State environmental officials on Tuesday announced the reopening of shellfish areas in central Barnegat Bay, but public clam beds and aquaculture lots in Raritan and southern Barnegat bays remain closed three months after superstorm Sandy.
Water quality in Barnegat Bay has actually been "quite good" since about Nov. 6 as daily sampling showed bacteria levels declining, said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Tests of clams themselves have continued since then, and the DEP announced it would reopen shellfish areas from the Route 37 bridge south to Oyster Creek.
But the bay's southern third, from Waretown to Tuckerton, remains closed because clam tissue samples still show bacteria levels above strict standards set by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program, a joint federal-state effort that ensures health safety in the shellfish industry.
Hajna said that does not mean pollution is coming into the bay, but that dormant clams have yet to expel what they picked up when Sandy churned bay waters and flushed pollutants off the land.
"It's really a function of time and temperature," Hajna said. "After the storm, the water temperature went to 50 degrees, and started going down."
Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press>>
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.
