SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- They are the most feared predator in the ocean, but the state of California thinks great white sharks might need a little protection of their own.
The Fish and Game Commission will consider Wednesday advancing the candidacy of the giant sharks to the California Endangered Species list, which will immediately enact protections during a yearlong review. The commission staff has recommended the shark be listed for candidacy.
Scientists have not been able to get an accurate count of great white sharks worldwide, but the petition from the conservation organization Oceana and two other groups was aimed at a subspecies that lives along the California coast. A study two years ago by UC-Davis, Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station and others estimated the population at around 220, though little else is known about their breeding and migration habits.
"Whether that's always been the number or that represents a decline, we don't know," said Mike Sutton, vice president of the commission and founding director of the Center for the Future of the Oceans at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. "The department feels there is sufficient evidence to trigger candidacy."
Great white sharks became universally feared after one was featured in the movie "Jaws" terrorizing beachgoers in a New England town. They make the news when they attack swimmers, and a California surfer died from a white shark attack off the coast of Santa Barbara County in October. Another fatal attack occurred two years prior in the same area.
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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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