In Mixed Catch, NF Senior Editor Linc Bedrosian spotlights a wide range of commercial fishing-related news items from coast to coast.
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
The Northeast Regional Ocean Council's regional planning body held its inaugural meeting this week at a two-day session at the Clarion Hotel in Portland, Maine where they began the daunting task of figuring out how best to manage use of the region's oceans.
Ocean planning activities have been going on in New England states for several years, but they got ratcheted up a notch when President Obama signed an Executive Order in July 2010 that established a National Ocean Policy that aims for better management of our nation's oceans and coasts.
The executive order spawned the formation of the Northeast Regional Planning Body, comprising federal, state, tribal and New England Fishery Management Council representatives with stakeholder input. The planning body listed several objectives for its first meeting:
• Develop common understanding about the regional planning body's assignment and characteristics, basic operational considerations and initial products;
• Provide context regarding current activities in New England that lay a foundation for regional ocean planning;
• Engage stakeholders and the public about regional ocean planning for New England; and
• Discuss the initial focus for the region's ocean planning effort and identify the next steps to take.
Tuesday's keynote speaker was John Bullard, NMFS' northeast regional director. Bullard's resume includes experience at the local, state and federal levels, as well as on Massachusetts' ocean planning advisory commission.
Traditional uses, including commercial fishing, are going to be joined by new uses such as wind energy and aquaculture, Bullard said, noting that decisions are going to be more complicated because there are more uses.
"With more uses, more stakeholders, if we don't do anything decisions will take longer," he said, "and there will be more uses, more lawsuits, and more paralysis."
Moreover, the ocean planning process will require open and transparent dialogue, he said, and all viewpoints must be represented at the board table.
"We are always going to have a big table," Bullard said. "It's frustrating, it takes time, it won't be efficient, but that's the way to do it. If you don't have everyone at the table, it seems efficient at the beginning, but people that aren't at the table will slow it down later."
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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