Category Archives: fisheries

Gear Retrieval Project Creates Jobs

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marine-debris-projectOregon Sea Grant’s early involvement with a pilot project to retrieve lost crab pots helped lay the groundwork for a $699,000 NOAA grant that will hire commercial fishermen to clean up 180 metric tons of abandoned gear off the Oregon coast.

The 2009 Gear Retrieval Project, announced last week by NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco during a visit to Newport, will employ fishermen during the off-season. Working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the fishermen will locate and remove discarded crab pots, fishing nets and other marine debris that can  trap and kill marine mammals and fish and endanger fishing activities.

In 2006, Sea Grant collaborated with commerical fishing groups and the Oregon Crab Commission to test whether local fishermen could effectively locate and retrieve lost crab pots. In their first two test runs, fishermen found and hauled in nearly 60 crab pots and more than 600 feet of abandoned trawl cable.

The new gear retrieval project is among $7 million in coastal habitat restoration projects NOAA is funding in Oregon under the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Read more about NOAA’s stimulus act projects here.

Sciencepub: Catch of the Day

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Science Pub

Cold beer and fresh seafood are a natural summer combination in Oregon – but while the fish may be fresh, is it sustainable?

Join OSU researcher Selina Heppell at the July13 edition of Science Pub Corvallis to learn more about the fish we eat, where it comes from, and how fishing and management practices can affect the ocean ecosystems where fish live.

Heppell, an associate professor in the OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and a member of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, studies fishing communities, commercial fisheries and efforts to make fishing more ecologically sustainable. With support from Oregon Sea Grant, she’s currently looking at the live fish fishery – where fish are caught and transported live to high-end restaurants to assure optimum freshness – and whether rules requiring fishermen to release pregnant females might serve as a conservation tool.

Science Pub Corvallis, a collaboration of OSU, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Downtown Corvallis Association , takes place the second Monday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Old World Deli/Brewpub on 2nd St. There is no admission charge.