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#01-10-2014 - ComFish News Roundup



State Goes On Charm Offensive Against Wal-Mart Over Salmon Dispute
Wal-Mart executives tour DIPAC on
January 8, 2014. (Alexandra Gutierrez/APRN)
By Alexandra Gutierrez, APRN - Juneau | January 9, 2014 - 5:21 pm
For months, Wal-Mart and state officials have gone back and forth on whether Alaska salmon should be sold in their stores. The dispute is over a tiny blue sustainability label from the Marine Stewardship Council, which Wal-Mart requires for their seafood. APRN’s Alexandra Gutierrez reports that a trip by Wal-Mart executives to Juneau has left state officials optimistic for a resolution. As executive director of DIPAC, Eric Prestegard is used to giving tours. Every year, tens of thousands of people visit the hatchery in Juneau to see how they raise salmon..... http://www.alaskapublic.org/2014/01/09/state-goes-on-charm-offensive-against-wal-mart-over-salmon-dispute/

Senate.gov - THURSDAY JANUARY 09 2014
Murkowski Responds to Wal-Mart’s Commitment to Alaska Seafood
Senator Had Invited Wal-Mart to Alaska in December, Touting Sustainability

Senator Lisa Murkowski today responded to Wal-Mart’s announcement that it remains “committ
English: Lisa Murkowski, United States Senator...
English: Lisa Murkowski, United States Senator from Alaska (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
ed to buying Alaska seafood” in the wake of Juneau discussions with state officials and experts:

“I am pleased that Wal-Mart decision-makers took me up on my offer to visit Alaska before making a final determination, and it’s clear Alaska’s sustainable wild seafood continues to be its own best advocate.  The management of Alaska’s fisheries – and our commitment to sustainability – should never be in doubt.  Alaska looks forward to a long, healthy, and delicious relationship with Wal-Mart’s customers nationwide.”

Senator Murkowski wrote a letter (attached) to Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon before Christmas, calling on Wal-Mart to visit Alaska as it made its decision to continue carrying Alaska seafood.   Throughout 2013, Murkowski also pushed back against dubious third-party certification groups who questioned the management of Alaska’s fisheries – seen worldwide as a model of sustainability.

Setnets unsnared — for now
Thursday, 09 January 2014
Earlier this week, Alaska's Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell handed down a decision that a petition to ban urban setnets was in violation of the state constitution and therefore would not appear on a ballot. As in most cases of attempted gear bans, this initiative was created under the guise of conservation but was in reality a fish grab. The Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance — backed by.... http://www.nationalfisherman.com/blogs/the-rudderpost/2847-setnets-unsnared-for-now

Fish groups should unite for salmon
Posted: January 9, 2014 - 10:35am
Finally the most politically, powerful seafood brokerage in the world has West Coast commercial, sport and personal use fishermen right where they want them, tearing at each others’ throats. To deny any user group access to... http://homernews.com/homer-opinion/letters/2014-01-09/fish-groups-should-unite-for-salmon

Silence can be deadly for Northern District salmon
Posted: Thursday, January 9, 2014 9:48 pm
By Howard Delo
Outdoors
Last Friday, I explained why it is critical for as many residents of the Northern District of Cook Inlet as possible to show up at the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) meeting to be held at the Egan Center in Anchorage from Jan. 31 to Feb. 13. That same day, the Chairman of the BOF, Karl Johnstone, had a Compass column in the Anchorage Daily News asking for and encouraging folks to.... http://www.frontiersman.com/sports/outdoors/silence-can-be-deadly-for-northern-district-salmon/article_36b73510-79c3-11e3-b408-001a4bcf887a.html

Fish Study Shows Shore Patterns for Kings, Reds
Posted: January 9, 2014 at 12:01 pm
A study completed last summer traces the patterns of king salmon moving through Cook Inlet. Canadian-based Kintama Research released a report on their findings late last month. President David Welch said they’re hoping the research will help future decisions.... http://radiokenai.net/fish-study-shows-shore-patterns-for-kings-reds/

Sitka Democrat Says No Fear From Fukushima
Posted: January 9, 2014 at 7:58 am
Yale Daily
A banana may have more radiation than the shores of Alaska, according to Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. After the 2011 Japanese tsunami, there have been concerns that radiation has been leaking across the ocean, but in a recent email to constituents, Kreiss-Tomkins says, ”there’s no reason to move to Nebraska!”.... http://radiokenai.net/sitka-democrat-says-no-fear-from-fukushima/
High PSP Levels Close Southeast Alaska Geoduck Clam Fishery
By Steve Heimel, APRN - Anchorage | January 9, 2014 - 11:59 am
Southeast Alaska’s geoduck clam dive fishery did not open this week because high levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning were found. Clams from eight fishing areas were sampled, and Fish and Game assistant Management Biologist Justin Brease says they all turned up positive. “Looks like they tested eight areas for a potential opening, and all of those areas failed the PSP test, so therefore we didn’t have any areas left that we could open, so we didn’t have any openings for.... http://www.alaskapublic.org/2014/01/09/high-psp-levels-close-southeast-alaska-geoduck-clam-fishery/

The Alaska Fisheries Report
Jan 9, 2013
Coming up on this Elvis Birthday Week edition: The state slaps down the Cook Inlet sports fishing industry’s attempted resource grab, the Board of Fish is meeting right now in Kodiak.... http://www.kmxt.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5367

Toxic Salmon: Consumption Advisories as Life-Giving Fish Threatens Health
Terri Hansen
1/10/14
The iconic salmon, for millennia a cornerstone of Pacific Northwest diet, spirituality, ceremony and even the economy, is fast becoming toxic in Washington State. And rather than focus on cleaning up the waterways that year-round salmon reside in, state agencies have issued consumption advisories. The less fish consumed, at the lower limits, the higher concentration of contaminants is deemed acceptable. But salmon are not just a way of life. They are life. And, Northwest tribes say, the cavalier attitude toward their contamination not only risks health but also guts treaty rights and the very way of life of the land’s original peoples. The iconic Chinook salmon is a prime example. Although the fall run from the... http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/01/10/toxic-salmon-consumption-advisories-life-giving-fish-threatens-health-153048

San Francisco Bay's herring hordes return
Sea lions, porpoises and tens of thousands of birds are jockeying for position with fishermen this week as the annual herring run splashes into San Francisco Bay, a spectacular marine wildlife showcase that conservationists say is one of the largest in North America..... http://www.nationalfisherman.com/news-events/top-news/2852-san-francisco-bay-s-herring-hordes-return

First salmon farm awarded ASC certification
NORWAY
Friday, January 10, 2014, 03:00 (GMT + 9)
The Villa Arctic AS Jarfjord Farm in Norway is the first salmon farm to be awarded Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification. The farm’s ASC labelled products hit the market next week. The ASC celebrates this important development; one that has been eagerly anticipated by the market and diversifies the number of ASC certified species available to buyers. “This is a crucial first step for the salmon aquaculture industry and we congratulate Villa Arctic AS for their great effort in achieving ASC certification for.... http://fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?monthyear=&day=10&id=65641

Greenpeace suspected to be behind Russian trawler’s detention
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Friday, January 10, 2014, 03:30 (GMT + 9)
Mamadou Dieng, Senegalese Charge D'Affaires in Russia, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday over the detention of the Oleg Naydenov trawler by the Senegalese government, a source from the Russian ministry said. Talks between Russian diplomats and Rosrybolovstvo (Federal Agency for Fishery) officials with Senegal's President Macky Sall about releasing the trawler have been..... http://fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?l=e&country=0&special=&monthyear=&day=&id=65660