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Alaska: Beam Them Up, Coastie
Spokesman Christopher McLaughlin said the Coast Guard received two may-day calls in the early morning hours and launched a C-130 and an HH-60 Jayhawk. The first call was from the F/V Chaos, which was listing in heavy seas due to icing on the west side of Kodiak Island. While responding to that call the F/V Star Trek sent out a mayday saying they were going aground. It was determined the Chaos was stable, so the Hercules and Jayhawk were diverted.
Lieutenant Kevin Rapp, the co-pilot aboard the HH-60, said when they arrived in Island Bay they had good visibility but 80-knot winds. The conditions forced the Jayhawk to land about 200 yards from the Star Trek on the nearby bluff. The three crew members of the boat crossed the beach and climbed the bluff where they were met by the chopper’s pilot and rescue swimmer and helped into the Jayhawk. Rapp says the fishermen all had survival suits on and were dry, if not too warm in the 50-below-zero wind chill.
- KMXT Kodiak
Alaska: No Names, No News
UNALASKA -- As of Mar 7, Unalaskans airing grievances on the Unalaska Advertiser web log will have to sign their names to their postings.Hundreds of people visit the Advertiser blog each day to read and contribute anonymous postings, frequently taking sharp aim at targets across Unalaska's entire political spectrum, from longshoremen's union representatives to city officials.
No one has written on the blog since the Advertiser's administrator, Veda Webb, decided to make posters identify themselves. Webb’s decision was prompted by the increased nastiness of the blog in recent weeks, in the wake of the controversial appointment of interim City Council member Roger Rowland and conflicts involving various local businesses and labor unions.
Webb's blog evolved out of the "Pet Peeves" section of her website, which she started two years ago. Since she began operating the blog, hits on the Unalaska Advertiser site have jumped to ten times what they used to be.
Along the way she has carefully guarded the identities of the more then 150 people who have posted their opinions on the blog.
She said the change may be a temporary one, and is intended to get things under control while she thinks of what permanent fix she could put in place.
– KIAL
Alaska: ComFish Conference March 15-17
KODIAK -- Offshore exploration, king crab stocks, the Pebble mine project, Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation and seafood marketing are all on the agenda for ComFish 2007, March 15-17 in Kodiak.Comfish, which started out in a borrowed National Guard tent in 1980, has grown to become one of the island's major visitor attractions, filling the city of Kodiak with participants in the annual commercial fisheries gathering.
The 2007 agenda will include a discussion on offshore oil and gas exploration in Bristol Bay, spokespersons for and against developing the proposed Pebble mine, and a discussion of federal, state and local fisheries issues.
More information here.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
Oregon: Marine Protected Areas Discussed in Oregon
SALEM -- The idea of setting aside marine reserves — areas akin to national parks in the oceans — is gaining momentum as anglers, conservationists, scientists and government officials discuss the concept with the public.Marine reserves and marine protected areas are places where fishing is prohibited or limited.
Ideally, marine reserves would prevent widespread, sudden fishing closures because protected areas would restore marine life and ocean habitat, reserve proponents say.
The basics of marine reserves and threats to oceans will be discussed March 13 at Willamette University after a showing of the 30-minute documentary, “Common Ground: Oregon’s Oceans.” Dozens of legislators, scientists, anglers and government officials are scheduled to attend.
Oregon legislators are considering a bill, House Bill 2924, to map the seafloor off the state’s coast — the first step in understanding marine resources and needed protection. The workgroup of the state’s Ocean Policy Advisory Council is studying the idea of setting up marine reserves off Oregon’s shores.
Commercial fishermen representative Glen Spain, Northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, said that marine reserves need to be considered carefully to not cause irreparable harm to the commercial fishing industry.
- Salem Statesman Journal
Ohio: Editorial: Gear Fights, Country fights
WILLOUGHBY, OH -- Commercial fishermen view Lake Erie as a very large office, where their livelihood depends on catching yellow perch. Some have gotten into trouble, driving their sport fishing counterparts to angle for their extinction in 2006. While a plan to buy out Ohio's commercial fishermen rightly failed, they likely won't escape a second attempt to impose rules.Ohio requires perch to be a certain size larger than what Canadian fishermen can keep. Ohio's fish are sent to Canada and returned as processed fillets, meeting Ohio's minimum length requirements. Since Canada's fish do not have this guarantee, more pre-hand sorting of fish boosts the cost to Ohioans.
In light of past problems, but noting the value of this industry, the Willoughby News Herald agrees with state Sen. Timothy Grendell's approach, believing his idea will save money for Ohioans. Given that buying out commercial fishing fleets would have cost taxpayers $4 million, Grendell believes the industry should bear the cost of enforcement. His plan jumps the cost for a license to $2,400, from $800.
Fishermen will likely be hurt by this prospective regulation.
Grendell also proposes that penalties increase for commercial fishing violations, including license revocation if a license holder commits a fishing-related felony or three regulatory violations over five years.
In a legislative year centered on a new budget, The Willoughby News-Herald thinks lawmakers shouldn't neglect this bill, which is important to Northeast Ohio.
– The (Willoughby) News-Herald
Alabama: Prospective Gill Net Ban in Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, AL - There was a time when Spanish mackerel gathered in enormous schools along the Alabama coast, but that’s no longer the case.CCA Alabama Executive Director Ed Williamson, University of Alabama professor Hobson Bryan, University of South Alabama Marine Sciences professor Bob Shipp and CCA Alabama Founder Manning McPhillips say they know why. Speaking to about 70 saltwater anglers on Mar 7, they pointed to commercial fishermen using gill nets and they want to put a stop to it.
Shipp said that when the gill nets are banned, the Spanish will come back. He said they’re not over-fished in the rest of the Gulf, that the coastal depletion is localized because of gill netting. Alabama is the only state along the Gulf Coast that hasn’t banned gill nets.
Pete Barber, president of the Alabama Seafood Association, calls Shipp’s assertion “very questionable science." Spanish mackerel are migratory fish and the National Marine Fishery Service has set a harvest quota of 9.1 million pounds on the fish. The commercial catch has never exceeded 2 million pounds, he said.
He also notes that Shipp is a paid consultant to CCA Commercial fishermen have used gill nets in Alabama waters for decades. However, monofilament nets are a more recent innovation and are much lighter than natural fiber nets because they don’t absorb water. That allows commercial fishermen to use much longer, more efficient nets.
Gill net bans in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida have increased pressure on Alabama waters.
- Tuscaloosa News
Alaska: Bag Limit Nets More Discussion
Federal departments of State and Commerce have both rejected the one-per-day halibut catch limit on sport fishermen and charter operators. Now, regulators and fishermen alike are looking at how to fish healthy populations of halibut without damaging the resource. The National Marine Fisheries Service is currently looking to apply some regulations to curb the growing sport take, which has exceeded the guideline harvest limit for several years in a row.Bruce Leaman, chair of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), expects the fisheries service to impose alternative measures to curb the surge in the halibut catch.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council could also publish alternatives to regulate the charter take.
One method widely discussed is the idea of allowing fishermen to take one trophy-sized fish, as well as one other, in order to lessen the demand for the biggest, and largest reproducing fish.
Some traditions may need to change. Currently, a big cash prize is awarded annually for catching the largest halibut (2006 prize was over $43K). This is counter intuitive to protecting the population, as the biggest halibut produce the most offspring. But the annual derby in Homer is money in the pockets for fishermen who work in conjunction with the Homer Chamber of Commerce on the annual Homer Halibut Derby.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council could also consider the widely discussed option of limited entry, thereby limiting new charter operators from starting up in the business.
Commercially, the IPHC completed its 83rd annual meeting in Victoria, B.C., and is recommending to the governments of Canada and the United States that catch limits for 2007 total 65.1 million pounds. That is a 6.7 percent decrease from the 2006 catch limit of 69.9 million pounds. Area 3A, which includes the Homer area, has a total allowable catch of 26.2 million pounds this year, up 1 million from last year. There are 200 individual fishing quota permits held in the Homer area, which total 5 million pounds of allowed halibut take.
- Homer Tribune
Federal Notices: PFMC Amendment to Protect West Coast Krill
The Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 12 to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan for review by the Secretary of Commerce. The intent of Amendment 12 is to protect all species of krill off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.Krill are an important food source for many Council-managed stocks, as well as marine mammals and seabirds, some of which are listed as threatened or endangered.
This amendment would prohibit the harvest of all species of krill by any fishing vessel operating in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the West Coast and would deny the use of exempted fishing permits to allow krill fishing. At this time, a krill fishery off the U.S. West Coast does not exist; however, the Council has decided to take preventive action at this time to ensure that a krill fishery does not develop.
Comments on Amendment 12 may be sent to 0648-AU26.SWR@noaa.gov through April 27, 2007.
For more information, read the Federal Register notice or contact Joshua Lindsay at (562) 980-4034.
Federal Notices: Changes Proposed for Groundfish Observer Program
NOAA Fisheries has issued a proposed rule to amend regulations implementing the North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program. This action is necessary to avoid expiration of these regulations on December 31, 2007, and ensure uninterrupted observer coverage in North Pacific groundfish fisheries. Observers collect catch data used by managers for quota monitoring and management of groundfish and prohibited species, biological data and samples used by scientists for stock assessment analyses, information used by managers to document and reduce fishery interactions with protected resources, and information and samples used by scientists in marine ecosystem research. The Observer Program also provides information, analyses, and support in the development of proposed policy and management measures.The North Pacific Council has been considering changes that would improve the Observer Program. This proposed rule would allow the current Observer Program to continue until the Council recommends and the Secretary approves and implements further action to amend the program.
Comments may be sent to 0648-AU58obs@noaa.gov through March 23, 2007.
For more information, read the proposed rule or contact Jason.Anderson@noaa.gov.
Federal Notices: 2007 and 2008 Groundfish Management Measures - Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
NOAA Fisheries has announced the 2007 and 2008 harvest limits and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area.Species covered by this action include pollock, yellowfin sole, rock sole, flathead sole, Pacific cod, sablefish, Pacific ocean perch, northern rockfish, squid, Greenland turbot, shortraker rockfish, rougheye rockfish, among others.
The allowable biological catch (ABC) levels are based on the best available biological and socioeconomic information, including projected biomass trends, information on assumed distribution of stock biomass, and revised technical methods used to calculate stock biomass. In general, the development of ABCs and overfishing levels involves sophisticated statistical analyses of fish populations and is based on a successive series of six levels, or tiers, of reliable information available to fishery scientists.
For more information, read the final rule or contact Mary.Furuness@noaa.gov.
Alaska: Homer Ice Bound
Most winters, Norm Anderson merely has to climb aboard his boat in the harbor and make sure his oil pan heater is still keeping the engine warm before he turns over the F/V Sea Otter for a winter king fishing excursion. Anderson, owner and operator of Norm’s Saltwater Adventures, is ready to fish.He just can’t go anywhere.
“The ice is killing me,” Anderson said. “I’ve had to cancel close to 50 trips this winter because I just can’t get out of the harbor.”
The harbor freezing up is nothing new around Homer. In fact, Homer Harbormaster Steve Dean said it’s actually fairly normal. The difference this year, however, is how late the ice is sticking around.
“It’s a little later in the year for ice to be socked in the harbor,” Dean said. “It usually happens sometime in December or January.”
For those looking for a reprieve from the imprisoning ice, National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Sam Albanese with the Anchorage office of the National Weather Service has some bad news.
“I would definitely anticipate that we will see these cold temperatures last at least another week, and possibly longer,” Albanese said. “Right now, you guys in Homer are quite a bit off normal, with your low temperatures and high temperatures running around 15 degrees colder than usual.”
With commercial halibut season just around the bend, and a March 24 Winter King Salmon Tournament hinging on fishing-ground accessibility, everyone is eager to see things flowing freely again.
– Homer Tribune
Washington: Seafood Processors Workshop in Seattle
GMA/FPA (formerly the Food Products Association) Center for Northwest Seafood is holding the 69th Annual Seafood Processors Workshop at the Swedish Cultural Center, 1920 Dexter Avenue, Seattle, WA on Friday, March 30, 2007.This year's workshop will feature FDA and State Regulatory Updates, and presentations designed to promote efficiency within the industry. The workshop will be followed by a catered luncheon featuring Wild Alaskan King Salmon. For more information and registration contact Cory Bell.
Washington: New Lift in Anacortes
The public boat launch facility at the Cap Sante Boat Haven will have its christening event at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 8, with the launch of a Nordic tug.Work on the 25,000-pound, 37-foot-boat capacity lift began in November 2006.
- Anacortes American
Federal Notice: NOAA Hearings on Steller Sea Lion and Northern Fur Seal Research
NOAA Fisheries has scheduled a series of public hearings regarding the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Research on Steller Sea Lions and Northern Fur Seals.Hearings will take place on March 13 in Silver Spring, MD, on March 15 in Seattle, WA, and on March 18 in Anchorage, AK. Written comments must be received by April 2, 2007. For more information, read the Federal Register notice.
International: South Africa’s Hake Research Cruise a Go
The annual research cruise to assess South Africa's lucrative hake stocks has been scheduled to go ahead as usual this year, says the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.Its comments follow concerns aired by fishing industry sources that further budget cuts within the department's cash-strapped Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) branch, which is responsible for managing the commercial fishing industry, would see the hake research cruise shelved.
The research into the hake stock is vital as it forms the basis for the annual quota, or total allowable catch, that the department sets for the season.
Hake resources are under severe pressure, with last season's quota reduced from 158 000 tons to 150 000 tons.
Four years ago, it was a healthy 165 000 tons.
The annual hake survey alone costs more than R2 million a year, excluding manpower and other external costs.
South African hake has been certified as a sustainable catch by the international Marine Stewardship Council.
It is only the ninth fishery worldwide to have achieved this and is allowed to use the council's logo on its certified products - a valuable marketing tool for an environmentally demanding market overseas.
There are worries that if the cruise is cancelled, hake could lose its certification.
- Cape Argus (Cape Town), South Africa
Alaska: Legendary Saloon Celebrates 50th
HOMER –As the Homer Spit’s iconic Salty Dawg saloon approaches its 50th anniversary next month, saloon patriots have been scoping out Dawg memorabilia.So far, people have brought in an assortment of "antiques," including weathered official "Spit Rat" club jackets.
But who can recall exactly what one had to do to get in the club?
"You had to live out on the Spit beach in a tent for a year, and you had to drink this great big thing," said bartender L.B., holding his arms in the circumference of a tire.
So-called "Spit Rats" became an icon at the end of the road before the Icicle Seafood cannery burned down in 1997.
Having been a part of the Salty Dawg since he was a teen in the early 1980s, John L. Warren said he bought the saloon from his father, John W. Warren, thereby keeping it in the family.
Current bartender, Hollyn Smith, (A.K.A. "Hot Linda"), said that part of the allure of the small, tattered tavern is its worldwide reputation. "People come in from Japan, Belgium, Germany — from all over," she said. "They love it. People come to Homer to go to the Dawg."
"It's a piece of junk," said mainstay bartender Pat Ahern. "That's what I think. There's no pretentiousness.
Nobody cares what you wear or what you do. It's reality, and that's what's so special. It's Alaska, and that's the way it should be."
- Homer Tribune
ALASKA: Bill Designed to Help Unalaska Harbor Plan
DUTCH HARBOR -- Legislation introduced March 6 by Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, would extend debt reimbursement authority to the city of Unalaska for a new small boat harbor to be constructed in that community.Hoffman stated the debt authority should be extended beyond the current July 1 deadline because the project has been delayed by unforeseen circumstances. Funding is still needed for the long-awaited infrastructure project at the major commercial fisheries port, she said. The project was initiated in the mid-1990s by former Rep. Carl Moses, D-Unalaska. Moses and Hoffman helped to obtain the $5 million debt reimbursement for the project in 2002 in HB 528.
The project is being planned through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will construct and maintain the outer breakwaters. The project has been delayed due to permitting requirements, just completed in 2006, including an environmental impact statement. The Corps is now awaiting a congressional appropriation of $12 million for the project. The city's portion of the project cannot begin until construction of the outer breakwaters is completed by the Corps.
- Alaska Journal of Commerce
ALASKA: Strong Demand for Fish Will Increase Alaska Airfreight
TANCHORAGE-- Strong prices and high quality are key to growing opportunities for air freighters to transport wild Alaska seafood, according to Ray Riutta, executive director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.As the value and volume of frozen seafood increases, air cargo firms have become more important in the transport of high-value seafood, Riutta told the Alaska Air Cargo Association Feb. 27 in Anchorage.
Some 5 billion pounds of wild Alaska seafood are sold each year, he said. Although most seafood from Alaska is shipped by surface transportation, the opportunity for air carriers is growing.
While processors send more wild Alaska seafood abroad, domestic markets are not far behind, he said. In 2005 the value of Alaska seafood in export markets was $1.73 billion, compared with $1.47 billion domestically, according to ASMI’s calculations.
Buying trends within various countries are also in flux, he said. In 2004, 74 percent of Alaska’s wild sockeye salmon exports went to Japan. In 2006 only 36 percent of exports went to Japan, freeing up more sockeye for U.S. and European markets.
Data collected by ASMI showed that in 2006, harvesters were paid $1.4 billion for their catch of all wild Alaska seafood.
– Alaska Journal of Commerce
ALASKA: Early Prices of Alaska Halibut Called ‘Eye-popping’
ANCHORAGE - Less than a week into the new commercial halibut season, fishermen on the docks are receiving eye-popping prices for their catches.And high prices at the docks will likely translate into steep charges in restaurants and grocery stores, which should begin receiving shipments of fresh halibut this week and next.
Rhonda Hubbard, who operates the Seward-based commercial fishing boat Kruzof with her husband Jim, said the buzz on the docks was $5.50 a pound for halibut. That's about as strong a price as fishermen have ever seen.
In contrast to some of the state's other commercial fisheries such as salmon, which has been mired in a depression in recent years, these are grand times for halibut harvesters.
– Wesley Loy
CALIFORNIA: Pessimistic Outlook for Northern California Fishing
SAMOA, Calif. -- Ronnie Pellegrini, wife of longtime Eureka fisherman Paul Pellegrini, told members of the Humboldt Taxpayers' League on Wednesday that she expects the North Coast commercial fishing fleet to continue to shrink over the next decade with stricter regulations and industry troubles.“There will not likely be a next generation of commercial fishermen,” said Pellegrini, who is also a harbor commissioner.
This past year, Paul Pellegrini fished two of the five days open for salmon out of Fort Bragg, hooking about 500 pounds. Despite high prices, it didn't make up for the limited number of fish. Last summer's albacore tuna fishery brought in plenty of tuna, but prices dropped with a flood of fish brought in on the Atlantic. The winter Dungeness crab season proved less than ideal.
There have been tough times before. In the 1970s, the federal government provided low- and no-interest loans for American fishermen to build new, more efficient boats to target the deep-water species the foreign fleet had been catching.
The surge in effort and efficiency depleted slow-maturing fish stocks, and prices also plummeted. Regulations tightened, and foreclosures on fishing boats became common, making fishing an untenable profession for many.
“The problem is the industry got really good at catching fish,” Pellegrini said.
– The (Eureka) Times-Standard