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

Link to video >>  http://www.ktuu.com/ktuu-coast-guard-top-2010-videos-122910,0,1287620.story

PETERSBURG, Alaska (AP) -- Gov. Sean Parnell's appointment to head Alaska's Fish and Game Department is drawing the ire of a native group that says she is unqualified and biased toward commercial fishing. KFSK-FM reports that  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=18&path=O/OR_FISH_AND_GAME_OPPOSITION More......  ANB against Parnell's ADF&G choice By Klas Stolpe |  JUNEAU EMPIRE Newly appointed Alaska Department of Fish & Game Commissioner Cora Campbell has weathered many stormy seas since she graced the deck of her father's fishing boat at one year of age, going on to take a full crew position by age 11, pay her way through college with the sweat and toil of the sea's harvest, and then working behind the scenes to further Alaskan's subsistence and fishing rights, so this week's press release by the Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand Camp rejecting her experience came as a shock. "I don't' think it is a fair characterization,&

Article published on Tuesday, December 28th, 2010 By SAM FRIEDMAN Mirror Writer An ambitious new plan for the next 20 years of hatchery and stocking programs in the Kodiak area strives to double the number of salmon available through supplementary runs. Currently open for public review, the Kodiak Comprehensive Salmon Plan Phase III sets a goal of producing a supplemental salmon run of 19.6 million fish in Kodiak streams by 2030. That is well in excess of both current supplemental runs (about 7.4 million) and even natural runs, which have....  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=9428

Image by chooyutshing via Flickr PETERSBURG-AK (12/28/2010) Scientists will conduct field experiments on juvenile red king crab this summer in Southeast Alaska. It’s part of a larger study that could someday lead to a king crab hatchery program.... Audio >  http://krbd.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=sideBlock&syndicated=true&ID=1572

By LAINE WELCH   December 27, 2010 Monday During the season of gift-giving, don’t overlook the gifts from the sea.    Sponge Bob, for example, is set to be the next rage in fiber optics. Researchers at Bell Labs have found that the sponge euplectella grows glass fiber networks that are far more advanced than any found in today’s telecommunications industry.      Wild salmon sperm is the first bio-material ever used for light emitting diodes (LEDs) which light up the numbers in digital clocks and all kinds of electronic equipment. photonics experts can  insert light emitting molecules into pure fibers made from salmon sperm DNA to create  superior  lighting devices.     The bio-material could someday reduce the..........  http://sitnews.us/LaineWelch/122710_fish_factor.html

Image via Wikipedia By Mandira Srivastava, TMCnet Contributor Globalstar, Inc., a provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government, and individuals, has accepted two new second-generation satellites from manufacturer Thales Alenia Space . According to the press release, Globalstar officials authorized acceptance of the new satellites at the Thales (News - Alert) Alenia Space satellite manufacturing facility in Rome . The company expects to take delivery of four additional satellites in early 2011, and all six satellites will then be shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. There they will undergo preparations and testing for launch using......... http://satellite.tmcnet.com/topics/satellite/articles/129909-globalstar-gets-new-satellites-from-thales-alenia-space.htm

Craig Medred | Dec 27, 2010 For more than 60 years, John Howard Clausen survived everything the wilds of Alaska and the Gulf of Alaska seas could throw at him, only to fall victim to a bizarre accident fueled -- some suspect -- by pre-Christmas excitement. Clausen was backing an oversized all-terrain vehicle up to an floatplane in Pelican two days before Christmas to unload to gifts for friends when the vehicle went off a dock. The 89-year-old longtime commercial fisherman was trapped in the ATV's enclosed cab. By the time a diver got to him 38 feet underwater 18 minutes later, he was dead. The pilot of the plane had offered to unload, but Clausen was a man used to doing things for himself, even in his later years. "He said, ‘No, I'll get it,'" friend Karen Stepanenko said by telephone from Pelican Monday. "He was just so excited and in a hurry." Nearly all of Pelican, which has lost so much in recent years, spent the Christmas holiday grieving. Almost

Originally published Monday, December 27, 2010 at 9:32 AM The Associated Press TACOMA, Wash. — The quest for green energy is increasingly focused on ocean power such as tidal and wave generators. But some scientists are raising concerns about whether those projects could interfere with salmon and other species with sensitive internal compasses. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory oceanographer Andrea Copping tells The News Tribune of Tacoma that scientists believe salmon, like sharks and sea turtles, might sense the Earth's magnetic fields as they navigate back to their natal streams. Some scientists worry that the power-generating devices and the cables that bring their electricity to shore can create electromagnetic fields that could interfere with the salmon. Copping's lab in Sequim (SKWIM') on the Olympic Peninsula is studying the reactions of salmon, dungeness crab, halibut and American lobsters when copper wiring near their tanks is............  http://seattletime

Image via Wikipedia Jacob Resneck/KMXT             A federal bill signed into law this fall is setting up some big changes for commercial mariners including the fishing industry............ ............ big change would be to end the exemption of fishing vessels from being certified by a classification society such as the American Bureau of Shipping, though boats less than 50 feet would likely remain exempt. The legislation also envisions requiring vessels over 79 feet to obtain a "load line" that demarcates where cargo, including fishing gear, can be placed on deck. ,,,,,,,,,,,  Audio >  http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2358&Itemid=2

The Associated Press Published: December 12th, 2010 09:45 PM Last Modified: December 13th, 2010 07:47 AM BETHEL -- The state Department of Transportation is exploring the option of expanding the operations at the Bethel airport to all hours. The Tundra Drums reported  ...............  http://www.adn.com/2010/12/12/1601140/state-looks-at-making-airport.html

Image via Wikipedia United Utilities, Inc. (UUI), a wholly owned subsidiary of GCI Communication Corporation (GCI), today announced the selection of Marsh Creek, LLC (Marsh Creek) as the prime contractor for 11 new TERRA-Southwest (TERRA-SW) microwave communication sites. TERRA-SW is UUI’s project to extend terrestrial broadband service for the first time to Bristol Bay and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (Y-K Delta), delivering access to next generation communications to support economic development, education, healthcare and public safety in 65 communities. Construction of TERRA-SW is scheduled for 2011 with fiber construction from Igiugig to Levelock to begin in January.   “UUI and GCI have long recognized and addressed the need to close the digital divide for remote rural Alaska communities, providing villages with the telecommunications resources they need to thrive on par with urban areas,” said...............  http://7thspace.com/headlines/368019/construction_on_terra_sw_to_begi

KODIAK: Rockets could scare protected marine mammals. By  RICHARD MAUER rmauer@adn.com Published: December 25th, 2010 09:34 PM Last Modified: December 25th, 2010 09:35 PM The state's aerospace agency is seeking to renew its five-year federal permit to allow it to inadvertently annoy and harass sea lions and seals during rocket launches from Kodiak. The protected marine mammals have haul-outs on Ugak Island, a rocky, uninhabited island 3 to 5 miles downrange from the launch pad area at the Alaska Aerospace Corp.'s Kodiak Launch Complex. In a 13-page notice published Thursday in the Federal Register, the U.S. Commerce Department and two of its...........  http://www.adn.com/2010/12/25/1619839/agency-seeks-permit-to-fire-over.html

CLIPPING coupons is a hassle. Intentionally. If shoppers were to redeem any more than just a sliver of them, manufacturers would have a self-created financial catastrophe on their hands." Digital technology could eventually make coupon-clipping with scissors a quaint oddity. And manufacturers are willing to make clipping easier, but not too easy: they don’t want to reduce prices for customers who’d buy a product anyway. Ideally, coupons will continue to be redeemed only by those who hold out for a deal — those whom marketing experts call “deal prone.” More than three billions coupons a year are redeemed in the United States, says Steven R. Boal, C.E.O. of...... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/business/26digi.html

By Lyndsey Layton Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 24, 2010; 6:43 PM The massive overhaul of food safety laws approved by Congress this week will take years to implement and could be undercut by Republicans who don't want to fund an expansion of the Food and Drug Administration. Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia, the ranking GOP member on the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA , said the number of cases of food-borne illnesses in the country does not justify the $1.4 billion the new law is estimated to cost over the first five years. "I would not identify it as something that will necessarily be zeroed out, but it is quite possible it will be scaled back if it is significant overreach," said Kingston, who is likely to become chairman of the subcommittee when Republicans assume control of the House in January. "We still have a food supply that's 99.99 percent safe," Kingston said in...........  http://www.washingtonpost.com/w

COAST GUARD: Air station performs search and rescues in vast ocean areas. By LOUIS GARCIA Kodiak Daily Mirror Published: December 24th, 2010 10:13 PM Last Modified: December 24th, 2010 10:32 PM KODIAK -- On a recent afternoon, a helicopter hovered above a 41-foot-long motor lifeboat. Water whipped around a small crew and the waves wickedly rocked the boat as crew tied ropes to metal baskets.........  http://www.adn.com/2010/12/24/1619253/training-in-frigid-water-crucial.html enlarge AP Photo / Kodiak Daily Mirror, Louis Garcia A helicopter hovers above a motor lifeboat during a training session for training for Air Station Kodiak crews in Kodiak, Alaska on Dec. 9, 2010.

By  SHIRLEY MARQUARDT  Mayor of Unalaska Dec 22nd, 2010 Captain Finn Jorgensen (far right) poses for a picture with his crew of the Tor Viking II. ( Courtesy Photo,  ) This is the story of the bulk carrier Golden Seas, disabled and drifting in the chaos of the Bering Sea, and the men who went out and rescued her. I hope I do them justice. The 738-foot ship with 20 crew members was loaded with canola seeds and full of bunker fuel having left British Columbia earlier in the week. In the wee hours of the morning of Dec.3 and not far northwest of Adak Island , they lost power when the turbocharger failed, and, slowly but surely, started drifting toward Atka Island in gale-force winds and monstrous seas. As the District 17 U.S. Coast Guard Command Center began to gather critical information, it became clear that the best information with which to plan a response and the best chance at the successful rescue of the ship would come from the Port of Dutch Harbor over 400 miles away. At 7:

Image via Wikipedia gov.alaska.gov:  December 23, 2010, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sean Parnell today welcomed a judge’s ruling against listing the ribbon seal under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and said this decision once again demonstrates the importance of the State of Alaska acting to join in ESA-related litigation. The U.S. District Court in Northern California Tuesday upheld a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) not to list the ribbon seal as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace, environmental organizations, sued NMFS based on the argument that the seals faced potential habitat loss from sea ice conditions in the sub-Arctic, including the Bering Sea. The judge’s ruling for summary judgment in favor of NMFS utilized the State of Alaska’s legal brief and the administrative record of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game – involving more than 60 documents dating to 1970 -- regarding ribbon seal numbers,

Image via Wikipedia PETERSBURG-AK (12/23/2010) It looks like there will be no gillnet fishery targeting king salmon returns to the Stikine and Taku rivers again this May. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced this month that the pre-season forecast for both systems is too low to allow for a commercial opening..... Audio >  http://krbd.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=sideBlock&syndicated=true&ID=1569

Google buys old Port Authority, NYC fiber hub for $1.9 billion | ZDNet : "That’s right, I said billion. Google has actually been the largest tenant at the the old Port Authority building on 111 Eighth Avenue on the city’s West Side for some time now (they began leasing space in 2006), but closed a deal Wednesday to purchase the 3 million square foot building. While the $1.9 billion purchase price is hardly a steal, Google is most likely more interested in the fiber sitting under the building as it is in the real estate. As Wired described it,"

Image via Wikipedia Globalstar... Double Delivery (Satellites) : Satnews Publishers : "Globalstar expects to take delivery of four additional satellites in early 2011 and all six satellites will then be shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. There, they will undergo preparations and testing for launch using the highly reliable Soyuz launch vehicle. In October, Globalstar successfully launched six new second-generation satellites using the"

The Dutch Harbor Fisherman - Marsh Creek wins prime contract for Southwest broadband : "United Utilities, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of GCI Communication Corp., has chosen Marsh Creek, LLC as the prime contractor for 11 new microwave communications sites in a major broadband project to serve Bristol Bay and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The contract was announced today by Martin Cary, vice president and general manager, GCI Managed Broadband Services. Construction of TERRA-SW is scheduled to begin in 2011 with fiber construction from Igiugig to Levelock starting in January. It will deliver access to next generation communications to support economic development, education, health care and public safety in 65 communities. The overall historic project is being funded with"

Parnell picks Cora Campbell to head Fish and Game : "Gov. Sean Parnell is appointing adviser Cora Campbell to head the state Fish and Game Department."

Image via Wikipedia Efforts to reduce chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska are moving forward following this month's meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.              A significant spike in chinook king salmon caught by the pollock trawl fleet this fall had mandated consultation with federal regulators in the Lower 48 and put the issue on the council's agenda.              Consulation is triggered when 40,000 fish are caught as bycatch. Estimates of more than 50,000 fish were taken in the gulf this year with the pollock fishery responsible for............. Audio >>  http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2343&Itemid=2

http://buzz.blogger.com/2010/12/blogger-dubbed-most-reliable-blogging.html Yep.....

'This is a common-sense issue with broad bipartisan support,' Harry Reid said in a statement.  By MEREDITH SHINER | 12/19/10 8:34 PM EST Updated: 12/19/10 10:10 PM EST The Senate on Sunday night cleared a food safety package, curbing earlier fears the popular bill would die by the end of this session as a result of a procedural error by upper chamber lawmakers. Aides close to the bill expect it to return to the House this week and that the overhaul of a nearly-century-old regulatory system finally will find its way to the president's desk after a circuitous and frustrating go-around the Capitol........ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46598.html

SOUTHEASTERN: Trip on cutter brings gifts to several villages. By KLAS STOLPE Juneau Empire via The Associated Press Published: December 18th, 2010 09:29 PM Last Modified: December 18th, 2010 11:27 PM HOONAH -- Santa's new sleigh is 110 feet long, has room for about 20 elves to aid in toy delivery, doesn't need a red-nosed reindeer for navigation, and can travel in weather that would make even the most seasoned Kris Kringle shiver. "This is a lot of work but it is a big lift for our crew," U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Liberty commanding officer Brian Tesson said last week as he watched his crew of "elves" plot and execute a course for Hoonah through the rough winter waters of Icy Strait on the cutter's first Santa mission of the 13th Annual Coat, Toy and Blanket Drive. "Most of the crew can't go home for Christmas so this is kind of their Christmas, delivering toys and.............  http://www.adn.com/2010/12/18/1611374/coast-guard-sleigh-delivers-h

18 DEC 2010 - Santa arrives to meet Sitka area Coast Guard families via H-60 Helicopter. Go Santa!

SITKA, Alaska - Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew transfer Sandy M crewmembers to local emergency medical services at Air Station Sitka following the rescue near Whitney Island Dec. 18, 2010. All five of the Sandy M crewmembers were reportedly assessed by local medical service personnel and released in good condition. U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Gregory Beckman of Air Station Sitka.

The Associated Press Published: December 18th, 2010 04:05 PM Last Modified: December 18th, 2010 04:05 PM ....... Sandy M at about 10 a.m. today.  ....all 5 in Sitka. No immediate word on their condition..  http://www.adn.com/2010/12/18/1610824/coast-guard-rescues-5-as-fishing.html

Image via Wikipedia Article published on Friday, December 17th, 2010 By SAM FRIEDMAN Mirror Writer The University of Alaska Fairbanks is reviewing the future of its Kodiak campus, the Fisheries Industrial Technology Center. FITC, also known as Fish Tech, is the first research building on Near Island. Its mission is to research technologies to assist the fishing and processing industries. In April, David Policansky, the Washington, D.C.-based advisory council chair for the university’s fisheries school, questioned the success of the facility in a letter to University of Alaska Fairbanks chancellor Brian Rogers. “The council devoted a..............  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=9414

Coming up this week, the North Pacific Council sets the groundfish TAC, the governor is suing the Feds over closures to protect sea lion populations, and commercial halibut fishermen want the charter fleet to quit exceeding their quota. All that, and a scientist finds a........  http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2331&Itemid=2#JOSC_TOP

Published on December 17th, 2010 3:18 pm By ALEX DEMARBAN President Obama continued his government's historic dialogue with tribes during the second White House Tribal Nations Conference on Thursday, announcing support for a U.N. declaration on indigenous civil rights and arranging meetings between cabinet members and hundreds of tribal representatives. The Washington, D.C., event gave the president a chance to tout his administration's Indian accomplishments in the past year, including the $3.4 billion settlement of the Cobell lawsuit and unprecedented efforts to improve life on reservations and Alaska villages. Seven cabinet members attended the meeting in the main Interior building. Obama headlined the event with a speech that, like he did at last year's conference, recognized the long struggle faced by the country's first people. "The truth is, for a long time, Native Americans were implicitly told that they had a choice to make," he said. "By virtue

KODIAK, Alaska - Deck Watch is a five to seven minute radio show featuring Coast Guard news from around Alaska. The feature this week by PA1 Mosley is an interview with BM1 Stephen Kelly, with the Maritime Safety and Security Team in Anchorage, about their efforts to bring Christmas to 10 underprivileged Anchorage families. U.S. Coast Guard audio by D17 External Affairs. Please use the link below to listen: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1080650 "

Fri, 17 December, 2010 PARIS — An outside assessment has concluded that the current 66-satellite Iridium constellation will remain operational until 2017 and that the mobile satellite service would remain viable even if the fleet was reduced to 36 satellites, Iridium Communications officials said Dec. 16. Iridium officials said the analysis, conducted on behalf of the institutions financing the company’s second-generation constellation, called Iridium Next, stress-tested key components of the satellite design on the ground by subjecting them to bursts of radiation to simulate what the satellites encounter in orbit. The analysis was overseen by the Aerospace Corp. of El Segundo, Calif., a nonprofit, U.S. Air Force-sponsored aerospace analysis center, at the request of the bank consortium and the French export-credit agency, Coface, Iridium officials told investors in a day-long series of briefings. Coface is guaranteeing a  $1.8 billion package to finance Iridium Next . The find

Google Maps 5 (With 3D Buildings And Offline Routing !) Now Available For Android Read the rest at MobileCrunch

Foodspotting Swallows Food Sharing Community Eat.ly : " Foodspotting , the service that allows you to take pictures of your food to share with others, is acquiring a competitor in the space: Eat.ly. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed...

If you're on a mobile device check it out!  http://www.blog.haulinggear.com/ Thanks Google!

Image via Wikipedia COVINGTON, La., Dec. 16, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Globalstar, Inc. ( Nasdaq : GSAT ), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government, and individuals today announced that it has completed pre-operational testing of its first new second-generation satellite and the spacecraft has successfully processed its first commercial telephone call. The new satellite is the first of six that were launched earlier this fall and is now ready to fully support voice and duplex data services. Four of the satellites are planned to be operational in the next 6 weeks with the remaining two expected to be deployed near the end of the first quarter 2011.   "Following successful intensive testing of the new spacecraft by our satellite operations control center and engineering personnel, we are pleased to announce that the first Globalstar commercial call using our new second-generation satellite was processed for a customer calling in .....

Article published on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 By SAM FRIEDMAN Mirror Writer Duncan Fields, a Kodiak resident on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) made a protest vote against next year’s halibut bycatch levels this week at a council meeting in Anchorage. As part of its December meeting the council sets next year’s bycatch limits for groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Since 1986, the trawl fleet has been allowed a halibut bycatch of 2,000 metric tons in the Gulf of Alaska. This year Fields said the bycatch was too much because catch limits for fishermen targeting halibut are predicted to go down sharply next year. He was the only member of the 11-member council to vote against the limits. “I said I cannot in a good conscience continue to.............  http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=9407

by Liz Gannes Posted on December 15, 2010 at 7:00 PM PT For the last 10 years, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has distributed wallet cards that give an at-a-glance guide to which types of seafood are sustainably fished and which are not because of overly depleted populations, destroyed habitats or some other reason. Last year the aquarium’s  Seafood Watch  program launched an iPhone app that does the same thing on a searchable and localized scale. And it’s been downloaded 325,000 times. So, this week, the  Seafood Watch app  got a social upgrade, which lets users contribute information about where they have actually found sustainable seafood for sale..........  http://networkeffect.allthingsd.com/20101215/putting-social-to-work-sustainable-seafood-mapping/

Fish Factor Annual fee for managing and enforcing harvesting rights to a catch yields $3.9 million   By LAINE WELCH   December 13, 2010 Monday Alaskans who own harvesting rights to a catch also pick up the tab for the costs of managing and enforcing those fisheries. Longliners for halibut and sablefish (black cod) and Bering Sea crabbers pay an annual fee of up to three percent to the federal government for coverage costs. The fee is based on dock prices and averaged across the state.    This year it yielded $3.9 million for halibut and black cod costs, up from $3.3 million in 2009. “The fee percentage is slightly lower at 1.4%  compared to 1.6%  last year,” explained Troie Zuniga, fee coordinator at NOAA Fisheries Restricted Access Management Division in Juneau. This year’s average price for halibut was $4.86/lb compared to $3.13/lb in 2009; for sablefish, the average was ............ http://www.sitnews.us/LaineWelch/121310_fish_factor.html