 |
 |
 |
California: Marked lobsters sink illegal trapping suspects
The men were arrested at a Cerritos Channel marina as they prepared to unload their catch, unaware that it included marked lobsters placed inside their wire-mesh traps a week earlier by Department of Fish and Game divers.
The mark -- a tiny diamond-shaped hole that would not occur in nature -- had been punched into the lobsters' tails, said state Department of Fish and Game Dan Sforza, one of two divers who seeded the suspects' traps set 116 feet below the surface.
The lobsters taken from the suspects’ boat were taken to a San Pedro fish market, where they were expected to fetch about $10 a pound, authorities said.
The proceeds will be deposited into a special account. Department of Fish and Game Capt. Martin Maytorena said that if the suspects prevail in court, they'll get the money back, and if they're found guilty, the money will go into a Department of Fish and Game preservation fund.
Investigators believe the owner of the boat had trapped the pricey crustaceans in the same location about two to three miles offshore, where lobster fishing has been off-limits for decades, several times since the lobster season began on the first Wednesday of October.
- LA Times
Oregon: Oregon meetings set for rockfish stock assessments
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will host public meetings to present a model for the 2007 black rockfish stock assessment that will guide the fishery beginning in 2009.The meetings will occur on Monday, March 19, at 7 p.m. in Room 30/32 of the Hatfield Marine Science Center, 2030 NE Marine Science Drive, Newport, and Tuesday, March 20 at 7 p.m. in the conference room of the North Bend Library located at 1800 Sherman Ave., North Bend.
Black rockfish is an important species in both recreational and commercial fisheries off the coast of Oregon.
The assessment is being done for the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages offshore fisheries.
The Pacific Council's last assessment occurred in 2003, when data showed declining numbers of rockfish, which led to a curtailed season and reduced bag limits beginning in 2004.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council's Stock Assessment Review (STAR) panel for the black rockfish assessment will meet in Portland May 21-25 to determine if the new stock assessment is suitable for the Council to use in management. This meeting is also open to the public.
– Newport News Times
Baird opposes LNG project
U.S. Rep. Brian Baird has announced his opposition to the Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas project -- citing negative impacts on river commerce, the environment and private property owners as well as a potential burden on local taxpayers.Baird said the recently released U.S. Coast Guard Waterway Suitability Report, an assessment of the navigation and safety issues associated with bringing LNG tankers up the Columbia River, was a deciding factor for him.
The Coast Guard report identified "resource gaps" between what is on the Columbia River today and what would be needed before LNG tankers could travel 38 miles upriver to the proposed Bradwood Landing LNG facility site.
The Northern Star Natural Gas Co. proposal to build a terminal 20 miles east of Astoria at Bradwood Landing would bring 125 LNG tankers up the Columbia River each year.
The Bradwood Landing project includes a 34-mile pipeline that would extend west into Columbia County, cross under the river at Port Westward and cut through private property in Washington to meet the Williams Interstate pipeline northwest of Longview near the Interstate 5 corridor.
Joe Desmond, vice president of external affairs for Northern Star, said considering the positive economic impacts of the project, the improvements to navigation and the environmental benefits of the company's multi-million dollar commitment to environmental enhancement, the project "is a win for the community and the region."
– Chinook Observer
Washington: Fishing vessel tries to sink at the dock
NEAH BAY, WA - The Coast Guard and the Neah Bay rescue tug Gladiator pumped water out of a 70-foot fishing vessel that was sinking at the Makah Marina in Neah Bay on Tuesday.Station Neah Bay personnel reported a moderate sheen around the vessel as a result of bilge slops going overboard as water was pumped out, reported Petty Officer Tom Winter of the Coast Guard District 13 Command Center in Seattle.
Booms were placed around the oil by marina personnel.
A call was received by the Coast Guard Station at Neah Nay at about 5:30 p.m. that the Kristena Rose was sinking.
The vessel had between 3,000 and 5,000 gallons of diesel on board and four to five feet of water in the engine room.
The Coast Guard had no one listed as being on board and the flooding was caused by an open sea chest valve, said Winter.
A 41-foot utility boat crew from Station Neah Bay and Gladiator pumped out most of the water by about 6:30 p.m.
- Peninsula (Port Angeles) Daily News
Canada: Crewman killed on fishing boat
PORT HARDY – A 22-year old man is dead after an accident aboard a fish boat.Andrew Barbour of Nanoose died from injuries after becoming pinned between a trolley door and a railing on board the fishing/packing vessel, Osprey 1.
The ship was near the southern tip of the Queen Charlotte Island when the accident occurred the night of Feb. 27, says a press release from Port Hardy RCMP.
Those aboard the vessel administered first aid, while in contact with ambulance services over the phone.
It was decided to stop CPR after vital signs were conveyed to the ambulance service, explains the release.
Port Hardy RCMP were then notified of the incident and the ship headed to Port Hardy where it was met by police.
Port Hardy RCMP are working in conjunction with the Workers Compensation Board and B.C. Coroner Service to investigate the incident. Foul play is not suspected.
- North Island (Port Hardy) Gazette
Alaska: Proposal would give Cook Inlet fishermen more fish
WASILLA -- An emergency petition taken up last week by the Alaska Board of Fisheries has sport anglers around Cook Inlet worried that commercial fishermen will be getting a bigger slice of the salmon pie this summer.The petition, filed on behalf of a group of Cook Inlet commercial fishermen, seeks clarification of the Upper Cook Inlet Salmon Management Plan adopted at the board's regular meeting in 2005. The fishermen want the board to amend the plan so biologists within the Department of Fish and Game would manage the Cook Inlet sockeye fishery with achieving established escapement goals as their primary objective.
This would be a subtle, yet significant change in the plan. Currently, biologists are directed to stick to the management plan -- and its mandated fishing closures -- even in years when the sockeye return to the Kenai and Kasilof rivers are projected to meet, or even exceed, escapement goals.
At the heart of the issue is the concept of closure “windows,” periods of time when commercial fishing has to shut down, no matter how many fish happen to be heading upriver. Commercial fishermen -- and some biologists -- argue these mandated closures amount to missed opportunities and poor management policy. But sport anglers like the idea of having predictable pulses of fish able to get past gillnets.
The board is scheduled to take action on the petition in an emergency teleconference April 16. If the seven-member board sides with the commercial fishermen, the new rules will only be in place for 180 days.
– Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman
Maine: No tuna? Blame someone else
Where have all the bluefin tuna gone? For the second year in a row, fishermen saw few, if any, of these valuable, giant fish.According to state Division of Marine Fisheries biologist Brad Chase, the past two years have both marked historic low landings for bluefin.
In more than 50 years of keeping records on bluefin tuna catches in New England, 2006 was the worst on record by far, with commercial fishermen catching less than 14 % of the quota of fish allocated to them.
Atlantic bluefin tuna are highly prized by the Japanese and can fetch $9 and more per pound for a fish that can reach 10 feet in length and weigh over 1,400 pounds. Over 5,000 commercial fishermen along the Atlantic coastline pursue them each year as they migrate north in the summer and south in the fall. They are typically seen in New England waters from June to November.
Many believe that bluefin tuna are bypassing near-shore waters and heading to Canada because the inshore stocks of herring have all been caught by large vessels towing huge nets. Canada does not allow these vessels to fish inshore areas.
The fishermen hope that recently passed regulations that ban the bigger herring boats from fishing inshore waters along the Gulf of Maine will leave enough fish to attract bluefin to coastal waters this summer.
Bluefin tuna are known to cross the Atlantic and mix with their Eastern Atlantic cousins. They may be getting caught by fishermen over there who are catching unsustainable amounts of fish.
But National Marine Fisheries Service Chief Scientist Steve Murawski said that the latest research on bluefin migration does not show enough mixing of the two stocks to support that overfishing by European fishermen is a major reason for New England's decline in landings.
The NMFS will try harder to protect spawning grounds in the Gulf of Mexico. Fishing for bluefin is banned in the Gulf during their spawning time in June, but NMFS plans to put fishery observers on other types of fishing vessels that might inadvertently catch them.
– Cape Cod Times
North Carolina: Fly away powered by fish oil
RALEIGH - Airlines could soon be looking to acquire chicken grease, hog lard and fish oils to convert into jet fuel, if recent research is anything to go by.A team of North Carolina State University scientists and engineers says it has developed a biofuels technology capable of converting fat -- including lipids from dead chickens, hogs, cattle and fish -- into fuel for commercial airliners and fighter jets.
The technology – called Centia, which is derived from "crudus potentia," or "green power" in Latin – is "100 percent green," as no petroleum-derived products are added to the process. Centia can also be used to make additives for cold-weather biodiesel fuels and holds the potential to fuel automobiles that currently run on gasoline.
NC State received provisional patents to use the process to convert fats into jet fuel or additives for cold-weather biodiesel fuels. The technology has been licensed by Diversified Energy Corp., a privately held Arizona company specializing in the development of advanced alternative and renewable energy technologies and projects.
William Roberts, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of the Applied Energy Research Laboratory at NC State, developed the biofuels process with NC State’s Dr. Henry Lamb, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering; Dr. Larry Stikeleather, professor of biological and agricultural engineering; and Tim Turner of Turner Engineering in Carrboro, N.C.
The fuel created by the new process also burns cleaner, so it’s better for the environment, Roberts says.
There is no soot or particulate matter associated with fuel from fats.
– North Carolina State University
Oregon: Your brakes could be killing salmon
Copper deposited on roads by the wearing of brake pads is transported in runoff to streams and rivers, where it may play a key role in increasing predation of threatened and endangered salmon throughout California and the Pacific Northwest.According to a study released this week in Environmental Science and Technology, levels of copper as low as 2 parts per billion have a direct impact on the sensory systems of juvenile coho salmon.
The skin of juvenile salmon is equipped with a special kind of warning system, said Nat Scholz, a researcher at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, a branch of the NOAA Fisheries Service. When a salmon is attacked by a predator, a chemical cue is released from the skin that signals danger to nearby fish. These fish smell the predation cue and take behavioral measures to avoid being eaten.
Oregon State University researchers working with scientists from NOAA found that fish exposed to low, environmentally realistic levels of copper had an impaired sense of smell and were less responsive to the chemical alarm signal. At elevated concentrations of copper, these predator avoidance behaviors were largely abolished.
As a result of automobile braking and exhaust, higher levels of copper contamination have been observed in streams close to roads and highways.
Though the study was conducted on juvenile salmon, the results are applicable to fish species in urban watersheds worldwide, said the researchers. Dissolved copper has been shown to affect the olfactory systems of chinook salmon, rainbow trout, brown trout, fathead minnow, Colorado pikeminnow and tilapia.
– Oregon State University
International: We like seafood, but
Ice cream with seafood chunks has become popular in Japan, where the Kagawa fishery cooperative has been selling it for nearly ten years. It's available in six flavors – yellowtail flounder, baby sardine, seaweed, octopus, crab and shrimp.The makers have developed a way to remove as much of the fishy smell as possible, while keeping the delicious flavors. Although some think of it as a joke product, the sellers take their ice cream very seriously. They said they developed the product because more children and young women are shifting away from a healthful fish diet.
The ice cream is currently being sold at some airports, highway parking lots, and resorts. The Kagawa fishery co-op also sells its ice cream by mail.
In Taiwan, for about a dollar a scoop you can select from thirteen flavors – including strawberry tuna, wasabi cuttlefish and pineapple shrimp. The savory ice cream, which comes in stark colors like orange, green and black, is topped with sprinkles of dried fish, roe or chopped squid.
The novel dessert was created three years ago by a woman named Liny Hsueh. She is expanding to a second outlet and adding scallops as the newest flavor to her seafood ice cream line up, which she sells under the brand name 'Doctor Ice'. Codfish creamsicles or surimi ice cream sandwiches anyone?
- Laine Welch, one of the best fish columnists in the world.
Hawaii: Hawaii bottomfish suddenly off limits
An emergency ban on catching seven bottomfish species in the main Hawaiian Islands will take effect for five months beginning May 1.The May-September seasonal closure is supposed to help onaga, ehu, gindai, opakapaka, kalekale, lehi and hapuupuu stocks recover from over-fishing, its supporters say.
Both commercial and recreational fishing will be banned. During those months, the onaga or opakapaka on restaurant menus and in stores will have to come from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or be imported.
"I'm hopeful all fishermen recognize that this is a process to help protect the fishery," said Peter Young, director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
But some commercial fishermen, including Capt. Guy Ohara, preferred an earlier plan to close certain areas instead of the entire fishery.
– Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Oregon: Oregon salmon fleet to have more time
Commercial salmon fishermen will get a whole lot more fishing time than they did during last year's devastating closure. The commercial salmon season will open April 10 and likely last for most of the year.During the Pacific Fishery Management Council's session held March 4-9, council members began to set fishing limits off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and California, including 2007 salmon management options.
Public hearings on the 2007 salmon management options are scheduled for March 26-27. The Oregon hearing is set for Monday, March 26 at 7 p.m. at the Red Lion Inn's South Umpqua Room in Coos Bay.
With commercial salmon fishing completely closed between Florence and the California-Oregon border and only limited openings from Florence to Washington, Oregon trollers brought in just 34,964 fish in 2006. This year should bring a dramatic improvement.
Government officials are working on ways to garnish federal money for West Coast fishing families who suffered during the 2006 season. On Mar 15, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and U.S. Rep.
Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.) announced the inclusion of $60.4 million in disaster funding for salmon fishermen in both the Senate and House versions of an emergency supplemental bill being crafted.
On Jan 4, 2007, the 10 West Coast members of Congress introduced the Pacific Salmon Emergency Disaster Assistance Act of 2007, which would authorize distribution of $60.4 million in disaster relief to salmon fishers, tribes, and related businesses hurt by the 2006 salmon fishery failure.
– Newport (Ore.) News-Times
International: Acidification going to hurt shellfish growers
In 2100, mussels are expected to calcify their shells 25% slower than currently; oysters, 10% slower.This will be caused by the continued release and accumulation of carbon dioxide in the air: one-third of it will be absorbed by the ocean water, thereby making it more acid.
Scientists of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology report in Geophysical Research Letters on the potentially major consequences for aquaculture and coastal nature.
The past two centuries of industrialization showed a decrease of 0.1 unit of pH .The average acidity of the ocean level is presently just above 8. If this continues at the same rate, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts a further decline of up to 0.35 by the end of the century.
To test the effects of a high-CO2 world on shellfish, NIOO biologist Frédéric Gazeau and his colleagues built a small sea in the lab. Exposure of the edible mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) to more acid conditions for a few hours resulted in immediate diminishing of shell calcification.
In 2002 people around the world produced 11.7 million tons of shellfish, representing a value of 10.5 billion dollars. Almost 15 % of this concerned Pacific oyster or mussel. These species are also invaluable for biodiversity along our shorelines.
Marine biologist Gazeau is now busy preparing the sequel to the shellfish experiment which will follow mussels under several CO2 concentrations to see if they can get used to the more acid conditions.
- adapted from a news release issued by Netherlands Institute of Ecology
New Zealand: With good management, value of fisheries soars
The asset value of New Zealand’s commercial fish resource, as managed under the quota management system (QMS), is estimated at $3.8 billion, according to the Fish Monetary Stock Account 1996–2006, a revised and updated report released recently.From 1996 to 2006, New Zealand’s commercial fish resource is estimated to have increased in value by 40%, from $2.7 billion in 1996 to $3.8 billion in 2006. Although the number of species managed under the QMS has also increased over this period, 10 species are responsible for the majority of the total value. These 10 species contributed 81% of the total fisheries asset value in 1996, and 77% in 2006.
Due to data limitations, this valuation currently excludes recreational or customary catch, species reared under aquaculture conditions, and commercial species not managed under the QMS.
The Fish Monetary Stock Account 1996–2006 and associated tables are available on the Statistics NZ website.
- Brian Pink, New Zealand statistician
Alaska: Court endorses lower Alaska by-catch rules
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal district court ruled Wednesday that a group of Alaska bottom trawl fishing vessels must reduce the amount of fish they throw overboard as waste in the process of targeting the most valuable fish.The court order keeps in place a federal regulation, known as Amendment 79, scheduled to take effect in 2008.
Amendment 79 requires certain Bering Sea and Aleutian Island bottom trawl catcher/processor vessels that are over 125 feet long to retain an increasing portion of their overall catch. It requires the boats to start retaining 65% of their catch in 2008 and increases to 85% by 2011. Some bottom trawl boats had sued to invalidate Amendment 79.
Conservation groups intervened in the lawsuit filed by the bottom trawlers to defend the federal by-catch regulation. The conservation groups told the court that the federal government is right to mandate a decrease in the amount of fish bottom trawlers are currently throwing overboard.
The trawlers typically fish for rock sole, yellowfin sole, flathead sole, and Atka mackerel and discard millions of pounds of fish deemed uneconomic due to wrong sex, size, or species.
On May 5, 2006, two commercial fishing companies, the Legacy Fishing Co and the Fishing Company of Alaska, filed the suit in the District of Columbia District Court to overturn Amendment 79 and its implementing regulations. They claim that the by-catch reduction measures would be too costly. The companies are based in Washington state but fish in the federal waters off Alaska.
- Earthjustice
Alaska: The Exxon Case, Continued
Kodiak plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez oil spill lawsuit filed a motion before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals objecting to Exxon’s request for a 15-judge hearing contesting the settlement. Plaintiff attorney Matt Jamin said the likelihood of such a hearing is less than 50%.If the hearing is granted, it would lengthen a settlement payout to 387 salmon seiners, 189 salmon setnetters, 33 salmon beach seiners and other claimants.
Jamin’s motion follows recent litigation activity in the 18-year-old lawsuit. In December, a federal appeals court reduced the total amount of punitive damages to $2.5 billion. Then, in January, Exxon contested that amount and asked for an en banc hearing on the case.
In Jamin’s latest motion, he has requested the amount of the settlement be reinstated to $5 billion. Depending on further motions in court, Jamin said, a final decision is possible by the end of 2007 or mid-2008.
U.S. District Judge H. Russell Holland of Anchorage in 2002 set the amount at $4 billion after the 9th Circuit ruled the $5 billion in punitive damages excessive.
In 2003, the 9th Circuit again directed Holland to reconsider damages under US Supreme Court punitive damage guidelines.
On Jan. 28, 2004, Holland issued his order finding that recent Supreme Court decisions did not change the court’s earlier analysis. The court specifically found that a punitive damages award of $4.5 billion plus $2.25 billion in interest was in accordance with Supreme Court authority, and then the amount again was reduced to $2.5 billion.
– Kodiak Daily Mirror
California: Troller relief aid tied to Iraq measure
California farmers and commercial fishermen would get millions of dollars under a controversial bill that sets a possible timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.Sweetening the pot for rural lawmakers, Democratic leaders packed about $4 billion in emergency aid for farmers into the bill, which provides funding for the war but requires a pullout of U.S. forces if the Iraq government fails to meet certain performance benchmarks.
For California conservatives, the political challenge becomes how to oppose a bill that includes money for farmers. There is money for West Coast salmon fishermen, spinach growers, dairy farmers, and the San Joaquin Valley citrus industry, among others.
Republicans call the maneuver -- which is common on Capitol Hill -- a political ploy.
The powerful House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved the $124.1 billion bill, which has become a centerpiece of the Iraq war debate.
The so-called Iraq supplemental bill provides roughly $103 billion sought by President Bush to fund the continuing U.S. military occupation of Iraq. Democrats also folded in domestic priorities, ranging from a $2.10 rise in the minimum wage to agricultural goodies, including $60 million for salmon fishermen who lost business when officials shut down most of the commercial fishing season off the Oregon and Northern California coasts last summer.
– McClatchy News Service
Maine: Coasties find sunken fishing vessel
PORTLAND, Maine – The Coast Guard announced it located the sunken fishing boat Lady Luck in 530 feet of water and used a remote-control submersible to examine the wreckage, found about 20 miles southeast of Portland.The Coast Guard took the unusual step of examining the boat on the ocean floor because there's so little evidence as to why the trawler from Newburyport, Mass., sank either late on Jan. 31 or early on Feb. 1.
Rescuers responding to an automated distress signal found only debris and an oil slick. The two crew members are missing and presumed drowned.
Lady Luck was docked in Portland before it departed on Jan. 31 for Gloucester, Mass.
– Associated Press
International: Wahoo of the Sea
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa – A dozen tuna cannery workers appeared in District Court, all accused in a scheme to falsely label cans as tuna when they were actually a less expensive fish.With 16 defendants, it is the largest number of accused in a single case in the U.S. territory, with two more expected to appear Tuesday and two others being sought.
The workers were employed by COS Samoa Packing, a subsidiary of San Diego-based Chicken of the Sea International.
They are accused of mislabeling 313 cans of wahoo as tuna and selling it to local stores. Wahoo is a fish caught in the tuna nets and canned separately for local consumption, much of it distributed to employees of American Samoa's two major tuna canneries.
Assistant Attorney General Fa'amomoi Masaniai said Monday that COS Samoa Packing lost more than $15,000 because of the scam.
– Associated Press
New York: Judge upholds $3.4 million fine against Icicle and others
NEW YORK – A federal judge in New York upheld a $3.4 million fine against Icicle Seafoods and two Adak fisheries organizations. The judge found Icicle acquired too much brown king crab because it controlled other companies. If you’re a masochist and want to barge through 54 pages of the ruling, click here.International: Australian government hates stainless hooks
CANBERA – A federal government conservation organization is asking fishermen to stop using stainless steel fishhooks, saying they are cruel.They also say the hooks cause unnecessary loss of marine life.
Stainless steel hooks become a problem when fish break away from the line, leaving the hook stuck in their mouth. The hooks do not rust and often cause the fish to starve to death.
Coastcare, a National Heritage Trust-funded group, wants corrodible hooks to be used.
Such hooks would rust, hopefully quickly enough for the animal to survive.
Spokesman Brian Scarsbrick said yesterday that snagged animals such as sharks, dolphins and turtles often could not eat because of old hooks, and many eventually starved or, in weakened condition, fell victim to predators.
Many commercial and recreational fishermen were embracing marine conservation and this was another logical step, he said.
– Info.com
Alaska: Alaska man indicted for poaching rockfish
ANCHORAGE - Acting United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced Wednesday that Robert Becker of Juneau, Alaska, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage on charges of violating federal fisheries protection laws.The three-count indictment named Becker, 35, as the sole defendant.
According to the indictment presented to the court, between November 2004 and January 2005, Becker allegedly made three unlawful fishing trips to the Fairweather Grounds in the Gulf of Alaska and caught a total of approximately 17,000 pounds of fish.
During these three fishing trips, the Fairweather Grounds and all of the East Yakutat Section were closed to directed fishing for Demersal Shelf Rockfish (DSR). However, Becker is alleged to have falsified his fish landing tickets and his DSR logbook to reflect that the fishing took place in other areas that were open to directed fishing for DSR. The total wholesale value of Becker's unlawfully caught fish was nearly $25,000.
The law provides for a maximum sentence per count of five years in prison and a fine of $20,000.
– United States Attorney - District of Alaska
International: Japan eating less fish
TOKYO – The Fisheries Agency estimates that by fiscal year 2017, fish consumption in Japan will have fallen 20% from the fiscal year 2001 peak.Japan's fish consumption has been trending downward due to a combination of factors, including more meat in the diet and the general decline in the overall population.
Meanwhile, global demand for fish as a healthy food is on the rise.
The agency expects the clashing dynamics of waning domestic demand and growing global demand to drive price trends for fish in Japan.
Daily per-capita fish consumption in Japan peaked in fiscal year 2001 at 110 grams. The daily average dwindled to 94 grams in fiscal 2005 and is forecast to drop to 87 grams in fiscal year 2017.
Global fish consumption grew 40% in the 10 years from fiscal year 1992 and 2002 to reach 101.01 million tons.
– Asia Pulse
Alaska: Bristol Bay lecture set for Anchorage
A free lecture and slide show by photographer Erin McKittrick of Seattle is scheduled for 7 p.m., Sunday, March 25, in the Wilda Marston Theater, inside the Loussac Library, at 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage.In the summer of 2006, Erin McKittrick walked and pack-rafted 500 miles through the beautiful Bristol Bay region. She'll share her adventures while traveling this majestic wilderness — from Frying Pan Lake, down the Koktuli River to the Mulchatna River and then the Nushagak River to the shores of Bristol Bay.
After that sojourn, she then continued by foot and raft along the shores of Bristol Bay up the Kvichak River to the Village of Nondalton which was her starting point near Lake Clark. This journey covered the watersheds downstream of the proposed Pebble Mine, looking at the potential impacts on salmon and the people that call the region home.
Preview Erin's Bristol Bay adventure.
– The Renewable Resources Coalition