going out to sea. >click to read< 07:58
