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Tuesday
September 10, 2013
Norwegian Pearl
This colorful photograph was taken while the
Norwegian Pearl was at dock last Friday in Ketchikan.
Front Page Photograph by STEVE SPEIGHTS ©2013
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Fish Factor: 2013 Salmon Season Headed for Record Books By LAINE WELCH -
Alaska’s 2013 salmon season has yielded the largest catch ever, and the value of the fishery is also headed for the record books.
The statewide catch on Sept. 6 was nearing 265 million fish – the old record was 222 million in 2005. A bumper run of pink salmon is behind the big harvest - the mindboggling catch was approaching 213 million fish. The previous record was 161 million pinks, also in 2005.
Some boats are still out on the water, but the big pink catches have gone by, said Geron Bruce, Assistant Director for the state commercial fisheries division.
Things are pretty close to being wrapped up in Prince William Sound and also at the Alaska Peninsula, where a catch of nearly eight million pinks ended a long string of disappointing seasons.
“At Kodiak they are still plugging away, but it’s very low numbers. Enough to keep a few of the die hards but not big fishing anymore,” Bruce said. Southeast will see one or two more pink openers, “where catches have dropped, but are still larger than in other areas.”
Total salmon catches at the Panhandle topped 100 million, another record.
“It’s really nice to see the whole Gulf of Alaska producing like this,” he added.
It will be a few more weeks before we will know how much the 2013 catch is worth to Alaska salmon fishermen. The preliminary ex-vessel values (at the docks) will be released in October, and Bruce believes the total will top the chart.
“I’m sure it will be a record. It’s just a question of how far into record territory we will be going,” Bruce said.
Alaska’s highest value salmon catch was over $700 million in 1988, but that is considered a statistical outlier. Alaska salmon prices were stratospheric, with even pinks fetching nearly $1.00 a pound. The salmon market crashed the following year.
“That never happened before and it hasn’t since. I think this year is going to be right up there with 2011 which had a value of nearly $700 million. This season will approach or exceed that,” Bruce predicted. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 10, 2013
Alaska: Nation’s Largest Marijuana Policy Organization Announces Plan to End Marijuana Prohibition in Alaska by 2017 - The nation’s largest marijuana policy organization announced Monday it will support efforts to end marijuana prohibition in 10 more states by 2017, including Alaska. The Marijuana Policy Project’s announcement came one day before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to hold a hearing at which it will address the U.S. Justice Department’s recent decision to allow states to regulate the cultivation and sale of marijuana.
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is working with a coalition of local advocates in Alaska currently collecting signatures to place an initiative on the 2014 primary ballot that would tax and regulate marijuana for adults. According to MMP, a Public Policy Polling survey from March showed that a majority of Alaskans support making adult marijuana use legal and allowing sale of the substance in state-licensed stores similarly to alcohol.
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“By any scientific measure, marijuana is objectively less harmful than alcohol,” said Liz Young, campaign analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. “It’s time we stop driving people to drink by punishing marijuana consumers simply for choosing to use a safer alternative to alcohol.”
The U.A. Justice Department announced on August 29th that it will not seek to prevent Colorado and Washington from moving forward with implementation of voter-approved laws establishing state-regulated systems of marijuana cultivation and retail sales. Federal prosecutors were also advised not to target businesses and individuals complying with state laws regulating and taxing marijuana. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 10, 2013
Alaska: Forest Service's Decision on Greens Creek Mine Welcomed By Trout Unlimited - Trout Unlimited welcomed the decision by the U.S. Forest Service to protect sensitive fish habitat in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest while allowing for the expansion of a silver mine that is an important regional employer.
Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole issued a decision on Friday, September 6, that allows Hecla Mining Co., operator of Greens Creek Mine, to expand its waste rock facility by about 18 acres to the south of the mine. The company can also develop another eight acres outside the monument’s boundaries. That land will be used for a rock quarry, a storage site for reclaimed materials and an expanded pond to manage waste water.
The mine is located within Admiralty Island National Monument, one of Southeast Alaska’s wildest and most scenic areas with one of the world’s highest concentrations of brown bears.
Hecla sought to expand the mine’s waste rock area by another 116 acres within the national monument. But that would have resulted in the permanent loss of 1,646 feet of salmon habitat, according to the Forest Service.
Cole would not agree to that. In his decision, Cole specified that no mine waste can be discharged into Tributary or Fowler Creeks, which provide critical habitat for Dolly Varden char and coho salmon. Therefore, although Greens Creek will be allowed a limited expansion, no existing fish habitat will be lost, a move strongly supported by Trout Unlimited. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 10, 2013
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Colorful Starfish
Front Page Photograph By SUSAN HOYT ©2013
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
|
Northwest Pacific: Scientists confirm existence of largest single volcano on Earth in Northwest Pacific - The summer blockbuster movie Pacific Rim told a fanciful tale of giant monsters rising from the deep in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Seafloor 3-D image shows size and shape of Tamu Massif, Earth's largest single volcano.
Credit: Will Sager
Now, scientists have confirmed that the northwest Pacific is home to a real-life giant of a different type: the largest single volcano yet documented on Earth.
Covering an area roughly equivalent to the British Isles or the State of New Mexico, Tamu Massif is nearly as big as the giant volcanoes of Mars, placing it among the largest in the solar system.
"This is an amazing discovery, and overturns previous conclusions that Earth cannot support the development of such giant volcanoes because it lacks a thick and rigid planetary lithosphere," says Jamie Allan, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research.
"Much remains to be discovered about our planet," says Allan, "with scientific drilling offering a means of observation and discovery into otherwise inaccessible parts of the Earth."
Located about 1,000 miles east of Japan, Tamu Massif is the largest feature of Shatsky Rise, an underwater mountain range formed 130 to 145 million years ago by the eruption of several underwater volcanoes. It became inactive within a few million years after it was formed.
Until now, it was unclear whether Tamu Massif was a single volcano, or a composite of many eruption points. - More...
Tuesday PM - September 10, 2013 |
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the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696
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 The Myth Of Intact Watersheds By Eric Muench -
Heather Hardcastle's August 29 letter of advice to Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell was completely misleading on one important point. While the salmon resource is indeed a very important part of the Southeast economy, it definitely does not depend on "intact watersheds". - More...
Wednesday AM - September 11, 2013
Baffled by Parnell’s Recent Actions By Bill Walker -
Recent decisions by the Parnell Administration have left many Alaskans, including myself, scratching our heads wondering if anyone is at the helm. - More...
Wednesday AM - September 11, 2013
Observation from the road & home By A.M. Johnson - Having returned to K-town from a vacation drive through British Columbia, observations are in order. We first departed Prince Rupert driving to Prince George. The first several miles, 20 or so, were through fields of "Tansy" road side coming and going. No concern by our contact with various Canadians asked about the drought of dead cows, moose, or other wild life as a result of this plant being allowed to run wild. Just the normal common shrug of the shoulders followed by the required heed to the bountiful industrial active that warrants the clapping of hands for "Job well Done". - More...
Wednesday AM - September 11, 2013
Ketchikan Performing Arts Center By Lallette Kistler - I addressed the Borough Assembly Tuesday night about the fact that the Legislative Lobbying committee ignored the Ketchikan Performing Arts Center project last week, and I thought the greater community might be interested in what I had to say. It didn't make sense that we were their #1 and the community's #4 last year, but this year we weren't even going to be numbered at all. - More...
Saturday - September 07, 2013
Agree With Kiffer, No Nightmare By Keith Stump -
Having been a passenger on the Millennium when it had to return to Ketchikan due to mechanical difficulties to one of its electric propulsion motors, it was interesting to hear and read about the trip cancellation and other passenger responses. My take is that much ado was made about not much by the news media. - More...
Saturday - September 07, 2013
Syria - Count The Cost By Glenn Mollette - The President and Congress will make the decisions when it comes to Syria. They and military leadership have far more information than I. However, we will not go into Syria, throw our rocks and run back home unscathed. The scathing may occur immediately or weeks or months later. - More...
Saturday - September 07, 2013
Obama's war in Syria By Marvin Seibert -
War on Syria, here we are going to use Guided Missiles, B52 and B1 bombers and up to 75,000 troops on the ground. Our Delusional Narcissistic President is trying to save face by putting our troops in harm's way. What arrogance, he now says he did not draw a red line -- video does not lie. What else do you need to know that our President is incapable of decisions and taking responsibility for anything! - More...
Saturday - September 07, 2013
RE: Let's prioritize wild Alaska salmon By Lois Morgan -
Hooray, Heather. Your phrase 'the countries preeminent salmon forest' totally rang my bell. I've never heard or seen it, and it is just so apt I hooted out loud. I've been needing this phrase. - More...
Saturday - September 07, 2013
WHAT IS YOUR POINT? By David G. Hanger -
Exactly what is your point, Laura Plenert? You refer to the murder of an Australian student athlete in Oklahoma, a case of which I am quite aware, as somehow racially motivated. All in fact you are doing when you do that is parrot the nonsensical and racist views of Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge, who are the only individuals stupid enough and corrupt enough to attempt to use this case as a racial counterpoint to the Trayvon Martin case. While you are doing a fine job of parroting the views of your lords and masters, the facts of the case are quite a bit more problematical in that regard. How exactly do you get racial motivations out of this crime when one of the suspects is black, one is half-black and half-white, and the third is all white? - More...
Saturday - September 07, 2013
Parrot whiner By Karl Shlaudeman -
Well Mr. Hanger you might want to make sure that you are bleeding and hurt before you ever take appropriate action or defend yourself against a criminal. I truly wish all of you would wake up and realize there is no perfect world; white, black or whatever. - More...
Saturday - September 07, 2013
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