2008 Year in Review
A-changin' times
Individual fishing quotas have been around a long time: We've been discussing them — arguing about them, resisting them, and ultimately embracing them — for more than a decade.
Now they have become a fact of life. Some folks believe they are the ultimate outcome of a fishery management system that does not work. Others believe they are the best antidote for avaricious human nature.
Maybe, if we took away GPS and sonar and rockhoppers, we could, in a few years, go back to trying to get a big trip, as opposed to rounding up our quota.
But that isn't going to happen.
And when you look at what's going in Washington, on Wall Street, and in the world at large, the fisherman hasn't got it so bad.
There were some train wrecks in 2008, such as West Coast salmon and New England lobster prices, to say nothing of fuel prices everywhere, but there were some happy endings as well, fisheries from coast to coast in which landings held up or improved and prices ensured viability, if not great wealth.
On the East Coast, we saw fishermen and scientists getting together to make a case for an increased dogfish quotas. And, thanks to the same collaboration, we'll likely see another increase in summer flounder landings this year.
And in the North Pacific, the council has used the occasion of climatic change to ensure that as patterns of fish behavior change, a tradition of responsible stewardship will endure.
Welcome to National Fisherman's 2009 Yearbook. — Jerry Fraser
Check out the print issue for the year's top stories from each region, newsmakers and wacky fish tales.
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
National Fisherman has been the industry standard for over 50 years. Readers from coast to coast depend on it to stay up to date on news, regulations, fish stocks, to research purchasing decisions and to stay informed of the newest vessel and product technology.
