National Fisherman articles from October 2008

National Fisherman archives from October 2008

Reinventing their livelihood.(VIEWS from Alaska)
October 1, 2008... Envision a bustling farmer's market in California with crowds of eager buyers swarming your booth to purchase your fresh--frozen wild Alaskan salmon. Listen to the exclamations of curiosity and respond for several hours to non-stop queries...

Family man.(Editor's log)
October 1, 2008... The several hundred people who turned out at a Rhode Island memorial service for Phil Ruhle Sr. were a poignant reminder that fishing is a family business and that to most fishermen, wealth is the fishery you leave to your kids. Phil, 56,...

50 years ago.(Fishing Back When)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... The lobster season in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, runs from mid-May to mid-July. In those two months, a typical snapper type of lobster bout will land roughly 5,000 pounds of lobsters, powered by a standard 4-hp Acadia and using herring and cod...

10 years ago.(Fishing Back When)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... After a $300,000 overhaul, the North Pacific halibut schooner Constitution is revamped and ready for longlining. Owner Wayne Loftman, who inherited the boat from his father, Ted, in 1990, repaired the stern with about $6,000 worth of timbers...

30 years ago.(Fishing Back When)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... The 150-foot Alaskan Enterprise makes quite a splash at her Halter Marine Services launching in Moss Point, Miss., where Miller Enterprises of Seattle introduces its first in a series of king crab boats. Meanwhile, the crab processor Royal...

Linda Greenlaw's latest marine mystery continues with series of great characters.(Fo'c'sle library)(Fisherman's Bend)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fisherman's Bend By Linda Greenlaw Hyperion, 2008 Hardcover, 256 pp., $24.95 www.lindagreenlawbooks.com Linda Greenlaw cut her fiction teeth last year with the first in this series of Jane...

A journal of Gulf of Maine watershed illuminates life-sustaining annual cycle.(Fo'c'sle library)(A Coastal Companion: A Year in the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod to Canada)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A Coastal Companion A Year in the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod to Canada By Catherine Schmitt Tilbury House Publisher, 2008 Softcover, 176 pp., $20 www.tilburyhouse.com One of the most...

Phil Ruhle, true believer.(From Another Perspective)
October 1, 2008... It, was just barely two years ago when we lost Hammer Beldemann. Some of us in the commercial fishing industry lost a really good friend. All of us in the commercial fishing industry lost one of our most effective advocates. And on July 23...

Observer calls for transparency--from NMFS.(Dock talk)
October 1, 2008... In the process of decertifying me as a fisheries observer, the federal government asserted the data I returned did not reflect an adequate record of fish caught aboard. I am trained in ecology and statistics. I study ecosystem level processes...

Bigger is not always better.(Consequences)
October 1, 2008... From U.S. Coast Guard reports Wear and tear on equipment requires frequent maintenance, repairs and eventually replacement. Worn gear is best replaced with a like piece of equipment. If it is upgraded, the new equipment may be bigger and...

Federal management is failing coastal communities.(From the town landing)
October 1, 2008... One of the central problems of New England fishery management is that we assume that more knowledge about fish will help us solve the fisheries crisis in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. In actuality, we need more knowledge about the...

Fishing for optimum health.(Washington lookout)
October 1, 2008... Heart disease is at epidemic levels in the United States. The American Heart Association reports 80.7 million people have some form of cardiovascular disease. Doctors warn millions of adults to watch cholesterol levels, prescribing at record...

It is about ending overfishing isn't it? Wrong!(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... As all of us in the industry are becoming aware, ending overfishing as mandated by Magnuson is a painful if not fatal blow. But our pain is supposed to be lessened by the fact that everyone (both sectors) is supposed to ante up since Magnuson...

Cap'n Sane says....(Mail buoy)(Marblehead Yacht Club)
October 1, 2008... Saturday Cove, Maine The Marblehead Yacht Club had their annual raft-up at the Cove last month, but we re just now getting 'round t'cipherin' up the losses. Beulah Banning was appointed our auditor after this year's mess when the club...

Alaska DEC no friend to fishing entrepreneurs.(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation is out of touch with the worldwide salmon markets, and quite frankly, on the concepts of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. We've tried for going on two years now to get DEC to address...

Talking heads.(In search of the simple life)
October 1, 2008... On my way home from Hawaii a while back I happened to walk by an airport newsstand when I was stopped in my tracks by what I saw. Staring up at me from the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle were faces I knew so well... those black...

Seafood is star of Louisiana cook-off.(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I recently participated in the 5th annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off held in New Orleans. Chef John Currence of Mississippi was the 2008 winner of the two-day competition. The event featured 15 chefs from around the country showcasing...

NMFS approves haddock rope trawl for New England: Phil Ruhle St., one of the net's creators, is lost in capsizing within days of endorsement.(ATLANTIC)(National Marine Fisheries Service)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The haddock rope trawl (formerly called the Eliminator) could reduce New England groundfish bycatch by as much as 50 percent, according to NMFS officials, who approved the design for use after two years of testing by...

Fluke quota gets a boost for the first time since '05: new assessment says stock is 70% rebuilt.(ATLANTIC)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... A three-year erosion of the East Coast summer flounder quota could be reversed in 2009, with a new scientific assessment that says the flatfish stock is more than 70 percent rebuilt and can provide at least 2 million pounds more per year for...

Long Islanders petition council's butterfish plan: squid fishermen say bycatch data too old.(ATLANTIC)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... The conflict between long, fin squid fishing and butterfish bycatch came to a head in Montauk, N.Y., this summer, where fishermen pressed the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to step back from an array of proposed butterfish conservation...

Seabrook and Hampton, N.H.(HOME PORT: Where we live)(New Hampshire)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... THE TOWNS Seabrook and nearby Hampton, N.H., are home to much of the Granite State's fishing fleet. The ports host about 60 boats, including the Yankee Fisherman's Cooperative, organized in 1991 to give captains more control over their...

H-2B visa caps shut down crab and oyster processors: exemption legislation for returning workers mired in congressional immigration politics.(GULF/SOUTH ATLANTIC)
October 1, 2008... John, Graham had to hang a "No Market sign at his Graham & Rollins Seafood plant in Hampton, Va., telling crabbers he couldn't buy their catch. He shut down not because there are no crabs, but because he can't find people to turn them into...

Southeast water conflict escalates over diversion: Fla. files suit against Corps of Engineers.(GULF/SOUTH ATLANTIC)
October 1, 2008... A water allocation conflict more than a decade old escalated this summer as Florida filed a lawsuit to protect the flow of fresh water in the Apalachicola River against a federal plan to divert upstream flow to quench the thirst of metropolitan...

Fish site breakfast casserole: Lucas family: Kenai, Alaska.(GALLEY WATCH: AT-SEA CUISINE)
October 1, 2008... When the Lucas family fish camp wakes up to chilly morning salmon openings near the Kenai River in Cook Inlet, anything involving fish is the last thing they want to chow down on before heading out to the set nets. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Trident Seafoods' Chignik cannery consumed by blaze: fire spread quickly, forcing evacuation of 250 employees and ending summer processing.(ALASKA and PACIFIC)
October 1, 2008... A massive fire in late July consumed the only operational fish plant in Chignik Bay, Alaska . The fire began in a powerhouse and spread quickly through the 50,000-square-foot Trident Seafoods facility, which is considered a total loss. The...

Mike Stiller: Aptos, Calif.(SNAPSHOT: WHO WE ARE)
October 1, 2008... Aptos, Calif., salmon fisherman Mike Stiller comes to the fishing industry with a unique background: 26 years of experience as a sales manager for Procter & Gamble, the makers of a long list of household products. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Beaufort Sea researchers first to survey fish habitat: expedition departs Alaska for Arctic waters.(ALASKA and PACIFIC)
October 1, 2008... A team of NOAA-led researchers de parted Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on July 30 for a monthlong expedition to survey the distribution of fish and their prey in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort Sea. Lead scientist Libby Logerwell of NMFS' Alaska...

Margaritas: Longliner/bandit boat: Apalachicola, Fla.(BOAT OF THE MONTH)(Florida)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Michael Athorn's experience with the Margaritas dates back to the 1990s when federal fisheries policy encouraged fishermen to diversify and target "underutilized" species, such as shark. "I was doing shark and...

Celebrations showcase fishing industry on two coasts: festivals on tap in New Bedford, Mass., and Seattle offer music, poetry, food and fleets.(NATION/WORLD)
October 1, 2008... September celebrations of commercial fishing in East and West coast ports will offer festival attendees a taste of the fishing life. Connecting Communities, Preserving Ports is the theme of the 2008 Working Waterfront Festival slated for...

Ports in Mass. and Alaska lead U.S. landings--again: get top spots on NMFS' value, volume lists.(NATION/WORLD)
October 1, 2008... The port of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska, landed 777.2 million pounds of seafood in 2007, earning the top spot for overall landings but down considerably from 911.3 million in '06. New Bedford, Mass., had the high for value at $268 million,...

Purse seine bluefin season doses early for Europeans: fisheries commissioner cites illegal catches.(NATION/WORLD)
October 1, 2008... The European Commission closed the bluefin tuna purse seine fishery in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic in mid-June, two weeks before the season's scheduled July 1 closure, in an attempt to curb illegal and unreported fishing of the...

News from the regional management councils.(COUNCIL UPDATES)
October 1, 2008... The Commerce Department this summer announced the appointment of 21 members to the eight regional fishery management councils. "Knowledgeable council members representing a variety of interests and willing to work together for sustainable...

Retail demand is driving bull market for upscale product on the half-shell.(NORTHEAST: OYSTERS)
October 1, 2008... Virginia oyster growers saw a significant bump in their fledging industry's sales in 2007. It's a sign that cultivated Chesapeake oysters can capture some of the retail revival that's bringing New York City money to eastern Long Island. ...

Cool economy keeps leftover product (and ex-vessel prices) in cold storage.(GULF/SOUTH ATLANTIC: STONE CRAB)
October 1, 2008... The cooling U.S. economy chilled Florida s stone crab market last season. And the effect on ex-vessel prices will likely continue, at least at the beginning of the 2008-09 season, thanks to leftover product in cold storage. "I expect to...

Bering Sea harvest, optimism rise, but Russian imports hold down king prices.(NORTH PACIFIC: CRAB)
October 1, 2008... More crab and higher ex-vessel prices renewed optimism on the Bering Sea last year, but cheaper Russian imports continue to hold prices below $5 per pound for the king crab fleet. Red king crabbers saw a boost in the total allowable catch...

Prices, demand, product quality rise as industry gears up for MPA battle.(PACIFIC: URCHIN)
October 1, 2008... Prices and demand are up, and sea urchin quality is better--in Northern California, at least--than it's been in quite awhile. What does a sea urchin diver have to worry about? Well, Southern California divers have had to fight bad...

A fresh alternative: a venture in Port Clyde, Maine, benefits the resource, local consumers and harvesters.(Community sea chest)
October 1, 2008... When stocks were more plentiful, fishermen who plugged the boat with groundfish could turn a profit, even if dock prices were low. "But we started to see declines in the fisheries, and more cuts in days at sea," says Glen Libby, 54, a Port...

Refit as a fiddle: California's Fashion Blacksmith lives up to its reputation when it sponsons the 75-foot Taasinge of Kodiak, Alaska.(Boats & Gear: Boatbuilding)
October 1, 2008... Mike Haggren, owner of the Kodiak, Alaska-based Taasinge, had been thinking about sponsoning his multipurpose fishing boat for several years. Part of the process involved talking with captains or owners of boats that had been sponsoned. "A...

Full-throttle fever: the guys who build lobster boat racing engines have two passions--speed and winning.(Boats & Gear)(Cover story)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Some say Maine's lobster boat racing is like NASCAR only on water. Forget that. NASCAR drivers and their pit crews have a catered life of flashy, matching suits and multiple sponsors. Lobster boat racing is jeans and...

Deadliest watch: despite significant progress, fishing still ranks among the most dangerous occupations.(Boats & Gear: Safety training)
October 1, 2008... Though parts of the fishing industry have made inroads toward safer days at sea--Alaska stands out as a good example--fishing still ranks among the deadliest of occupations, and its perils remain constant: boats roll over, boats catch fire and...

A Maine hull goes to Missouri; Mass. boat repaired in Canada.(NORTHEAST)
October 1, 2008... When Brian O'Neil and his father, Andy, sold their Alaska salmon permits in the late 1990s, they thought they were done with commercial fishing. Then several years later, Brian realized he "couldn't get commercial fishing out of my system," and...

Trawler picks up a lot of beam; new troller will do charters, too.(WEST)
October 1, 2008... It seems the three things many West Coast fishermen want--besides, of course, a full fish hold--is a new 58-footer, sponsoning for an existing hull, or a retrofitted bulbous bow. Hansen Boat Co. in Everett, Wash., has sponsoned a number of...

Old buy boat finds new home; crabber gets new chunk stern.(SOUTH)
October 1, 2008... Back in February 2007, Colonna's Shipyard in the Port of Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Va., had the blue-paint ed Good News II on its railway for minor repair work. The boat was built for the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery, but owners Wanchese...

Going on a dry run: keep lockers and electronics moisture free with an efficient dehumidifier.(Product roundup)
October 1, 2008... It's common knowledge that moisture on a boat makes it a pain to keep clothes dry, let alone oilskins, and the moisture can ruin electronics and electronic connections. One solution is dehumidifiers, but the really good ones take up a lot...

Dr. Shrink has it all covered: newest product protects metal equipment and offers zippered access points.(Product roundup)(shrink-wrap)
October 1, 2008... In another three or four months, some commercial fishermen and a lot of pleasure boat owners will be hauling their boats and wrapping them with shrink-wrap to protect them from the snow, ice and rain. Dr. Shrink offers one-stop shopping for...

Rhino Hide's latest product, the XFR (for extreme fast repair), is a waterproof adhesive that stays pliable.(At a glance)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RHINO HIDE's latest product, the XFR (for extreme fast repair), is a waterproof adhesive that stays pliable. Using a hybrid urethane and urea technology, XFR fills, bonds and repairs plastics, concrete, wood, metal,...

Honda Marine recently redesigned its BF40 and BF50 (40- and 50-hp) outboards to incorporate electronic fuel injection.(At a glance)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HONDA MARINE recently redesigned its BF40 and BF50 (40- and 50-hp) outboards to incorporate electronic fuel injection. The inline three-cylinder, four-stroke engines have a fuel savings of nearly 20 percent from a...

Fusion has developed a new line of Speakers and Amplifiers for the marine market.(At a glance)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FUSION has developed a new line of SPEAKERS and AMPLIFIERS for the marine market. The speakers, which are sealed and have waterproofpolypropylene cones, include 4-, 6- and 7-inch speakers, a 10-inch subwoofer, and a...

ACR Electronics added new features to the VECTA 3 direction finder.(At a glance)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ACR ELECTRONICS added new features to the VECTA 3 direction finder. The Vecta 3 locates 121.5-MHz homing signals from EPIRB, PLB and ELT distress beacons. A new sensitivity receiver detects weak signals at a longer...

Quickline markets the Ultra Flip Swivel.(At a glance)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] QUICKLINE markets the ULTRA FLIP SWIVEL. Built of 316L stainless steel, the Ultra Flip Swivel helps make a solid anchor set, and the swivel head enables chain movement up to 30 degrees in all directions. Retrieving...

GreatLite is introducing three small, powerful penlights.(At a glance)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] GREATLITE is introducing three small, powerful penlights. The slim 1AA, 1AAA and 2AAA can be carried on a key ring with a strap or on a pocket clip. The 0.5-watt LED lights are said to be 10 times brighter than other...

Bulleting board.(Brief article)(Calendar)
October 1, 2008... 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...

The United Fishermen of Alaska seated new officers this summer.(ON THE MOVE)
October 1, 2008... The UNITED FISHERMEN OF ALASKA seated new officers this summer. VICE PRESIDENT CHARLES "CHIP" TREINEN and SECRETARY RICH DAVIS will join second-term President Joe Childers. Treinen is a Bristol Bay salmon driftnetter and a herring and salmon...

"This is a year of change," announced ACR Electronics president Paul Frank at the company's global sales organization in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where ACR is headquartered.(COMPANY NEWS)
October 1, 2008... "This is a year of change," announced ACR ELECTRONICS PRESIDENT PAUL FRANK at the company's global sales organization in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where ACR is headquartered. The company is launching their Science of Survival campaign this year...

Hampton Yachts has made Wesmar stabilizers standard on their 54-, 63- and 74-foot yachts.(COMPANY NEWS)
October 1, 2008... HAMPTON YACHTS has made WESMAR stabilizers standard on their 54-, 63- and 74-foot yachts. Fuel savings is an increasingly important aspect of the Wesmar stabilizer. The high-density foam fin design results in a system that adds lift to the...

Ekuk, Alaska.(Last set)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dennis Alakayak plucks sockeye salmon from a setnet in Alaska's Nushagak Bay.