Monday, October 22. 2007
Marine Harvest Acquittal Upheld
CAMPBELL RIVER, British Columbia - A B.C. Supreme Court judge has tossed out the Crown's appeal of the acquittal of a Vancouver Island fish farm charged in the accidental release of Atlantic salmon three years ago.
Marine Harvest Canada, formerly Stolt Sea Farm, faced three counts under the federal and provincial fisheries legislation in the July 2004 escape of 1,587 farm salmon.
But the company was acquitted in provincial court and Justice Loryl Russell on Thursday upheld the acquittal, ruling the Crown had not demonstrated the company was negligent.
Provincial court Judge Brian Saunderson earlier this year accepted Marine Harvest's defense that despite failing to prevent the fish escape, it had operated the fish farm with due diligence.
The company, which faced three counts, argued it had taken all necessary and reasonable steps through its required training, procedures and "zero tolerance" policy on escapes to ensure that such a thing didn't happen.
Company officials testified the crew of the Sargaunts's Pass site were trained in procedures to inspect net-pens for holes before fish were put into them and encouraged to report any breach of procedures.
One witness at the trial said the procedure was so ingrained that it was "like someone putting on their shoes after getting out of bed."
At this week's appeal hearing, Crown counsel Jim MacAulay argued the company should also have required a written record to be kept of all such inspections and required, not just encouraged, employees to report any breach of procedure.
In her ruling, Russell said this would not have prevented an escape because lead hand Eric Vallerand committed what Saunderson called an "act of insubordination." He installed five or six net-pens at the same time but only inspected one before it was stocked with fish.
The recently cleaned and repaired pen at the centre of the escape had not been inspected and was thought to have developed several holes en route to the fish farm.
Russell said it was clearly a "deliberate and willful act" of disobedience of well-established and widely-known company rules by a trained and evidently previously conscientious worker whom the company had reason to trust.
She noted the trial judge had also heard what she termed Vallerand's "falsification" of the record of the number of fish then put into the pen. '
It would have been enough for Vallerand's immediate dismissal. He was fired as soon as the escape and several holes in the fish pen were discovered by a replacement crew a day or two later.
The company has since changed its rules requiring a written record of all net inspections. The Canadian Press
Geoduck Farming Restricted
GIG HARBOR, Wash. - Foes of commercial geoduck farming came away winners after the Pierce County Council wholeheartedly endorsed resurrected rules that would limit its proliferation.
All seven council members voted to ban geoduck farming along densely populated shorelines near Gig Harbor. The measure would restrict future geoduck growing operations to rural areas such as the Key Peninsula.
To combat litter, the new rule also would require growers to pay up to $1 per plastic growing tube to guarantee timely removal of growing gear. It also gives county officials the authority to revoke harvest rights if growers do not comply.
“We are going to protect the quality of life in these residential communities along our shorelines,” said Councilman Shawn Bunney before the vote.
For months, the geoduck ordinance has been the focus of sometimes bitter debate between backers, who believe it could limit the damage to beaches, and growers, who decry it as an unwarranted restriction of free enterprise.
Whether the regulations go into effect and how soon that is decided depends on the state Department of Ecology. State officials will review the changes to ensure consistency with the state Shoreline Management Act.
Shellfish growers repeated past arguments that the county’s new rules contradict state law.
The ordinance adopted last week is an interim measure, and subject to change next year when the county’s entire shoreline master program is scheduled for a state-mandated update.
Several of those who testified in favor of the measure said they live or own property on Anderson Island or on the Key Peninsula, areas where shellfish growers propose to set up geoduck farms.
On the other side, Diane Cooper – who works for Taylor Shellfish Farms and represents the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, an industry group – said the ordinance is the wrong approach to land use and tried to persuade the council to delay.
And Orrin Souers, a Mayo Cove resident who wants the county to permit his family to grow geoducks, condemned the ordinance as a concession to the not-in-my-backyard movement. “NIMBYism is a scourge on the legal process,” he said. Then he told the council: “You are nothing more than NIMBY puppets.” Tacoma News Tribune
Health of Pacific Ocean Threatened
SAN FRANCISCO – Dozens of problems are facing the oceans, and coastal waters need greater protection, experts say. Fewer fish and greater disease found in the California Current, the swath of ocean between Baja California and British Columbia, have widespread impacts. The loss of biological diversity is speeding up the collapse of aquatic ecosystems, according to a team of international scientists.
Oceans occupy nearly three-quarters of Earth, and sustain a comfortable climate, a food basket and habitat for hundreds of thousands of creatures - including the blue whale, the largest known animal ever to have lived on sea or land.
"Healthy oceans are one of the things that keep our planet livable," said Stephen Palumbi, a Stanford University professor based at the Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove. He has conducted extensive research on the oceans and served on the original scientific committee created to help form a state system of marine reserves.
"The oceans provide a good chunk of the oxygen that we breathe and do a lot of our waste recycling. They provide us with food and recreation," he said.
Ocean animals, plants and microbes purify and filter the water, and marsh and sea grasses, mangroves, corals and oyster beds protect shores from erosion and storm damage.
Within the nearly 6,000 square miles of open water in the three federal northern central coast marine sanctuaries - Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay - there are 36 species of marine mammals, 163 species of birds and five species of sea turtles.
General fishing regulations along the coast apply within the sanctuaries. Drilling for oil and gas is permanently banned.
In February, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a Petaluma Democrat, introduced legislation to increase the boundaries by 2,000 square miles to include all of the Sonoma coast and the Mendocino coast north of Point Arena.
The list of threats is long and ominous:
- Expansion of fishing is depleting the ocean of its big fish, disrupting predator-prey relationships. Nets, lines and other devices injure and kill sea life.
- Loss of habitat removes spawning and feeding grounds for marine species that depend on subtle marine conditions to complete life cycles.
- Sewage - treated and untreated - runs into the ocean from municipal and industrial plants, polluting water with bacterial waste, chemicals and metals. Scientists suspect that wastewater plays a part in harmful algal blooms and disease.
- Storm water carries a nasty collection of motor oil, cigarette butts, pesticides and animal waste. Old garbage dumps leak a stew of biological and chemical residue.
- Trash, particularly nondegradable plastic, floats in the ocean where it chokes and kills fish and other wildlife.
- Oil spills from drilling operations and vessels contaminate kelp beds and kill. Otters, murres and other species have been hit hardest by crude oil.
- Rising ocean temperatures linked to global warming are reducing the ocean's productivity, including the vast stores of plankton and krill at the base of the food web. In other parts of the world, tropical corals die during warm events.
Many out on the ocean see the rise and fall of species as natural fluctuations. Some see it as the result of poor government management.
Scientists say they believe that the warming of oceans affects the distribution and abundance of some species. For instance, in past decades, the Humboldt jumbo squid usually swam north from South America only in warm water El Niño years. Now they're schooling in Puget Sound and Alaska. – San Francisco Chronicle
Whale Song Heard First Time in 25 Years
It began as a low, inquisitive bellow, then morphed into quasi-barks, growls and echoing calls. For the first time in 25 years, the "true song" of the humpback whale has serenaded spellbound whale researchers in West Coast waters.
The haunting 25-minute "rhapsody" was caught on tape on Oct. 11, the first time that has happened since OrcaLab's hydrophone network was installed in the early 1980s around its northern Vancouver Island location.
"We've been listening all this time," says whale researcher Paul Spong an OrcaLab director who was mesmerized by the sound. The call of the humpback, almost certainly a male, has been posted on the Web site of the whale research station at www.orcalab.org.
OrcaLab, on Hanson Island at Blackney Pass, has six hydrophones covering 50 square kilometers listening for orcas. Other than "a few tentative sounds" in recent years and a 10-minute session on Sept. 11, there has been no humpback singing in that territory.
Last week's long, impressive and expressive song meant a lot to Spong. "We were just very moved by it."
The unique series of whale phrases and repetitions occurred in Blackfish Sound at the southern end of Queen Charlotte Strait. Its length and complexity signals that the humpbacks may finally be feeling at home in West Coast waters again. "It's a safe place for them to come -- it's also a place where they can find food."
Humpbacks feed on herring and pilchard, among other small fish.
Spong doesn't know how many humpbacks might be cruising B.C.'s coast, but notes that Port McNeill biologist Jackie Hildlreing has a catalogue of 77 humpbacks observed in West Coast waters. They're common enough to be seen as integral to the whale-watching business.
The repetitive phrases of humpback sound compare to verses in songs, explains Spong, a psychologist. Orca calls are commonly heard by OrcaLab but are not repetitive in the same way as the humpback song.
"In general, the songs are thought to have a role in mating," says Spong, perhaps as a form of male display to impress females.
Most of this big humpback song appears to be in the voice of one whale, almost certainly a male, although toward the end there's an indication another humpback may have joined in.
"It was just amazing," said Spong. "It was such a thrill for us to hear the sound."
Humpbacks are mid-sized whales, reaching 10 meters and 30 tons.
Spong points out that the population is threatened with an annual whale hunt by Japan. The Japanese are planning to kill 50 humpbacks in southern waters "in the guise of science," Spong said. Many environmental groups also object to the annual whale kill, but Japan argues the program is needed to gauge whale populations and study their breeding and feeding habits. - Victoria Times-Colonist
Fishermen Charged with Conspiracy
KODIAK, Alaska - I rarely write letters to the editor, even when I know someone is exaggerating or grossly mistaken about facts, particularly when it comes to fisheries issues. However, I must write to correct misinformation submitted by John Finley. While I was among other Kodiak residents at the recent North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting, John Finley was not. I feel it is important to correct some of the errors in his entertaining summary.
Council members always have a discussion and debate on issues. The suggestion that "squabbles" occurred is not accurate. A lively debate is more accurate. The word "livid" is a bit strong as well. While there was disagreement, I didn’t see any livid council members at the final vote. The members of the council rarely agree unanimously. This issue is particularly controversial, but the words "squabble" and "livid" are inappropriate.
Gov. Palin made a brief stop at the council meeting (last) Thursday – not Friday as John asserts. She did not have a "room" at the meeting, nor did she convene an Alaskans-only summit to reach an "agreement."
While it makes good reading, it just isn’t factual.
Bill Tweit from Washington, not Duncan Fields, addressed the issue of allocating individual fishing quota to crew. Many believe his motion was an attempt to divert the discussion from the state’s simple motion, which was to look at 90/10 processor shares and consider another number ranging from the status quo down to zero processor shares for each specific fishery in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands.
I agree that Palin and her administration should be thanked by folks in this community. During her campaign for governor, she made it clear she didn’t believe processor shares were a good idea.
Commissioner Lloyd, the State of Alaska’s representative at the council meeting, took the lead to analyze possible changes to 90/10 processor shares in crab. The clear signal from the state is that there are concerns with the policy of processor shares and we need to look at other options. That’s a good thing. - Linda Kozak, writing to the Kodiak Daily Mirror
Tuesday, October 23. 2007
Commercial Fishermen Cool to Bush's Idea
CHESAOEAKE BAY, Md. - President Bush traversed the Chesapeake Bay on an invigorating fall morning announcing conservation measures for migratory birds while on the west side of the waterway and for striped bass on the east before getting in some fishing himself.
At the national Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Md., the president promoted policies he said would protect habitat for 800 bird species that need resting places as they fly south for the winter and return when warm weather returns.
After a helicopter ride to St. Michaels, Bush unveiled an initiative to make red drum and striped bass, known locally as rockfish, more available to sport fishermen but less accessible as a commercial catch. Chesapeake watermen, who rely on the fish for income, are cool to the proposal.
Bush seemed particularly enthusiastic about spending an hour fishing for striped bass off the tip of Tilghman Island before heading for lunch at the St. Michaels vacation home of Vice President Dick Cheney.
"There's nothing like catching a big striper," the president said, minutes before hopping aboard Semper Fidelis III, a vessel captained by Ed O'Brien, vice president of the Maryland Charter Boat Association.
Rockfish stocks collapsed in the early 1980s because of overfishing and degraded habitat, but rebounded after a fishing moratorium. About three-quarters of the East Coast's striped bass use the Chesapeake as a nursery. Red drum, common in the Gulf of Mexico and southern coastal waters, were depleted more recently, a result of their popularity on restaurant menus.
State regulators from Maryland and elsewhere question the need for Bush’s new policy. States will be unlikely to give up their right to regulate fishing in their waters, said Dennis Abbott, a New Hampshire lawmaker and member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which sets limits on striped bass. Squeezing commercial fishing also hurts the public, he said.
"If commercial fishing shuts down, how would the general public have a chance to have a striped bass dinner?" Abbott asked. – Baltimore Sun
Fisherman, Boat Owner Face $510K in Federal Fines
ROCKLAND, Maine - The captain of a Maine fishing boat and the vessel's owner face $510,000 in fines for allegedly breaking federal commercial fishing reporting laws.
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration alleges that Daniel Fill, 43, of Sedgwick, failed to report about 15 million pounds of herring that he caught in the Gulf of Maine from June 1 to late August.
The herring fishery operates under a quota system, with each boat allocated a certain percentage of the overall catch, federal officials said. Boat captains are required to report their catches every week and to keep daily logs detailing catch information.
NOAA issued the fine last week and suspended his fishing license for two years. Fill is prohibited from holding any federal fishing permits during that time, said Mark Oswell, a NOAA spokesman in Silver Spring, Md.
Fill and the vessel's owner, Glenn Robbins of Eliot, have 30 days to go before an administrative judge to appeal the punishment, negotiate a settlement, or pay the fine.
Fill told the Bangor Daily News the amount of the fine is "crazy" and that he hopes to work out a settlement. He said he and Robbins would each be responsible for half the amount. "I'll be back on state aid," he said.
Oswell said the fine was the largest in Maine for a herring fisherman in the seven years he has been with NOAA.
Law enforcement officials boarded Fill's boat after someone in the fishing industry tipped them off, Oswell said. Upon boarding the Western Sea, they found that Fill had not reported any catch for the entire season and did not have any daily log entries for the whole year.
Fill said he was late in reporting his catch because he was given the wrong number to call in his catch. But he said his daily log was nearly up to date. -- Boston Globe
To the Editor: Base Mine Permits on Science
JUNEAU, Alaska - I am the state representative for Alaska House District 36, which includes Kodiak as well as the Lake Iliamna region, the area of the proposed Pebble Mine project. I have just returned from hearings related to the Pebble Mine held in my district as well as the surrounding area. I stayed around after the hearings for about a week because I wanted to opportunity to talk with people personally about the project rather than just hearing from those willing to speak at a public forum.
There are two schools of thought concerning Pebble Mine. The first is that this is simply not an appropriate place for a huge mining operation. Period. This is a seismic area at the headwaters of the Kvichak and Mulchatna rivers and the Talarik Creek drainages. This is the fountainhead of not only Alaska's thriving commercial fishery but active sports fishing and tourism industries as well. No matter how many promises are made relating to safety of the operation, there is always the possibility of human error or natural disaster. After all, they said the Titanic was unsinkable. I come from a fishing community and to me no project is worth poisoning the watershed.
On the other hand, I also recognize the importance of economic diversification and resource development. Many people in my district and the surrounding one are now earning a decent income while the mine is in its exploratory stages.
The central argument of those who favor the development of the Pebble Mine is that we should "let the permitting process run its course" as the state supposedly has a large mine permitting process that will adequately protect the habitat. This argument has a great deal of appeal and is one which I have previously advocated. After all, in this country we all believe in due process. Why kill a project that has the potential for economic development, especially in an area of the state in which jobs are scarce?
However, the problem with the argument of letting the permitting process take its course is that this argument assumes that we actually have in this state a rigorous permitting process. Unfortunately, our previous governor, Frank Murkowski, "gamed" the system in favor of development, regardless of its effect on the environment.
For example, one way in which the Murkowski administration stacked the deck in favor of large scale industrial mining was when he transferred the Habitat Division from the Department of Fish and Game to the Department of Natural Resources. The Habitat Division's role under Fish and Game was to ensure that permits were not issued if such permits compromised the fisheries resources of the state. Murkowski transferred the division to the Department of Natural Resources because he believed that division biologists were making it too difficult to obtain permits
Another Murkowski administration "initiative" that stacked the deck against fish habitat was changing the mixing zone regulations of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation so as to permit the discharge of pollutants into salmon-spawning areas.
Currently there are bills introduced in the legislature to undo these Murkowski administration "innovations." I have introduced, along with Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, House Bill 74, which would forbid mixing zones in salmon-spawning areas. In addition, House Bill 41 returns the Habitat Division back to Fish and Game. Unfortunately, both of these bills have stalled in the legislature. These bills must pass before I, for one, can say with any conviction that we should let the permitting process run its course, with respect to the Pebble Mine or any other large scale industrial mining activity.
The existing fishing industry and the residents of the area deserve a permitting process based on sound science and a full and open public process. There needs to be a thoughtful and thorough benefit/risk analysis, review, oversight and enforcement by appropriate agencies. Passage of these bills would be a step in the right direction. – Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, who represents House District 36, which includes Kodiak and the Lake Iliamna region, in the Juneau Empire
Marine Reserves Mandates Questioned
REEDSPORT, Ore. - Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association members were anything but reserved during their discussion about Gov. Ted Kulongoski's push to establish marine reserves in Oregon's territorial sea. During the organization's Oct. 12 session in Reedsport, members made it clear they support the concept of marine reserves, but would prefer to scuttle the governor's current mandated process to create them.
OCZMA Director Onno Husing told the group the governor "is committed to - and has instructed the Ocean Policy Advisory Council to lay the groundwork for - a public nomination process in 2008 to solicit nominations for potential marine reserve sites within the territorial sea."
and environmental groups consider Kulongoski's approach an opportunity to protect valuable ocean ecosystems and public marine resources. Supporters outnumbered critics when the idea first surfaced, but opponents mistrust the timetable. Too many questions remain unanswered, critics say, and the time frame to seek viable answers to those questions is too short.
As it stands now, the governor's office is scheduled to begin accepting nominations for proposed marine reserve areas from the public the first of next year, after which OPAC will have about a year to evaluate those suggestions and make a decision on which, if any, to recommend. Critics (among them coastal community, government, and fishing industry representatives) consider the effort draconian, calling it an unfunded rush-to-judgment dictated by the governor's office that takes away OPAC's advisory role, relegates the council to rubber stamp status, and ignores the concerns of coastal communities.
Wave energy projects and other ocean initiatives seeking their share of the territorial sea multiply those concerns.
Husing said opinions "from the local perspective" run the gamut from full support to "yes, but not enthused" to "heck, no, we have enough management of fisheries now." Most are in the middle, and they are focused on what Husing calls "the why issue" (as in why create marine reserves at all?) and having a valid public nomination process with discussion "anchored in the local coastal communities" to connect with those whose livelihoods most depend on ocean resources.
"This is the velvet green glove of environmentalism, and what's in it is an iron fist," said Dan Varoujean from the Coos Soil and Water Conservation District board of directors. "You can hear it in the language (of the governor's proposal). It's an edict, not a true democratic process."
One OCZMA member declared that Oregon has "the best fish management system anywhere," and cited the need to get the word out "to counter the notion our oceans are in trouble when they're not." Every single species, others noted, is already highly and responsibly regulated, and more state regulations are unnecessary, especially the "parochial view" taken in Kulongoski's mandate. Several said the governor is not asking OPAC for advice, but "making all the policy calls" himself, then "telling OPAC to carry out his will."
The Port of Newport has led the way by adopting a resolution asking the governor to change course, and inviting all Oregon coast county, city, and port officials to join them. Many have, including Newport and Depoe Bay city councils.
As a non-profit association of representatives from Oregon coastal counties, cities, ports, and soil and water conservation districts, OCZMA is in a position to provide a wide spectrum of input from those most likely to feel the effects of a system of marine reserves.
In 2002, when the idea was first seriously bandied about, OCZMA adopted a groundbreaking resolution that Onno Husing at the time characterized as "a pragmatic statement reflecting our serious concerns about the siting of marine reserves." "Hastily designated marine protected areas could bankrupt a lot of people on the Oregon coast, especially people in commercial and recreational fisheries," Husing added. "Too often in the past, decisions about natural resources have been made in a vacuum by people and government agencies unconnected and unfamiliar with local concerns."
Five years later, coastal communities face a more imminent possibility of having marine reserves put in place, again without the due process first requested in 2002 and reiterated this year. With that in mind, OCZMA Vice Chair Jack Brown, a city government representative of "small, but mighty" Depoe Bay, recommended updating the 2002 resolution to reflect OCZMA's current official position - a recommendation that received unanimous approval.
Husing expects to rework the resolution and have it ready to present at the next OPAC session set for Nov. 29-30 in Gold Beach. - News-Times, Newport, Ore.
Commissioners Discuss Wave Energy
GOLD BEACH, Ore. – Curry County commissioners agreed they need to discuss wave energy and the impact it would have on the county land use and comprehensive plan should tapping the ocean for electric power come to the county.
"Wind energy is a conditional use under the county plan," Commissioner Lucie La Bonté told the commission Monday. "It seems to me that wave energy is coming down the pike and we should address it."
She said there are people with strong opinions on both sides of the issue, whether to use wave power or not.
"There are people strongly opposed and people who think maybe it can work out," La Bonté said.
She said Reedsport, where the first Oregon wave test is being conducted, has had problems and has already asked that the tests be pushed further out in the ocean and out of the crab beds.
"They're going to go out further to see if they can do wave energy," she said.
"We don't have a continental shelf like the east coast, not that much sand," La Bonté said. "So we have limited capability. That's what they're looking at. They're also talking about having it along a jetty and then looking at concrete walls."
La Bonté said she feels it's time Curry County looked at its comprehensive plan to see how wave energy would affect the land and other things.
"Someone brought up that we have commercial fishing as a priority, but we haven't had recreational fishing as a priority," La Bonté said. "I did talk to the mayor of Brookings (Pat Sherman) and she thought it was a good idea."
La Bonté said that Coos County and possibly another county or two are looking into wave energy and their comprehensive plans.
Curry County Planning Director Dave Pratt said wave energy is a new technology and should be examined.
"There will be a round table of coastal planners in two weeks," Pratt said. "I will bring this up and maybe we will have some dialogue. And the city of Brookings will be at that meeting as well." – Curry County (Ore.) Reporter
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
MCA Supports Resolution to Protect Arctic
JUNEAU, Alaska – Facing up to the realities of global climate change and the receding polar ice pack, the Marine Conservation Alliance is supporting a bipartisan resolution sponsored by Senators Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Daniel Inouye (D-HI) that calls for an international agreement to manage and protect fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean.
"Ocean scientists have witnessed remarkable change in Arctic sea and ice conditions in recent years," said David Benton, executive director of the Marine Conservation Alliance. "While commercial fishing was once limited because of the impenetrable ice pack and the general scarcity of fish, the warming of the Arctic could soon attract both fish and the fishing fleets of many nations. Before this happens, we need to ensure that any expansion into the Arctic is managed effectively and responsibly, and that’s the aim of the Stevens-Inouye resolution."
Noting the change in global climate regimes, the resolution (S. J. Res. 17) supports a halt to any commercial fishing activity in the Arctic until agreement can be reached on managing migratory, transboundary and straddling stocks. Warming ocean temperatures are expected to cause some species of fish to migrate north where they could become vulnerable to fishing efforts in the newly opening waters. The resolution emphasizes that effective management of these waters would require an international agreement between all nations bordering the Arctic: the United States, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Russia, and the European Union.
Alaska is acknowledged as a world leader in managing fish stocks for commercial, recreational, and subsistence purposes. One of only three well-managed fisheries in the world according to National Geographic (the others are Iceland and New Zealand), Alaska produces over 50 percent of the nation’s seafood harvest and none of its fish stocks is overfished.
S.J. Res. 17 has passed the Senate and is now pending in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is also sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John Sununu (R-NH), John Kerry (D-MA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA). – Press release from the Marine Conservation Alliance, a coalition of seafood processors, harvesters, support industries and coastal communities that are active in Alaska fisheries
Norwegian Fresh Fish Strategy
BERGEN, Norway - Helga Pedersen, Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, addressed the 16th Groundfish Forum, in Bergen last week. She underlined the Norwegian Governments "Fresh Fish Strategy," which aims to improve the industry’s ability to deliver fresh wild fish year round, as well as increasing cooperation between the fishery and aquaculture industries to consider mutual interests.
Part of her strategy calls for promoting "fresh fish" availability, a notion that on its face discounts wild seafood.
Here's part of what she said: "The seafood industry is still one of the major industries in Norway, and currently we are the world's second largest seafood exporter. This makes the seafood business important to Norway.
"One important competitive advantage for the Norwegian seafood industry is our proximity to the European market. This makes Norway able to deliver fresh, high quality seafood to almost 500 million European consumers. While the aquaculture industry can deliver fresh fish 365 days a year, the industry which depends on traditional fisheries has to deal with variations in supply; variations that are partly decided by nature and partly by regulations set by the Government to protect the fisheries resources.
"In order to improve the industry’s ability to deliver fresh wild fish all year round, the Norwegian Government has presented a 'Fresh Fish Strategy.' The strategy facilitates a more continuous supply of fresh fish to the industry. It also encourages increased cooperation between the fishing industry and the aquaculture industry to consider mutual interests. The third pillar of the strategy consists of measures to ensure high quality, both in the raw material and in the final product." – Press release
Fishermen Sue Over Chum Catch Split
SEATTLE –The local Puget Sound harvest for chum salmon, also known as keta, begins this week and runs for a month. It's become one of the area's most valuable commercial salmon fisheries.
But a group of fishermen has sued the state over changes they argue will make it harder to get fresh, affordable salmon to customers buying at weekend farmers markets or directly off boats in Seattle. It's part of a long debate over how to equitably split the catch between smaller gillnetters and larger purse seiners.
"The regulations are always more for large commercial processors," said Jessica Dally, who has worked for an artisan cheesemaker and an organic orchard. "It's a major bummer, and it's ridiculous because this is the way we should be going."
Gillnetters in recent years have voluntarily taxed themselves to market wild salmon catches directly to restaurants, supermarkets and consumers. Thirty to 50 fishermen have participated.
David Harsila, chairman of the Puget Sound Salmon Commission overseeing those efforts, said their unique needs don't seem to be on the state's radar screen. In waters closest to Seattle, for instance, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has reduced the number of days this fall that gillnetters can fish for chum by about 20 percent.
Unlike those following the "dump truck" model -- unloading tons of fish at once at commercial processors -- niche marketers would rather be allowed to catch a steady supply of fish over a longer period of time, Harsila said. The state also doesn't allow fishing in local waters on Thursdays or Fridays, complicating efforts to sell fresh fish at busy weekend markets such as those in West Seattle and the University District.
"What we're doing is the same thing that organic farmers did, but we're doing it in the fishing realm," Harsila said. "It takes a lot of efforts and a coalition and a commitment to change things, and they're dragging their heels."
State officials said fishermen with different needs don't agree on which days of the week are most advantageous. They're trying to equitably balance the needs of the entire fleet.
Five years ago, when an influx of farmed salmon decimated chum prices and nearly wiped out local gillnetters, the state increased the number of days the smaller boats were allowed to be on the water. They got to fish three times as often as the larger purse seiners. Consequently, their percentage of the chum catch climbed from a historic low of 5 percent to 25 percent last year.
Because that exceeded the state's projections, they cut back slightly this year to restore some advantage to the purse seiners, said Pat Pattillo, salmon-policy coordinator for Fish and Wildlife.
"Nobody's going to be happy," he said. "We recognize that there's this niche marketing, but we want to have the best economic outcome for the industry as a whole."
Chris Curtis, director of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, said that when produce starts petering out in the fall, staples such as fish, meat and cheese help keep markets vibrant. "People expect fish at the market and they certainly expect wild salmon -- it's our right as Northwesterners," she said. "It would be a shame for the state to throw a hurdle in front of us." – Seattle P-I
Alaskan Educator Frank William Hill Dies
HOMER, Alaska - Lifelong Alaskan and Homer resident Frank William Hill died Oct. 9, 2007, at Alaska Regional Hospital after a valiant battle with cancer with his wife, Dottie, by his side. He was 67.
Hill was born Dec. 16, 1939, at home in Iliamna to William F. and Katherine (Trefon) Hill. He was the second-oldest and first-born son among 13 children. Frank found a second father in Chester Wilson after the death of his own father when he was 7 years old.
Frank attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, graduating with a bachelor's degree in education in physical science in 1969. Frank caught the eye of his future wife, Dottie Baltzo, a classmate at UAF, and they were married in Anchorage on Oct. 7, 1967. Frank was a proud Vietnam veteran.
After completing his student teaching at Romig Junior High, Frank taught at Wendler Junior High before returning to the Bristol Bay region in 1972. He was a math and science teacher at Bristol Bay Consolidated High School in Naknek and continued the family tradition of commercial and subsistence salmon fishing during the summer months.
He was proud of his combined Finnish and Athabascan heritage and named his fishing boat the F/V Finndian. Frank returned to graduate school twice over the years, earning a master's degree from the Harvard School of Education and completing further graduate work at Montana State University.
Frank began working for the Lake and Peninsula School District as the assistant to the superintendent and served as superintendent for nine years, during which time he was instrumental in the formation of the Lake and Peninsula Borough. He was the second Alaska Native superintendent to serve in Alaska.
After semi-retiring in 1997, Frank and his wife, Dottie, moved to Anchorage, where he served at the Alaska Federation of Natives as co-director of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative/Rural Challenge Program until retiring in 2005.
Frank dedicated his entire life to furthering the educational opportunities for all Alaskans living in the Bush so that they would not have to leave their homes and families to obtain an education. Hill was recently honored as the Bristol Bay Native Corp.'s 2007 Citizen of the Year. He was deeply humbled and honored for their recognition of his lifelong service to his home region.
Frank always put his family first. He lived his life with integrity and goodness. He always gave wise counsel sprinkled with humor and he loved to tell a story. His twinkle and quiet goodness will be missed greatly by his family and friends.
In honor of Hill's dedication to education, a scholarship fund will be created in his name to assist village students in reaching their educational goals in an effort to better their home communities. Donations may be made to the BBNC Education Foundation in Frank's name at 111 W. 16th Ave., Suite 400, Anchorage 99501. – Anchorage Daily News
Pebble Mine Execs Visit Governor
JUNEAU, Alaska - Some state lawmakers took a break from the governor's oil and gas bill Monday to discuss another resource: metals.
Executives from owners of the proposed Pebble Mine project visited Gov. Sarah Palin and select lawmakers to discuss their plans for the controversial mine.
Anglo American Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll met with Palin, who is in Juneau while the Legislature reviews her request for an oil tax increase.
Separately on Monday, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell certified an initiative related to water quality standards on new large-scale mining operations.
The Renewable Resources Coalition wants to collect 23,831 petition signatures for voters to decide on restricting large scale mining and the pollutant discharge. Parnell had rejected previous applications, but last week, a Superior Court judge ruled the initiative could move forward for voter consideration.
The mining project sits near one of the world's most productive wild sockeye fisheries near Bristol Bay and also is considered a world-class deposit for copper and gold.
This scenario has driven a wedge between those seeking economic development in villages sorely needing a boost and conservationists and the fisheries community looking to protect its waters.
"The governor made a point of reminding them that we do have a high standard to protect our fisheries," Palin assistant Joe Balash said after the meeting. "They acknowledged that they understand it and are prepared to make the challenge."
Company officials then met with a few key Republican lawmakers, including Majority Leader Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, who represents area villages split on the mine. The company has not submitted a formal permit, but both sides are waging a media image war years ahead of any production.
"It's an emotional issue: whether you're going to mine and damage the fishery or mine or whether you're going to develop jobs," Stevens said.
London-based mining giant Anglo American recently joined forces with Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. in a 50-50 joint venture to develop the mine near Bristol Bay. Anglo American has pledged to provide $1.4 billion in financing.
Company officials said production could begin as late as 2016, Stevens said, bringing up another issue.
"It doesn't seem to me that the state gets much out of mining," Stevens said. "We need to look at that. If this is a gazillion dollar mine that's going to last for 100 years, then we need to make sure we get something out of it as a state just as we do with oil." – Juneau Empire
Thursday, October 25. 2007
Halibut Catch Limits May Drop 50 Percent
JUNEAU, Alaska - Halibut catch limits may drop considerably in the coming years as the International Pacific Halibut Commission decides whether to use a new way of accounting that cuts in half the estimated number of halibut in Southeast Alaska.
"If we are going to harvest the stock in accordance to abundance, then it would be half of what it used to be, according to stock assessments," said Bill
Clark, senior stock assessment scientist with the halibut commission. The older model has been used for 15 to 20 years.
Such a change in catch limits would have "disastrous" effects on the economics of rural fishing communities in Southeast, said Patricia Phillips, based out of Pelican. Phillips has fished halibut for 25 years with her husband James. Instead of decreasing Southeast's quotas, the commission should decrease the amount that's fished in the Gulf, she said.
The new stock assessment model shows halibut in Southeast Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon account for 15 percent of the total stock, not the 30 percent reflected in past models.
"It was a real sea change in the scientific advice. It's understandable that the commission did not take it up right away. This has been a major change in the way we do business and it led to a substantial decrease in our estimate of relative abundance," Clark said.
Any change in the catch limits would be phased in gradually, he said.
It's unclear how the catch limits will be decided in 2008, said Jim Balsiger, the regional administrator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries in Alaska and a halibut commission member. Industry and other suggestions for the catch limit are accepted through Nov. 15.
"It's an open question as to how the halibut limits will be determined in 2008," Balsiger said. "The commissioners haven't met as a body to receive those reports. We have to go through that process to see if we will use that old method or the new method."
Although commission staff based its recommendations for the 2007 season on the new model, the commission used the old model to determine this year's catch limit. The commission is still waiting to hear conclusions of an independent review of the new method, according to the commission's Web site.
Southeast Alaska is "greatly affected" when the new model is applied, according to a report by Clark.
With the season coming to an end on Nov. 15, Southeast Alaska halibut fishermen have brought in about 92.5 percent of their catch limit, or about 7.88 million pounds, according to Heather Gilroy at the International Pacific Halibut Commission. The total catch limit is 8.5 million pounds. That's down 20 percent from the 10.6 million pounds allotted in 2006. – Juneau Empire
CEO Makes Pitch for Pebble Mine
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The chief executive of Anglo American PLC, the world's second-largest mining company, has crisscrossed Alaska over the past two days, meeting key politicians and business leaders in her pitch for transforming lands in western Alaska into one of world's largest mines.
In a speech on Tuesday, Cynthia Carroll said little about projected profit or what minerals the company hopes to extract and instead addressed the most prickly subject in the debate over the Pebble Mine: the wild salmon fisheries of Bristol Bay.
The mine lies near the headwaters of the world's largest sockeye salmon streams and Carroll pledged that the company would drop out of the deal if studies find the resource cannot be protected.
“We do not want to and will not be associated with a mine that damages Alaska's fisheries and wildlife,” Carroll told the Resource Development Council, a pro-business organization, at a breakfast meeting in Anchorage. “If a mine cannot be planned in a way that provides proper protections, it will not be built.”
In August, Anglo American agreed to a 50-50 joint venture with the Canadian firm Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. to develop the mine, which the companies say holds world-class deposits of gold and copper.
Northern Dynasty and Anglo American estimate one of the Pebble deposits has 42.6 billion pounds of copper, 39.6 million ounces of gold, and 2.7 billion pounds of molybdenum, which is used to strengthen metal.
Opponents of the mine include sport and commercial fishermen, as well as the region's mostly Alaska Native residents who depend on salmon for a large part of their diet. They worry that pollution from the open-pit mine could cause irreparable harm to the fishery and the watershed.
Danny Consentein, chief operating officer of the Renewable Resources Coalition, said the involvement of a large multinational corporation has galvanized its membership of 1,000.
On Monday, Carroll met with Gov. Sarah Palin and a few key Republican lawmakers in the capital city of Juneau. She also flew to the Bristol Bay community of Iliamna and met with Alaska Native leaders.
Carroll promised to hire locally and set up various social and education programs in the Bristol Bay region. She said the company, where she took over as CEO in March, would set up a partnership in January with local residents to enhance the fishery. Carroll would not elaborate on the project, which she referred to as the Bristol Bay Sustainable Fisheries Fund. - San Diego Union Tribune,
Fishermen: Global Warming Impacts Fish Stocks
Frustrated fishermen are circulating a petition that calls for congressional oversight hearings of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service for its failure to incorporate global warming impacts into fish stock assessments.
The petition, authored by Gene Soccolich of the Port of New Bedford Business Alliance, states that the commercial fishing community has lost confidence in the National Marine Fisheries Service. The federal agency is responsible for the stewardship of the nation's living marine resources.
"NMFS has failed to promulgate any comprehensive methodology for assessing the impacts of such environmental variability on reproductive patterns, migration routes and ecosystem relationships," according to the petition. "NMFS instead has placed the entire onus of resource depletion on commercial fishermen with constraints recklessly causing severe harm and suffering to the fishing community."
National Marine Fisheries Service spokeswoman Teri Frady said the agency did not have a "specific" response to the petition's accusations.
"We've had several reviews of our science over the years and welcome congressional and citizen interest in what the agency is doing to understand fish population dynamics and climate change," she wrote in an e-mail to The Standard-Times.
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center are studying how changes in climate affect marine ecosystems and the size, abundance and distribution of fish.
Frady pointed to a new three-year strategic plan for National Marine Fisheries Service fisheries research that outlines ongoing and planned ocean-related climate change studies. Among the major research goals and objectives is to "incorporate assessments or indices of climate variability into stock assessments," according to the plan.
Soccolich says he drafted the petition after reading an August 2007 U.S. Government Accountability Office report that faults several agencies, including NOAA, for not making climate change a priority in their management and planning efforts.
With the help of fisherman Ronald Borjeson of Plymouth, Mr. Soccolich has distributed copies of the petition to settlement houses and other waterfront businesses around New England. After signatures are collected, they plan to send the petition to New England legislators in Washington, D.C.
Fishermen's responses to the petition have been "really, really favorable," said Borjeson, who has fished for groundfish off Cape Cod for more than 30 years.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says Congress is unlikely to hold any hearings given its recent revision of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The federal law, which governs the management and conservation of the nation's fish stocks, was reauthorized by Congress in December and will not be revisited for several years.
The issues raised in Soccolich's petition were discussed during the reauthorization process but Congress "was not sympathetic," Rep. Frank said. - Standard-Times, New Bedford, Mass.
Feds Deny Assistance to New England Fishermen
BOSTON, Mass. - The federal government dealt a setback to New England fishermen this week, denying requests from the governors of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine for financial assistance to help the groundfishing fleet survive while stocks rebound.
The governors had asked for a declaration of "fisheries resource disaster," the first step in obtaining funds, arguing that the industry has been badly damaged by the government's restrictions on the number of days at sea for fishermen who target such groundfish as flounder and cod.
But the fishermen and the states will have to turn to Congress to seek financial help because Department of Commerce officials weren't persuaded.
"It's obvious the New England groundfish stocks are rebuilding," William Hogarth, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service, said in an afternoon conference call. "Fishing ports in these states are among the most productive."
Governor Deval Patrick argued that rules passed last year to protect vulnerable groundfish stocks sharply reduced the number of days at sea for fishermen, costing the industry $22 million in Massachusetts.
U.S. Senators John Kerry and Edward Kennedy said a Senate-passed spending bill in Congress contains $15 million to help the fishermen. It's awaiting action in the House.
Federal fisheries officials cited increased fish stocks and some increases in fishing revenue. Only four of 18 groundfish stocks have not increased, they said.
"There has to be a significant reduction," said Sam Rauch, deputy director of the Fisheries Service. "The majority of groundfish fishermen are making less money than they were before. We have taken that into account. That is not the same thing as to say the commercial fishery has failed."
The system tries to protect fish by making it harder for fishermen to catch them. But after about 13 years under those rules, key species such as cod and flounder are still struggling. The New England fishing fleet has steadily shrunk; the number of boats fell from 990 to 773 between 1996 and 2004. And some fishermen are allowed to fish just 24 days a year.
The industry has benefited from disaster declarations in the past. President Clinton released $30 million in emergency funding to the Northeast fishing industry and affected communities in 1994 following the collapse of commercial fisheries. – Boston Globe
Friday, October 26. 2007
Pebble Owners Vow Not to Hurt Fisheries
Anglo American has promised to abandon plans to develop the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine in Alaska if studies prove that the mine would damage the region’s natural resources or endanger its wildlife.
Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll, who has already laid down the law regarding the group’s safety standards, looks set to set another precedent by advocating the preservation of natural resources over profit.
In August, Anglo American agreed to become a 50% partner with the Northern Dynasty in the Pebble project by making a staged cash investment of US$1.425 billion.
The copper-gold-molybdenum project has been fraught with controversy because the mine lies near the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon streams.
"We do not want to and will not be associated with a mine that damages Alaska’s fisheries and wildlife," Carroll told the Resource Development Council, a pro-business organization, at a breakfast meeting in Anchorage.
"If a mine cannot be planned in a way that provides proper protections, it will not be built," Carroll said.
According to The International Herald Tribune, opponents of the mine include sport and commercial fishermen, as well as the region’s mostly Alaskan Native residents who depend on salmon for a large part of their diet.
"They worry that pollution from the open-pit mine could cause irreparable harm to the fishery and the watershed," the newspaper reported.
Northern Dynasty and Anglo American estimate one of the Pebble deposits has 42.6 billion pounds of copper, 39.6 million ounces of gold, and 2.7 billion pounds of molybdenum, which is used to strengthen metal.
In the meantime, Anchorage’s natural resources chief has warned that the Pebble mine controversy was damaging the state’s future with too much hype.
"The ultimate result is that the controversy over Pebble is spilling to other mineral projects, and could stunt economic growth and development in rural parts of Alaska," said Tom Irwin, commissioner of the state department of natural resources at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.
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