Please note:
PSPA office will be closed on
Monday, February 15 in
observance
of the President's Day holiday, and there will
be
no seafood
update. PSPA update will
resume on Tuesday.
Enjoy your weekend and
holiday!
**********************************************
Alaska/Pacific
Coast
Fish board to address Chitina dip netting during March
meeting
Fairbanksnewsminer.com, February 12,
2010
FAIRBANKS — The issue of whether Chitina dip-netters should be classified
as personal-use or subsistence fishermen
is still flopping around like a Copper River red salmon that’s been
scooped out of the river and is waiting to be clubbed
in the head.
Judge gives NOAA Fisheries last chance on salmon
The Seattle Times, February
10, 2010
The federal judge overseeing efforts
to make the Columbia Basin's federal hydroelectric dams safer for salmon is
giving the
Obama administration one last chance to come up with something better
that won't violate the Endangered Species Act.
Creative Science on a Budget
North Pacific Universities
Marine Mammal Research Consortium, February 11,
2010
Every day, the research technicians at the UBC Marine Mammal Energetics
and Nutrition Laboratory face challenges
that require MacGyver-like ingenuity to solve. When it comes to
cutting-edge Steller sea lion and northern fur seal
research, specialized equipment is rarely available off the shelf.
Rebecca Barrick, Jody Danielson and Brandon Russell
not only have to collect the data, they first have to design and build
the custom equipment needed for this important
research – all without breaking the
bank.
AFSC
Internships: Applications Open Through March 19,
2010
This summer the AFSC
provides exciting internship opportunities for students: onboard a survey cruise
in Alaska; or
studying sea lions at San
Miguel Island, California; or at our Seattle science facility doing lab work,
image processing
or outreach projects.
More>
Federal hearing on NOAA police set Ocean, wildlife panel follows up IG's report
The
Gloucester Times, February 11,
2010
A congressional subcommittee has set the date for its
oversight hearing into a U.S. Inspector General's findings that a largely
autonomous federal fisheries law enforcement agency has mistreated
fishermen as if they were criminals, leading to a
"dysfunctional" relationship between regulators and the
regulated.
Lubchenco's choice to head NMFS draws many questions
The Gloucester
Times, Feburay 12, 2010
The lengthy search for a
federal fisheries chief bypassed the favorite son of the East Coast fishing
industry, a venerated research
scientist from New Bedford, for a state bureaucrat from
Maryland, whose crab-based fishery includes very few ocean going
boats. So, from Maine
to North Carolina yesterday, the announcement that Jane Lubchenco, with White
House approval, had
selected 48-year-old Eric C. Schwaab to lead the $1 billion
National Marine Fishery Service and its 3,000 employees was
greeted with a mix of
uncertainty, disappointment, and cautious optimism.
Politics
Democrats skeptical health care summit is
answer
The Seattle Times, February 12,
2010
First he called
congressional Democrats' yearlong march toward health care overhaul an ugly
process. Now President Barack
Obama wants to talk
directly with Republicans, the very people his Capitol Hill allies call
obstinate and uncooperative. It's no
wonder Democratic
lawmakers are less than enthusiastic about Obama's overture to the
GOP.
International
SEAFOOD. COM NEWS [Asia Pulse] - February 12, 2010 -
TOKYO, Japanese seafood giant Kyokuyo Co. (TSE:1301)
will boost output of artificial crab meat
in an effort to lift sales to 2.4 billion yen (US$26.74 million) in the year
starting in April, up 20
per cent from the estimate for the current fiscal year. Group unit Kyokuyo Foods Co. recently invested 300 million
yen to upgrade
its factory, installing a second
production line for a higher-end imitation crab series. Additional steamers and
freezer facilities were
also brought into the Ehime
Prefecture plant. A new product released
this month carries a price tag of 298 yen per five-stick package,
about 20 per cent more expensive
than other items. Because of the higher
cost, Kyokuyo is using a different tactic when marketing the
product at supermarkets. Instead of
selling it at the processed seafood department, where prices on other items are
generally falling,
the firm will place the new product
in the fresh seafood department, where sashimi is sold, as a an added-value
item.