Tag Archives: Nick Rahaim
Depredation: Whales and the Violent Fight for Fish on the Line
In the Gulf of Alaska, as well as in longline fisheries throughout the world from the Bering Sea to the Antarctic and tropical waters between, toothed whales, that is, any whale that feeds with teeth instead of baleen, such as sperm, pilot, and killer whales are learning to see fishers and their gear as a source of an easy meal. Scientists researching this behavior, known as depredation, say whales are increasingly eating lucrative catches right off the hook instead of foraging naturally. There’s no easy way to stop it, and the behavior is spreading through whale culture. Whales’ penchant for hooked fish might be the biggest fisheries story that hardly anyone knows about. >click to read< 10:01
Senate Bill 1309 – There’s a compelling case for more transparency in California fisheries.
Figuring out who owns the right to fish commercially on the Pacific Coast is typically easy: In fisheries managed by the states of Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, as well as the federal government, all you have to do is ask. California is an outlier. Here, the names of individuals and companies that own the right to fish in state-managed fisheries are confidential.,,, Through my investigation I found the wording of the confidentiality provision hadn’t been changed since 1933, even though at that time, there were no fishing rights to own. Times have changed, but the law hasn’t. Now commercial fishing rights, or limited-entry permits as they’re known in the industry, are worth more than $100 million and bought and sold on an open market. Consumers – as well as fishermen – don’t have the right to know who owns what in state-managed fisheries. >click to read<16:26
