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Mariculture Research Suggests Farmed Kelp Could Help Reduce Coastal Marine Pollution
Fishermen's News Online, From the Fleet

Mariculture Research Suggests Farmed Kelp Could Help Reduce Coastal Marine Pollution

A new study published in the January issue of the online, peer reviewed Aquaculture Journal concludes that the water-filtering abilities of farmed kelp, an emerging industry in Alaska, could help reduce marine pollution in coastal areas. “Some seaweeds are literally like sponges- they suck and suck and never saturate,” said Schery Umanzor, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. “Although carbon and carbon sequestration by kelp received most of the attention, kelp is actually much better at mitigating excessive amounts of nitrogen than carbon,” she said. “I think that’s a story that’s really under looked.” Nitrogen pollution in coastal areas can be caused by several factors, including urban sew...
From the Editor: BC Fisheries in Flux
Fishermen's News Online, From the Editor

From the Editor: BC Fisheries in Flux

Inside the February 2023 issue of Fishermen's News, you’ll find an excellent article on the status of the British Columbia fishing industry. In the article, reporter Norris Comer states that “A myriad of challenges face B.C. fisheries, with the threatened Pacific salmon stocks taking center stage.” But in addition to the article in this issue, there’s an article published by Canada’s National Observer, a news and analysis website. In the National Observer article, reporter Rochelle Baker declares that British Columbia’s commercial salmon fleet is “clearly in the midst of transformative change.” The federal government in Ottawa has shuttered about 60% of B.C.’s commercial fisheries since 2021, and in December, launched a buyback program to lure fish harvesters to exit the industry to pro...
Electronic Logbook Trial Run Expected to Begin This Year in Gulf of Alaska
Fishermen's News Online, News

Electronic Logbook Trial Run Expected to Begin This Year in Gulf of Alaska

Real Time Data, a fisherman-founded software company with offices in Bellingham, Wash. and Australia is looking for harvesters to test its electronic logbook, Deckhand Pro, in Gulf of Alaska fixed gear groundfish fisheries during the 2023 and 2024 fishing seasons. Fishermen who are currently reporting on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Daily Fishing Log and fishing for halibut and sablefish are eligible to fill the 30 spots to test Real Time Data’s Deckhand Pro electronic logbook in the Gulf of Alaska for the 2023-24 fishing seasons. RTD Project Manager Lange Solberg said the company is ecstatic to be working with industry to get Deckhand Pro out on the water in fixed gear fisheries. Deckhand Pro is its flagship logbook project in the global electronic reporting market, an...
Toxic Toilet Tissue Found in Endangered Orca Whales: UBC Study
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Toxic Toilet Tissue Found in Endangered Orca Whales: UBC Study

University of British Columbia researchers say a chemical used to produce toilet paper, as well as so-called ‘forever chemicals’ have been found in the carcasses of stranded endangered orca whales offshore of the Canadian province. Study results, released in December 2022 in an online publication of the American Chemical Society, show that chemical pollutants are prevalent in killer whales. A chemical often found in toilet paper was the one of the most prevalent in the samples studied, accounting for 46% of the total pollutants identified. The research was a collaborative effort of the UBC Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, with researchers analyzing tissue samples from six Southern Resident killer ...
California Sea Grant Releases 2024-2027 Strategic Plan
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California Sea Grant Releases 2024-2027 Strategic Plan

California Sea Grant, administered through the University of California San Diego, has released its 2024-2027 strategic plan, with a goal of better preparing the state’s coastal communities for extreme weather and coastal hazards, economic disruptions and other threats to communities’ well-being. The report notes the intimate connection between all California residents and the state’s coastal and marine resources, which are located along the 3,425 miles of coastline, meandering along the rugged open coast, around bays and in the ocean. The first healthy coastal ecosystem goal centers on a better understanding of natural and anthropogenic influences on these ecosystems in a changing environment and collaborators that reflect the diversity of those with interest in these ecosystems to id...
NSEDC Says ‘No’ to Buying Winter Red King Crab
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NSEDC Says ‘No’ to Buying Winter Red King Crab

The Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. (NSEDC) will not purchase crab from the 2023 red king crab winter commercial fishery, in what the corporation has described as a difficult decision based on concerns for the long-term health of the fishery. While the stock appears to be rebounding, NSEDC believes a cautious approach to commercial harvests continues to be necessary to preserve the recovery, the corporation said in a statement issued in the second week of January. NSEDC is a private nonprofit corporation, with offices in Nome and Anchorage representing 15 member communities and nearly 8,500 people in the Bering Straits region of Northwestern Alaska. With the current mature crab stock being vital for reproduction, NSEDC officials said, a conservative harvest approach over the n...
Low Price Prompts Kodiak District Crabbers to Stand Down from Tanner Crab Fishery
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Low Price Prompts Kodiak District Crabbers to Stand Down from Tanner Crab Fishery

Harvesters standing down from Tanner crab fisheries because of a $2.50 a pound offer from Kodiak processors say the earliest they could go fishing would be noon on Sunday, Jan. 22, if they get a reasonable price offer. Kevin Abena, secretary and treasurer of the Kodiak Crab Alliance Cooperative, said that as of Monday, Jan. 16, Alaska Pacific Seafoods and OBI Seafoods, the latter representing Ocean Beauty and Icicle, had upped their offer from $2.50 a pound to $3 a pound. Members of the cooperative are holding out for a higher price. Last year, Tanner crab harvesters were paid $8.30 a pound in Kodiak in the wake of the 2021 fishery, which was cancelled. Fishermen at King Cove and Sand Point were continuing negotiations with Peter Pan Seafoods. Abena said it’s the right decision for t...
Hawaii Research Center Paying Commercial Fishermen to Collect Derelict Nets
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Hawaii Research Center Paying Commercial Fishermen to Collect Derelict Nets

Hawai’i Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research has launched a project to remove derelict fishing gear from the ocean. A bounty will be paid to eligible commercial fishers to remove derelict fishing gear at-sea before it strikes Hawai’i’s coral reefs. Fishers registered in the bounty project will be paid between $1 to $3 per dry pound for derelict fishing gear found at sea and brought back to Oahu. Hawai’i Pacific is partnering with the Hawai’i Longline Association and Hawai’i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources on the project. The goal is to remove 100 metric tons (220,462 pounds) of derelict fishing gear from the Pacific Ocean over two years. The program is partially supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...
Pacific Fishermen Shipyard’s Dixon Honored for Support of North Pacific Fishing Industry
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Pacific Fishermen Shipyard’s Dixon Honored for Support of North Pacific Fishing Industry

John Douglas “Doug” Dixon, the general manager of Pacific Fishermen Shipyard in Seattle, has been honored by the Norwegian Commercial Club for his life-long contributions to the North Pacific fishing industry with the King Neptune award. The King Neptune Award honors individuals and organizations whose long-term and breakthrough contributions have furthered the economic growth, well-being and recognition of the North Pacific fishing industry. The latest presentation came during the Seattle-based club’s 70th annual Fishermen’s Night in December. Dixon now joins the ranks of industry leaders who have received the honor, including Trident Seafoods’ Chuck Bundrant, Kaare Ness and Bart Eaton, MARCO’s Peter Schmidt, Sam LeClercq, Wally Pereyra, and U.S. senators Ted Stevens, Patty Murray an...
Jan. 15 Opener Set for Oregon’s Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery
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Jan. 15 Opener Set for Oregon’s Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) officials say they expect the state’s Commercial Dungeness crab fishery season to open from Cape Falcon to Cape Arago on Jan. 15, having passed required tests for those crabs being ready to harvest. The season opener from Cape Falcon north to Washington state, in accordance with the Tri-State protocol, is scheduled to open Feb. 1. ODFW officials said this past week that meat fill now meets or exceeds criteria in all areas of Oregon, and biotoxins are below alert levels in all crab tested from Cape Arago north. Domoic acid testing of crab was to continue from Cape Arago south to the California border. Test results through Jan. 7 showed elevated levels of the biotoxin in that area. ODFW works closely with the crab industry, the Oregon Dungen...