In Mixed Catch, NF Senior Editor Linc Bedrosian spotlights a wide range of commercial fishing-related news items from coast to coast.
Friday, 11 November 2011
It's not easy being you, is it, menhaden? You're a tiny fish, minding your own business as you swim around in the ocean and the next thing you know books are being written about you and you're deemed "the most important fish in the sea."
Yup. You, little menhaden, are a Big Fish On Campus. And so many seem to depend upon you. Labeled a forage fish, you are deemed highly important to the survival of other finfish, like striped bass, and birds like ospreys, brown pelicans and bald eagles. A story in the Bangor (Maine) Daily News this week stated, "Without menhaden, environmentalists say, the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay ecosystems would come crashing down."
Wow. No pressure there, little fella.
Humans don't have the same desire or need to snack on you. But that doesn't mean they leave you alone. They prize little ole you and your omega-3 fish oils. Sure, it keeps them healthy, but those oils aren't keeping you living longer, are they? They also use you to feed livestock and farm-raised fish, and fishermen use you as bait.
On the other hand, it appears lots of people want to keep your population numbers high. Some 91,000 letters about you were sent to the Atlantic States Marine Commission prior to its vote this week on how best to manage you. The commission voted 14-3 to cut the menhaden harvest for 2013 from 183,000 metric tons a year to 174,000 metric tons.
Does that news hearten you, menhaden? It pleased environmentalists (though probably not the folks at Omega Protein who have long fished Chesapeake Bay for you). Others aren't as sure you need quite as much protection. Check out the forthcoming January 2012 issue of National Fisherman, in which "Washington Lookout" columnists David Frulla and Shaun Gehan question the need to micromanage menhaden stocks.
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.
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