Commercial fishing is a bedrock industry in Alaska, and has been for more than a century. Every year scores of fishermen net millions of migrating salmon, challenge the icy Bering Sea to trap king crabs, lay miles and miles of baited hooks for halibut, and scoop up enough pollock for a zillion fish sticks. And when fishermen aren't out fishing, they're usually talking about fishing. That's what this blog is all about. Cast your net here for commercial fishing news and notes. And if you've got a bone to pick, post a comment.
About me:
I've pounded the commercial fishing beat for the Anchorage Daily News since 1999. I hail originally from Tennessee. I've never fished commercially, but I've spent much time as a journalist aboard boats and inside fish-processing plants. Of course, I'm a big consumer of Alaska seafood. One of my favorites: canned sockeye.
Contact Wesley Loy at wloy@adn.com.
Southeast seiners reduce their ranks - 8/6/2008 2:58 pm
Young defenders - 8/6/2008 2:16 pm
UFA: Stevens ‘innocent until proven guilty’ - 8/1/2008 3:45 pm
‘The tragedy of Sen. Stevens’ - 7/30/2008 1:49 pm
What’s fishy about Stevens indictment - 7/29/2008 11:58 am
A bit more on Aleutians king crab - 7/27/2008 12:29 am
Aleutians king crab deal announced - 7/27/2008 12:00 am
Brothers lose liberty, boat for halibut scheme - 7/25/2008 10:56 am
State, MSC parting ways on salmon? - 7/23/2008 12:34 am
Bad day in Chignik - 7/22/2008 3:39 pm
House also exempts fishing boats from 'silly' pollution permit requirement - 7/22/2008 3:18 pm
Fishing boats might get pollution exemption - 7/22/2008 12:43 pm
Update on the Chignik cannery fire - 7/21/2008 9:44 pm
Trident fish plant burns in Chignik - 7/21/2008 7:22 pm
Congress to examine Exxon Valdez ruling - 7/18/2008 7:37 pm
Battle over Exxon Valdez interest continues - 7/18/2008 7:01 pm
Time to pull the boat, head home - 7/18/2008 2:43 pm
$10 million contract signed to rebuild fire-damaged trawler - 7/18/2008 2:15 pm
Kodiak trawlers go for Stevens - 7/16/2008 12:59 pm
Exxon: 'Kicking our asses' - 7/15/2008 11:44 pm
It ain't over - 7/15/2008 12:48 pm
Bristol Bay bounty - 7/13/2008 11:59 pm
Posted: December 28, 2007 - 1:07 pm
Fish of the Year: A trawler landed this rotund rockfish in the Bering Sea in March. The nearly 60-pound shortraker was up to 115 years old, scientists said. NMFS photo
This is the season for Top 10 lists, so The Highliner offers a recap of the most important or interesting news of the past year.
• A Bristol Bay gillnetter, Sarah Palin, embarked on her first full year as governor.
• Ocean Beauty Seafoods Inc. in April announced it was selling a 50 percent stake in the Seattle company to Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. of Dillingham. It marked the first major move into the onshore processing sector by one of Alaska’s six Community Development Quota companies.
• Another big Seattle processor, Icicle Seafoods Inc., in August announced it was selling to Fox Paine, a California private equity firm. Icicle also made news in March, announcing it would farm salmon in Chile.
• The agonizing wait for fishermen plaintiffs in the epic Exxon Valdez oil spill case continued as the U.S. Supreme Court accepted the company’s appeal of a $2.5 billion punitive damages judgment.
• Salmon fishermen enjoyed a killer season, landing 212 million fish worth $374 million at the docks. It was the fourth-largest catch since statehood.
• The Bush administration in April scheduled an offshore oil and gas lease sale for 2011 in Bristol Bay, home of major salmon, crab and bottom fisheries.
• Gov. Palin in April unveiled the winning design for the state’s commemorative quarter: a grizzly bear chomping a salmon!
• The feds in March offered a revised National Offshore Aquaculture Act to encourage fish farming in ocean waters. Alaskans, who have outlawed fish farming in state waters, panned the legislation.
• The North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended a 28 percent cut in the Bering Sea pollock catch, knocking next year’s quota down to a mere 1 million metric tons. Don’t worry, kids, that’s still a trainload of fish sticks.
• The Highliner made its debut in March. OK, so this item doesn’t really belong in the Top 10. But hey, this is a colorful, complicated, combative industry and players need all the news they can get. Keeping you engaged is the aim of this blog.
So that’s our list. What did we overlook?
1 December 28, 2007 - 3:00pm | ranttila
has anyone received an adjustment on price for bristol bay fish for the 2007 season?
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January 2, 2008 - 5:10pm | dasfuddbot
no adjustment yet , but processors recieved 30% more for our catch
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2 December 30, 2007 - 1:11pm | valleycrabber
115 year old fish.
Usually these old fish are caght, pulled to the surface, gaffed and thrown back over the side once you have reached your bycatch percentage. I am suprised this fish wasn't discarded as required by law for the huge majority of these rockfish. Chattam Straights Blackcod fishing sure produces some GIANT, old rockfish but of course you are still required to dump tons of them over the side.
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