Tag Archives: F/V Nerka
An Alaska fishery has been pitted against orcas. Can both survive?
In early May a Seattle federal judge put the brakes on this summer’s troll fishery in Southeast Alaska, ruling that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration must amend its 2019 report on the impact of the fishing on endangered southern resident orcas who prefer to eat the same Chinook. But the ruling was put on hold last month by a U.S. appeals court, which allowed the fishery to reopen, citing economic harm. The complicated and contentious case probes the soft underbelly of the issue of the southern residents’ plight: the availability of nutrient-rich Chinook, their preferred meal. While fisheries up and down the West Coast are allocated fish for harvest each season, the southern residents get what’s left — and not intercepted by other predators. It has pitted fishers against orcas as some scientists and conservationists call into question the effectiveness of modern fisheries management. 9 photos, >click to read< 10:16
On the Puget Sound, the Women Whose Lives and Work Revolve Around Salmon
In the town of Bellingham, Washington, everyone knows when the salmon run come fall. Shimmery silvers and chum salmon break the chilly water’s surface with their heads, as they move through the Puget Sound and tributary rivers to their spawning grounds. Locals buzz, telling one another when they’ve seen them, admiring the fish on their journey. But for Ellie Kinley, this isn’t just a fall spectacle. She thinks about these fish 365 days a year. There’s a strong and sometimes overlooked community of fishing families here. The Lummi have the largest tribal fishing fleet in the nation, according to Kinley; the port is also home to fishing families, native and non-native alike, who use Bellingham as their home base between fishing trips to Alaska and California. Photos, >click to read< 17:44
How B.C. mining could hurt Northwest fishermen
AS a second-generation commercial fisherman my life has always revolved around salmon. Although a resident of Washington, I have spent summers fishing in Southeast Alaska since I boarded my parents’ boat as a 2-week-old. My livelihood depends on healthy salmon runs, something we have struggled to maintain here in Washington. Now, Alaska’s salmon also face major threats, from unprecedented development proposals across the border in British Columbia. Though I catch Alaskan salmon a few hundred miles north, I’ve seen how Western Washington’s economy has reflected the strength of Alaska’s salmon runs. Fishermen across the Pacific Northwest have cautiously sighed with relief at the delayed, but not dead, Bristol Bay Pebble Mine proposal. Read the rest here 12:07
