National Fisherman articles from January 2009

National Fisherman archives from January 2009

Correction.(Correction notice)
January 1, 2009... As a result of an editing error, the fish in the Dec. 08 cover photo was incorrectly identified. It is a king salmon.

January 2009: this month's highlights.(The hail)
January 1, 2009... Many of us are troubled by our government's pursuit of open ocean aquaculture in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nowhere is the government moving more aggressively in this regard than in the Gulf of Mexico....

We all must conserve halibut.(VIEWS from Alaska)
January 1, 2009... On June 4, 11 charter businesses sued the federal government to stop implementation of management measures designed to restrict charter harvest of halibut to the sector's guideline harvest level, or catch limit off Southeast Alaska. The...

Nowhere to hide.(Editor's log)
January 1, 2009... On the eve of his bout with the smaller Billy Conn, who had declared that he would "hit and ran" his way to the heavyweight title, Joe Louis famously demurred, saying, "He can run, but he can't hide." As it turns out, the Brown Bomber's...

Novice salmon fisherman finds joy surviving setnetting in wild Alaska.(Fo'c'sle library)(Red Summer: The Danger, Madness, and Exaltation of Salmon Fishing in a Remote Alaskan Village)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2009... Red Summer The Danger, Madness, and Exaltation of Salmon Fishing in a Remote Alaskan Village By Bill Carter Scribner, 2008 Hardcover, 256 pp., $25 www.simonsays.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The buzz around "Red Summer"...

Maine's wooden boat crews share their favorite flavors of life on the rocky shore.(Fo'c'sle library)
January 1, 2009... Windjammer Cooking Great Recipes from Maine's Windjammer Fleet By Jean Kerr & Spencer Smith Seapoint Books, 2008 Softcover, 160 pp., $27 www.smithkerr.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The historic windjammer fleet is an...

Now is time for broad, national effort.(From Another Perspective)
January 1, 2009... On Jan. 20 we're going to have a new administration in Washington. While knocking on every piece of wood I can reach, it's hard for me to imagine that it will be worse for the fishing industry than the previous two have been. Particularly...

Fishing back when.(NF classics)
January 1, 2009... 50 YEARS AGO Skipper Everett Watts of Tenants Harbor, Maine, fishes twice every day when he goes halibuting. The day starts with bait dipping for several bushels of St. George River alewives, and Watts spends many hours aboard the 32-foot...

Fishing is the law of the land.(Washington lookout)
January 1, 2009... "[W]e do, by those presents, .for us, our heirs and successors, in ordain and appoint hinder that these presents, shall not, any manner, hinder any of our loving subjects, whatsoever, from using and exercising the trade of fishing upon the...

Globalization gives and takes.(From the town landing)
January 1, 2009... By way of example consider the market for Maine's lobsters. The financial maelstrom of early October, seemingly far removed from the Gulf of Maine, has many fishermen praying for a way out of the dire situation that confronts them: plenty...

Stability through change.(Consequences)
January 1, 2009... Boats that are modified and refurbished with equipment added to transform them into commercial fishing vessels often are put into operation without determining carrying capacity or determining stability with a formal assessment. Any skipper...

Palin's charter appointment ignored in column.(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... I was disappointed in Charlie Ess' column lauding Sarah Palin's role in fishing issues ("Alaska abuzz with Palin nomination" NF Nov. '08, p. 8). I'm surprised he could run on to 750 words without touching on the fact that when a seat was open...

Exxon Valdez decision exposes supreme injustice.(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... The following is an open letter to the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. I feel compelled to write to you because * every time I think the Exxon Valdez saga is finally behind me, something comes along to reopen that old wound. Like...

How will we know when we catch the last fish?(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... It is humbling to confess that I don't understand how the ocean works. Who can honestly say they do? Let's face it, the ocean is a big place and there is a lot to understand about it. I do know enough to be humbled by the realization that the...

Cap'n Sane says ...(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... I should have grown up with fins, salt pork fribs, n'black coffee f'blood considerin' the Old Man's cooking. He was the original livin'-off-the-sea chef. Winter times were worse. Spring through summer there was always fresh mackerel,...

Reflecting on a busy and productive year.(A letter from James W. Balsiger)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... As this year draws to a close, we look forward to discussing our approaches to marine resource management with the incoming administration, and discovering their priorities on environmental issues. The election process has been the focus...

All our sons.(In search of the simple life)
January 1, 2009... A sad day to sit down and write a column: Oct. 23, one day after the F/V Katmai, a 93-foot head-and-gut cod boat fishing west of Adak Island in the Aleutians, sank in heavy seas, five men dead, two missing, four survivors. By the next day it...

Gulf fishermen settle monitoring lawsuit against NMFS: impending grouper IFQ program shifts some opinions of VMS from invasive to beneficial.(GULF/SOUTH ATLANTIC)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After nearly two years of litigation, the Gulf Fishermen's Association and NMFS have settled a lawsuit that challenged federal vessel monitoring system requirements for Gulf of Mexico reef fish vessels. Initial...

Shrimpers seek to extend post-hurricane TED rules: Gulf debris still clogging, damaging nets.(GULF/SOUTH ATLANTIC)
January 1, 2009... Gulf of Mexico shrimpers continue to struggle with clogged and damaged nets from the astonishing amount of debris in the water off Texas and Louisiana following hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Towing turtle excluder devices makes the problem much...

Fish processor sets up next hurdle in Exxon Valdez case: Sea Hawk Seafoods files motion to reallocate settlement money among 32,000 plaintiffs.(ALASKA and PACIFIC)
January 1, 2009... Just when Alaska fishermen thought they'd receive settlement checks for punitive damages owed by Exxon Mobil, Sea Hawk Seafoods, a Valdez-based fish processor and plaintiff, threw a new twist in the case. Based on the reduced award for punitive...

Recent rains can't salvage Sacramento River salmon: persistent water use shrinks river and run.(ALASKA and PACIFIC)
January 1, 2009... Even with recent rains, salmon counts on the Sacramento River look bleak. "The number of fall-run chinook on the Sacramento River are down from every year in the past," says Dick Pool of the salmon advocacy group Water 4 Fish. On the upper...

Mayport, Fla.(HOME PORT: Where we live)
January 1, 2009... THE TOWN Mayport, with a population of about 5,000, is officially part of much the larger Atlantic Beach community (population: 13,368, according to the 2000 census) and is neighbor to a large U.S. Navy port. Gerald Pack, owner of Safe...

Marianas islanders oppose western Pacific monument: Bush seeks to close 115,000 square miles.(Around the coasts)(George W. Bush)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Atsunami of opposition has risen from Mariana Trench islands and crashed into President George Bush's executive order proposal for a Marianas national marine monument. Located in the far western Pacific Ocean, the no-fishing Marianas...

Dogfish quota gets boost of 4 million pounds for '09-10: scientists' concerns over male-female ratios only remaining obstacle for bigger opening.(ATLANTIC)
January 1, 2009... A new 12 million pound East Coast inshore quota for 2009-10, up from 8 million pounds this year, will build momentum toward reopening fisheries for spiny dogfish, even as scientists' reservations about the population's male to female ratio...

Lobster chowder: Dick Bridges Deer Isle, Maine.(GALLEY WATCH: AT-SEA CUISINE)
January 1, 2009... After 53 years of fishing, "mostly today I've been lobstering," Dick Bridges says. "I've done shrimping, gillnetting, scalloping... Today they've narrowed us down to lobstering." Bridges, 62,fishes out of the Stonington Lobster...

Dorado: Morro Bay, Calif. small combination boat.(BOAT OF THE MONTH)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Dorado's owner, Roger Cullen, a nearshore fisherman in Morro Bay, praises his boat's ersatility and zippiness. "Everything on the boat comes off with bolt pads," Cullen says. "We can take all the equipment on...

Nantucket scallop season shelled with new size rule: biologist says nubs are too small to harvest.(ATLANTIC)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Nantucket's big 2008 crop of bay scallops brewed up a confrontation between the Massachusetts island's fishermen and local and state regulators, who want to sharply restrict the November harvest to preserve undersized shellfish. With a...

Estuary eel cuts dropped when watermen cry foul: fisheries commission declines 'limited' data.(ATLANTIC)
January 1, 2009... A proposal to cut the East Coast estuaries fishery for American eel by as much as 52 percent by weight was dropped after sharp criticism from watermen, who contend that problems in the St. Lawrence River eel run have been conflated into a view...

Chuck Cook: Bristol Bay, Alaska.(SNAPSHOT: WHO WE ARE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... It isn't enough that Chuck Cook has fished sockeye in Bristol Bay every season since 1982: Before the salmon have even begun to school and head for the creeks, he moves to Sand Point, off the Alaska Peninsula, then over to Naknek and uses his...

Gulf of Mexico.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... NMFS has a reminder for red snapper IFQ participants of the regulations regarding landing Gulf of Mexico red snapper: Regulations state that IFQ red snapper "can only be possessed or landed by a vessel with a Gulf red snapper IFQ vessel...

New England.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)
January 1, 2009... The New England Fishery Management Council is developing an observer program for the Atlantic herring fishery. Meanwhile, environmental advocates are blaming the midwater herring trawlers for dead striped bass seen off Chatham, Mass. ...

North Pacific.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... NMFS has proposed revising pollock trip limit regulations to prohibit catcher vessels from landing more than 300,000 pounds of unprocessed pollock during a calendar day. This proposed rule would also prohibit a catcher vessel from landing...

South Atlantic.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)
January 1, 2009... Commercial fishermen, charter boat operators, seafood distributors, restaurant owners and other Florida Keys businessmen are joining forces in opposition to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's plan to close the grouper fishery in...

Pacific.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... The Pacific Fishery Management Council in November revamped West Coast commercial groundfish fishery management by adopting a system of individual fishing quotas for the shoreside trawl fishery and a system of structured harvest cooperatives...

Mid-Atlantic.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has approved a 12 million pound dogfish quota with a maximum possession limit of 3,000 pounds for the 2009-10 fishing year, the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press reported, an increase from 7.94 million...

Western Pacific.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council has recommended the following measures for pelagic fisheries in the U.S. Pacific Islands: * to protect leatherback sea turtles, continue to limit the shallow-set longline fishery's annual...

Tuna quotas, management top issues at ICCAT meeting: November summit to take hard look at fishery; meanwhile PEI tuna shows a rebound.(NATION/WORLD)
January 1, 2009... After a turbulent summer of tuna shutdowns and fears of a collapse of the fishery in the eastern Atlantic, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas was expected to take a hard look at tuna quotas during a special...

Clean water act lawsuit targets EPA, Chesapeake: Baymen hope to reduce water pollution.(NATION/WORLD)
January 1, 2009... The federal Environmental Protection Agency has been officially notified with a letter of intention that Virginia and Maryland watermen and others will sue to require the agency to reduce pollution in Chesapeake Bay. The legal action...

Global credit freeze chills fall fishery; price sinks to level not seen since '80s.(NORTHEAST: LOBSTER)
January 1, 2009... Always, the big worry in Maine is that some lurking biological disaster will collapse the lobster industry. Then the fall 2008 bank panic and stock market declines sent lobster prices spiraling downward. LOBS Prices in the $2 per pound range...

Stocks, quota look good, question is how many clams market can absorb.(NORTH PACIFIC: GEODUCK)
January 1, 2009... Strong ex-vessel prices and the largest harvest quota in the history of the geoduck dive fishery since its inception in the late 1980s gave the 2008-09 season an GEOD optimistic start. Better yet, the number of participating divers was...

Small allocation leaves too many fish in the water for fleet in IFQ fishery.(GULF/SOUTH ATLANTIC: SNAPPER)(individual fishing quotas)
January 1, 2009... At the end of the second year of individual fishing quotas, Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishermen face a conundrum. There aren't enough fish SNAP on paper, which spawns the regulations they must work under. And there are too many in the...

Fleet may pay as processors struggle to sell pricey flatfish in tough times.(PACIFIC: PETRALE SOLE)
January 1, 2009... Counting on a petrale sole season is a gamble, plain and simple. Fishermen don't know when the fish will show up. Processors don't know how much fish will come across the dock, but they can usually bet on ready sales of the flatfish that's...

Fertile waters: events are charting a course toward aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico.(Blue acres)
January 1, 2009... Ready or not, offshore aqua-culture's coming to the Gulf of Mexico. Indeed, if the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council implements its plan, you'll be able to apply for a permit that will allow you to harvest some native brood stock,...

'09 crew shots.(This is your life)(Cover story)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MALIBU, CALIF. Ron Woods gets ready to receive the daily catch of rockfish from the New Salt, which is skippered by his son, Jason, out of Channel Islands Harbor. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ELFIN COVE,...

Vintage dragger: built in 1926, the Intrepid has benefited from good construction and conscientious owners.(Boats & Gear: Ship shape)
January 1, 2009... Down in the southernmost part of Maine, along the Piscataqua River, which defines the border with New Hampshire, is the Kittery Point Yacht Yard. Despite the "yacht" in its name, the yard does a lot of repowering and repair work on commercial...

Best of Boats & Gear 2008: equipment to make the nation's toughest work place safer and more efficient.(Boats & Gear: Design showcase)
January 1, 2009... In light of the sinking in the Bering Sea of the 93-foot Katmai in October and the 203-foot Alaska Ranger in April, accidents that each claimed several lives, this year's look back at some--but by no means all--of the notable products that...

ACR Electronics added new features to the Vecta 3 direction finder.(SHORT TAKES)
January 1, 2009... ACR ELECTRONICS added new features to the VECTA 3 direction finder. The Vecta 3 locates 121.5-MHz homing signals from EPIRBs, PLBs and ELTs distress beacons. A new sensitivity receiver detects weak signals at a longer range than before. Another...

Ready Freddy's backpack-style emergency preparedness kit has over 100 items divided into five different compartments: personal; protection; first aid; light, power, communications; and tools, supplies, food, water.(SHORT TAKES)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] READY FREDDY's backpack-style EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KIT has over 100 items divided into five different compartments: personal; protection; first aid; light, power, communications; and tools, supplies, food, water....

Shakespeare's new satellite radio antenna, the GALAXY SRA-40, works with either Sirius or XM receivers.(SHORT TAKES)
January 1, 2009... SHAKESPEARE's new satellite radio antenna, the galaxy SRA-40, works with either Sirius or XM receivers. There is a 25-foot low-loss cable with a quick-disconnect, gold-plated TNC connector on the antenna's base. No power cable is needed....

Sea-fire Marine's has a product to warn of high engine-room temperatures.(SHORT TAKES)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... SEA-FIRE MARINE's has a product to warn of high engine-room temperatures. There are two models of the HEAT SENSOR SYSTEM. One mounts on the fire-extinguishing cylinder and is set for 151 degrees, 55 degrees lower than the discharge temperature....

Night Vision Technologies enhanced its NV5000 night-and-day vision series with stabilization and radar tracking capability.(SHORT TAKES)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NIGHT VISION TECHNOLOGIES enhanced its NV5000 night-and-day vision series with stabilization and radar tracking capability. NightVisionTechnologies has integrated stabilization technology to provide stable images in...

Raritan's waste management system hold n'treat combines a holding tank and overboard treatment with the ElectroScan, a Coast Guard certified Type 1 marine sanitation device and a Type III 15-gallon holding tank.(SHORT TAKES)
January 1, 2009... RARITAN's waste management system HOLD N'TREAT combines a holding tank and overboard treatment with the ElectroScan, a Coast Guard certified Type 1 marine sanitation device and a Type III 15-gallon holding tank. It's said to be the only one of...

Fancy lobster boat will travel; less horsepower makes sense.(NORTHEAST)
January 1, 2009... Boatbuilding has slowed clown at some New England boatyards, but not at Wesmac in Surry, Maine. Fishermen--commercial and sport--and recreational boat owners like the Wesmac hull with its hard chine V-bottom and full-keel design. Wesmac is...

Crab boat is being converted; Alaska yard has new gillnetter.(WEST)
January 1, 2009... There is something to be said for having an anchor watch--at least the owner of a 32-foot aluminum gillnetter that's getting his tophouse rebuilt at Edling Enterprises in Bellingham, Wash., probably thinks so. The boat was anchored up when...

Barcat will go hand-tonging; the end of the Miss Florence.(SOUTH)
January 1, 2009... The 28' x 6' 5" Katie Jean is a different style of deadrise commercial fishing boat that is used mostly by bay watermen of Tangier Island, Va., and Smith Island, Md. The boats are called barcats on Tangier Island, where they are generally used...

Digital radars go the distance: new Si-Tex series improves target discrimination.(Product roundup)
January 1, 2009... If you have gotten ahead of the game and not waited until the government mandated date of Feb. 17, 2009, to swap out your old analog television set for a TV capable of receiving digital broadcasting, you already know the benefits of a digital...

Sonar performs better in tough weather: Wesmar unit has a narrow sound beam and is stabilized.(Product roundup)
January 1, 2009... Wesmar spent the past three or four years perfecting its latest sonar, the HD850 series, and with several Bering Sea trawlers using the new product, the investment in time and money seems to have paid off. A major difference between this...

Grundens, which has been manufacturing foul-weather gear since 1926, introduced the Weather Boss jacket, parka and matching pant.(At a glance)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] GRUNDENS, which has been manufacturing foul-weather gear since 1926, introduced the WEATHER BOSS jacket, parka and matching pant. The jacket and parka have an adjustable hook and taped seams. They are made of...

John Deere Power Systems introduced a new engine.(At a glance)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JOHN DEERE POWER SYSTEMS introduced a new engine.It's the 9-liter POWER TECH 6090SFM75 that delivers up to 500 hp. This is a 6-cylinder, electronically controlled, turbocharged and air-to-sea water aftercooled...

Lowrance announced a new optional feature for its high definition systems, the LWX-1 Sirius Weather/Audio Module.(At a glance)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LOWRANCE announced a new optional feature for its high definition systems, the LWX-1 SIRIUS WEATHER/AUDIO MODULE. This allows Sirius subscription services to be integrated into Lowrance HDS. The LWX-1 delivers...

West System offers a permanent, waterproof, gap-filling two-part epoxy.(At a glance)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WEST SYSTEM OFFERS a permanent, waterproof, gap-filling two-part epoxy. The SIX10 THICKENED EPOXY ADHESIVE meters the proper ratio of epoxy resin and hardener from a multichambered tube that fits standard caulking...

Shakespeare has the answer to what happens when your VHF antenna malfunctions, the 5910 Emergency Stowable Whip.(At a glance)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SHAKESPEARE has the answer to what happens when your VHF antenna malfunctions, the 5910 EMERGENCY STOWABLE WHIP. It has a mounting clip that's installed before an emergency. The antenna is in an easy to find 9-inch...

Navionics is introducing its TurboView software in January 2009.(At a glance)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NAVIONICS is introducing its TURBOVIEW software in January 2009. The first software will be with the new Lowrance HDS plotters. TurboView provides seamless pan, zoom, rotation, and pitch functionality, as well as a...

Bulletin board.(Brief article)(Calendar)
January 1, 2009... DEC. 3-5 International WorkBoat Show Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans www.workboatshow.com The International WorkBoat Show is the largest commercial marine trade show in North America. The offerings include 1,000...

Gail Shea has been named Canada's new Minister Of Fisheries and Oceans, a cabinet position appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.(ON THE MOVE)
January 1, 2009... GAIL SHEA has been named Canada's new MINISTER OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS, a cabinet position appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Shea replaces Loyola Hearn, who is retiring. Gall Shea She is a conservative member of Parliament from Prince...

Seattle's Fisherman's Terminal is the proud recipient of a King County 5-Star Rating.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Seattle's FISHERMAN'S TERMINAL is the proud recipient of a King County 5-STAR RATING. The environmental award recognizes the terminal's efforts to reduce hazardous waste and the use of hazardous materials, and qualifies the terminal for the...

Confident Captain/Ocean PROS.(COMPANY NEWS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Eligible veterans will now be able to apply their benefits toward tuition for three professional-level courses at CONFIDENT CAPTAIN/OCEAN PROS in Newport, R.I. The Department of Veterans Affairs has approved the facility for professional...

Petersburg, Alaska.(Last set)
January 1, 2009... Mike Mahon holds twine while fellow crew members Roy Sadler and Eric Rosvold, skipper of the Defiant, lace a tear in their purse seine in some down time during the Southeast salmon seine fishery last August. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]