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Monday, November 5. 2007 Oil Spill Clean Up Delayed A key component of plans to clean up a big oil spill in Prince William Sound -- using a fleet of fishing boats to help corral the oil -- might be in danger of unraveling due a new state labor demand, an oil industry watchdog group says. This summer some boat owners got letters from a state Labor Department auditor saying they need to pay unemployment insurance taxes for crewmen working in spill response or drills. And more letters might be coming. A week ago, labor officials asked Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the oil company consortium that runs the Valdez tanker port, for the full list of fishing boats with which Alyeska holds contracts for spill response. Some fishermen have vowed to quit the industry-funded oil spill response program due to the paperwork and costs involved with unemployment insurance. "Our concern is that it will damage or, in the worst case, wipe out the fishing vessel program," said Stan Jones, spokesman for the Valdez-based Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council. The council and the fishing boat cleanup program both were created in the wake of the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster in 1989, which released nearly 11 million gallons of oil into the Sound. If another spill happened, as many as 350 fishing boats from Cordova, Valdez, Whittier and other ports would help deploy boom to contain the oil for recovery with skimming equipment. The fleet is now part of the oil industry's mandatory plans for how it will respond to a spill. Alaska law exempts many commercial fishing boat owners from paying for unemployment insurance because crewmen typically are not paid wages. Rather, they earn a share of proceeds from the catch. But the state letter to boat owners says payments to crewmen employed during spill response drills "are reportable for unemployment insurance purposes." It means fishing vessel owners likely would have to pay between 3 percent and 4 percent of a deckhand's pay, and the deckhand would have to pay another half a percent, for state unemployment insurance. Some boat owners balk at the cost and quarterly reporting requirements of getting involved with unemployment insurance for the few days a year they're engaged in spill response. At least three even vowed to quit the fishing vessel spill response program. "But I don't know really how serious they were about it," said Thane Miller, a Valdez commercial salmon fisherman. Tom Nelson, director of the state Employment Security Division, said his office has an obligation to seek unemployment insurance taxes from all employers who owe them. Jones said the citizens' advisory council is studying possible solutions, such as amending state law to exempt the fishing boats from the tax when engaged in spill response. Another idea is making boat crews temporary employees of Alyeska during spill drills. Alyeska would then take care of the employment insurance. Anil Mathur, president of Alaska Tanker Co., the oil shipper for major Alyeska owner BP, said he doesn't like the idea of temporary employment. That would blur who is responsible for managing fishing boat crews, he said. Mathur questioned the value of the state pursuing the fishing boat owners for unemployment insurance. He said such collections likely would total less than $50,000 a year. Jones said the advisory council is concerned that seeking exemptions for state unemployment insurance is not as simple as it sounds, in part due to potential conflicts with federal law. Douglas Mertz, a lawyer for the advisory council, said in a memo last month that "a legislative fix would be very difficult." While some state officials see potential for only a handful of boats leaving the spill response program, Mertz said that "we could see a wider owner rebellion."– Anchorage Daily News Governments Subsidize Plundering of Oceans Can the World Trade Organization (WTO) put a stop to harmful fishing practices largely driven by government subsidies that top $35 billion each year? That’s the question UBC Fisheries Centre researcher Rashid Sumaila has put before the WTO. The 151-member organization is hammering out trade rules during its current Doha Trade Round of Negotiations, and by early 2008 will decide whether it will issue a multilateral ban on subsidies that drive overfishing. “The WTO is the only global institution that has the mandate to enforce its agreements and therefore could contribute to healthy global fisheries,” says Assoc. Prof. Sumaila. He adds that perhaps the WTO can accomplish what the United Nations failed to do. Last fall, Sumaila presented a study that he and Prof. Daniel Pauly co-authored, calling for a moratorium on global subsidies of $152 million which “strip-mine” vulnerable fishery resources and ocean ecosystems. However, last November, the UN General Assembly defeated a proposal to ban environmentally harmful deep-sea bottom-trawl fishing. Putting forward another economic argument for sustainable fisheries, the most recent study by Sumaila and UBC researchers shows that between $20 and $26 billion annually contribute directly to overfishing. Governments invest money to keep their fishing fleets competitive and as a result there are more than twice the number of boats than oceans can sustainably support. Currently, global fisheries catch between 80-90,000 tonnes of fish each year, earning total gross revenues of about $80 billion. “The resource base is now too small for all fishing boats to make a profit, with too many stocks being fully or overexploited, says Sumaila, Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit. He says ecologists predict that world fisheries and seafood populations will collapse by 2048 if current trends in overfishing and habitat destruction continue. About one-fifth of the world’s population depends on fish as its main source of animal protein. The study argues that while good subsidies help to monitor and rebuild fish stocks, bad subsidies don’t make ecological or business sense. Sumaila estimates that Canada’s annual “good,” “bad,” and “ugly” subsidies total $203, $163 and $267 million, respectively. He adds that so far, Canada appears to support a WTO ban on harmful subsidies. To date, two coalitions have emerged over the question of banning bad subsidies. Some countries such as the U.S. and New Zealand advocate a “top down” approach that essentially eliminates all government subsidies. Others including the EU, Japan, Korea and Taiwan favor a “bottom up” approach that bans only specific subsidies such as money for modifying or purchasing boats. This camp wants to continue supporting vessel buyback programs and access agreements that richer nations pay developing countries to fish in their waters. - University of British Columbia, Canada
Chilean Salmon Industry Report “X-Ray of the Chilean Salmon Industry,” which details the industry’s shoddy labor and environmental record, was distributed this week to the Chilean and Norwegian embassies in Washington D.C. Wave Energy Buoy Sinks NEWPORT, Ore. — A 72-foot-tall wave energy buoy is sitting at the bottom of the ocean floor today — all 35 tons of it — after the $2 million contraption leaked, filled with water and sank. It will remain there, 2½miles off of Agate Beach, until next spring. A spokesman for the buoy’s owner, British Columbia-based Finavera Renewables Inc., said the experimental device already has done its job collecting data over the past two months, and the steel tube would have been cut into scrap anyway, once it was removed from the water. That isn’t going to happen anytime soon, however. The waves are too high to remove the buoy safely, and with winter looming, the seas won’t settle down before spring, said Michael Clark, Finavera’s spokesman. “The loss is bad publicity,” Clark said. “We would not have liked this to happen, but what we want people to take away from it is that it’s not going to impact the development of this technology, and getting it to a commercial stage.” Having finished gathering the data it needed, the buoy, which is 12 feet in diameter, was scheduled to be pulled out of the water this month. But last Friday it started experiencing “buoyancy issues,” Clark said. Water was leaking into the device, and the bilge pump inside it — installed specifically to handle leakage — failed. By midday Saturday, the buoy was 110 feet below sea level. The company has since removed the anchor and cables that had tethered it in place. The tube is equipped with a rubberized pump that takes in seawater, causing a piston inside it to move up and down, generating hydraulic electricity. Clark said he’s not sure why it leaked, and that there’s no way to tell until it’s back out of the water. The buoy was collecting data on how much energy it could generate. “It was a prototype,” Clark said, “and issues arise with prototypes sometimes. This is not going to be the device we would use in a commercial wave project, which clearly would have gone through a lot more testing, including survivability tests.” But the sinking may add fodder to an increasingly wary group of fishermen and residents along the Oregon Coast concerned that networks of wave energy buoys could affect sensitive marine ecology areas and be difficult to maintain. “It’s eye-opening, really,” said Gus Gates, a member of the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, which has been monitoring wave energy’s progress in recent months. “They should be required to get that out of there. It’s a big chunk of trash in our ocean.” Gregg Kleiner, a spokesman for Oregon State University, said he didn’t think the sinking would make it harder to sell the public on wave energy, noting that the newness of the technology is bound to mean failed prototypes. – Eugene Register-Guard Exxon messTOPEKA, Kansas - It's been said the wheels of justice turn slowly, but this is ridiculous. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court agreed to step into a marathon battle over damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. A float plane waits to taxi from an oil-covered beach in Prince William Sound, an inlet off the Gulf of Alaska. The Exxon Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of oil in the sound in March 1989, and the case is still in litigation. How long has the case been rattling around the justice system? Let's put it this way: Most of the nation's high school students hadn't been born when the Valdez hit a reef in Prince William Sound and bled out 11 million gallons of oil. The spill occurred in March 1989. Now, 18 1/2 years later, the court has announced it will decide whether Exxon Mobil Corp. should pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages to victims. Exxon has been fighting the award since 1994, when a jury in Alaska set the initial amount at $5 billion. In December, a federal appellate court cut the award in half. It still would be the largest punitive damages judgment ever, but to put the current award of $2.5 billion in another perspective, it's 6.3 percent of the $39.5 billion in profits the company raked in during 2006. At that rate, the company made $2.5 billion every 23 days. Meanwhile, some of the plaintiffs have died. Those still living include about 33,000 commercial fishermen, cannery workers, landowners, native Alaskans, business people and local governments. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called the court's decision to take up the case a "kick in Alaska's collective gut," and we tend to sympathize with her. This smells an awful lot like a business with extraordinarily deep pockets using its considerable resources to outplay, outwit and outlast its opposition, to borrow the tagline from a popular TV reality show. The strategy makes legal sense for the oil giant. The Supreme Court has sided with businesses in cases involving damages and corporate liability, most recently deciding in February to set aside a nearly $80 million judgment against Philip Morris USA. Now, the court will decide whether Exxon should have to pay any damages under the Clean Water Act and longstanding shipping laws. The company contends it shouldn't be held responsible for the conduct of the ship's captain. In the court of public opinion, however, the company isn't looking so good. Time hasn't erased mental images of oil-soaked seabirds and marine animals that died by the hundreds of thousands in the accident. Although Exxon has paid out $3.4 billion in cleanup costs and damages from the spill, we think dropping the case and offering a settlement involving a few weeks' worth of profits would go a long way toward improving the company's image. - Topeka (Kansas) Capital Journal <<<•>>> Tuesday, November 6. 2007 UFA Against Hover Barge Plan JUNEAU, Alaska - The largest commercial fishing group in Alaska has voted to oppose a plan to transport unprocessed ore on the Taku River using a hoverbarge until the group's concerns about fish habitat have been resolved. The United Fishermen of Alaska's board of directors passed a motion at its Oct. 26 meeting against a plan to carry ore from Canada's Tulsequah Chief Mine, 19 miles upstream from where the Taku River enters the United States. The fishermen's concerns revolve around the use of a machine that has not been built or used before. Called an amphitrac, two of the machines would tug 300-ton loads on two hoverbarges about 4 mph up and down the Taku River daily. "We don't believe that the Taku River drainage should be used as an experiment for an untried vehicle and technology," said Ken Duckett, a Ketchikan-based UFA board member and executive director of the United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters Association. "Until those concerns are addressed to the (Fish and Game) department's satisfaction, and to the commercial fishermen's satisfaction, we are not going to support the project," he said. Duckett, who put forth the motion, did not recall any opposition to it at the meeting. The multimetal mine is being developed by Canadian company Redfern Resources, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based Redcorp Ventures. Redcorp spokeswoman Salina Landstad said the amphitrac is in the construction phase and combines known technologies. "We are taking known technologies and putting them together. Before we start using it for its intended purposes, it will undergo a series of testing. ... It is a proven technology. We know what we need to know about it," Landstad said. She said the company is arranging informational meetings with those interested in learning more details about the plan. The UFA approved a one-sentence motion opposing the plan until further reassurances are made. "UFA opposes the Tulsequah Chief Mine transportation plan until such time that the issues raised by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game have been resolved in favor of protection of the fishery resource and associated habitat," the motion said. UFA is an umbrella group of 36 member organizations, and - depending on those groups' membership numbers - represents 5,000 to 10,000 fishermen at any given time. The Taku River hosts a thriving salmon fishery, with commercial fishermen concentrating on sockeye and coho, and more recently king salmon, which have doubled in number there since the 1980s. The annual value of the fishery is $2.84 million, according to Fish and Game estimates. There is currently no permit being considered by the state of Alaska, but area biologists at Fish and Game have said the barge plan should not be permitted because it will have dire consequences for fish spawning in the river. The Department of Natural Resources, charged with permitting the barge plan, sent a one-paragraph letter to Canada's government saying it did not need further information for the purpose of Canada's permitting process and will continue to review the project until it receives a permit application. Chris Zimmer is with the U.S.-Canadian group Rivers Without Borders, which opposes the mine on all counts. "This is the wrong mine in the wrong place," he said. – Juneau Empire B.C. Salmon Wars Continue FRASIER RIVER, British Columbia - If anyone knows the political undercurrents and back eddies that flow within salmon fishing on the lower Fraser River, it's Ernie Crey. He's a member of the Cheam Indian Band, a policy advisor for the much larger Sto:lo Tribal Council and for many years has been an active participant in this fishery -- both as a fisherman and as a senior advisor with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Given his background, when Crey says there's something fishy happening with the B.C. native treaty process, you tend to listen. He's concerned that in attempting to reach settlements with native groups, treaty negotiators are giving away rights to Fraser River sockeye salmon to bands who, he says, have no historical aboriginal rights to those fish. Crey says this is harming many of the 94 bands located along the full length of the Fraser River and its tributaries. He also says that more than half of these Fraser River bands have elected not to take part in B.C.'s treaty process. Not only that, but federal government negotiators are also concluding side deals to give non-Fraser River coastal bands commercial fishing licences on the Fraser -- which had previously been purchased from other commercial fishermen, Crey says. And it's all happening as the annual Fraser River sockeye run, which is the mainstay of the entire salmon fishery, continues its rapid decline. "Right now, the majority of the 94 Fraser River bands who are not in the treaty process are standing by and watching the federal government give away our fish," Crey tells me. "Nor have we been consulted, even though there have been many court decisions saying that before treaty decisions like this are made, the government is obliged to consult with us." In raising these concerns, Crey cites the recently finalized treaty between the B.C. and federal governments and the Maa-nulth First Nations group, which is located on the west side of Vancouver Island. That settlement included both a very small treaty-embedded share of the Fraser River sockeye fishery, as well as Fraser River commercial fishing rights in a side deal. According to chief federal negotiator Eric Denhoff, the Maa-nulth convinced negotiators that they had an aboriginal right to Fraser sockeye based on their historical whaling activities off the Island's west coast, which they claimed included fishing for sockeye. Crey says that doesn't make sense, because migrating sockeye off the west coast would run too deep to catch, especially during the pre-1846 aboriginal era, which is the dateline courts have set in determining historical aboriginal fishing rights. He thinks treaty negotiators are simply trying to compensate groups like the Maa-nulth for losses of Vancouver Island sockeye whose habitat was destroyed long ago due to logging. Although the Maa-nulth sockeye share is very small, Crey is concerned that it sets a precedent -- and that allocating Fraser River sockeye to other coastal bands in future treaty settlements will put further strains on dwindling stocks. "The problem is causing a lot of resentment and fear among Fraser River bands because we don't have any idea where all this is going to end," he says. "I think the aboriginal leadership in B.C. has to take this issue up with the federal government, otherwise it could end up in court," Crey warns. – The Province, B.C.
Some Chefs Like One Man's Farmed Salmon SAN JOSE, Calif. - With all the knocks against farm-raised salmon, it might come as a surprise that there's at least one variety that has won over some top U.S. chefs and a Scottish environmental organization. It is Loch Duart salmon, raised in pens off the coast of Scotland. Loch Duart, an independently owned Scottish farm that was established in 1999, received a Scottish national honor in 2005, known as the Vision in Business for the Environment for Scotland award. It also was the first salmon farm to receive the Freedom Food certification from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for its fish welfare practices. Feds Ready to Kill Columbia Sea Lions Bonneville, Ore. - A federal task force is expected to recommend next week that pesky California sea lions gobbling up threatened salmon at Bonneville Dam be killed in order to help conserve Columbia River fish runs. Biologists have tried various methods to chase away the hungry marine mammals. But all attempts have failed — including setting off underwater firecrackers. "The best and most sincere efforts to dissuade these creatures with nonlethal measures just have not worked," said U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., who has led a bipartisan effort with U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., to find a solution. "We just cannot allow the status quo to continue," Baird said Friday. The recommendation by the 18-member panel was being reviewed before a final draft was to be released after a Monday deadline. It follows a request by Oregon, Washington state and Idaho for federal approval to kill the sea lions. Only one member of the broad-based task force objected — Sharon Young of the Humane Society of the United States. Young said killing sea lions attacks only a tiny part of the overall salmon conservation problem, and they will simply be replaced by more hungry sea lions who will find their way to the dam after their competition is gone. "My frustration is, there is no point in killing them if it isn't going to make a difference," she said. "And it isn't going to make a difference." Other panel members, however, felt there was no other choice after days of meetings and discussions over the past two months, said Charles Hudson of the Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, a strong supporter of the states' request. "The task force members brought strong issues and insights to the table," Hudson said, and they came up with "a well-articulated, multiyear plan." He said the draft plan would target repeat offenders among the sea lions that are easily identified and have been observed at Bonneville for years. The recommendation goes to NOAA Fisheries for consideration and a decision that is not expected until March, when sea lions return with the spring salmon runs. Garth Griffin, the NOAA Fisheries biologist in Portland handling the recommendation, emphasized it will be only part of a final decision made after a review of biological and legal issues by the agency's staff. But he noted that nonlethal measures appear to have been exhausted. "We have tried them going back to the 80s, and the feeling was there was no technique that had not been tried yet," Griffin said. Any decision could be challenged in court, but Baird and Hastings argued any delay would only cause more damage to fish runs. "Lethal methods aren't anyone's first choice, it's the last resort when all else has failed," Hastings said. – Associated Press Editorial: Salmon Fight to Grow More DifficultASTORIA, Ore. - The new federal plans for aiding endangered salmon runs aren't quite as big a disappointment as some in the environmental and fishing communities suggest. But they inevitably continue to suffer from the age-old conundrum of deciding how to split the baby without killing it. <<<•>>> Wednesday, November 7, 2007 Sports Group Looks to Boot Gillnets PORTLAND, Ore. - There's a new dog in the fight to rid the Columbia River of gillnets, and curb over-harvest of salmon and other fish at sea, and perhaps flex some muscle over the growing concern about offshore marine reserves, and any number of fishery issues. Gary Loomis of Woodland, Wash., godfather of the high-tech, graphite fishing rod industry, is the organizer and head cheerleader behind the appearance in the Pacific Northwest of the Coastal Conservation Association, a 30-year-old Texas-based organization founded to help curb the commercial fishing that nearly destroyed redfish and speckled trout sport fisheries off Texas. The effort bore enough fruit that chapters spread across the Gulf Coast, then up the Atlantic Coast into New England by the early 1990s and, a few months ago, to the Pacific Coast at Loomis' insistent urging. The CCA's national political machine encompasses the gamut of fisheries, from grass-roots anglers performing hands-on field work to high-powered political lobbyists in Washington, D.C. Loomis formed Fish First in 1995 to help resurrect Coho salmon runs in Washington's Lewis River, only to see the run decimated in recent years by gill-netting, which he says targeted his fish. Turning to CCA, however, isn't simply an anti-commercial fishing move, he said, adding that fisheries problems range far beyond the Columbia. Loomis was interviewed recently after returning from ceremonies inducting him to the Hall of Fame of the International Game Fish Association in Florida, and then to Washington, D.C., for a presidential signing of a bill declaring striped bass a federal game fish (an effort in which CCA also was involved). "We're not against commercial harvest," he said. "What we need is better ways to selectively harvest." Likewise, Loomis said, the CCA will be far from a one-issue organization in the Northwest, although commercial harvests are likely targets. "This isn't net-driven," he said. "It's resource-driven. We have no control over our fisheries right now. We cannot recover more fish than they can harvest. That has to change." Largely by word of mouth and over the Internet, Loomis and his lieutenants have signed up 2,200 members (at $25 each) in Oregon and Washington. Oregon chapters have been formed in the Portland area (Willamette Chapter) Columbia/Clatsop County, Tillamook, Tualatin Valley, Salem and Eugene/Springfield. Not all of the 2,200 belong to chapters yet, so more will be formed. Much of the registration success has been driven by sometimes-fevered pleas on Internet fishing Web sites, where anti-gillnet fervor runs rampant. The CCA and gill nets are daily topics on www.ifish.net. However, Loomis, Stan Steele of Corvallis (his Oregon governmental relations chairman) and Mads Ledet of Gresham (the Oregon chapter president) said they're trying to avoid all association with ifish and other Web sites. Loomis said the plan is for 30,000 members within two years in the Northwest. - The Oregonian The Disappearing Salmon of California MODESTO, Calif.—As salmon spawning season approaches its peak in Central Valley rivers, the number of fish appear to be dwindling. Biologists say that so far, fish counts have been very low—in some cases, a third of what they saw at this time last year. The second and third weeks of November are traditionally peak spawning seasons on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers in the San Joaquin Valley. "So far, the numbers are very low," said Tim Ford, an aquatic biologist with the Turlock and Modesto irrigation districts. "There's no way to know for sure, but right now, it looks like it could be a bad year." For example, just 205 Chinook were counted on the Stanislaus River by Oct. 30. By comparison, 996 were counted by the same date last year in the same spot. Preliminary salmon counts also are showing fewer fish swimming up Northern Sierra Nevada rivers like the Sacramento, American and Feather. Experts believe changing weather and water temperatures, including warmer water in the northern Pacific Ocean, could be behind the apparent decline. - San Jose Mercury News
Oregon Crabbers Poised for Season Opener Charleston, Ore. – The quality is high and price negotiations will be underway next week as Charleston fishermen prepare for crab season. Norwegian Fishermen Against Windmills In its annual conference this weekend, the Norwegian Fishery Association unanimously supported a proposal to fight the development of windmill parks at sea. Governor Seeks Marine Reserve NominationsFLORENCE, Ore. — Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski will ask for proposals in January for specific sites along the Oregon Coast to be designated as strategic marine reserves. Kulongoski said he wants to cap the reserves at fewer than 10, a number that would not severely impact the fishing industry. He also promised not to push for the reserves until there's money to monitor, enforce and study such sites. Michael Carrier, Kulongoski's natural-resources policy adviser, said reserves would be created in a way that minimizes the impact on local economies. Kulongoski's comments came after at least 14 coastal ports and city governments passed resolutions expressing concern about reserves. At stake, say officials, are the livelihoods of commercial fishermen and the tourism revenues from visiting sport fishermen, who spent $26.5 million in coastal communities in 2005. – Seattle Time Capital Journal <<<•>>>
Thursday, November 8. 2007
Caviar Time at Mountainlake Fisheries FLATHEAD, Montana - Ron Mohn knew he had made it in the caviar business when he started getting calls from rough-sounding guys with thick Russian accents named Boris and Ivan. Dead Seabirds May Change Fishing Season KINGSTON, Wash. - State authorities are considering changes to commercial fishing seasons and fishing locations in North Kitsap following an examination of dead seabirds from an Indianola beach. The birds that were analyzed — among more than 200 found dead last week — showed signs of drowning but not disease or starvation, said Greg Schirato, a wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. It will take about two more weeks to learn if the birds showed any signs of poisoning, he added. Most of the 200 birds were common murres, though about a dozen were Pacific loons. "It is highly probable that the cause (of death) was drowning in commercial fishing nets," Schirato said. "With that in mind, the agency is looking at what types of actions to take." Port Madison Bay, where many of the murres congregate, is already closed to nontribal commercial fishing, but it may be closed farther out in Puget Sound than it is now, Schirato said. Salmon managers are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss fishing restrictions for the rest of this year and possibly future years, he added. In the Kingston-Indianola area, murres are outnumbered by loons and grebes, Schirato said, but murres are more likely to be caught in nets because they flock at night on the water and dive when disturbed — sometimes right into a net. Overall, Puget Sound contains about 3,000 nesting pairs of murres, and the numbers are in decline, Schirato said. "Continued breeding failures heighten our concern," he said. "The birds are not threatened or endangered, but they are not doing well." Mike Cenci, deputy chief of enforcement for Fish and Wildlife, said observers and enforcement officers were on the water Sunday and Monday to observe commercial fishing near Kingston. One seabird was caught in a gillnet along with a harbor seal that was already dead, he said. Observers were scheduled to return to the area during fishing Wednesday night. – Kitsap Sun
UFA Fires Protest Letters to Palin As evidence, The Highliner supplies you with a couple of letters the Juneau-based organization fired recently to Gov. Sarah Palin; Eric Olson, chairman of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council; and Mel Morris, Board of Fisheries chairman. The first letter refers to a recent, state-led vote of the council to consider allocating groundfish harvest rights to a for-profit corporation – and not fishermen directly – at Adak. “UFA is shocked by this apparent new direction taken by the state of Alaska,” the letter says. The second letter concerns the UFA’s view that the Board of Fisheries is abusing the practice of board-generated proposals, making a “mockery” of the public process. – Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy writing as The Highliner in the Anchorage Daily News On the Web: first letter = http://www.adn.com/static/includes/highliner/110707-UFAcouncilletter.pdf second letter = http://www.adn.com/static/includes/highliner/110707-UFAboardletter.pdfCrabber gets Probation for Undersized Dungeness WRANGELL, Alaska - A captain who was accused of harvesting the largest haul of undersized Dungeness crab troopers have seen in recent history will be allowed to continue crabbing this season, Alaska State Troopers said. Troopers say Wrangell resident Joseph Janssen, 52, delivered a load of crab to Sea Level Seafoods in Wrangell that contained about 4,400 undersized crabs, or about a third of the haul. Janssen's vessel, the Leanna Sea, delivered the load of more than 23,000 pounds of crab to the processor, though the crab were actually caught on the Jessie Leigh, troopers said. The Leanna Sea was not properly registered under Alaska law, troopers say, and Janssen had been illegally delivering crab on the Leanna Sea since 2006. Troopers seized the ship and a check from the plant to Janssen for nearly $45,000. Janssen reached an agreement with prosecutors last Friday in which he will be placed on six years' probation and will have to pay $150,000 in fines combined with a forfeiture of his crab catch. He will also be allowed to buy the Leanna Sea back from the state. Janssen forfeited the $45,000 check, and the rest can be paid over his probation period, troopers said. Fishermen Embrace Bountiful Scallop CatchNANTUCKET, Mass. - Scalloper Marty Mack said jokingly over the weekend as he collected storm-beached scallops off the shore along Hulbert Avenue that the bay scallop fishery is crashing - crashing into his dredges, that is. "With the number of boats that I'm seeing, it should be a very good year for the fishermen," scalloper Doug Smith agreed. "I'm only counting 30 to 50 boats, and it should be a long, very good year. The dealers are thinking the same thing and are only paying $11 a pound. I'm estimating between 10,000 and 15,000 bushels in the harbor for this year." Marine Superintendent Dave Fronzuto, who counted 48 boats scalloping in Nantucket Harbor and 10 in Madaket Harbor on Monday, also seemed upbeat about the prospects for a more substantial harvest this season, despite the waves of scallops last weekend's nor'easter washed onto beaches in front of Folger's Marsh, Abram's Point and Hulbert Avenue. "The single limit boats were in at a quarter of eight in the morning and double limit boats were in by 8:15 a.m. and everybody is getting their limits," Fronzuto said of last Thursday's opening day. "The scallops seem to have well defined growth rings and we're not having issues with people starting early, going over their limit or taking seed. Smith's bold estimate of 10 to 15,000 bushels in the wake of the two previous season's hauls - 3,850 for the 2006/2007 season and 5,500 for 2005/2006 - was backed up by fellow scalloper Marina Finch on Monday. "There are so many scallops out there," said Finch. "I tell you, if I had a person to take a double limit, I would be doubling right now and I don't even ever do that. Island fishmongers seem to agree, offering the opening day boat price of $11 last week when the commercial season began on Nov. 1, the sort of price that typically bespeaks a healthy supply in Nantucket waters. Scallops seem to be abundant in the harbors, bays and ponds of Martha's Vineyard as well, where this year Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and Chilmark all opened their waters to bay scalloping with a boat price of $16 to $18 per pound, and scallops selling for $22 a pound in fish markets, according to Vineyard Gazette reporter Mark Lovewell. Last year, only the Town of Tisbury allowed commercial scalloping, as the Vineyard tracked Nantucket's poor harvest, whose dire forecast manifested itself in an opening price of $12 that escalated to $13 four days later. Dan Lemaitre, co-owner with Ted Jennison of Nantucket Seafoods, said that although he does not expect Nantucket's price of $11 to rise any time soon, his scallopers are still concerned about the impact of last Saturday's nor'easter. Although Lemaitre would not divulge what he and Jennison are selling bay scallops for, the going rate per pound on the island is $18. That is what Glidden's Island Seafood is selling them for and owner David Glidden agreed that scallops are plentiful this season. - Nantucket Independent
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Friday, November 9. 2007 Alaska reports good harvests JUNEAU – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Commercial Fisheries posted its preliminary end-of-season estimates of commercial harvest and value for the 2007 salmon season. All estimates of salmon prices at this time are preliminary and usually underestimate the final value of the commercial salmon harvest. This season, commercial fishermen harvested 212 million salmon, which had an estimated total value of $374 million. The harvest was the fourth largest since statehood, about 33 million fish above the preseason forecast, and above the most recent 10-year average of 164 million fish. The preliminary 2007 statewide total ex-vessel value of the 2007 salmon harvest was nearly $28 million higher than the final ex-vessel value in 2006, and significantly higher than the most recent 10-year average of $277 million. Preliminary estimates of the statewide average prices for sockeye and pink salmon are 75 cents and 17 cents per pound respectively, comparable to last year’s final ex-vessel prices. Average Chinook salmon prices in 2007 were $2.68, below the final prices in 2006; however, prices for winter troll-caught Chinook salmon are currently averaging more than double these levels.
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