Posted by Webmaster on Dec 30, 2009 in
General New boating fee will fund program for aquatic invasive species prevention
Aquatic invasive species can wreak havoc when introduced to rivers and bays, and starting next year, recreational boaters in Oregon will pay a fee to fund a program to prevent them from spreading.
The Aquatic Invasive Species Permit, a fee recreational boaters must pay starting Jan. 1, 2010, is designed to keep species, such as the devastating quagga and zebra mussels, out of Oregon waters, said Ashley Massey at the Oregon State Marine Board.
Invasive species are threats to hydropower, irrigated agriculture, drinking water, recreation and salmon recovery, according to the OSMB Web site. Oregon has implemented a prevention program because many surrounding states have been infested with invasive species, including California and Nevada.
Read more…
Tags: boating fees, invasive species, mussels, ODFW, Oregon, quagga, regulations, zebra
Posted by Webmaster on Dec 28, 2009 in
Fishing Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington adopted 2010 sturgeon and smelt fishing regulations last week during a joint state hearing in Kelso, Wash.
Current rules regulating the harvest of white sturgeon on the Columbia River were left unchanged from 2009 while representatives from the two states negotiate an agreement on 2010 harvest objectives.
The new agreement is expected to reduce harvest guidelines due to reduced abundance of legal and sub-legal fish. Following adoption of the 2010 objectives, managers plan to revisit sturgeon regulations at their next joint state hearing, which is scheduled for Feb. 18.
Until the states modify the sturgeon rules, retention of sturgeon with a fork length of 38-54 inches is allowed three days per week — Thursday, Friday and Saturday — on the Columbia from Bonneville Dam downstream 105 miles to the Wauna power lines.
These rules also apply on the Willamette River and Multnomah Channel. Below Wauna, retention of 38-54 inch fork length sturgeon is allowed seven days per week beginning Jan. 1. Above Bonneville, retention is allowed seven days per week beginning Jan. 1. Sport fishermen may retain one legal-sized sturgeon per day and up to five sturgeon for the year.
In response to continued low smelt returns, fishery managers lowered the daily bag on the Columbia River to 10 pounds, down from 25 pounds previously.
At their next meeting, fishery managers from the two states also plan to set spring Chinook salmon seasons, in light of the largest forecast for the upriver spring Chinook since 1938.
Tags: 2010, ODFW, Oregon, regulations, smelt, Sturgeon
Posted by Webmaster on Dec 21, 2009 in
Fishing Winter steelhead fishing is just getting started. Fish are being caught in the East Fork Millicoma River near Nesika Park. A few steelhead also are being caught in the main stream of the Coquille River. The lower portions of the south fork of the Coquille also are producing a few fish. LaVerne Park proved to be the lucky area for one angler who caught a limit of steelhead.
Early last week, anglers on the lower Elk River had some good Chinook fishing and with extremely high tides, bright fish are being pushed into both the Elk and Sixes rivers. The rivers should be falling back into good fishing conditions after recent rains.
Read more…
Posted by Ocean Harvester on Dec 20, 2009 in
Crabbing in Oregon,
General,
Ocean Harvest 
Offloading the catch
We decided to gamble and have a friend of ours in a bigger boat haul our traps out for the opener, rather than having to do it over 4 days with the Harvester. We can only carry 80 or so traps at a time so this let us set all 300 to soak at once. The weather was piss flat the crabs were active with the filling moon (Monday the 1st) full on the third and we had a good supply of fresh Humboldt squid and razer clams from Hallmark Fisheries that really brought in the numbers. We chop up the Humboldt squid in the two bags which are the nylon mesh bag) and then the razor clams in the jars for the scent.
Video: Three Traps coming on deck.
The Catch:
This opener we were getting about 40 crab per trap for the first pull of 300 traps which was pretty incredible, since we only had 15 to 20 crab last year. The first three trips we pulled 50,000 lbs , after that it started slowing down. 17.5k, 16.7k and then a 6k on one run. We can run 300 pots in ten hours, pulled 9 times over the last five trips for about 30,000 crabs at at little over 72,000 lbs. Without a doubt the best opening weeks we’ve ever seen.
Why was the opener so great?
One of the things about this season that was abnormal was the weather. Most years the season starts with very rough weather giving a huge advantage to the big boats that can handle the big weather, forcing the little guys like us to risk short trips and run to shelter when things get bad. This year we were out in their face every day. We were spanking some of those larger boats and staying in their faces. It felt pretty good..
Feeling Good!
Another thing that helped was that so many crab were being caught all up and down the coast that no spot was getting over fished. Seemed like everywhere you went boats were scoring enough to stay where they were rather than plugging up the hot spots, so everybody had room to fish. We were able to compete and get more of a share of the volume because of the good weather I’m sure it made the big boat owners grrr.
Now that the full moon has gone away the crab are not as active so we give the traps a little more soak time on the bottom. If the crab are more active and in higher numbers you can pull traps more often, but when they are slower you have let them sit longer. Why does the full moon make the crab active? Nobody knows for sure, but it seems to be true.
Video: Bert & Royce throw the hook
What’s going on down there?
The trap pulls in any crabs in the area due to the scent of the bait and they have escape rings that are big enough for the juvenile crabs and the females are able to escape, but the ones we want (the big mature males) are stuck. The big ones also chase off the little ones so the longer you can leave the trap in an active area while the bait is still good the larger better crab you’re likely have in your pot.
Going back out.
Now we’ve had a good shot of rough weather with the recent storm we’re hoping it will stir up the bottom and bring the numbers back up. When these winter storms roll through they create big swells that disturb the mud where the crab bed down and will scatter any food that’s on the bottom which usually gets them up and moving. We’re going out on tomorrow at 4:00 – the traps have been soaking for 2 days on a spot we hope will be good. Now the crab tend to bunch up around good food sources so we have to move traps pretty often to stay on top of em.
Tanks were full so we deck loaded the last of it.
Going back out tomorrow we’ll run the gear and areas that show good numbers are were we’ll cork ourselves.. basically dump all the gear on the hot spots so the buoy’s are nearly floating on top of each other.
So it’s been a heck of a start of the season and pretty much every boat on the Oregon Coast has been pulling great numbers. It’s a nice thing for everybody so get down to your local market and get you some nice local Dungeness.
Cheers
-Capt Tyler & the Harvester Crew
Tags: commercial crabbing, crab pots, dungeness, dungeness season, Oregon, oregon coast, video
Posted by William on Dec 20, 2009 in
General Has the latest study of Pacific salmon ended the controversy generated by supplementing the population of wild coho salmon with hatchery raised coho salmon?
The killing of hatchery raised coho salmon at the Fall Creek hatchery a number of years ago ignited the controversy over supplementing populations of wild coho salmon with hatchery raised salmon when a video clip of the hatchery raised coho salmon being clubbed to death was made public. At the time State and Federal agencies were spending nearly 100 million dollars a year on hatchery produced salmon. The study raises number of ongoing issues about the management practice of supplementing the wild population of wild salmonids with hatchery raised fish.
The study, “Using an unplanned experiment to evaluate the effects of hatcheries and environmental variation on threatened populations of wild salmon” by Eric R. Buhle *, Kirstin K. Holsman, Mark D. Scheuerell, Andrew Albaugh at the National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd E, Seattle, WA 98112, USA. The National Marine Fishery Service administers NOAA’s programs which support the domestic and international conservation and management of living marine resources.
The study concluded, “Efforts to conserve depleted populations of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) often rely on hatchery programs to offset losses of fish from natural and anthropogenic causes, but their use has been contentious. We examined the impact of a large-scale reduction in hatchery stocking on 15 populations of wild coho salmon along the coast of Oregon (USA). Our analyses highlight four critical factors influencing the productivity of these populations: (1) negative density-dependent effects of hatchery-origin spawners were _5 times greater than those of wild spawners; (2) the productivity of wild salmon decreased as releases of hatchery juveniles increased; (3) salmon production was positively related to an index of freshwater habitat quality; and (4) ocean conditions strongly affect productivity at large spatial scales, potentially masking more localized drivers. These results suggest that hatchery programs’ unintended negative effects on wild salmon populations, and their role in salmon recovery, should be considered in the context of other ecological drivers.”
Posted by Webmaster on Dec 16, 2009 in
Fishing Local fisherman looking for volunteers to build stairs for access to popular fishing spot
An avid fisherman for about 75 years, Don Hynes found a great spot to catch salmon after moving to Coos Bay five years ago.
The only problem is, he has trouble navigating the short hill for fishing access.
To the right of the Coos Bay Boardwalk and above the tidegate, a small platform with a dilapidated metal railing offers great salmon fishing, Hynes said, but the steep slope to get to the platform is difficult for him to navigate.
“The young guys don’t have any trouble,” Hynes said.
Hynes uses a nearby flagpole to aid his short descent, but he said this is especially troubling when he has fishing equipment in tow.
Read more…
Posted by William on Dec 5, 2009 in
General CRAB TAGGING STUDY
WINCHESTER BAY:
The Oregon Wave Energy Trust in partnership with Oregon Sea Grant are conducting a study on Dungeness crabs. 3,000 legal sized male crabs were tagged in October and November of 2009. We need your help in returning the tags, so we can complete the study. The location of the dump sites are:
South Site: 43.42.000N 124.15.000W
ProJ Site: 43.45.301N 124.14.133W
North Site. 43.48.000N 124.13.800W
Crabbing in the ocean out of Winchester Bay? The crabs were tagged and returned to the ocean to the north and south of Winchester Bay. The CRAB TAGGING STUDY provides recreational crabbers opportunity and fun while crabbing.
Return the tag to us and receive $20. We will also hold a drawing for $1,000 at the end of the commercial Dungeness crab season. Return a tag with the required information: Remove it from the crab, write down the location and depth the crab was found, the tag number, your name, address, and phone number. Mail this information and the tag to: Oregon Dungeness Crab Study, 29 SE 2nd Street , Newport, OR 97365If you have questions please call 541-574-6537 ext. 18.
Posted by Webmaster on Dec 2, 2009 in
Crabbing in Oregon CHARLESTON — Three fisherman are fine after their crabbing boat sank in the bay Tuesday, but the owner of the sunken Manatee will have to get it off the bay floor.
A U.S. Coast Guard rescue crew fished the three men out of the water near Coos Bay’s South Jetty after the Manatee capsized and sank. Two went to Bay Area Hospital to be evaluated for hypothermia.
Petty Office Melissa Byrd of Coast Guard Air Station North Bend said at about 3 p.m., a crewman aboard the Manatee radioed the Coast Guard Station for help. He said the boat was taking on water. The 38-foot wood-hulled boat is registered to W.L. “Bill” Merritt of Charleston, according to records from the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay. Coast Guard records show it was built in 1941.
Rescuers, who arrived in a 47-foot Coast Guard motor life boat, retrieved the three crewmen from the sinking Manatee and took them to the Coast Guard dock in Charleston.
The vessel eventually sank near the Coos Bay river bar entrance.
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Tags: boat sinking, Charleston, Crabbing in Oregon, manatee
Posted by Webmaster on Dec 1, 2009 in
Fishing The Coquille River has experienced a rise in the conditions that pushed most of the fish upriver, but we still have some reports of a few fish being taken. It looks like we’ll make it to the end of the month without reaching our wild coho quota.
Fishermen on the Coos River systems reported a few fish being caught, but fishing has been slow and the fishermen have been few and far between. A few winter steelhead have been taken on the east fork of the Millicoma River. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is expecting a good return of both hatchery and wild steelhead to the Coos Basin this year. Traditionally this fishery gets into full swing in mid to late December.
The Elk and Sixes rivers have been difficult fisheries this season. The number of fish taken early was very good, but the recent rains, or lack thereof, have made the rivers rise to fishable conditions and then drop back down, which makes it very difficult to forecast fishing. As of yesterday, I talked to two fishermen on the Sixes who said the river was dropping and fishing was slow. The Elk River had dropped even lower and cleared, and the most effort was on the Sixes. If you’d like to call ahead for river conditions, use the ODFW hotline at (541) 332-0405.
Read more…
Tags: coho, Coos River system, coquille river, Elk River, salmon, Sixes, steelhead
Posted by Ocean Harvester on Dec 1, 2009 in
Crabbing in Oregon,
General,
Ocean Harvest We’ve got 300 traps (dungie prisons) soaking on the bottom of the Pacific waiting for Midnight Tonight (Dec 1st) to be allowed to pull them. Be heading out in a few hours to start pulling once the clock strikes twelve and hope our boat doesn’t turn into a pumpkin.
Hope to see LOTS of these
Stay tuned, we’ll have video and reports as we get our first load offloaded with hopefully a chock full boat of fine fresh Dungeness crab ready for the cannery & your local fish monger.
UPDATE: Dec 2nd:
Best crabbing we’ve ever seen & the weather was great. We brought in 16,000 pounds — The Harvester was overflowing with crab, in the hold, on the deck. We couldn’t have gotten one more crab on the boat without dumping some of the crew (tempting ha ha). We’re heading back out as the price is locked at $1.75 till tomorrow, when we think the price will probably go down, so we’re trying to get as much in at that price as possible. It’s GO GO GO for a week and then we’ll get some video and pictures up. Pretty amazing start to the season.
UPDATE: Dec 4th:
Good lord !! 17,529 lbs second delivery day three. sush dont tell anyone!
UPDATE: Dec 6th
The crab count is over 50,000 lbs in five days. This is the already more than we caught for all of December last year. It’s simply AMAZING
-Capt. Tyler & Harvester Crew
Tags: Crabbing in Oregon, dungeness
