Skimmer-trawl operators will not be required to outfit their nets with turtle-excluder devices, following research showing that a majority of the endangered reptiles snagged as bycatch in the shallow-water shrimpers' nets were small enough to slip through the contraptions.
"Fifty-eight percent of those turtles were small enough to fit through the current legal size of the bars on TEDs," said Bob Hoffman, chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's endangered species branch. "The legal maximum space between the bars is 4 inches, so more than half of the turtles would possibly fit through that space and go back to the end of the net, thereby not being saved."
TEDs, a grid of bars in a trawl net that allows trapped sea turtles to escape unscathed, are currently required on only certain types of boats, including otter trawls, which trail nets from the rear of the boat along the ocean floor. Skimmer trawls, which drag nets off the sides in shallower water, have thus far been exempt from the rule.
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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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