Tag Archives: Columbia River Crab Fishermen’s Association
Oregon seafood industry calls on Gov. Tina Kotek to halt offshore wind energy development
A coalition of independent fishing boat operators, seafood companies and industry groups is calling on Gov. Tina Kotek to ask the federal government to stop a planned auction for floating wind energy projects off the Oregon Coast. In a letter to Kotek on Tuesday, the more than 100 signatories said she should stop the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management from moving forward with its plan to auction offshore wind site leases until the state has finalized its own roadmap for offshore wind development. “We’re saying no auction until the roadmap is complete,” said Heather Mann, executive director of the Newport-based Midwater Trawlers Cooperative, which signed the letter. more, >>click to read<< 12:43
Crawling with crab … at last
Pacific County boat decks are finally crawling with healthy Dungeness crab after a two-month regulatory delay, a tardy start due to violent seas and a disastrous fire that wrecked a top processing plant. We were out 24 hours and we got 25,000 pounds,” said F/V Brandy owner Ryan Walters, 42, upon returning to port with crew Monday, Feb. 5, to offload at Safe Coast Seafoods in Ilwaco. It was their third successful trip of the season, Walters said, in what has been a busy start to the season for area crabbers. Historically, three-quarters of the commercial volume is landed within the first few weeks of the season, when fishing pressure is the heaviest. “We missed the first day, and wish we would have stayed in the second — the weather wasn’t very nice,” Walters said regarding the rough weather and ocean conditions that kept most in the marina on opening day. 10 photos, more, >>click to read<< 15:26
Storm clouds gather over local crabbing fleet
The morning was frozen, clear and calm, far better than many “dump days.” Sunday marked a first chance to start making some money after two months stuck in port. Most crabbers wouldn’t have been to bed overnight before placing their first pots. Some squeeze in more dump runs before Wednesday morning, Feb. 1, when a nearly nonstop frenzy of harvest and delivery will commence and last for weeks. With little or no sleep leading to exhaustion, the Dungeness fishery off Washington and Oregon is among the most dangerous jobs in the country. Winter weather and ocean conditions can be crazy. Fatalities are all too common, while crabbers barely bother mentioning all the back injuries, damaged fingers and a litany of other mishaps. Even so, there are plenty of local guys who don’t want it any other way. They see risk as the price of freedom. >click to read< 07:48
Washington State Marine Spatial Planning: Are ‘winds of change’ in store for local waters?
Could Pacific Ocean wind farms and fish-rearing net pens in Willapa Bay become future industries in Pacific County? Those are some possibilities being studied among an array of new potential ocean uses mentioned by the Washington Department of Ecology during a public meeting Wednesday, Nov. 8, in Long Beach. Marine Spatial Planning for Washington’s offshore waters was discussed by members of an inter-agency team led by Washington Department of Ecology Senior Ocean Planner Jennifer Hennessey. About 24 community members — including county officials, commercial fishermen and local oyster farmers — attended to listen or provide formal testimony regarding their concerns about new potential ocean uses and possible impacts on existing industries. click here to read the story 21:08
