Tag Archives: Oregon
Oregon delays start of Dungeness crab season by more than 2 weeks
The traditional Dec. 1 opening of the commercial Dungeness crab season will be delayed until at least Dec. 16 along the entire Oregon coast as testing shows crabs are too low in meat yield.,, Crab quality testing in early November showed that none of the test areas met the criteria for a Dec. 1 opening. The delayed opening will allow for crabs to fill with more meat. click here to read the story 15:58
“Last year’s season opening was also delayed but still brought in the highest ex-vessel value ever ($62.7 million) with 20.4 million pounds landed, about 22 percent above the 10-year average,” the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlifre said in a statement. click here to read the story
Crab bill strengthening the Pacific Northwest’s Dungeness crab industry heads to President Trump
A bill introduced by Oregon’s Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to strengthen Oregon’s crab fishery passed the United States Senate and will now head to the president’s desk for signature into law. The bill permanently extends a decades-long fishery management agreement that has been vital to the Pacific Northwest’s Dungeness crab fishery.,,, The states of Oregon, Washington, and California cooperatively manage the West Coast crab fishery in federal waters under a tri-state agreement that Congress first authorized in 1998. The act would make that authority permanent. click here to read the story 15:51
Telling it like it is – Lack of salmon passage hurts fishermen
To keep producing swimming pool water, green lawns and golf courses in the desert you have to kill wild and hatchery salmon and California is not slowing down one bit. I want you to name one dam built in Idaho that has a working fish ladder, or was built with the intent to have a fish ladder but got a senatorial dispensation to forgo that cost. Why shouldn’t Idaho Power and ratepayers pay to keep salmon from extinction? There is no free lunch in energy production, and you fail to mention that Oregon taxpayers are still on the hook for renewable energy tax forgiveness to foreign companies who have so many tax credits they sold them to other mega-national companies to reduce their state taxes. I live here. I have paid my dues. I am going to be asked by the liberal bunch of legislators to cover up their give-aways with higher taxes so they can give raises to the poor public employees whose pension and health care costs have become a considerable burden to everyone who lives and works in Oregon. The money should have been there but the Blue State power broker Democrats sold us out to have environmental cred on the record. No Oregon troller can now fish south of the south Jetty at Florence on the Siuslaw River to the California border. It is impacting all the commercial and recreational fishing from Brookings to Winchester Bay. John Thomas Jr., F/V Solimar, Newport, Ore. Click here to read it. It’s real good, too. 19:31
Oregons season delay doesn’t stop crab preparations
Although Oregon’s crab season has been delayed indefinitely, many Brookings commercial fishermen on Tuesday continued preparing for the start of the season — whenever that may be.The season — which traditionally begins Dec. 1 — has been postponed due to elevated levels of the shellfish toxin Domoic acid found in crab off the coast of Garibaldi, a northern Oregon port. However, the season will open Thursday in and around Crescent City. “Some boats are fishing in California,” Brookings fisherman Willy Goergen, captain of the Catalyst fishing vessel, said Tuesday. “My crew’s on the gear pile, switching out pots and changing tags over, ropes — we’re going to have to fish a different area than we anticipated.” The California crab season is limited to the ocean from Crescent City to just north of Eureka. Some Brookings fishermen — those who have California permits — will go fishing over the border, but others will wait until the Oregon season opens. Read the story here 08:28
Navy to Expand Sonar, Other Training off Northwest Coast
The U.S. Navy has finalized a plan to expand sonar testing and other warfare training off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and northern California. The Navy decided to implement its preferred plan after a lengthy review that included a determination from the National Marine Fisheries Service that the exercises would not have major impacts on endangered orcas and other marine mammals. It announced its decision on Nov. 4. The fisheries service last year renewed the Navy’s five-year permit, through 2020, to conduct the activities in areas from the inland waters of Puget Sound in Washington state to the northern coast of California. The plan includes expanding the use of “sonobuoys,” devices that send out underwater sonar signals used by air crews training to detect submarines. Read the rest here 16:54
Coast Guard rescue stations in SC, Oregon open till 2018
U.S. Coast Guard helicopter search-and-rescue stations on the South Carolina and Oregon coasts will remain open at least until 2018. Sen. Tim Scott said in a statement Thursday that part of an authorization bill that cleared Congress this week includes keeping the Coast Guard Stations open. The bill was sent to the president to be signed. Losing the Air Facility Charleston and its search-and-rescue helicopter would have serious effects on one of our nation’s critical port cities and adversely impact the safety of mariners, residents and tourists in the Lowcountry,” Scott said. Scott and his fellow South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham worked with Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon to keep the facilities open. Read the rest here 08:33
Rights of Spawning Salmon Could Trump Gold Miners’ Federal Guarantee
Salmon spawning in America’s great Northwest is nothing but a brief, fleeting romance that is always followed by death. However, the annual rite of watery reproduction is at the heart of a legal battle being waged by a small group of gold miners who are trying to stop Oregon from doing to them what California environmentalists have already accomplished. The miners have filed suit to overturn new rules in Oregon that would ban the machines they use for suction dredge mining to harvest gold from the bottoms of riverbeds. Read the article here 10:08
Oregon and Washington delay crab season because of toxin
Oregon on Friday delayed the Dec. 1 start along its entire coast, after testing in recent weeks showed higher toxin levels in the southern half of the state. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said delay of the season will allow completion of additional testing to make sure toxin levels are safe. And in Washington, officials on Friday also said they’re delaying the season along parts of the coast where it starts on Dec. 1. Read the article here 11:13
Fish wrap-up – Debriefer: October 14, 2015
From the Article: U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman co-sponsored the West Coast Dungeness Crab Management Act that seeks to permanently extend a 20-year fisheries management agreement aimed at protecting the health of the crab fishery in . It is set to expire next September. But there’s a longstanding critique of Dungeness management that small-time Bodega Bay operators say puts them at a disadvantage. And speaking of endangered species,,, Read the rest here 08:28
California crab task force recommending a number of changes to the fishery.
The state’s advisory panel on crab fishing has released its report to the state legislature recommending a number of changes to the fishery. The panel was formed according to a 2008 law meant to help make the fishery, which has become one of the most valuable in California, especially to independent commercial vessels. The task force promised to look into changes in the state’s program on limiting crab traps per boat and reactivating unused permits. Read the rest here 19:13
Laine Welch: Pacific halibut stock on the rebound
The Pacific halibut stock appears to be rising from the ashes, and that bodes well for catches in some fishing regions next year. It would turn the tide of a decades-long decline that has caused halibut catches to be slashed by more than 70 percent in . Read the rest here 15:22
The Oregon Dungeness commercial crab fishing season started on time this year
“It’s been delayed the last two years, but this year we’ve got a Dec. 1 opener,” Hugh Link said last week. Link, the executive director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, said the opening is set by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and is based, up and down the coast, on the percentage of fill rate of the crab. Full story here 17:35
Good to Go! – There will be Dungeness crabs for the holidays
Commercial crabbing will open Dec. 1 off the coast of Oregon, Washington and Northern California. In order for the season to open, crabs taken in sample fishing must meet criteria for the percentage of crabs that have filled their shells after the most-recent molt. In past years, commercial openers have been delayed because crabs didn’t meet the standards. Read the rest here 11:49
China lifts geoduck ban, to Peninsula suppliers’ relief
China has lifted a five-month ban on live shellfish from U.S. West Coast waters, a move greeted with relief by North Olympic Peninsula producers. The Chinese government announced the ban’s end in a letter Friday, officials said. China imposed the ban in December on the import of clams, oysters, mussels and scallops harvested from Washington, Oregon, Alaska and . Read more here 10:33
Pacific Fishery Management Council has good news for both Oregon sport anglers and commercial troll salmon fishermen
Recreational and commercial troll Chinook salmon fishing this year looks to vary from good to great based on forecasted adult returns destined for key river basins of the Columbia River, the Central Valley in California, and the Klamath River. Read more here dailyastorian 21:34
Tests show China banned Puget Sound geoduck clams safe to eat
SEATTLE — Washington state health officials said Tuesday that their arsenic testing has confirmed that geoduck clams harvested from a bay in Puget Sound are safe to eat, following toxicity concerns that prompted China to ban imports of West Coast shellfish. Read more@thecolumbian 08:51
Oregon’s commercial crab season beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Oregon’s commercial crab season had been delayed until Dec. 16 because test catches from ports on the Northern Oregon Coast did not show the required amount of meat in them. The season can begin as early as Dec. 1 in Oregon, but can be delayed. Northern California fishermen could have started fishing as soon as Dec. 1, but delayed in order to try to get a higher price from buyers. more@currypilot 20:47
Oregon: Start of commercial Dungeness crab season will be delayed again
According to Hugh Link, director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, the delays are necessary to ensure consumers get a lot of meat for their dollar — and that fishermen get a lot of dollars for their meat. “The fuller they are of meat, the better they are for the consumer and for the fisherman,” Link said. more@thecolumbian 10:31
Oregon Commercial Dungeness crab season delayed
NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Fish and Wildlife officials say the commercial Dungeness crab season on the Oregon coast will be delayed through at least Dec. 15 to allow the crabs to fill with meat. [email protected] 11:14
They’ve got a BIG Lineup for the Commercial Fishermen’s Festival September 14 – 15, 2013 Astoria, Oregon
We still have an exciting line-up of Deadliest Catch stars coming to the Festival include Captain Jonathan and Scott Hillstrand, Captain Rick and Donna Quashnick, Hiram Johnson, Nick McGlashan, Matt Bradley, Captain “Big Dad” Harry Lewis, Robert Perkey and Mike Vanderveldt among others! Info here 14:13
Oregon – Brookings, Newport lead Dungeness crab totals – ranks sixth in the last 15 years.
Preliminary numbers show landings in excess of 18.1 million pounds for the season, which officially ended Wednesday. The record, set back in the 2004-05 season, stands at 33.7 million pounds. In the most recent 10-year period, Oregon landings have averaged 20.3 million pounds annually. more@dailyastorian 14:19
The Port of Bandon, Oregon invite’s you to the annual Blessing of the Fleet at 1 p.m., Saturday, May 25
Loved ones who have been lost at sea and those in the military who gave their lives for the country will be honored. A blessing for those men and women currently serving and veterans who have returned from war or served in any capacity is planned as well. The blessing also will include those who fish the seas and those who make their livings commercial fishing. Port of Bandon General Manager Gina Dearth asks those interested to call the port to include in the service the name of a loved one who died in a water-related accident. continued
West Coast fisheries to see ecosystem approach – Pacific Council to adopt ecosystem approach to managing West Coast fisheries
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Federal fisheries managers for the West Coast are poised for a major change in the way they make sure that plenty of fish remain in the sea. continued
Skeptics question cash for fishermen – Kitzhaber repeats promise to help gillnetters move off Columbia main stem, video
Kitzhaber unveiled his proposed budget Monday, although it must be approved by the Legislature. It includes money for gillnetters to change their gear and some reimbursement for lost income, as well as investment in hatcheries. In answer to a question from The Daily Astorian, he said fishing traditions can be maintained – even as techniques may change. Read more
Washington State Awarded $22 Million for Salmon Recovery – Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board has received a $22 million federal grant to continue the state’s salmon recovery efforts in Washington. “A healthy Washington state economy is reliant on healthy salmon populations,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire. “Salmon support jobs and small businesses – especially our mom-and-pop tackle shops, restaurants, fishing guides and hotels. This grant not only will help Washington keep people employed, it will help our efforts to restore and protect our natural resources, making Washington a better place for all of us to live.” Of the $22 million, $15 million will be awarded by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board as competitive grants for projects statewide that will restore and protect the rivers, streams and bays that salmon need to recover. “The grant process is very competitive and works from the ground up,” said Kaleen Cottingham, director of the Recreation and Conservation Office, which administers the federal grant and supports the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. “Local communities wrote salmon recovery plans, which were approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Local watershed groups, called lead entities, select projects based on the priorities in those plans and community needs. State scientists review the projects to make sure they will be effective. The process helps us ensure we are investing in projects that will do the most to recover salmon.” Read more http://www.lakestevensjournal.com/county-state/article.exm/2012-09-06_washington_state_awarded__22_million_for_salmon_recovery
The federal Department of Commerce’s NOAA administers the fund and will competitively award the $65 million for Fiscal Year 2012 among the states of Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and California, and to the west coast tribes.
“We are pleased to continue this investment in salmon recovery in the Northwest,” said Will Stelle, NOAA’s Northwest regional administrator. “In addition to improving our environment, salmon restoration projects generate jobs on par with dollars spent on infrastructure projects like roads and highways.”
