Tag Archives: federal disaster declaration
California’s ocean salmon fishing season closed for second year in a row
California’s commercial and recreational ocean salmon fishing season is set to be closed for the second consecutive year, another blow to the state’s beleaguered industry suffering from the combined fallout of drought, climate disruption and deteriorating ocean conditions. Already, a new request is underway for yet another federal disaster declaration to help alleviate some of the wide economic damage from the closure, affecting not just the fleet but many associated businesses that depend on the fishery, one of the state’s most lucrative. Many fishermen, already resigned to a severely limited season if any at all due to depleted stocks, had backed the full closure. “For nine months now, we’ll probably be without income. When you look at overall impact, it’s significant. Do we want the closure? Obviously, no. Is it necessary? Yes,” said Dick Ogg, a Bodega Bay commercial fisherman and president of the Bodega Bay Fishermen’s Marketing Association. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:43
California’s Salmon Fishers Are Facing a Summer Without Salmon. Will They Get Federal Help?
On another day, Matt Juanes would have set out on the water long before sunrise. Juanes, an experienced salmon and crab fisherman who has worked out of Fisherman’s Wharf for over five years, is no stranger to the trade. Today, though, he would be chasing an unfamiliar catch for the first time: coonstripe shrimp. Juanes is one of hundreds of commercial fishers who dock along the Golden State coast and who would normally be out hunting mighty chinook or “king” salmon — the mainstay of California’s commercial salmon fishing industry. The first months of summer are typically a premier time for both salmon and salmon fishers. But this summer, California’s salmon fishing season is completely shut down for the first time in over a decade. Photos, >click to read< 09:40
Louisiana Gov. Edwards requests Federal Disaster Declaration for Fisheries Impacted by Hurricane Laura
Gov. John Bel Edwards sent a letter to U.S. Sec. of Commerce Wilbur Ross requesting a federal fishery disaster be declared due to the profound and continuing impacts of Hurricane Laura on Louisiana’s fishing communities. Such a declaration may help in obtaining federal financial assistance for our fishers, processors, docks, and for the state to help rehabilitate the important fishery species upon which our seafood industry relies. >click to read<14:05
Researchers work on better model for impact of fishery closures
Fisheries managers are faced with a firestorm every time they decide to close a fishery because of poor returns or low population numbers. A new economic model is trying to help them see into the future to understand the effects of a closure before it happens.,, It takes into account items like fishery participation, the amount of each vessel’s annual revenue that comes from the affected fishery, which vessels participate in other fisheries and the value of the fishery; the aim is to calculate the total impact when managers have to limit or close a fishery. >click to read<11:59
Governor Walker calls for federal disaster declaration for Pacific cod fishery
Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott signed a letter last week asking the federal government to declare the 2018 Pacific cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska a disaster. That could make the fishery eligible for federal relief funds, although who specifically would receive money would be figured out later.,, According to the letter, the value of the 2018 Pacific cod harvest is looking at a more than 80 percent drop in revenue from the five-year average. Barbara Blake, senior adviser to Walker and Mallott, said crossing that 80 percent threshold makes the fishery eligible for a disaster declaration. >click to read< 08:28
California State legislators to meet in Eureka to discuss future of crab, salmon fisheries
With the California crab season opener approaching and a poor salmon season winding down, a California legislative committee is set to meet in Eureka on Friday to discuss what the future holds for two of the North Coast’s most important fisheries. The Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture hearing is set to touch upon everything from whale entanglements in crab gear and the recent lawsuit filed related to them; the potential for a federal disaster declaration for California’s and Oregon’s 2017 salmon season; and crab fishing rules and recent test results on how toxic algae blooms are affecting crab this year. click here to read the story 09:02
Fishy-nomics
As a blunt reminder of the value of salmon to all Alaskans, businessmen and women from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough paraded before the Alaska Board of Fisheries on Saturday to talk business. Money and jobs have always been the rallying cries of commercial fishermen who catch the majority of salmon that make their way into Cook Inlet, the long fiord at the front door of Anchorage. And government, both state and federal, has long been receptive to their financial pleas. When weak king salmon runs in 2012 forced restrictions that put Kenai Peninsula commercial fishermen on the beach, then Gov. Sean Parnell asked for a federal disaster declaration. When it came, the Peninsula Clarion reported, “an estimated 443 permit holders from Cook Inlet’s eastside setnet fishery” vied for $4.6 million in aid. No government entity, however, has jumped in to bail out Mike Hudson, the owner of 3 Rivers Fly & Tackle in Wasilla, even though his business has in recent years been devastated by weak salmon returns linked in part to how Inlet salmon are managed. continue reading the article here 09:40
