Blog.HaulingGear.com Archive (8-2008 to 3-2014)

Image via Wikipedia By DON HUNTER dhunter@adn.com Published: December 31st, 2009 02:49 AM Last Modified: December 31st, 2009 02:50 AM Mayor Dan Sullivan has hired a Seattle attorney to help the city negotiate the way through a pending federal designation of critical habitat for Cook Inlet's beluga whales. Sullivan said attorney William Stelle is a former federal fisheries official and an expert in the Endangered Species Act. His online resume says he worked for six years as northwest regional director for the National Marine Fisheries Service and..........  http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/story/1074409.html

Article published on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 By SAM FRIEDMAN Mirror Writer KOTZEBUE – Shipping salmon is hard to justify when the fish is worth a lot less than the cost of transport. But the people of the Northwest Arctic Borough solved this problem Monday afternoon with the help of seven Kodiak Air Station service members who made a fish run to Kotzebue aboard a C-130. The Coast Guard transport effort is just one of many efforts to bring food relief to what may be the most expensive place to live in the U.S. In the town of Kotzebue milk costs between $10 and $12 a gallon. In the 10 villages surrounding Kotzebue, prices are much steeper. Except for the Red Dog zinc/lead mine, most jobs in the Northwest Arctic Borough town are public sector. Wells Fargo personal banker Brenda Erlich began organizing the food delivery back in March with the help of an organization for Native employees of Wells Fargo. While.......  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=8338

We need to know why tug strayed Published: December 29th, 2009 07:52 PM Last Modified: December 29th, 2009 07:53 PM re questions than answers attend the grounding of the tugboat Pathfinder on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound last week. The Coast Guard isn't saying much, and apparently won't until its investigation is complete. This much is clear. In some....... http://www.adn.com/opinion/view/story/1073006.html

Image via Wikipedia December 30th, 2009 Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland, has launched an official test of the Oyster , wave energy equipment that was developed jointly by the university with Aquamarine Power. Here’s a photo (gotta love the scuba diver in the background): The device works by pumping high-pressure water into....  http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=9576

Image via Wikipedia PETERSURG-AK (12/29/2009) Returns of chum salmon to Southeast Alaska’s largest hatchery facilities next year may not keep pace with 2009’s crop. Hatchery managers say they’re forecasting a drop-off in chum numbers around the region. Audio >>  http://krbd.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=sideBlock&syndicated=true&ID=949

Dec 29th 2009 5:01AM GPS leads couple into Oregon wilderness, lack of common sense keeps them there 3 days  http://www.engadget.com. ......

Tuesday, December 29, 2009   Image via Wikipedia Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has ordered his staff to revise a computerized forecasting model that showed that climate legislation supported by President Obama would make planting trees more lucrative than producing food. The latest Agriculture Department economic-impact study of the climate bill, which passed the House this summer, found that the legislation would profit farmers in the long term. But those profits would come mostly from higher crop prices as a result of the legislation's incentives to plant more forests and thus reduce the amount of land devoted to food-producing agriculture. According to.............. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/29/forests-vs-food-study-worries-agriculture-chief/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_photo_feature

Image via Wikipedia Article published on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 STAFF REPORT Gov. Sean Parnell has directed the Alaska Marine Highway System to schedule additional ferry runs between Homer and Dutch Harbor in May 2010 and 2011. The change means the ferry Tustumena will depart from Homer twice in May, stopping in Kodiak, Chignik, Sand Point, King Cove, False Pass, Akutan and Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. Specific dates for departure will be available the first week of January. This doubling of the usual schedule not only...........  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=8331

New groups join climate lobby fray By:  Marianne Lavelle - Center for Public Integrity December 28, 2009 04:57 AM EST The next round of the battle over climate change policy on Capitol Hill will involve more than the usual suspects – way more. Watch soup makers face off against steel ..... (snip) ......  Campbell Soup and Kellogg  Take the concerns raised by the world’s largest maker of soup , Camden, N.J.-based Campbell Image via Wikipedia Image by turtlemom4bacon via Flickr  Soup Company, one of a slew of grocery producers (including Kellogg Company, Del Monte Foods, and the Alliance of Food Associations) who registered to lobby on climate change for the first time in the July-September quarter. “It wasn’t until we analyzed what was going on in the House that we thought, ‘Oh, gosh, we are being affected by this,’”  Kelly Johnston , Campbell Soup’s vice president for public affairs, said in an interview. At issue are the free “allowances,” or carbon dioxide po

Image via Wikipedia By WESLEY LOYPetroleum News Published: December 26th, 2009 08:50 PM Last Modified: December 26th, 2009 08:50 PM An oil industry watchdog group is pushing for construction of a special treatment plant to kill invasive species in ballast water carried aboard oil tankers calling on Valdez to load North Slope crude. The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council believes ships could bring in nonindigenous fish, crabs or microorganisms that could take up residence in local waters and potentially harm native aquatic life or commercial and sport fisheries. The group proposes.................  http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/story/1070340.html

By LAINE WELCH   Image via Wikipedia December 23, 2009Wednesday Sales of fishing permits and catch shares is a good way to gauge how confident people feel about the economy, and brokers say the past year has been a mixed bag in their business. "It's been the slowest year I've ever had, but with the most phone time ever. There's a lot of interest, but not a lot of movement," said Olivia Olsen at Alaskan Quota and Permits in Petersburg. "A lot of guys want to buy and they had the money, but the world situation and some declining fish stocks didn't give them a lot of confidence." Mike Painter at the Permit Master in Anacortes, WA agreed, but added the tide seems to be turning. "Most fishermen seem to have money saved up and they've been hanging on to it during the downturn in the economy. Now things look like they're............  http://www.sitnews.us/LaineWelch/122309_fish_factor.html

December 24, 2009. Image by Scott SM via Flickr Following a detailed presentation by Julianne Curry of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association the Petersburg city council voted unanimously against Resolution #1914 asking the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) to revise how they regulate the halibut fishery. Curry said the commission seeks to reduce catch rates to a sustainable 20% of the coastwide exploitable biomass. This has resulted in cuts to the harvest level allowed for the Area 2C commercial halibut fleet that now approach 65 percent over the past three years. The IPHC staff recommends a 3.71 million pound catch limit for Area 2C in 2010, which is 26-percent below the 2009 limit of 5.02 million pounds. In 2006 the Area 2C limit was.......  http://www.petersburgpilot.com/www/stories/122409halibut.htm

Some random stuff from the tube.. What's left to say....?

Tuesday, December 22, 2009, 11:30am MST Image via Wikipedia     Phoenix Business Journal Phoenix may be in the middle of the desert, but companies here are helping in a project to save the whales in the Mediterranean Sea. Scottsdale-based Applied Satellite Engineering is developing a satellite data solution for a whale reporting program that uses the global satellite network operated by Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM). Iridium is based in Bethesda, Md., but has roots in Arizona and...... http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/12/21/daily19.html

By Darren Murph posted Dec 23rd 2009 3:22AM Corning's darn-near-impenetrable Gorilla glass certainly isn't new -- in fact, we spied it in a few of Motion Computing's tablets just a few months ago -- but.......... http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/motorola-droid-and-dell-adamo-latest-to-get-gorilla-glass/

Image via Wikipedia In Finland, testing of Cognitive Radio systems will be possible from the beginning of 2010. In accordance with the Government's new frequency allocation plan, Cognitive Radio systems will be allowed to use the frequency range of 470-790 MHz so that they do not interfere with other radio communications. "Active communications policy............. http://www.isria.com/pages/23_December_2009_72.php ****************** From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_radio 12-23-2009 Cognitive radio is a paradigm for wireless communication in which either a network or a wireless node changes its transmission or reception parameters to communicate efficiently avoiding interference with licensed or unlicensed users. This alteration of parameters is based on the active monitoring of several factors in the external and internal radio environment, such as radio frequency spectrum, user behaviour and network state.

COOK INLET: Sullivan, Young want state to fund opposing science. Image via Wikipedia By DON HUNTER dhunter@adn.com Published: December 22nd, 2009 10:25 PM Last Modified: December 22nd, 2009 10:25 PM Two of the state's top politicians Tuesday said the state should finance an aggressive round of scientific research of Cook Inlet's beluga whales to counter a federal conclusion that the whales are endangered and need special habitat protections. Congressman Don Young and Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, speaking at a joint news conference at City Hall, also said they are asking the government to extend for 60 days a comment period on designating critical habitat for the whales. The Anchorage Assembly earlier unanimously passed a

December 21, 2009 Image via Wikipedia Clip we find interesting .. .................   At the same time GNSS is complemented by a wide range of alternative technologies such as Wi-Fi, inertial sensors and network-based positioning. Boeing's High-Integrity Global Positioning System (HIGPS or iGPS) aims at using Low Earth Orbit Iridium satellites to improve indoor coverage. ABI Research's new "Global Navigation Satellite Systems Solutions" study describes the underlying technologies and status of satellite positioning technologies including satellite augmentation systems, and high precision technology based on DGPS and RTK. It includes an overview of end-user segments and solutions, vendors, and forecasts. This report is part of ABI Research‘s Location Based Services and Telematics Research Services...  http://www.rfglobalnet.com/article.mvc/Global-Navigation-System-Shipments-To-Exceed-0001

By:  Bruce Porter   |  December 15, 2009  |  05:00 AM (PST) Sand Point, Alaska I t was drizzling rain as we pulled out of the harbor a little after 9 a.m. in the middle of last August. A light wind was blowing from the northeast, and the usual fog obscured our view of the mountains that line the  Alaskan Peninsula . Vaguely, in the distance, loomed the big boy of the region, a snow-covered volcano known as  Mount Pavlov . Flying over Pavlov at night, it's said, you can make out a faint glow pulsating ominously from down inside the cone. Image via Wikipedia Our boat was the 37-foot gill netter  Melissa Marie , captained by Benjamin Mobeck Jr., 41, and named for his daughter. Mobeck is a fourth-generation fisherman who has worked in the islands since he was a little boy, when his grandfather taught him how to hold a compass course on his wooden double-ender, steering a few points this way and a few that, until he'd go dizzy from the effort. Great-grandfathers on both si

Article published on Friday, December 18th, 2009 STAFF REPORT A NOAA Fisheries groundfish observer who admitted he sexually harassed and created a hostile work environment for another observer paid $1,000 with an additional $9,000 suspended for five years and was issued a permit sanction that prohibits him from being employed as a NOAA Fisheries observer anywhere in the country for 10 years. Benjamin Lewis Michlig, originally of Wausau, Wis., and a former employee of Saltwater Incorporated an.............  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=8313

Article published on Friday, December 18th, 2009 By LOUIS GARCIA Mirror Writer On Monday, Helicopter Association International announced a Kodiak Coast Guard Air Station HH-65 helicopter crew as Eurocopter Golden Hour award winners under the Salute to Excellence Award category. The Eurocopter Golden Hour was created in 1982 and recognizes the efforts of Air Medical Service pilots who contribute to the air medical industry through a particular rescue or through contributions over time. Lt. Jason Smith, pilot, and Petty Officer Third Class Blaize Potts, aviation maintenance technician, are two of the rescuers still stationed in Kodiak. Lt. Greg Gedemer, pilot, and Petty Officer first Class Matthew Thiessen, aviation survival technician, are now stationed at Barber’s Point, Hawaii. The men won this award for their heroic rescue of a crewman from the fishing vessel Kodiak. One crewmember on the vesselsuffered from a.......... .  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=8312

Friday, December 18, 2009 Story last updated at 12/18/2009 - 11:02 am By Klas Stolpe | JUNEAU EMPIRE One thing fishermen love almost as much as a high market price for fish is having more fish to catch. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game recently announced an 18,866-ton preliminary harvest limit for Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring fishery when the season begins in March, a 4-ton increase from last season. Commercial fishermen are now ready to say "I do" to what is considered one of the fastest and most lucrative fish wage earners in the state. "After our assessment last year, the biomass that returned was actually consistent with what we forecast to come back this year," ADF&G biologist Dave Gordon said. "We had forecast 72,251 tons to....... h ttp://juneauempire.com/stories/121809/sta_537038793.shtml

Image via Wikipedia Article published on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 By SAM FRIEDMAN Mirror Writer Electricity from ocean tides may be in Kodiak’s future, but the Kodiak Electric Association (KEA) board decided last month that it is not in Kodiak’s immediate future. At its meeting last month the board decided to turn down a $32,000 proposal for a feasibility study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a Palo Alto, Calif., nonprofit. “The technology just isn’t there,” said Kodiak Electric Association chair Cliff Davidson. “We’re........  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=8300

Last Updated: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 | 11:16 AM CT  Comments 9 Recommend 8 CBC News A Yukon Liberal MLA says the territorial government is doing nothing while Americans are moving in on Canadian territory off Yukon's north coast. Don Inverarity said Premier Dennis Fentie should not make promises he cannot keep, such as his Yukon Party's promises in the 2002 and 2006 elections to resolve the border dispute on the Yukon-Alaska border. "It was a promise that they made to voters, they...........  http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/12/16/yukon-border-dispute.html

Activists tag Greenpeace  Rainbow Warrior  with “Propaganda Warrior” banner;  Arctic Sunrise  hit with “Ship of Lies” banner earlier in the day December 16, 2009 by   CFACT  (Copenhagen, Denmark, December 16, 2009) Global warming skeptics from CFACT yesterday pulled off an international climate caper using GPS triangulation from Greenpeace's own on-board camera photos to locate and sail up long-side of the infamous Greenpeace vessel,  Rainbow Warrior.  Then in Greenpeace-like fashion, the CFACT activists unfurled a banner reading "Propaganda Warrior" which underscored how the radical green group’s policies and agenda are based on myths, lies, and exaggerations. Earlier in the day the activists daringly boarded Greenpeace's  Arctic Sunrise  with neither stealth nor force, but by baffling the crew with doughnuts, and unfurled a banner that read “Ship of Lies” off the starboard side. “Greenpeace has been using these kinds of tactics for decades, and now they can...

December 15, 2009 Good news from commercial fishing fleets around the world using Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) OpenPort(R) marine satellite system. Case study: Jan de Boer,  the  vessel's owner and captain , said, " Iridium OpenPort is always online. It sends our e-mails faster in comparison to the satcom system we used previously, and it gives us the possibility to download the latest news to stay up to date with what is happening in the world ...........  http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=760495004

Image via Wikipedia PEBBLE: Village groups call bristol bay vote irresponsible. By  ELIZABETH BLUEMINK ebluemink@adn.com Published: December 15th, 2009 10:47 PM Last Modified: December 16th, 2009 12:07 AM Two Bristol Bay village corporations that own land near the massive copper and gold Pebble prospect said Tuesday they are outraged by their regional Native corporation's decision to oppose the proposed mine. The board of the Bristol Bay Native Corp., which.........  http://www.adn.com/money/industries/mining/story/1057498.html

Updated December 14, 2009 FOXNews.com Upwards of 40 percent of all land in the United States is already under some form of government control or ownership -- 800 million to 900 million acres out of America's total 2.2 billion acres. The government now appears poised to wield greater control over private property on a number of fronts. The battle over private property rights has intensified since 2005, when the Supreme Court ruled in the Kelo v. City of New London case that the government could take property from one group of private landowners and give it to another. Outraged over that ruling and a series of recent efforts by government to wield greater control over private property, citizens are fighting back. Fox News' Shannon Bream takes a fair and balanced look at the controversy in a three-part series. The Clean Water Restoration Act currently pending in the U.S. Senate could reach to..............  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/14/private-property-clea

Iridium OpenPort Satellite Communications Beyond antagonizing the Japanese whaling fleet, the Sea Shepherd are also attempting to send back immediate video and pictures of illegal whaling in the Antarctic. One such device that allows them to do that with relative ease is an  Iridium OpenPort device . Specifically created for maritime use, the........  http://ecorazzi.com/slideshow/high-tech-whale-wars-8-weapons-used-in-the-fight-down-under/84/

Hear what I think if Alaska.. In the Google cloud  http://translate.google.com/translate_tts?q=I+love+alaska

December 14, 2009 Anti-whaling crusaders Sea Shepherd have done more to disrupt Japanese whaling than talkfests.  Photo: David Wicks The first harpoon of this year's whaling season has been fired, and it was shot by Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada. Like the grenade-tipped harpoons his whalers shoot in the Antarctic, it left its target bloodied and flailing. Still alive, but barely. Okada's weapon was his words, and his hit was on peace talks that were hoped to bridge the global whaling divide. Now the question is: how can countries like Australia.........  http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/japanese-harpoon-whaling-talks-20091214-krv7.html

Monday, December 14, 2009 Story last updated at 12/14/2009 - 10:25 am By Kim Marquis |  JUNEAU EMPIRE The state Department of Fish and Game asked the agency running a review of the Federal Subsistence Management Program in Alaska for two additional months for public comment. The Secretary of the Interior announced a sweeping review of the subsistence program in October. The review is to focus on how the program is meeting the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act and how it serves rural subsistence users. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wants a clear plan to emerge from the review by early next year, according to Alaska Affairs Secretary Kim Elton. State Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd wrote Elton with the..........  http://juneauempire.com/stories/121409/sta_535641794.shtml

NO OIL, GAS LEASES: Hot debate ends with protection of fisheries, resources. Image by triciaward via Flickr By  ELIZABETH BLUEMINK ebluemink@adn.com Published: December 12th, 2009 01:29 AM Last Modified: December 12th, 2009 01:29 AM The Bristol Bay Native Corp. board voted Friday to oppose the development of the massive copper and gold Pebble prospect in Southwest Alaska and offshore oil and gas leasing in the Bering Sea. On Pebble, the company said it is against the proposed mine given "the unquantifiable impacts the project could have on the natural resources of the Bristol Bay region." On proposed offshore leasing, the company said it believes the risks of drilling, including spills, to the Bering Sea's marine resources and communities that rely on the resources "far outweigh any potential local or national benefits." The two issues -- Pebble and offshore oil and gas -- have been hotly debated in Bristol Bay villages and around Alaska in the past fe